ISCOWP was sponsored by LEAF Hawaii (Daiva das) to teach an ox training course through a federal government sponsored educational program of which Balabhadra was a chief curriculum contributor. The highlight of this course was an ox training workshop with Candrakanta dasi in the Hilo area of the Big Island, Hawaii. This video is the very beginning of the workshop.
ISCOWP was sponsored by LEAF Hawaii (Daiva das) to teach an ox training course through a federal government sponsored educational program of which Balabhadra was a chief curriculum contributor. The highlight of this course was an ox training workshop with Candrakanta dasi in the Hilo area of the Big Island, Hawaii. This video is the very beginning of the workshop.
Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 8, No. 15 By Krishna-kripa das (August 2012, part one)
Polish Woodstock, Prague, Spain (Sent from Wroclaw, Poland, on September 2, 2012)
Where I Went and What I Did
I went on the Polish Woodstock for the twelfth time. It was nice to see how each year people become more favorable to Krishna consciousness, and more devotees I know from America come each year. I went to Prague for a couple of days and did harinama with some friends from Slovakia and Czech Republic. Then I went to Spain, with my friend, Dhruva Prabhu, at the request of Yadunandana Swami, who invited me when he traveled through Dublin. I felt victorious as in the eight days we were in Spain we did three harinamas and participated in a three-day kirtana-mela. Two of the harinamas inspired people to come to the temple and visit, a rarity.
Bhaktivaibhava Swami and Kadamba Kanana Swami share beautiful realizations at Spain’s three-day kirtana-mela. Devotees in Málaga share moving Prabhupada pastimes and words of gratitude on his Vyasa Puja. As usual I pass on insights from the journal and books of Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami. I also include the words of senior devotees like Vedavyasa Prabhu and Yadunandana Swami.
Thanks to Ananta Vrindavan Prabhu, Vishnujana Prabhu, and aatist_kks for the photos. A picture is worth a thousand words.
Polish Woodstock 2012
After over 14 hours on trains starting in Zurich, I made it to the Woodstock for the first harinama. More devotees than I had even seen since I started coming in 2001 took part in that harinama, and more people from the festival joined us in chanting and dancing than usual, some staying with us till the end.
It is nice to see friends from ISKCON Alachua like Bada Haridas, Chaturatma Dasa, Purusartha Das are here again. New York kirtana leader, Acyuta Gopi, came for the first time and chanted both on Ratha-yatra and the kirtana tent.
It is difficult for me to sift through the pictures and choose the best. Here are a couple albums you can look at. Click on the “>>” above the right side of the image to view the next image:
Twenty Woodstock attendees were dancing on the Ratha-yatra at the busier times, some with the women and some amidst the men. Some pulled the ratha, with beer in hand. Here are three videos of the Ratha-yatra so you can see what it was like:
You also see new T-shirts with new slogans and novel costumes each year. One young woman wore a green T-shirt with the question “Can you maintain me?” written on it with white letters. That reminded me of how according to the scripture, male-female relationships are meant to be regulated through marriage for spiritual elevation of human society. The man’s duty is to maintain the woman he wishes to have an intimate relationship with, but in this age so many men neglect that duty, and so the T-shirt is a reminder by the woman to the man about his duty.
Anna, who talked to Indradyumna Swami two years before, asked us to arrange another meeting with him now, and I had one of my former interpreters, Radhanandini Dasi, help her out with that.
One girl had a great time in our camp at the first two days of the festival, and so she told me she wanted to join us. Knowing the tour is not really equipped to train new people, and it was not possible to tell the depth of her seriousness immediately, I urged her to first attend the Sunday feast in Wroclaw, where she lives, and then see about joining us. Still it was impressive that she was so happy in the association of the devotees that she was thinking in that way. Later in the summer Polish told me that she was joining one of our temples.
I met one person who remembered me from Zary over eight years ago, and many people remembered me from more recent years. It is so embarrassing that so many remember me, and I remember so few of them.
I danced in back of the kirtana tent. In the evening, it was packed full of people.
One young lady followed my dance step and learned it. After a little while, I smiled, and said “Dobrze! [Very good.]” Then, as it is not my dharma to dance with the ladies, I stood just outside our tent, to facilitate encouraging people to come in tent or thanking them for their dancing as they left. Over half an hour later on her way out that same young lady wanted to dance that step she learned from me one more time, and six more people joined in, some people chanting as well as dancing.
One girl asked to know what is Hare Krishna, and I looked around for someone who could translate for me, and a girl who worked reception in previous years volunteered.
Two girls, Monika and Ana, remembered me from last year. They are from Kostrzyn, the city where the Woodstock has been held since 2004. Monika and her friends came and danced on several occasions throughout the four-and-half-day event. She knew English very well merely from studying it high school. The last day I gave Monika my Krishna.com business card and explained that she and her friends could find nice Krishna music which they liked so much on that web site.
The guy who remembered me from Zary and sent me photos he took a previous year, offered me some plums the second time he saw me this year. He said our kirtana yoga tent was best of venue of all as it was only one with lyrics to the songs displayed on the walls for everyone to see.
A boy said we had the best party of all. He and his friend took pleasure in singing and dancing with us.
I would dance to the music in the kirtana tent by myself in the beginning, but then gradually more people would gather. Sometimes I would tell the devotees sitting around the perimeter of the kirtana tent to dance as it would attract people to come to watch and thus hear the kirtana. During one kirtana, I taught a dance step to seven people. Usually it was the girls who were more inclined to dance, and it was awkward being a brahmacari showing them a dance. Later I danced outside the tent with eight people or so, half men and half women. While passing out mantra cards, I met another person who I taught a dance to, and who wanted to dance with me again.
Someone asked me where he could buy a dhoti, and I pointed to our gift shop.
I met a couple who offered to do some service. They said they had seen me at several Woodstocks. I suggested serving prasadam or picking up trash. They chose the trash, so I got plastic gloves and trash bags for them. I gave them my card and promised to send contact information for the devotees who does programs in their city of Krakow. Later I saw the girl dancing in the kirtana.
Another couple from Krakow wanted to get a CD of the kirtana in our kirtana yoga tent and get the contact information for the Krishna programs in their city. Perhaps we should put the recordings from the kirtana tent online, so the people who loved our chanting could keep it with them.
We did not go quite as late as last year, ending our chanting at 0:50, 2:15, 2:45 and 2:30, respectively, the four nights of the festival.
Sometimes two or three people would come running, skipping, or dancing, with smiles on their faces to join our kirtanas in the tent. Sometimes a girlfriend would drag a reluctant boyfriend into the kirtana tent, and sometimes a boyfriend would drag in a reluctant girlfriend. Whole families would come and listen, watch, and dance. Sometimes the parents would reject my offer of a mantra card because they thought Krishna consciousness was opposed to their Christian tradition, but as entertainment, they liked the kirtana, and they encouraged their children in it.
Often the devotees would dance in such a way that each person was holding the hand of the person before him and the person after him, as in a chain. Sometimes devotees would try to grab people from the audience and add them to the chain and sometimes those visiting our camp would also also grab people to add them to the chain. Sometimes some of the guys visiting our camp were a little too eager to grab the attractive girls, even the devotee girls, and add them to the chain.
One young lady from Bydgoszcz came to our camp for four years. She said she waits a whole year to eat our food. I told her there is a couple in Bydgoszcz that does a few programs a year, so she could have Krishna food more often, and she took down their phone number.
One man from Szczecin took the invitation to the Berlin temple, the closest one to him.
Izabela from Kostrzyn who has been coming and bringing her friends to Krishna’s Village of Peace for the food for years told me she finally graduated and will soon being working in Wroclaw. I gave her an invitation to the Wroclaw Ratha-yatra and Wroclaw temple Sunday feast, and she said she would try to make it for the Ratha-yatra.
Another girl from Kostrzyn happily told me she has been coming to our camp for the spiritual food since Woodstock came to her city back in 2004.
After our final Ratha-yatra, one girl from Germany’s Baltic coast asked me to explain what the Hare Krishna philosophy is. I stressed how the soul is present in all bodies and is symptomized by consciousness. Human life is special because we can awaken our love for God, the supreme conscious person, through the chanting of His holy name, especially the Hare Krishna mantra. I gave her our invitation to the Berlin temple and told her about Hamburg and Leipzig Ratha-yatras coming up on August 25 and September 8, respectively. She said she likes to go to Leipzig and will come for the Ratha-yatha. I explained how that one is special because the week before several hundred of us who will participate in it will be chanting for eight hours a day for six days. This year the city gave us a better location for our festival after the parade so more people will come. She explained that she is just beginning a spiritual search.
One young man from Berlin took an invitation to that center after I briefly explained the philosophy to him.
Another young man said that when he was in our kirtana yoga tent, he forgot all his problems.
Sometimes the people could not speak English very well, so I would tell them in Polish that we have a questions and answers booth over there, pointing in its direction, and go back to dancing and distributing mantra cards.
When I would show people who had been visiting the kirtana yoga tent the mantra cards, a small minority of people were averse, some people were indifferent, but most people were favorable, often very much so. Often they would smile in recognition, seeing the text representation of the song they were hearing and/or singing. Some would begin singing along to the words, often with their friends, and I would smile and sing along with them and dance. I often would remember a recent newsletter by Janananda Goswami wherein he quoted Srila Prabhupada many times saying, “Somehow or other, get them to chant.”
Lots of people wanted to have their pictures taken with us.
Gaura Hari Prabhu, a brahmacari from Leipzig who came for the first time, was impressed with the qualities of the people in the kirtana tent. Alhtough drunk, they are not as sexually motivated or angry as drunk people usually are at such late night music events. They were also very respectful.
Jananivasa Prabhu, one of my former interpreters, told me that each year the quality of the questions in the question and answers booth improves. Now there are no longer people who are just joking around trying to call attention to themselves, but rather, many sincere spiritual inquirers. A devotee who worked in our book tent told me that the questions of the people get more serious each year. For several years, the day after the Woodstock festival, some of my friends and I have doneharinama at the train station.
I think this was the best year, as each year it gets better. We had eight devotees participate, more than usual, and we encountered more people there waiting for the trains. Some were very happy to see us.
People of the town came to their windows to see us.
Others danced with us.
We chanted both by the station and by the tracks.
One devotee took a movie of it.
Harinama in Prague
Lokanatha Swami told in me 2004 that Prague is the best city for harinama, and when I chanted there with my friends for two days after the Polish Woodstock, I could see how that is true. In one place you meet people from all over the world, and the people are not so much in a rush as in London, but more relaxed and looking for some kind of cultural experience. Many people take pictures and have some pleasing interaction with the harinama devotees. I gave the words of the mantra to one girl who was appreciating the kirtana, but she said did not need them because in Prague the people hear it so much they know the words.
Once we were detained in a area that was protected from the rain. The drunks who were also taking shelter there were a little angry at first but by the power of the kirtana they either mellowed out or went away. Other people there liked having the entertainment while waiting out the storm.
Harinamas in Spain
I had no plan to go to Spain when I came to Europe this year, but I met my Spanish friend and godbrother, Yadunandana Swami, in both England and Ireland this year, and he invited me to a three-day kirtana-mela at our farm outside of Madrid. I cannot afford to travel to Spain, but I asked my friend and benefactor Dhruva Prabhu, who has traveled with me to different European festivals if he wanted to go and would be willing to help me out, and he agreed. I wanted to go for just the three days of the kirtana-mela, as I know for certain I have friends to do harinama with in Czech Republic and Germany, whereas Spain I did not know about. Dhruva, however, thought if we were going to Spain we should go for at least a week. Thus reluctantly I went to Spain with five whole days before the mela. Fortunately Yadunandana Swami helped me organize some harinamas, and we were able to go out three of the days before the festival.
Brihuega:
Brihuega is the town nearest our farm project an hour from Madrid known as Nueva (New) Vraja Mandala. In recent years devotees have just done a weekly harinama in Madrid. Previously they would do four days a week, and include Guadalajara and two other cities. Still in recent times they had not chanted in Brihuega, the closest town to them at all. We chanted from 8:30 p.m. to 10:15 p.m. in a square in the center of town that had some restaurants off to one side. That is not a late hour there as people take a break during the heat of the day and stay up late as a regular lifestyle. We set up near one entrance to the park so a lot of people would have to pass by us, not too close to the restaurants, in case the managers did not like it and told us to stop. Originally we were going to do a sitting down harinama, but some of the devotees thought people may not like us constantly chanting in one place, so we planned to walk around. As it turned out, we were so well-received in the park that we just stayed there, standing instead of sitting as we did not bring our mats. At one point, when I was singing and two young devotee ladies were dancing together in a nice pattern, quite a crowd gathered. I counted forty people, mostly elementary school aged children and a few adults. In fact, we always had some people watching from the beginning to the end of the harinama. The two ladies engaged some of the more brave children in dancing with them. One gave one of the young girls a flower garland which she was happy to receive. At the end of the evening five or six teenaged girls came by and had a great time dancing with the young devotee lady who stayed till the end. Afterward, the girls wanted to have their picture with her. One man watched us the whole time. He explained to me in Spanish that he was half Indian. He also wanted his picture taken with the devotees. Surprisingly enough, four days later I saw him on our farm at the cow festival following the Sunday feast program. It is not everyday that someone who meets the harinama party ends up coming to the temple, but such was the case with my first harinama in Spain. Seeing the popularity of the harinama in their local village, I advised them to do at least one harinama each week in Brihuega. Let’s hope they can do it.
Málaga:
We began our Janmastami celebration in Málaga by doing a 1½ hour harinama attended by eight devotees. Our plan was to go right after the morning class, before it got too hot and the devotees became tired from fasting. As it turned out it was from 11:15 to 12:45 that we chanted. Lots of people, mostly tourists took pictures. Three people danced with us. We gave out invitations to the evening Janmastami program, as well as the weekly Sunday feast, and several people were interested in coming. OneSpanish man, who had spent two months in Vrindavan, was happy to hear the chanting again in his own country. In Central London, devotees do harinama in Janmastami in the afternoon on Oxford Street, and in Leipzig they do it in the evening when the curtains are closed before the final arati. In the future, you may consider celebrating Janmastami by doing harinama in a city near you!
Churriana:
On Vyasa Puja day, just before our evening program, we did 40 minutes of harinama with four devotees around Churriana, the town where our Málaga temple is located. We passed out five invitations to our Sunday program, and although it was Saturday, seven people came to the temple, three staying to hear a few homages to Srila Prabhupada. I was overjoyed, and I saw this as Srila Prabhupada’s reciprocation for us doing outreach on his glorious appearance day!
Kirtana Mela in Spain
They have incredibly beautiful Radha Krishna deities called Radha Govindacandra there at Nueva Vraja Mandala, and it was a pleasure to chant for them.
There were not too many people at this kirtana-mela, perhaps fifty to eighty or so. I was happy that there was room to dance. During the hot part of the day, we stayed inside.
When it cooled we went outside.
Bhaktivaibhava Swami and Kadamba Kanana Swami were both there and led very lively kirtanas, as did some other kirtana leaders from Spain that I did not know.
Kadamba Kanana Swami also inspired people to dance when others, especially Bhaktivaibhava Swami, led kirtana.
I personally had a great time dancing.
There were lots of great realizations about chanting which you can read in the “Insights” below. Kadamba Kanana Swami at the end challenged the devotees to have a kirtana-mela with two hundred devotees for next year’s anniversary of the installation of the deities there.
I am grateful to Yadunandana Swami and Dhruva Prabhu for giving me with such a wonderful opportunity in Spain.
Insights
Bhaktivaibhava Swami:
When Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya asked Lord Caitanya the best process of bhakti He quoted the verse beginning harer nama harer nama . . . in this age there is no other process for self-realization other than the chanting of the holy name.
The iti sodasakam verse indicates that specifically the maha-mantra is the best spiritual practice in all the Vedas.
The illusory energy of the Lord makes one forget that he endeavored for material happiness before and he just got beaten over the head.
The devotees are most fortunate because they are utilizing lives properly.
We are not painting everything black. Birth, death, old age, and disease are a fact. If death is natural, why does every living entity resist it if you try to kill it?
If we maintain the purity of our chanting, others will be attracted in the future, as we were attracted in the past.
Krishna appears as His holy name when we have a service-inclined tongue and ears. When the tongue is controlled, all the senses become controlled
In the Garuda Purana, it describes many subtle beings, and all these beings are liberated when the harinama party goes by.
Pudma Purana describes that even by thinking of the Ganges River, one becomes liberated.
There is a story of frog couple who went on pilgrimage to go to the Ganges River and dive in and become liberated. Unfortunately, they met a snake on the way. They tried to preach to the snake that they were innocent and should not be killed. The snake preached to the frogs, that by God's arrangement they were his prey and it was right for him to eat them. The snake prepared to eat them, and they cried out “Ganga Mayi” as they left their bodies. Thus both frogs attained the heavenly planets, the male shared the throne with Indra. After many, many years of enjoyment on the heavenly planets, a Vaikunntha airplane came to take the two former frogs to the spiritual world.
One who perfectly follows his spiritual master reaches the Supersoul.
One can learn by hearing or by experience, but it is better to learn by hearing.
My mother told me, “My dear son, do not marry.” She had not had a good experience of marriage, and thus so she instructed me thus. So I accepted it.
We are not against material desires. We will not be successful in our preaching if we instruct people, especially young people, not to have material desires. But they should go about the fulfillment of their material desires in the proper way, and in this way they will suffer less.
I am not serving any big projects in ISKCON, just writing, reading, telling of my little life and tending to my sadhana. I’m doing as my departed Godbrother, Sridhara Maharaja, said, “Just be yourself and make your contribution.”
from Journal and Poems, Volume 3:
“Then, where are the directly God conscious, devotional haikus? One cannot say that they are omitted in a neutral, natural way. To omit the Absolute Truth is itself a metaphysical statement. To light incense and not offer it to God. To write of erotic moments in defiance of scriptural codes. To write hundreds of nature poems assuming that the perception of birds, beasts, sky, elements, etc., is sufficient spiritual nourishment—and that God is just another ‘thing.’ These are all atheistic proclamations.
“Write of the bomb? Write of a sexual affair? ‘We must,’ they say, ‘because this is our life, this is reality.’ “I am no Buddha no Jayadeva, but someone has to say it: Which haiku will save us at death? “Basho's death poem is a wishful hope, wandering across the moor.
“Issa gave a humble farewell— ‘I was a fool, so are we all!
“Which haiku will save us? The frog jumps in? The wings of the dragonfly?
“Talented poets, please make a poem-prayer. But first you have to learn it. “Delicate senses in a floating world, is not enough.
“Don't you know we all have to come back to another body? “Now who will come forward and say it with beauty?
“Alas, my gayatris go by too quickly, and I can’t get them back. Is it that I think my time is better spent in writing?
“‘But how do you know there is God?’ “‘Because the Srimad-Bhagavatam assures us.’ “‘But isn’t that just an old book of stories?’ “‘No, it’s sastra. It’s the book of authority. Srila Prabhupada said, ‘At least we have a book.’ Srimad-Bhagavatam is solid authority, at least among those who cherish it and who are learned in spiritual science. It is self-effulgent, describes the highest nature of religion as love of God. Are we so dull that we can't appreciate its standard?’
“So it goes, me and the atheist, like two guys at a sidewalk café in Paris arguing over whether or not God exists.
from Karttika Notes:
In this temple [in Mayapura] they keep moving people who are in front of honored guests like me and so I had a clear vision of Sri Sri Nrsimhadeva. I can’t say that I prayed to Him to remove the anarthas, but at least I was enthusiastic to be in His presence, and I know that He is fierce and that He is going to work on you when you come close to Him in a respectful devotional way.
Today is Gopastami. The Deities of the gopis and Radharani had their feet showing. They said the reason is because these gopis are all going to see the cows for Gopastami and they don’t want to get their saris muddy so they lifted them up a bit.
[Pankajanghri Prabhu said in a letter to Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami]: “Opposite to any other place I’ve stayed, Sri Mayapura gets more and more attractive the longer one stays and one’s attachment to it increases proportionately.”
I have many favorite memories [of Srila Prabhupada]. One memory I like is of a lecture that Prabhupada gave in 1975 at the annual Mayapur festival. Prabhupada quoted Bhaktivinoda Thakura saying that he longed for the day when the Europeans (and Americans) would join with their Bengali brothers and chant the holy names of Krishna and Caitanya. Prabhupada announced from the vyasasana that now that prophecy had taken place today. It was a wonderful moment of history to be present while Prabhupada announced that the prophecy of Bhaktivinoda Thakura had been fulfilled by Prabhupada’s own work and by his own movement and witnessed at Sri Caitanya-candrodaya Mandir.
Yes. Prabhupada asked all of his devotees to write. Krishna is our best friend, so we can express ourselves to him in the form of a journal. It may contain sastric verses and our own realizations, and even our lamentations at our lack of realizations. A devotee’s journal is not mundane, but it is filled with transcendental aspirations and is a recommended way of practicing Krishna consciousness.
My drawing for today is three colorful sankirtaneros dancing with upraised arms. They are red and black and green and smiling in the bliss of harinama. Swirls of color surround them as auras of auspiciousness, and they make the viewer happy. That is the symptom of the maha- bhagavata, that he induces others to also chant Hare Krishna. These three are infectious, and they invite you to join with them in the most important function: the congregational chanting of the holy names.
from My Letters from Srila Prabhupada, Volume 2, You Cannot Leave Boston:
“I had another service which I liked very much, which was writing the blurbs on the back of the books and the introductions describing what the books were. I took a lot of pleasure in that assignment. It was an area where I could use my knowledge of the Western mentality and of readers and to try to attract readers who knew nothing about Krishna. Writing those blurbs was always challenging. When we printed the Second Canto chapters as small paperbacks, I also titled the chapters. Those were the first books ISKCON Press printed. Prabhupada liked them, but after a while our printing mistakes became obvious as the books started to fall apart. We were still in an experimental stage at that time. I chose the titles from references in each chapter and tried to use Srila Prabhupada’s varied expressions.
from Narada-bhakti-sutra, verse 23:
“‘On the other hand, displays of devotion without knowledge of God’s greatness are no better than the affairs of illicit lovers.’
Vedavyasa Prabhu:
One can listen for a long time, but if he is not submissive, he will not benefit.
Any topic in relationship with Krishna is glorious and worth hearing.
Bhaktisiddhana Sarasvati Thakura spoke to Radha Kunda babajis about Prahlada Maharaja instead of satisfying their desire to hear of Krishna’s intimate pastimes.
Kasyapa had the duty to satisfy his wife Diti sexually, but not at an inauspicious time.
Q: It is difficult to liberate one’s children in this age, so is better not to have any?
A: We must have the intent to liberate them.
Bhakti Vidya Purna Swami says that the man is either completely rational or completely emotional while the woman is always half rational and half emotional, and so a man when in his state of being completely emotional can take shelter of the intelligence of the woman.
If a householder is sensually agitated he can always take shelter of his wife, while those in the renounced order can become completely degraded if they cannot tolerate the agitation.
There were cases where people could not follow the strictly follow the principle of having sex only for procreation, and Prabhupada advised them to minimize the sex as far as possible.
If there is no repentance of inability to follow but just the offering of excuses, that presents a problem to progress.
The idea is that by having sex according to dharma and raising the children properly you will be purified from the sex desire. Otherwise it will remain.
It is better to go through some authority to arrange a male-female relationship to leading to a marriage. Sometimes persons in a spiritual community pursue male-female relationships without intending to get married, but that ends up creating a disturbance.
Kadamba Kanana Swami:
A gray van came to my town and too many pink men come out. I popped into a shop. Someone said they are a dangerous sect. They looked dangerous to me. When I heard them on TV three months later, explaining their philosophy, no meat eating, no intoxication, no illicit sex, and no gambling, and chanting 16 rounds a day then I knew they were dangerous.
The power of the holy name is such that even the reluctant would be touched by the holy nmae of the Lord.
The holy name penetrates into our heart and gradually our desires change and thus it can create a revolution in this entire world.
The mercy of the pure devotee of the Lord is very possible. In Sri Caitanya-caritamrita one devotee is described as able to deliver the entire world. Seeing Srila Prabhupada’s activities we can understand how this is possible.
Srila Prabhupada understood that by their hearing the holy name, it will work in their heart, and they will come back.
Smita Krishna Swami said that Srila Prabhupada said that when a harinama party goes through the street it does not just change the people in the street, it changes the whole street as well. Anyone who goes through that street later becomes purified.
Once Srila Prabhupada said, “We do not need to use this microphone. We are using this microphone to purify the microphone maker.”
It is not only the people who chant Hare Krishna that benefit, but also those that hear.
Once in Spain there was an ad with four Hare Krishnas on a big Easyrider, Harley Davidson motorcycle. The people in general think it is funny—monks on a motorcycle. But we laugh because monks are at home on a motorcycle. This movement is meant to pick up all kinds of people.
The holy name can reach out to the most fallen. It does not require any qualification.
We travel all over the people to meet the same people and do the same thing—chant Hare Krishna. But it is not always the same, it is a great transcendental adventure. Sometimes there is magic in the kirtana, and we can all feel the presence of Krishna, and we think this is the best, and for that moment, our eyes are open, and we experience the truth, that chanting the holy name is the best thing.
In New Mayapur, in central France, Prabhupada told the devotees to offer some fruits to the Deities in the afternoon. A devotee said he would buy some. Prabhupada said, “Why buy? Just pick some bananas from the garden.” The devotees said they are no bananas in our garden, but Prabhupada said in the future there will be.
Q: Who gets more purified? The chanter or the hearer?
A: One may chant with partial faith, but another can hear it with complete faith and can make great progress. Often persons have heard about Krishna originally from unserious persons but became very serious themselves.
The holy name is Krishna, and He has an individual relationship with each one so you never know who gets purified.
Srila Prabhupada just let the holy name act. He was not trying to change the world by his power. He had prayed to Krishna, “Why can I say to deliver these people? I can only repeat your words.” Prabhupada was convinced. Are we convinced? If we were, we would just stay here and chant Hare Krishna all day. We chant, but we also looking for happiness elsewhere.
It is said that Ajamila was the best by far among those in the gurukula at that time, so the teachers decided to do his astrological chart and find out how great a personality he was. But when they saw his chart, it was not so auspicious. He was in a Jupiter period and doing very well, but it was not to last. So they decided to get him married to a nice brahmani lady. But he saw a low class man embracing a low class women intimately, and he decided that he must have that woman. So he engaged her as a maidservant, and sent his wife back to her father, and later sent a note saying there was no need for her to return.
Sometimes we say “mirror, mirror, on the wall, who has the best karma of all.” Some people, maybe even relatives, have relatively good karma, but those who have stuck around in the material world until the Kali-yuga have mostly bad karma. The standard is brought so low, that those who could not get a human body in another age, get a human body in Kali-yuga. Kali-yuga is like a school for retarded children.
In kirtana we get strength from the other devotees, but in japa we are alone with Krishna. In kirtana, we can show off, but in japa we are alone with Krishna, and He is not impressed. Krishna can see into our hearts, and that is why it is so hard to chant japa. But when we switch off the mind, and we just hear the holy name, it can be very nice.
Kirtana in the evening can bring life to japa in the morning.
Everyone would praise Vishnujana Maharaja for being always enthusiastic in kirtana. But he would say, “I am not always enthusiastic in kirtana, but I act enthusiastic, and so the devotees become enthusiastic, and seeing the devotees becoming enthusiastic, I become enthusiastic.
The four sinful activities we give up, meat eating, intoxication, illicit sex, and gambling, are described in the Srimad-Bhagavatam to be where adharma (irreligion) resides in this age of Kali. Srila Prabhupada wanted to drive out the influence of the age of Kali, so he advised his followers to refrain from these four key sinful activities.
The handsome, single, Prince Nala was on the way to the svayamvara of Damayanti, and three demigods appeared. He offered obeisances to them and asked what he could do to serve them. They said, “Go to the svayamvara of Damayanti and win Damayanti on our behalf.” He was not so enthusiastic as he wanted Damayanti himself, but the demigods asked, so he was obliged to serve them. He went to the arena of the ceremony and informed Damayanti that the demigods would also be at the ceremony. Damayanti said she did not want the demigods, she wanted Nala. Nala returned, and Indra asked Nala what happened and he explained everything. So on the day of the syamavara there were four Nalas. Damayanti was perplexed. She prayed to the Supreme Lord that she gave her heart to Nala, but she could not identify him. At that moment, the demigods resumed their original forms, and Damayanti garlanded the real Nala. After some time, the personality of Kali persuaded Indra that Nala was unnecessarily proud, and he should have given the demigods the right to Damayanti, and he volunteered to rectify the situation. He entered the dice in a dice game, and Nala lost everything, time after time, until he had one dhoti left, and that he had to rip in half to share with his wife. Nala and his wife retreated to the forest. He was so illusioned by lamentation by the influence of Kali, that he left his wife alone in the forest, because he considered himself a failure in protecting her, and therefore it was better than he should leave her. The key thing is that Nala was illusioned by Kali who was influencing his thoughts, but he did not realize Kali was influencing his thoughts. Could it be possible that I am influenced by Kali and do not know it? And could it be possible that you are influenced by Kali and do not know it?
If you keep money for yourself, then Kali will come for it. You can maintain your house for Krishna, if you follow the four regulative principles and chant 16 rounds each day of Hare Krishna there. Otherwise, you will want a new car, you will want a new iPod, and you will want a new husband—this one is useless, he does not fulfill my desires.
When I was unconscious in the hospital I heard Srila Prabhupada chanting that familiar melody of Hare Krishna, and it was like the sun coming out.
Yadunandana Swami:
According to The Nectar of Devotion, observance of Janmastami is a limb of devotional service to Lord Krishna. The recent acarya, Bhaktivinoda Thakura, considered Janmastami and Ekadasi to be mothers of devotion.
In the Bhagavatam it is said Narada would worship Hirankasipu to avoid problems.
Principally Krishna comes to protect His devotees, but he also chastises the atheists.
Krishna is so merciful He promoted Putana to the post of nurse in the spiritual world although she came to kill Him.
Persons can transcend the fearfulness of the ocean of birth and death.
Krishna relieved Kamsa from his fear of death by killing him.
There are many cases of devotees who became fearless of death by devotees chanting the holy name around them at the end of life.
One man who went to India visited different temples. He compared them looking at characteristics such as deity worship, cleanliness, festivals, etc., and found the ISKCON temples were the best, the Gaudiya Math temples the second best, and the others after that.
Q: Sometimes people in India argue if Ravana and Kamsa attained liberation by being very bad people, why do we have to be good people?
A: They were very, very, very bad. So bad, the Lord appeared to kill them. Because the soul is naturally the eternally the servant of Krishna, it is very difficult to be that bad. Also generally the demons killed by Krishna attain sayujya-mukti, which is not as high as the liberation of living with the Lord in the spiritual world.
In India things have become so degraded people drink whiskey to celebrate Janmastami, just some Christian celebrate Christmas by drinking.
In Vrndavana, Krishna’s form is so sweet the people forget He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Krishna showed His universal form to Yasoda, but when she became reverential, He expanded His internal energy because He did not want her to be revertial.
The four special qualities of Krishna are:
lila-madhurya – He has wonderful pastimes.
prema-madhurya – His associates have wonderful love of God.
venu-madhurya – His flute playing attracts the whole universe.
rupa-madhuya – His form is one of incomparable beauty.
from evening Janmastami interview:
Bhagavad-gita is special because it is the only scripture where God talks about Himself.
Reading one verse a day can satisfy you.
In Vrindavan the atmosphere of spirituality is very profound in the temples.
The tilaka reminds us that we are spiritual beings, and God is in our heart.
If one accumulates more than he needs, he ends up taking that set aside for others, and one has to suffer some reaction for that.
If we endeavor spiritually, we will find our crises will be solved.
We should work as an offering to God, while viewing all beings to be part of God.
It is important to dedicate part of our day to spiritual cultivation.
I recommend that everyone take at least a small book to understand more about spiritual life.
Vyasa Puja Offerings
Offering by Prabhupada Disciples:
Jagannatha Nrsimha Prabhu:
The pure devotees is on a mission from Krishna to rescue fallen souls. By contacting him a disciple’s life changes. By Prabhupada’s life we can see the example of the life of a pure devotee of Krishna, and try to perfect our life.
The pure devotee establishes service to the Deity so we can be directly engaged in the Lord’s service, as there is no difference between the Deity and the Lord Himself.
We are so fortunate that we have found Srila Prabhupada, who is a true guru.
I served Srila Prabhupada in Vrindavan. Sometimes I could be sitting near him, chanting my japa for two hours, and he was not disturbed by that. He was very grave.
When Prabhupada saw the picture of Krishna whirling around, he moved his arms in the same motion, imitating the pastime.
I was sent to go to Prabhupada’s kitchen three hours a day to do what was needed.
I would clean the floor and clean the kitchen. My mind was very dedicated to the service, and I was satisfied.
I did not have much of a spiritual urge, but in the association of a pure devotee, that develops.
Once Bhakti Charu Swami asked me to come into Prabhupada’s association. Prabhupada spoke to me very slowly, very softly. I said I did not speak English, but he went on speaking. I was very embarrassed. At the end I just folded my hands before him. Later I learned that he was asking me to be careful to leave the kitchen door shut so the monkeys did not get in. He also inquired about how I liked my service.
Once I was very happy after completing my service. As I was leave, I offered full obeisances on the floor. I saw he had a big smile on his face, from ear to ear.
Nrsimha Prabhu:
When Prabhupada was asked about his own guru, he replied, “What can I say, he was a Vaikuntha man [a resident of the spiritual world].”
He did not tell many stories about his guru but he did tell the story how he met his guru.
Just by hearing from Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura for a few moments he could understand he was an authorized representative of Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
He told of how one time he was early for a meeting with Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, and he sat on the same seat at his guru. Then others came and sat on the floor and he realized he made a mistake. His guru did not say again, but Srila Prabhpada never made that mistake again.
Prabhupada stressed that everyone can associate with him by reading his books. Devotees would want to have some personal exchange with Srila Prabhupada and so would ask him questions, but he stressed that all answers to all questions were in his books.
Only a rare person such as Srila Prabhupada can accept the worship of the whole world.
Sometimes people consider the deity or murti to be a way of fixing the mind on an object of worship. It is that, but it is also that Krishna as the Deity personally accepts the food.
When Srila Prabhupada approved the worship of his murti form (representation as a statue), one disciple asked him if they could really offer food to the tomurti and that he could accept it. Srila Prabhupada said, “Yes.” And then he quoted a verse: Sak?ad-dharitvenasamasta-sastraih.
I was a new devotee in Miami who joined almost immediately, attracted by the holy name. Later, when the offering of flowers to Srila Prabhupada was introduced, I found I was immediately attracted, seeing this a real connection with Srila Prabhupada, Krishna’s representative. I was very experiential in those days but not so philosophical, and so Krishna gave me those nice experiences. When Prabhupada came to New York, a thousand devotees from America and Canada came to greet him including me. When I saw him personally it seemed the same as worshiping him in the temple.
The devotees had a farm in Hawaii that the GBC wanted to sell, but Prabhupada told him not to sell it. He said he would enter nirjana-bhajana there and complete his translation of Srimad-Bhagavatam.” We had the simplest facility with no electricity and just a thin mat to sleep on, but Srila Prabhupada was very blissful the whole time. The devotees were worried about their lack of facility, but Srila Prabhupada was perfectly happy.
I presented to Srila Prabhupada an elaborate plan for a temple, ashram and elaborate preaching project there in Hawaii, but Srila Prabhupada replied if you just offer nice fruits and flowers to Gaura Nitai, they will be satisfied.
Srila Prabhupada wrote Vishnujana Swami, “When the waves of maya attack, your little sentiment for Krishna may not sustain you, therefore all the devotees must fully understand the philosophy.”
a Prabhupada disciple whose name I did not note down:
I am very happy how yesterday’s Janmastami went. I felt the presence of Srila Prabhupada in everything and every devotee.
As a student in my youth in Buenos Aires, I used to read Hindu poems and realized there was something I could not find in the western culture, so I decided go to India. While there I got a small bowl of halava and an invitation to the temple. I learned from this that we should invite everyone without discrimination because we do not know who may end up becoming a devotee.
I love India, and I want to end my life there. I love Vrindavan, everything about it, and Srila Prabhupada has given us enlightenment to appreciate.
In Rishikesh on either side of Ram Jhulan, you see sadhus, beggars, and monkeys. The monkeys sit as though chanting gayatri.
I traveled together throughout Europe with a Mexican friend who I immediately connect with because he was also interested in Srila Prabhupada’s books. We went to this devotee farm in central France, New Mayapur, where they just purchased an abandoned castle. We started helping with the renovation. We thought we were going for a weekend, but we stayed two years.
At a reception for Srila Prabhupada I took literally the instruction to roll in the dust of the pure devotee. The ground was wet and I got all muddy, but I was so happy I did not notice.
At my initiation while offering obeisances, and I went completely blank. They had to tell me to move.
My service was to keep anyone from disturbing Srila Prabhupada while he was translating. I also got to get the remnants of Srila Prabhupada as soon as they were available. I do not know how I got so much mercy.
We carried Srila Prabhupada by palanquin and noticed very little different in weigh whether Srila Prabhupada was in it or not.
The castle had hold locks with big holes, and devotees would look through the holes to see Srila Prabhupada. Prabhupada noticed this, and peeked into the hole himself, saying “Haribol,” and surprising the devotee on the other end.
Srila Prabhupada had amazing qualities that make you want to respect him.
One in Paris Prabhupada showed his humility, there was choice between whether he or a devotee lady could proceed first, and Srila Prabhupada smiled, and said “Ladies first.”
One time Prabhupada had a choice to go this way or that way, Prabhupada chose a path that seemed otherwise less attractive because by that path he passed by one of his disciples, saying he wanted to see his devotee serving Krishna.
Offerings from the Vyasa Puja book:
Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami:
If you arrived a decade earlier or later, you would not have found a class of people ready escape the rat race for a life of devotion to Krishna.
I gave you the typed pages, and you looked them over, and said they were well done. Then you gave me a few grapes. I foolishly thought “I worked so hard typing into the night, and all I get is a few grapes?” You gave me more manuscripts to type, and then you said, “Doing this typing is not a mechanical process. If you will love me, I will love you.” These words had a profound effect on me. They broke down my barriers of resistance and all the reasons I had for not becoming your disciple.
You are ISKCON’s flag victory.
You are the eternal resident of Vrindavan whom we must follow if we wish to enter Radha-Krishna’s service in Goloka Vrindavana.
Guru Prasad Swami:
You taught, following Rupa Goswmi, that desirelessness is to desire only for Krishna. You showed perfect desirelessness by desiring that everyone offering everything to Krishna and by spreading the chanting of Krishna’s name all over the world.
Bhakti Charu Swami:
I made a minor mistake and a godbrother reprimanded me heavily. You heard the details and said, “The sign of real advancement is not in the position we hold but in being tolerant in all circumstances and remaining unperturbed in every situation.”
You once told me, “Make sure the devotees get nice prasadam. It is the only sense gratification they have.” Then you explained to me that the first and foremost responsibility of leader is to take care of his followers. “If you take care of them, they will do anything for you.”
Giriraja Swami:
My hope going back to Godhead had diminished in the years since you left, but by the association with my godbrothers in Vrindavan, I acquired new hope. These verses encouraged me as I saw the truth in them by my experience.
“One should associate with devotees, chant the holy name of the Lord, hear Srimad-Bhagavatam, reside Mathura and worship the Deity with faith and veneration. These five limbs of devotional service are the best of all. Even a slight performance of these five awakens love for Krishna. (Cc. Madhya 22.128–129)
Offerings by Other Devotees:
Yadunandana Swami:
Tamal Krishna Goswami’s book, A Living Theology of Krishna Bhakti, mentions the contributions of Srila Prabhupada.
He identifies two maha-vakyas of Srila Prabhupada.
1. Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as explained by Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.3.28.
2. devotional service, not just devotion, there must be service.
Srila Prabhupada contributed 50 volumes of translations, 60 volumes of lectures, 36 volumes of conversations, and some many volumes of letters. No other scholar contributed so much. You would have to dedicate your whole life to study it all.
We have not understood Srila Prabhupada with enough depth.
Srila Prabhupada got up early to contribute all the books so we could study them.
When we hear the glorification of the devotees, we are reminded that Srila Prabhupada is a touchstone even now, bringing out bhakti in their hearts.
In the Spanish yatra we tend to see all the things that are wrong, but we experience that Janmastami in Malaga is getting better each year. The senior leaders are still present, but the new people are taking more responsibility.
Dhruva Prabhu:
Srila Prabhupada has given us all to each other. We did not know each other two days ago but now we are glorifying Srila Prabhupada as brothers and sisters. The devotees all over the world are a family, and Srila Prabupada is the father. We are all sons and daughters, grandsons, and granddaughters.
Wherever I travel in the world I am always in Srila Prabhupada’s house.
As an Indian I knew the mantra and would chant it 10 times a year. Prabhupada gift is that we chant 16 rounds a day. It is like the difference between taking a drop of honey and a whole bottle of honey.
You can read all the 700 verses of Bhagavad-gita and you will not chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra. But if you read the purports of Srila Prabhupada, you will end up chanting Hare Krishna without even realizing.
In India maha-prasadam is not new. In every temple you get maha-prasadam, but you get only one peanut and you hardly know where it goes in your mouth, but Srila Prabhupada gave us whole meals, breakfast, lunch, and dinner, so much you cannot eat any more.
The more we cooperate, the more Prabhupada is pleased.
I like whole Janmastami program here. The prasadam was packaged before midnight and it was distributed within fifteen minutes. Some places it is after one before everyone gets it. Also the guests got a drink and a sweet as soon as they came. In India we says the guests should be treated as God. It is important we receive the guests properly. They are not coming to see us, they are coming to see Srila Prabhupada.
Jiva Tattva Prabhu:
Prabhupada started without support at a late age. By material calculation, you would not expect success. He had two heart attacks on the boat. He had little money. His faith in Lord Caitanya’s prediction and his books were his only assets. He had no initial success. He shared living space with a Mayavadi who would not let him speak, and then later a drug-crazed madman. The faith and conviction Srila Prabhupada had to continue was incredible. It is like the Christians say, if one has a grain of faith, one can more mountains.
Rasamrta Mataji:
This philosophy is Srila Prabhupada’s greatest gift. He has given the means to purify the heart. He lets me live with those who desire a spiritual life.
Uttara Mataji:
I am happy to be at your Vyasa Puja. It is my favorite festival. You always take care of me. Many years ago when I lost my spiritual master, I prayed to you to send me a spiritual master. You sent me Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami, and he increased my love for you. I had a dream in which you asked me to make puris and to stitch your dhoti.
Rasasundari Mataji:
I had a dream which was very personal. I was in front of the murti, and the murti became Srila Prabhupada. That was very profound. I understood that Prabhupada is with us personally as his murti, and we can always take shelter of him.
My guru told me when we go beyond our comfort zone to do something for Srila Prabhupada we get so much mercy.
I am very grateful for being part of this family.
Gauranga-lila Devi:
I have a strong feeling of gratitude toward Srila Prabhupada, which gives me anxiety because I feel a great debt that I can never really pay back. Thus I pray for the intelligence to serve him nicely and that I will never leave his shelter.
Caitanya Candra Prabhu:
Prabhupada arranged everything so we can please Krishna. We should get more into Srila Prabhupada’s mission.
-----
patrapatra-vicara nahi, nahi sthanasthana
yei yanha paya, tanha kare prema-dana
“In distributing love of Godhead, Caitanya Mahaprabhu and His associates did not consider who was a fit candidate and who was not, nor where such distribution should or should not take place. They made no conditions. Wherever they got the opportunity, the members of the Pañca-tattva distributed love of Godhead.” (Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Adi-lila 7.23)
Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 8, No. 15 By Krishna-kripa das (August 2012, part one)
Polish Woodstock, Prague, Spain (Sent from Wroclaw, Poland, on September 2, 2012)
Where I Went and What I Did
I went on the Polish Woodstock for the twelfth time. It was nice to see how each year people become more favorable to Krishna consciousness, and more devotees I know from America come each year. I went to Prague for a couple of days and did harinama with some friends from Slovakia and Czech Republic. Then I went to Spain, with my friend, Dhruva Prabhu, at the request of Yadunandana Swami, who invited me when he traveled through Dublin. I felt victorious as in the eight days we were in Spain we did three harinamas and participated in a three-day kirtana-mela. Two of the harinamas inspired people to come to the temple and visit, a rarity.
Bhaktivaibhava Swami and Kadamba Kanana Swami share beautiful realizations at Spain’s three-day kirtana-mela. Devotees in Málaga share moving Prabhupada pastimes and words of gratitude on his Vyasa Puja. As usual I pass on insights from the journal and books of Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami. I also include the words of senior devotees like Vedavyasa Prabhu and Yadunandana Swami.
Thanks to Ananta Vrindavan Prabhu, Vishnujana Prabhu, and aatist_kks for the photos. A picture is worth a thousand words.
Polish Woodstock 2012
After over 14 hours on trains starting in Zurich, I made it to the Woodstock for the first harinama. More devotees than I had even seen since I started coming in 2001 took part in that harinama, and more people from the festival joined us in chanting and dancing than usual, some staying with us till the end.
It is nice to see friends from ISKCON Alachua like Bada Haridas, Chaturatma Dasa, Purusartha Das are here again. New York kirtana leader, Acyuta Gopi, came for the first time and chanted both on Ratha-yatra and the kirtana tent.
It is difficult for me to sift through the pictures and choose the best. Here are a couple albums you can look at. Click on the “>>” above the right side of the image to view the next image:
Twenty Woodstock attendees were dancing on the Ratha-yatra at the busier times, some with the women and some amidst the men. Some pulled the ratha, with beer in hand. Here are three videos of the Ratha-yatra so you can see what it was like:
You also see new T-shirts with new slogans and novel costumes each year. One young woman wore a green T-shirt with the question “Can you maintain me?” written on it with white letters. That reminded me of how according to the scripture, male-female relationships are meant to be regulated through marriage for spiritual elevation of human society. The man’s duty is to maintain the woman he wishes to have an intimate relationship with, but in this age so many men neglect that duty, and so the T-shirt is a reminder by the woman to the man about his duty.
Anna, who talked to Indradyumna Swami two years before, asked us to arrange another meeting with him now, and I had one of my former interpreters, Radhanandini Dasi, help her out with that.
One girl had a great time in our camp at the first two days of the festival, and so she told me she wanted to join us. Knowing the tour is not really equipped to train new people, and it was not possible to tell the depth of her seriousness immediately, I urged her to first attend the Sunday feast in Wroclaw, where she lives, and then see about joining us. Still it was impressive that she was so happy in the association of the devotees that she was thinking in that way. Later in the summer Polish told me that she was joining one of our temples.
I met one person who remembered me from Zary over eight years ago, and many people remembered me from more recent years. It is so embarrassing that so many remember me, and I remember so few of them.
I danced in back of the kirtana tent. In the evening, it was packed full of people.
One young lady followed my dance step and learned it. After a little while, I smiled, and said “Dobrze! [Very good.]” Then, as it is not my dharma to dance with the ladies, I stood just outside our tent, to facilitate encouraging people to come in tent or thanking them for their dancing as they left. Over half an hour later on her way out that same young lady wanted to dance that step she learned from me one more time, and six more people joined in, some people chanting as well as dancing.
One girl asked to know what is Hare Krishna, and I looked around for someone who could translate for me, and a girl who worked reception in previous years volunteered.
Two girls, Monika and Ana, remembered me from last year. They are from Kostrzyn, the city where the Woodstock has been held since 2004. Monika and her friends came and danced on several occasions throughout the four-and-half-day event. She knew English very well merely from studying it high school. The last day I gave Monika my Krishna.com business card and explained that she and her friends could find nice Krishna music which they liked so much on that web site.
The guy who remembered me from Zary and sent me photos he took a previous year, offered me some plums the second time he saw me this year. He said our kirtana yoga tent was best of venue of all as it was only one with lyrics to the songs displayed on the walls for everyone to see.
A boy said we had the best party of all. He and his friend took pleasure in singing and dancing with us.
I would dance to the music in the kirtana tent by myself in the beginning, but then gradually more people would gather. Sometimes I would tell the devotees sitting around the perimeter of the kirtana tent to dance as it would attract people to come to watch and thus hear the kirtana. During one kirtana, I taught a dance step to seven people. Usually it was the girls who were more inclined to dance, and it was awkward being a brahmacari showing them a dance. Later I danced outside the tent with eight people or so, half men and half women. While passing out mantra cards, I met another person who I taught a dance to, and who wanted to dance with me again.
Someone asked me where he could buy a dhoti, and I pointed to our gift shop.
I met a couple who offered to do some service. They said they had seen me at several Woodstocks. I suggested serving prasadam or picking up trash. They chose the trash, so I got plastic gloves and trash bags for them. I gave them my card and promised to send contact information for the devotees who does programs in their city of Krakow. Later I saw the girl dancing in the kirtana.
Another couple from Krakow wanted to get a CD of the kirtana in our kirtana yoga tent and get the contact information for the Krishna programs in their city. Perhaps we should put the recordings from the kirtana tent online, so the people who loved our chanting could keep it with them.
We did not go quite as late as last year, ending our chanting at 0:50, 2:15, 2:45 and 2:30, respectively, the four nights of the festival.
Sometimes two or three people would come running, skipping, or dancing, with smiles on their faces to join our kirtanas in the tent. Sometimes a girlfriend would drag a reluctant boyfriend into the kirtana tent, and sometimes a boyfriend would drag in a reluctant girlfriend. Whole families would come and listen, watch, and dance. Sometimes the parents would reject my offer of a mantra card because they thought Krishna consciousness was opposed to their Christian tradition, but as entertainment, they liked the kirtana, and they encouraged their children in it.
Often the devotees would dance in such a way that each person was holding the hand of the person before him and the person after him, as in a chain. Sometimes devotees would try to grab people from the audience and add them to the chain and sometimes those visiting our camp would also also grab people to add them to the chain. Sometimes some of the guys visiting our camp were a little too eager to grab the attractive girls, even the devotee girls, and add them to the chain.
One young lady from Bydgoszcz came to our camp for four years. She said she waits a whole year to eat our food. I told her there is a couple in Bydgoszcz that does a few programs a year, so she could have Krishna food more often, and she took down their phone number.
One man from Szczecin took the invitation to the Berlin temple, the closest one to him.
Izabela from Kostrzyn who has been coming and bringing her friends to Krishna’s Village of Peace for the food for years told me she finally graduated and will soon being working in Wroclaw. I gave her an invitation to the Wroclaw Ratha-yatra and Wroclaw temple Sunday feast, and she said she would try to make it for the Ratha-yatra.
Another girl from Kostrzyn happily told me she has been coming to our camp for the spiritual food since Woodstock came to her city back in 2004.
After our final Ratha-yatra, one girl from Germany’s Baltic coast asked me to explain what the Hare Krishna philosophy is. I stressed how the soul is present in all bodies and is symptomized by consciousness. Human life is special because we can awaken our love for God, the supreme conscious person, through the chanting of His holy name, especially the Hare Krishna mantra. I gave her our invitation to the Berlin temple and told her about Hamburg and Leipzig Ratha-yatras coming up on August 25 and September 8, respectively. She said she likes to go to Leipzig and will come for the Ratha-yatha. I explained how that one is special because the week before several hundred of us who will participate in it will be chanting for eight hours a day for six days. This year the city gave us a better location for our festival after the parade so more people will come. She explained that she is just beginning a spiritual search.
One young man from Berlin took an invitation to that center after I briefly explained the philosophy to him.
Another young man said that when he was in our kirtana yoga tent, he forgot all his problems.
Sometimes the people could not speak English very well, so I would tell them in Polish that we have a questions and answers booth over there, pointing in its direction, and go back to dancing and distributing mantra cards.
When I would show people who had been visiting the kirtana yoga tent the mantra cards, a small minority of people were averse, some people were indifferent, but most people were favorable, often very much so. Often they would smile in recognition, seeing the text representation of the song they were hearing and/or singing. Some would begin singing along to the words, often with their friends, and I would smile and sing along with them and dance. I often would remember a recent newsletter by Janananda Goswami wherein he quoted Srila Prabhupada many times saying, “Somehow or other, get them to chant.”
Lots of people wanted to have their pictures taken with us.
Gaura Hari Prabhu, a brahmacari from Leipzig who came for the first time, was impressed with the qualities of the people in the kirtana tent. Alhtough drunk, they are not as sexually motivated or angry as drunk people usually are at such late night music events. They were also very respectful.
Jananivasa Prabhu, one of my former interpreters, told me that each year the quality of the questions in the question and answers booth improves. Now there are no longer people who are just joking around trying to call attention to themselves, but rather, many sincere spiritual inquirers. A devotee who worked in our book tent told me that the questions of the people get more serious each year. For several years, the day after the Woodstock festival, some of my friends and I have doneharinama at the train station.
I think this was the best year, as each year it gets better. We had eight devotees participate, more than usual, and we encountered more people there waiting for the trains. Some were very happy to see us.
People of the town came to their windows to see us.
Others danced with us.
We chanted both by the station and by the tracks.
One devotee took a movie of it.
Harinama in Prague
Lokanatha Swami told in me 2004 that Prague is the best city for harinama, and when I chanted there with my friends for two days after the Polish Woodstock, I could see how that is true. In one place you meet people from all over the world, and the people are not so much in a rush as in London, but more relaxed and looking for some kind of cultural experience. Many people take pictures and have some pleasing interaction with the harinama devotees. I gave the words of the mantra to one girl who was appreciating the kirtana, but she said did not need them because in Prague the people hear it so much they know the words.
Once we were detained in a area that was protected from the rain. The drunks who were also taking shelter there were a little angry at first but by the power of the kirtana they either mellowed out or went away. Other people there liked having the entertainment while waiting out the storm.
Harinamas in Spain
I had no plan to go to Spain when I came to Europe this year, but I met my Spanish friend and godbrother, Yadunandana Swami, in both England and Ireland this year, and he invited me to a three-day kirtana-mela at our farm outside of Madrid. I cannot afford to travel to Spain, but I asked my friend and benefactor Dhruva Prabhu, who has traveled with me to different European festivals if he wanted to go and would be willing to help me out, and he agreed. I wanted to go for just the three days of the kirtana-mela, as I know for certain I have friends to do harinama with in Czech Republic and Germany, whereas Spain I did not know about. Dhruva, however, thought if we were going to Spain we should go for at least a week. Thus reluctantly I went to Spain with five whole days before the mela. Fortunately Yadunandana Swami helped me organize some harinamas, and we were able to go out three of the days before the festival.
Brihuega:
Brihuega is the town nearest our farm project an hour from Madrid known as Nueva (New) Vraja Mandala. In recent years devotees have just done a weekly harinama in Madrid. Previously they would do four days a week, and include Guadalajara and two other cities. Still in recent times they had not chanted in Brihuega, the closest town to them at all. We chanted from 8:30 p.m. to 10:15 p.m. in a square in the center of town that had some restaurants off to one side. That is not a late hour there as people take a break during the heat of the day and stay up late as a regular lifestyle. We set up near one entrance to the park so a lot of people would have to pass by us, not too close to the restaurants, in case the managers did not like it and told us to stop. Originally we were going to do a sitting down harinama, but some of the devotees thought people may not like us constantly chanting in one place, so we planned to walk around. As it turned out, we were so well-received in the park that we just stayed there, standing instead of sitting as we did not bring our mats. At one point, when I was singing and two young devotee ladies were dancing together in a nice pattern, quite a crowd gathered. I counted forty people, mostly elementary school aged children and a few adults. In fact, we always had some people watching from the beginning to the end of the harinama. The two ladies engaged some of the more brave children in dancing with them. One gave one of the young girls a flower garland which she was happy to receive. At the end of the evening five or six teenaged girls came by and had a great time dancing with the young devotee lady who stayed till the end. Afterward, the girls wanted to have their picture with her. One man watched us the whole time. He explained to me in Spanish that he was half Indian. He also wanted his picture taken with the devotees. Surprisingly enough, four days later I saw him on our farm at the cow festival following the Sunday feast program. It is not everyday that someone who meets the harinama party ends up coming to the temple, but such was the case with my first harinama in Spain. Seeing the popularity of the harinama in their local village, I advised them to do at least one harinama each week in Brihuega. Let’s hope they can do it.
Málaga:
We began our Janmastami celebration in Málaga by doing a 1½ hour harinama attended by eight devotees. Our plan was to go right after the morning class, before it got too hot and the devotees became tired from fasting. As it turned out it was from 11:15 to 12:45 that we chanted. Lots of people, mostly tourists took pictures. Three people danced with us. We gave out invitations to the evening Janmastami program, as well as the weekly Sunday feast, and several people were interested in coming. OneSpanish man, who had spent two months in Vrindavan, was happy to hear the chanting again in his own country. In Central London, devotees do harinama in Janmastami in the afternoon on Oxford Street, and in Leipzig they do it in the evening when the curtains are closed before the final arati. In the future, you may consider celebrating Janmastami by doing harinama in a city near you!
Churriana:
On Vyasa Puja day, just before our evening program, we did 40 minutes of harinama with four devotees around Churriana, the town where our Málaga temple is located. We passed out five invitations to our Sunday program, and although it was Saturday, seven people came to the temple, three staying to hear a few homages to Srila Prabhupada. I was overjoyed, and I saw this as Srila Prabhupada’s reciprocation for us doing outreach on his glorious appearance day!
Kirtana Mela in Spain
They have incredibly beautiful Radha Krishna deities called Radha Govindacandra there at Nueva Vraja Mandala, and it was a pleasure to chant for them.
There were not too many people at this kirtana-mela, perhaps fifty to eighty or so. I was happy that there was room to dance. During the hot part of the day, we stayed inside.
When it cooled we went outside.
Bhaktivaibhava Swami and Kadamba Kanana Swami were both there and led very lively kirtanas, as did some other kirtana leaders from Spain that I did not know.
Kadamba Kanana Swami also inspired people to dance when others, especially Bhaktivaibhava Swami, led kirtana.
I personally had a great time dancing.
There were lots of great realizations about chanting which you can read in the “Insights” below. Kadamba Kanana Swami at the end challenged the devotees to have a kirtana-mela with two hundred devotees for next year’s anniversary of the installation of the deities there.
I am grateful to Yadunandana Swami and Dhruva Prabhu for giving me with such a wonderful opportunity in Spain.
Insights
Bhaktivaibhava Swami:
When Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya asked Lord Caitanya the best process of bhakti He quoted the verse beginning harer nama harer nama . . . in this age there is no other process for self-realization other than the chanting of the holy name.
The iti sodasakam verse indicates that specifically the maha-mantra is the best spiritual practice in all the Vedas.
The illusory energy of the Lord makes one forget that he endeavored for material happiness before and he just got beaten over the head.
The devotees are most fortunate because they are utilizing lives properly.
We are not painting everything black. Birth, death, old age, and disease are a fact. If death is natural, why does every living entity resist it if you try to kill it?
If we maintain the purity of our chanting, others will be attracted in the future, as we were attracted in the past.
Krishna appears as His holy name when we have a service-inclined tongue and ears. When the tongue is controlled, all the senses become controlled
In the Garuda Purana, it describes many subtle beings, and all these beings are liberated when the harinama party goes by.
Pudma Purana describes that even by thinking of the Ganges River, one becomes liberated.
There is a story of frog couple who went on pilgrimage to go to the Ganges River and dive in and become liberated. Unfortunately, they met a snake on the way. They tried to preach to the snake that they were innocent and should not be killed. The snake preached to the frogs, that by God's arrangement they were his prey and it was right for him to eat them. The snake prepared to eat them, and they cried out “Ganga Mayi” as they left their bodies. Thus both frogs attained the heavenly planets, the male shared the throne with Indra. After many, many years of enjoyment on the heavenly planets, a Vaikunntha airplane came to take the two former frogs to the spiritual world.
One who perfectly follows his spiritual master reaches the Supersoul.
One can learn by hearing or by experience, but it is better to learn by hearing.
My mother told me, “My dear son, do not marry.” She had not had a good experience of marriage, and thus so she instructed me thus. So I accepted it.
We are not against material desires. We will not be successful in our preaching if we instruct people, especially young people, not to have material desires. But they should go about the fulfillment of their material desires in the proper way, and in this way they will suffer less.
I am not serving any big projects in ISKCON, just writing, reading, telling of my little life and tending to my sadhana. I’m doing as my departed Godbrother, Sridhara Maharaja, said, “Just be yourself and make your contribution.”
from Journal and Poems, Volume 3:
“Then, where are the directly God conscious, devotional haikus? One cannot say that they are omitted in a neutral, natural way. To omit the Absolute Truth is itself a metaphysical statement. To light incense and not offer it to God. To write of erotic moments in defiance of scriptural codes. To write hundreds of nature poems assuming that the perception of birds, beasts, sky, elements, etc., is sufficient spiritual nourishment—and that God is just another ‘thing.’ These are all atheistic proclamations.
“Write of the bomb? Write of a sexual affair? ‘We must,’ they say, ‘because this is our life, this is reality.’ “I am no Buddha no Jayadeva, but someone has to say it: Which haiku will save us at death? “Basho's death poem is a wishful hope, wandering across the moor.
“Issa gave a humble farewell— ‘I was a fool, so are we all!
“Which haiku will save us? The frog jumps in? The wings of the dragonfly?
“Talented poets, please make a poem-prayer. But first you have to learn it. “Delicate senses in a floating world, is not enough.
“Don't you know we all have to come back to another body? “Now who will come forward and say it with beauty?
“Alas, my gayatris go by too quickly, and I can’t get them back. Is it that I think my time is better spent in writing?
“‘But how do you know there is God?’ “‘Because the Srimad-Bhagavatam assures us.’ “‘But isn’t that just an old book of stories?’ “‘No, it’s sastra. It’s the book of authority. Srila Prabhupada said, ‘At least we have a book.’ Srimad-Bhagavatam is solid authority, at least among those who cherish it and who are learned in spiritual science. It is self-effulgent, describes the highest nature of religion as love of God. Are we so dull that we can't appreciate its standard?’
“So it goes, me and the atheist, like two guys at a sidewalk café in Paris arguing over whether or not God exists.
from Karttika Notes:
In this temple [in Mayapura] they keep moving people who are in front of honored guests like me and so I had a clear vision of Sri Sri Nrsimhadeva. I can’t say that I prayed to Him to remove the anarthas, but at least I was enthusiastic to be in His presence, and I know that He is fierce and that He is going to work on you when you come close to Him in a respectful devotional way.
Today is Gopastami. The Deities of the gopis and Radharani had their feet showing. They said the reason is because these gopis are all going to see the cows for Gopastami and they don’t want to get their saris muddy so they lifted them up a bit.
[Pankajanghri Prabhu said in a letter to Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami]: “Opposite to any other place I’ve stayed, Sri Mayapura gets more and more attractive the longer one stays and one’s attachment to it increases proportionately.”
I have many favorite memories [of Srila Prabhupada]. One memory I like is of a lecture that Prabhupada gave in 1975 at the annual Mayapur festival. Prabhupada quoted Bhaktivinoda Thakura saying that he longed for the day when the Europeans (and Americans) would join with their Bengali brothers and chant the holy names of Krishna and Caitanya. Prabhupada announced from the vyasasana that now that prophecy had taken place today. It was a wonderful moment of history to be present while Prabhupada announced that the prophecy of Bhaktivinoda Thakura had been fulfilled by Prabhupada’s own work and by his own movement and witnessed at Sri Caitanya-candrodaya Mandir.
Yes. Prabhupada asked all of his devotees to write. Krishna is our best friend, so we can express ourselves to him in the form of a journal. It may contain sastric verses and our own realizations, and even our lamentations at our lack of realizations. A devotee’s journal is not mundane, but it is filled with transcendental aspirations and is a recommended way of practicing Krishna consciousness.
My drawing for today is three colorful sankirtaneros dancing with upraised arms. They are red and black and green and smiling in the bliss of harinama. Swirls of color surround them as auras of auspiciousness, and they make the viewer happy. That is the symptom of the maha- bhagavata, that he induces others to also chant Hare Krishna. These three are infectious, and they invite you to join with them in the most important function: the congregational chanting of the holy names.
from My Letters from Srila Prabhupada, Volume 2, You Cannot Leave Boston:
“I had another service which I liked very much, which was writing the blurbs on the back of the books and the introductions describing what the books were. I took a lot of pleasure in that assignment. It was an area where I could use my knowledge of the Western mentality and of readers and to try to attract readers who knew nothing about Krishna. Writing those blurbs was always challenging. When we printed the Second Canto chapters as small paperbacks, I also titled the chapters. Those were the first books ISKCON Press printed. Prabhupada liked them, but after a while our printing mistakes became obvious as the books started to fall apart. We were still in an experimental stage at that time. I chose the titles from references in each chapter and tried to use Srila Prabhupada’s varied expressions.
from Narada-bhakti-sutra, verse 23:
“‘On the other hand, displays of devotion without knowledge of God’s greatness are no better than the affairs of illicit lovers.’
Vedavyasa Prabhu:
One can listen for a long time, but if he is not submissive, he will not benefit.
Any topic in relationship with Krishna is glorious and worth hearing.
Bhaktisiddhana Sarasvati Thakura spoke to Radha Kunda babajis about Prahlada Maharaja instead of satisfying their desire to hear of Krishna’s intimate pastimes.
Kasyapa had the duty to satisfy his wife Diti sexually, but not at an inauspicious time.
Q: It is difficult to liberate one’s children in this age, so is better not to have any?
A: We must have the intent to liberate them.
Bhakti Vidya Purna Swami says that the man is either completely rational or completely emotional while the woman is always half rational and half emotional, and so a man when in his state of being completely emotional can take shelter of the intelligence of the woman.
If a householder is sensually agitated he can always take shelter of his wife, while those in the renounced order can become completely degraded if they cannot tolerate the agitation.
There were cases where people could not follow the strictly follow the principle of having sex only for procreation, and Prabhupada advised them to minimize the sex as far as possible.
If there is no repentance of inability to follow but just the offering of excuses, that presents a problem to progress.
The idea is that by having sex according to dharma and raising the children properly you will be purified from the sex desire. Otherwise it will remain.
It is better to go through some authority to arrange a male-female relationship to leading to a marriage. Sometimes persons in a spiritual community pursue male-female relationships without intending to get married, but that ends up creating a disturbance.
Kadamba Kanana Swami:
A gray van came to my town and too many pink men come out. I popped into a shop. Someone said they are a dangerous sect. They looked dangerous to me. When I heard them on TV three months later, explaining their philosophy, no meat eating, no intoxication, no illicit sex, and no gambling, and chanting 16 rounds a day then I knew they were dangerous.
The power of the holy name is such that even the reluctant would be touched by the holy nmae of the Lord.
The holy name penetrates into our heart and gradually our desires change and thus it can create a revolution in this entire world.
The mercy of the pure devotee of the Lord is very possible. In Sri Caitanya-caritamrita one devotee is described as able to deliver the entire world. Seeing Srila Prabhupada’s activities we can understand how this is possible.
Srila Prabhupada understood that by their hearing the holy name, it will work in their heart, and they will come back.
Smita Krishna Swami said that Srila Prabhupada said that when a harinama party goes through the street it does not just change the people in the street, it changes the whole street as well. Anyone who goes through that street later becomes purified.
Once Srila Prabhupada said, “We do not need to use this microphone. We are using this microphone to purify the microphone maker.”
It is not only the people who chant Hare Krishna that benefit, but also those that hear.
Once in Spain there was an ad with four Hare Krishnas on a big Easyrider, Harley Davidson motorcycle. The people in general think it is funny—monks on a motorcycle. But we laugh because monks are at home on a motorcycle. This movement is meant to pick up all kinds of people.
The holy name can reach out to the most fallen. It does not require any qualification.
We travel all over the people to meet the same people and do the same thing—chant Hare Krishna. But it is not always the same, it is a great transcendental adventure. Sometimes there is magic in the kirtana, and we can all feel the presence of Krishna, and we think this is the best, and for that moment, our eyes are open, and we experience the truth, that chanting the holy name is the best thing.
In New Mayapur, in central France, Prabhupada told the devotees to offer some fruits to the Deities in the afternoon. A devotee said he would buy some. Prabhupada said, “Why buy? Just pick some bananas from the garden.” The devotees said they are no bananas in our garden, but Prabhupada said in the future there will be.
Q: Who gets more purified? The chanter or the hearer?
A: One may chant with partial faith, but another can hear it with complete faith and can make great progress. Often persons have heard about Krishna originally from unserious persons but became very serious themselves.
The holy name is Krishna, and He has an individual relationship with each one so you never know who gets purified.
Srila Prabhupada just let the holy name act. He was not trying to change the world by his power. He had prayed to Krishna, “Why can I say to deliver these people? I can only repeat your words.” Prabhupada was convinced. Are we convinced? If we were, we would just stay here and chant Hare Krishna all day. We chant, but we also looking for happiness elsewhere.
It is said that Ajamila was the best by far among those in the gurukula at that time, so the teachers decided to do his astrological chart and find out how great a personality he was. But when they saw his chart, it was not so auspicious. He was in a Jupiter period and doing very well, but it was not to last. So they decided to get him married to a nice brahmani lady. But he saw a low class man embracing a low class women intimately, and he decided that he must have that woman. So he engaged her as a maidservant, and sent his wife back to her father, and later sent a note saying there was no need for her to return.
Sometimes we say “mirror, mirror, on the wall, who has the best karma of all.” Some people, maybe even relatives, have relatively good karma, but those who have stuck around in the material world until the Kali-yuga have mostly bad karma. The standard is brought so low, that those who could not get a human body in another age, get a human body in Kali-yuga. Kali-yuga is like a school for retarded children.
In kirtana we get strength from the other devotees, but in japa we are alone with Krishna. In kirtana, we can show off, but in japa we are alone with Krishna, and He is not impressed. Krishna can see into our hearts, and that is why it is so hard to chant japa. But when we switch off the mind, and we just hear the holy name, it can be very nice.
Kirtana in the evening can bring life to japa in the morning.
Everyone would praise Vishnujana Maharaja for being always enthusiastic in kirtana. But he would say, “I am not always enthusiastic in kirtana, but I act enthusiastic, and so the devotees become enthusiastic, and seeing the devotees becoming enthusiastic, I become enthusiastic.
The four sinful activities we give up, meat eating, intoxication, illicit sex, and gambling, are described in the Srimad-Bhagavatam to be where adharma (irreligion) resides in this age of Kali. Srila Prabhupada wanted to drive out the influence of the age of Kali, so he advised his followers to refrain from these four key sinful activities.
The handsome, single, Prince Nala was on the way to the svayamvara of Damayanti, and three demigods appeared. He offered obeisances to them and asked what he could do to serve them. They said, “Go to the svayamvara of Damayanti and win Damayanti on our behalf.” He was not so enthusiastic as he wanted Damayanti himself, but the demigods asked, so he was obliged to serve them. He went to the arena of the ceremony and informed Damayanti that the demigods would also be at the ceremony. Damayanti said she did not want the demigods, she wanted Nala. Nala returned, and Indra asked Nala what happened and he explained everything. So on the day of the syamavara there were four Nalas. Damayanti was perplexed. She prayed to the Supreme Lord that she gave her heart to Nala, but she could not identify him. At that moment, the demigods resumed their original forms, and Damayanti garlanded the real Nala. After some time, the personality of Kali persuaded Indra that Nala was unnecessarily proud, and he should have given the demigods the right to Damayanti, and he volunteered to rectify the situation. He entered the dice in a dice game, and Nala lost everything, time after time, until he had one dhoti left, and that he had to rip in half to share with his wife. Nala and his wife retreated to the forest. He was so illusioned by lamentation by the influence of Kali, that he left his wife alone in the forest, because he considered himself a failure in protecting her, and therefore it was better than he should leave her. The key thing is that Nala was illusioned by Kali who was influencing his thoughts, but he did not realize Kali was influencing his thoughts. Could it be possible that I am influenced by Kali and do not know it? And could it be possible that you are influenced by Kali and do not know it?
If you keep money for yourself, then Kali will come for it. You can maintain your house for Krishna, if you follow the four regulative principles and chant 16 rounds each day of Hare Krishna there. Otherwise, you will want a new car, you will want a new iPod, and you will want a new husband—this one is useless, he does not fulfill my desires.
When I was unconscious in the hospital I heard Srila Prabhupada chanting that familiar melody of Hare Krishna, and it was like the sun coming out.
Yadunandana Swami:
According to The Nectar of Devotion, observance of Janmastami is a limb of devotional service to Lord Krishna. The recent acarya, Bhaktivinoda Thakura, considered Janmastami and Ekadasi to be mothers of devotion.
In the Bhagavatam it is said Narada would worship Hirankasipu to avoid problems.
Principally Krishna comes to protect His devotees, but he also chastises the atheists.
Krishna is so merciful He promoted Putana to the post of nurse in the spiritual world although she came to kill Him.
Persons can transcend the fearfulness of the ocean of birth and death.
Krishna relieved Kamsa from his fear of death by killing him.
There are many cases of devotees who became fearless of death by devotees chanting the holy name around them at the end of life.
One man who went to India visited different temples. He compared them looking at characteristics such as deity worship, cleanliness, festivals, etc., and found the ISKCON temples were the best, the Gaudiya Math temples the second best, and the others after that.
Q: Sometimes people in India argue if Ravana and Kamsa attained liberation by being very bad people, why do we have to be good people?
A: They were very, very, very bad. So bad, the Lord appeared to kill them. Because the soul is naturally the eternally the servant of Krishna, it is very difficult to be that bad. Also generally the demons killed by Krishna attain sayujya-mukti, which is not as high as the liberation of living with the Lord in the spiritual world.
In India things have become so degraded people drink whiskey to celebrate Janmastami, just some Christian celebrate Christmas by drinking.
In Vrndavana, Krishna’s form is so sweet the people forget He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Krishna showed His universal form to Yasoda, but when she became reverential, He expanded His internal energy because He did not want her to be revertial.
The four special qualities of Krishna are:
lila-madhurya – He has wonderful pastimes.
prema-madhurya – His associates have wonderful love of God.
venu-madhurya – His flute playing attracts the whole universe.
rupa-madhuya – His form is one of incomparable beauty.
from evening Janmastami interview:
Bhagavad-gita is special because it is the only scripture where God talks about Himself.
Reading one verse a day can satisfy you.
In Vrindavan the atmosphere of spirituality is very profound in the temples.
The tilaka reminds us that we are spiritual beings, and God is in our heart.
If one accumulates more than he needs, he ends up taking that set aside for others, and one has to suffer some reaction for that.
If we endeavor spiritually, we will find our crises will be solved.
We should work as an offering to God, while viewing all beings to be part of God.
It is important to dedicate part of our day to spiritual cultivation.
I recommend that everyone take at least a small book to understand more about spiritual life.
Vyasa Puja Offerings
Offering by Prabhupada Disciples:
Jagannatha Nrsimha Prabhu:
The pure devotees is on a mission from Krishna to rescue fallen souls. By contacting him a disciple’s life changes. By Prabhupada’s life we can see the example of the life of a pure devotee of Krishna, and try to perfect our life.
The pure devotee establishes service to the Deity so we can be directly engaged in the Lord’s service, as there is no difference between the Deity and the Lord Himself.
We are so fortunate that we have found Srila Prabhupada, who is a true guru.
I served Srila Prabhupada in Vrindavan. Sometimes I could be sitting near him, chanting my japa for two hours, and he was not disturbed by that. He was very grave.
When Prabhupada saw the picture of Krishna whirling around, he moved his arms in the same motion, imitating the pastime.
I was sent to go to Prabhupada’s kitchen three hours a day to do what was needed.
I would clean the floor and clean the kitchen. My mind was very dedicated to the service, and I was satisfied.
I did not have much of a spiritual urge, but in the association of a pure devotee, that develops.
Once Bhakti Charu Swami asked me to come into Prabhupada’s association. Prabhupada spoke to me very slowly, very softly. I said I did not speak English, but he went on speaking. I was very embarrassed. At the end I just folded my hands before him. Later I learned that he was asking me to be careful to leave the kitchen door shut so the monkeys did not get in. He also inquired about how I liked my service.
Once I was very happy after completing my service. As I was leave, I offered full obeisances on the floor. I saw he had a big smile on his face, from ear to ear.
Nrsimha Prabhu:
When Prabhupada was asked about his own guru, he replied, “What can I say, he was a Vaikuntha man [a resident of the spiritual world].”
He did not tell many stories about his guru but he did tell the story how he met his guru.
Just by hearing from Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura for a few moments he could understand he was an authorized representative of Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
He told of how one time he was early for a meeting with Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, and he sat on the same seat at his guru. Then others came and sat on the floor and he realized he made a mistake. His guru did not say again, but Srila Prabhpada never made that mistake again.
Prabhupada stressed that everyone can associate with him by reading his books. Devotees would want to have some personal exchange with Srila Prabhupada and so would ask him questions, but he stressed that all answers to all questions were in his books.
Only a rare person such as Srila Prabhupada can accept the worship of the whole world.
Sometimes people consider the deity or murti to be a way of fixing the mind on an object of worship. It is that, but it is also that Krishna as the Deity personally accepts the food.
When Srila Prabhupada approved the worship of his murti form (representation as a statue), one disciple asked him if they could really offer food to the tomurti and that he could accept it. Srila Prabhupada said, “Yes.” And then he quoted a verse: Sak?ad-dharitvenasamasta-sastraih.
I was a new devotee in Miami who joined almost immediately, attracted by the holy name. Later, when the offering of flowers to Srila Prabhupada was introduced, I found I was immediately attracted, seeing this a real connection with Srila Prabhupada, Krishna’s representative. I was very experiential in those days but not so philosophical, and so Krishna gave me those nice experiences. When Prabhupada came to New York, a thousand devotees from America and Canada came to greet him including me. When I saw him personally it seemed the same as worshiping him in the temple.
The devotees had a farm in Hawaii that the GBC wanted to sell, but Prabhupada told him not to sell it. He said he would enter nirjana-bhajana there and complete his translation of Srimad-Bhagavatam.” We had the simplest facility with no electricity and just a thin mat to sleep on, but Srila Prabhupada was very blissful the whole time. The devotees were worried about their lack of facility, but Srila Prabhupada was perfectly happy.
I presented to Srila Prabhupada an elaborate plan for a temple, ashram and elaborate preaching project there in Hawaii, but Srila Prabhupada replied if you just offer nice fruits and flowers to Gaura Nitai, they will be satisfied.
Srila Prabhupada wrote Vishnujana Swami, “When the waves of maya attack, your little sentiment for Krishna may not sustain you, therefore all the devotees must fully understand the philosophy.”
a Prabhupada disciple whose name I did not note down:
I am very happy how yesterday’s Janmastami went. I felt the presence of Srila Prabhupada in everything and every devotee.
As a student in my youth in Buenos Aires, I used to read Hindu poems and realized there was something I could not find in the western culture, so I decided go to India. While there I got a small bowl of halava and an invitation to the temple. I learned from this that we should invite everyone without discrimination because we do not know who may end up becoming a devotee.
I love India, and I want to end my life there. I love Vrindavan, everything about it, and Srila Prabhupada has given us enlightenment to appreciate.
In Rishikesh on either side of Ram Jhulan, you see sadhus, beggars, and monkeys. The monkeys sit as though chanting gayatri.
I traveled together throughout Europe with a Mexican friend who I immediately connect with because he was also interested in Srila Prabhupada’s books. We went to this devotee farm in central France, New Mayapur, where they just purchased an abandoned castle. We started helping with the renovation. We thought we were going for a weekend, but we stayed two years.
At a reception for Srila Prabhupada I took literally the instruction to roll in the dust of the pure devotee. The ground was wet and I got all muddy, but I was so happy I did not notice.
At my initiation while offering obeisances, and I went completely blank. They had to tell me to move.
My service was to keep anyone from disturbing Srila Prabhupada while he was translating. I also got to get the remnants of Srila Prabhupada as soon as they were available. I do not know how I got so much mercy.
We carried Srila Prabhupada by palanquin and noticed very little different in weigh whether Srila Prabhupada was in it or not.
The castle had hold locks with big holes, and devotees would look through the holes to see Srila Prabhupada. Prabhupada noticed this, and peeked into the hole himself, saying “Haribol,” and surprising the devotee on the other end.
Srila Prabhupada had amazing qualities that make you want to respect him.
One in Paris Prabhupada showed his humility, there was choice between whether he or a devotee lady could proceed first, and Srila Prabhupada smiled, and said “Ladies first.”
One time Prabhupada had a choice to go this way or that way, Prabhupada chose a path that seemed otherwise less attractive because by that path he passed by one of his disciples, saying he wanted to see his devotee serving Krishna.
Offerings from the Vyasa Puja book:
Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami:
If you arrived a decade earlier or later, you would not have found a class of people ready escape the rat race for a life of devotion to Krishna.
I gave you the typed pages, and you looked them over, and said they were well done. Then you gave me a few grapes. I foolishly thought “I worked so hard typing into the night, and all I get is a few grapes?” You gave me more manuscripts to type, and then you said, “Doing this typing is not a mechanical process. If you will love me, I will love you.” These words had a profound effect on me. They broke down my barriers of resistance and all the reasons I had for not becoming your disciple.
You are ISKCON’s flag victory.
You are the eternal resident of Vrindavan whom we must follow if we wish to enter Radha-Krishna’s service in Goloka Vrindavana.
Guru Prasad Swami:
You taught, following Rupa Goswmi, that desirelessness is to desire only for Krishna. You showed perfect desirelessness by desiring that everyone offering everything to Krishna and by spreading the chanting of Krishna’s name all over the world.
Bhakti Charu Swami:
I made a minor mistake and a godbrother reprimanded me heavily. You heard the details and said, “The sign of real advancement is not in the position we hold but in being tolerant in all circumstances and remaining unperturbed in every situation.”
You once told me, “Make sure the devotees get nice prasadam. It is the only sense gratification they have.” Then you explained to me that the first and foremost responsibility of leader is to take care of his followers. “If you take care of them, they will do anything for you.”
Giriraja Swami:
My hope going back to Godhead had diminished in the years since you left, but by the association with my godbrothers in Vrindavan, I acquired new hope. These verses encouraged me as I saw the truth in them by my experience.
“One should associate with devotees, chant the holy name of the Lord, hear Srimad-Bhagavatam, reside Mathura and worship the Deity with faith and veneration. These five limbs of devotional service are the best of all. Even a slight performance of these five awakens love for Krishna. (Cc. Madhya 22.128–129)
Offerings by Other Devotees:
Yadunandana Swami:
Tamal Krishna Goswami’s book, A Living Theology of Krishna Bhakti, mentions the contributions of Srila Prabhupada.
He identifies two maha-vakyas of Srila Prabhupada.
1. Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as explained by Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.3.28.
2. devotional service, not just devotion, there must be service.
Srila Prabhupada contributed 50 volumes of translations, 60 volumes of lectures, 36 volumes of conversations, and some many volumes of letters. No other scholar contributed so much. You would have to dedicate your whole life to study it all.
We have not understood Srila Prabhupada with enough depth.
Srila Prabhupada got up early to contribute all the books so we could study them.
When we hear the glorification of the devotees, we are reminded that Srila Prabhupada is a touchstone even now, bringing out bhakti in their hearts.
In the Spanish yatra we tend to see all the things that are wrong, but we experience that Janmastami in Malaga is getting better each year. The senior leaders are still present, but the new people are taking more responsibility.
Dhruva Prabhu:
Srila Prabhupada has given us all to each other. We did not know each other two days ago but now we are glorifying Srila Prabhupada as brothers and sisters. The devotees all over the world are a family, and Srila Prabupada is the father. We are all sons and daughters, grandsons, and granddaughters.
Wherever I travel in the world I am always in Srila Prabhupada’s house.
As an Indian I knew the mantra and would chant it 10 times a year. Prabhupada gift is that we chant 16 rounds a day. It is like the difference between taking a drop of honey and a whole bottle of honey.
You can read all the 700 verses of Bhagavad-gita and you will not chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra. But if you read the purports of Srila Prabhupada, you will end up chanting Hare Krishna without even realizing.
In India maha-prasadam is not new. In every temple you get maha-prasadam, but you get only one peanut and you hardly know where it goes in your mouth, but Srila Prabhupada gave us whole meals, breakfast, lunch, and dinner, so much you cannot eat any more.
The more we cooperate, the more Prabhupada is pleased.
I like whole Janmastami program here. The prasadam was packaged before midnight and it was distributed within fifteen minutes. Some places it is after one before everyone gets it. Also the guests got a drink and a sweet as soon as they came. In India we says the guests should be treated as God. It is important we receive the guests properly. They are not coming to see us, they are coming to see Srila Prabhupada.
Jiva Tattva Prabhu:
Prabhupada started without support at a late age. By material calculation, you would not expect success. He had two heart attacks on the boat. He had little money. His faith in Lord Caitanya’s prediction and his books were his only assets. He had no initial success. He shared living space with a Mayavadi who would not let him speak, and then later a drug-crazed madman. The faith and conviction Srila Prabhupada had to continue was incredible. It is like the Christians say, if one has a grain of faith, one can more mountains.
Rasamrta Mataji:
This philosophy is Srila Prabhupada’s greatest gift. He has given the means to purify the heart. He lets me live with those who desire a spiritual life.
Uttara Mataji:
I am happy to be at your Vyasa Puja. It is my favorite festival. You always take care of me. Many years ago when I lost my spiritual master, I prayed to you to send me a spiritual master. You sent me Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami, and he increased my love for you. I had a dream in which you asked me to make puris and to stitch your dhoti.
Rasasundari Mataji:
I had a dream which was very personal. I was in front of the murti, and the murti became Srila Prabhupada. That was very profound. I understood that Prabhupada is with us personally as his murti, and we can always take shelter of him.
My guru told me when we go beyond our comfort zone to do something for Srila Prabhupada we get so much mercy.
I am very grateful for being part of this family.
Gauranga-lila Devi:
I have a strong feeling of gratitude toward Srila Prabhupada, which gives me anxiety because I feel a great debt that I can never really pay back. Thus I pray for the intelligence to serve him nicely and that I will never leave his shelter.
Caitanya Candra Prabhu:
Prabhupada arranged everything so we can please Krishna. We should get more into Srila Prabhupada’s mission.
-----
patrapatra-vicara nahi, nahi sthanasthana
yei yanha paya, tanha kare prema-dana
“In distributing love of Godhead, Caitanya Mahaprabhu and His associates did not consider who was a fit candidate and who was not, nor where such distribution should or should not take place. They made no conditions. Wherever they got the opportunity, the members of the Pañca-tattva distributed love of Godhead.” (Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Adi-lila 7.23)
Nrtya Kishori writes about the latest Field Trip with the Preschool-Kindergarten Class. "Do you love animals?" asked Masai Maggie. "Yes!" called out a big crowd of 2-5 year olds, among whom were our very own TKG Academy Pre-school and Kindergarten students. On August 29th, they had taken a field trip…
The Preschool Kindergarten class is full of many wonders! Young children are busily and peacefully engaged in their work, while Mother Rasakeli acts as a facilitator, keeping the environment clean and attractive for little minds to develop. Class begins with Circle Time where they sing songs and listen to stories.…
Every Friday is a festival! As been a tradition for many years, students start the first hour of each Friday personally worshipping the Gurukula Deities, emulating the worship established by Srila Prabhupada in temples worldwide. Srila Prabhupada wanted the children to practice playing with and worshipping the Deity Form…
Time Lines are an excellent tool to used increase comprehension in History and Social Studies. They help students order and remember chronological events and dates, incorporating math and language arts. The 3rd to 5th graders worked on a timeline group project about the key events in the life of…
In Science, students learned Classification. 3rd graders classifed animals by different characteristics and 4th-6th learned about the Biological Classification System. Students get to choose an animal or a fruit or vegetable and classify. They can draw it or print pictures of it to make their display. They research online…
The Upper Elementary Class has had a busy start to their school year! In Science they've been learning about Observations, Inferences & Opinions and practicing them. They have been studying classification. 3rd graders have been classifying animals by different characteristics, and 4th through 6th graders have been learning the…
In the afternoons, we've been working on Group Activities. Students pair together, communicate objectives and teacher's standards with each other and identify who will be doing which part of the Activity. This is vital to student relationships; learning to work together in accomplishing a task. This week, one such…
Wow! The first two weeks of school have been such a success! The 1st and 2nd graders are ready for a great year of learning. Here is a peek of some of the activities. 2nd graders jumped right into Math with a birthday chart. Current reading is from a book of…
School has started! Cars are pulling up to the freshly painted TKG Academy building. Bright and eager young faces are hopping out, excited to see their friends and tugging their lunches and backpacks filled with school supplies. Younger siblings, worried about the imminent separation chase after their older school-aged ones.…
Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 8, No. 14 By Krishna-kripa das (July 2012, part two)
Ireland, Paris, Switzerland (Sent from New Shantipur Farm, Czarnów, Poland, on August 25, 2012)
Where I Went and What I Did
After chanting in Dublin and Belfast, Ananta Nitai and I went to Govindadvipa to chant at a couple towns near our Krishna island, namely Enniskillen, Northern Island, and Cavan, Ireland, with Bhagavata Dasi, who has great enthusiasm for sharing Krishna. Then we returned to Dublin for the 12-hour harinama that we organized for that coming Saturday. After a few more days of harinama in Dublin, I went to chant for three days with my friends in Paris. Then I went to Langenthal, Switzerland, for the Saturday feast program, and to Zurich for the Sunday Jhulan Yatra festival and harinama on Monday. Then off to Berlin enroute to Kostrzyn, Poland, for my twelfth year at the Polish Woodstock festival which I describe in my next journal.
I share insights from a variety of Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami’s books, which are quoted in his online journal, Viraha Bhavan, which I regularly proofread, from Gour Govinda Swami’s disciple, Madhavananda Prabhu, who was visiting Paris, from Bhakti-sastri teacher, Adi Purusa Prabhu, who was visiting Zurich, and from my harinama partners in Dublin and Paris. I also include the experience of a man I met on a bus who met the Hare Krishna devotees at a festival.
Harinamas in Ireland
Invited by Bhagavata Dasi, Ananta Nitai Prabhu and I went to Govindadvipa to do harinamas in two nearby towns, Enniskillen, in Northern Ireland, and Cavan, in the Republic.
In Enniskillen, devotees chant in a little pedestrian area in the center of the town. The people were more appreciative and more charitable in general than the people in Cavan the next day. Bhagavata Dasi had some small books we gave all those who gave a donation, no matter how small. We did, however, encounter one macabre surprise, a fight between two women, perhaps in their twenties or thirties, no more than three meters in front of where we were chanting. One knocked the other down on the ground and was shouting and punching her out, to the horror of her son, who was standing, helpless, nearby. The one on the ground ended up with a bloody nose. No one intervened in the fight, other than a man who said a few words to no avail. The woman who was knocked down had her belongings scattered, and some people helped her pick them up, including the women who punched her out, who found her cell phone a little ways away and returned it to her. Five policemen came and interrogated the aggressive lady. It was truly a bizarre scene. I was singing and playing the harmonium at the time, so I just kept on chanting, as it was not clear what else I could really do. No one seemed to have a better idea. For me, it was just another example of how degrading humanity is becoming?that one woman would beat up another and that no one would try to intervene and prevent injury.
In Cavan the next day we had another great location in the center of the town where we chanted another three hours. The temple president, Gopal Acarya Prabhu, and his family encouraged us by coming out for the first hour or so. The best part was a young man coming up to the devotees, looking for Bhagavad-gita, and giving twenty euros. Otherwise, except for a few smiles, there was not a great response.
Twelve-Hour Harinama in Dublin
The previous week, Ananta Nitai Prabhu suggested that we might do a twenty-four hour harinama in Dublin.Thinking back on how I always have to take a break for three hours to get some rest during the twenty-four hour kirtanas, I suggested we start with a twelve-hour harinama. We settled on a week from Saturday, specifically, Saturday, July 21, and Premarnava Prabhu advertised it on Facebook, and we told all our harinama friends. I was most impressed by the participation of Ananta Nitai Prabhu himself, who participated for at least eleven hours, and the participation of a couple of devotee ladies from out of town, who we had chanted with during our brief tour of Ireland. Bhagavata Dasi took the bus two hours each way from Govindadvipa and chanted for four and half hours. Anet took the train one hour each way from her home and amazingly distributed books during the harinama for ten hours. Her only comment at the end, before returning home, was “When is the next one?” Premarnava Prabhu also put in five hours, and Robert came extra early for the regular Saturday evening harinama to participate. One break dancer enjoyed dancing with us in the afternoon, and group of young boys and one young lady really got into the dancing in the evening.
A couple of girls from Seattle girl happened to encounter our harinama at least twice during the day, and their smiles of joy inspired me to talk with them. One said that seeing the harinama was the best part of her Dublin trip. I encouraged them to visit our temple in Seattle, when they return home, for the local Sunday feast program there. I participated myself in our twelve-hour harinama for over eleven hours. Not realizing the strength of the Irish sun in that chilly land, I got the worst sunburn this year. I learned some strategies for my increasing participation. Just have a small lunch so you do not become tired and need to take rest, and do not drink so much you have to always take a bathroom break. I reported our harinama successes to my authority in the UK and Ireland, Janananda Goswami, who encouraged me to return to Ireland again after I come back to the UK from Europe in late September.
Metroyoga in Paris
I was happy to join my friends, Chandrasekhara Acharya Prabhu, Gadadhara Priya Prabhu, and Bhaktin Sara, in chanting on the metros in Paris again, a program called Metroyoga. Recently Chandrasekhara Acharya has written a nice article for Back to Godhead describing the program. You always meet some people who really appreciate the chanting and the presentation, and that makes it all worth it.
Langenthal, Switzerland
There is a growing community of devotees in Langenthal, Switzerland, about an hour from Zurich, in the German-speaking part of the country. They have a larger temple room than most of our temples in Europe. There were a lot of devotees there who had enthusiasm for the kirtana at their weekly Saturday feast program. At Langenthal three householder families have a prasadam business by which they maintain themselves.
Zurich
I was in Zurich for the Jhulan Yatra (Radha Krishna swing festival) on Sunday and harinama by the lake on Monday. Special features of the Zurich Jhulan Yatra are that the swing is suspended over a pool of water, and to satisfy both the Tamil-speaking congregation, largely from Sri Lanka, and the local German-speaking congregation, the festival is held twice, so I got to swing Radha-Krishna two times. This festival is observed in our temples with Radha Krishna deities for the five days before and including Lord Balarama’s appearance day, but in recent years I had not been in a temple where it was held, so it was a treat to be there in Zurich and to swing Radha and Krishna twice in one day. The Gaudiya Vaishnava sampradaya stresses service to the divine couple, Radha and Krishna, and this swing festival of Theirs gives everyone in the congregation a little experience of that. For that reason, it is one of my favorite festivals.
I felt indebted to temple president, Krishna Prema Rupa Prabhu, who kindly organized a nearly two-hour harinama on Monday with ten devotees down along the lake in Zurich. There was a lot of enthusiasm among the devotees. We even went further around the lake than they ever do, through a small region where they do not have permission to chant, to the other side of the lake where it is again permitted. We passed out many temple invitations, both to the Sunday feast and the upcoming Janmastami festival. One woman came up to me asking about devotees’ summer festival, and I gave her an invitation for the Janmastami event. Apparently there the devotees celebrate Janmastami so nicely people in the city look forward to it each year.
I took a night train from Zurich to Berlin on the way to the Polish Woodstock. Although it was over eleven hours, it was only $43, a rare deal from the Swiss train company, SBB.
Insights
Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami:
Emerson says, “Beware what you set your heart upon, for it will surely be yours.”
Make war on Maya in your life.
O Ugra Lion-Man,
Your black body,Your
stance of ready-to-fight,
massive black head
plainly silver teeth and
10 arms and hands I can
almost see them all?
be real for me,
I don’t fear You because
You are our protector against
evil. Therefore I ask You
please come alive?and
tear out form the roots
my anarthas.
And life ebbs out like from a slightly leaking pot.
I thought this is so strange. The blue-faced murti of a calm Nrsimha holding Laksmi on His lap. India, and a religion of strange forms. Is it not that way? Unless you are born and raised here (or you live here many years and become Indian-religionized) it remains alien to you. But you have one thing?your surrender to Prabhupada. And he expertly teaches and induces you to accept Krsna consciousness in a scientific nonsectarian way. Except for him, even Gaudiya Vaisnavism remains strange gods, alien words, hard to believe miracles. . . .
Srila Prabhupada followed his guru life and soul yet made his own way in America, innovated, etc. Can you?
Don’t want to die “off” or die having not fulfilled what you could have become if you dared. Let everyone live out the best he or she can become.
“How do you develop selfless service for
the guru?” she asks. I’m at a loss to
answer precisely because
I don’t know it myself!
I am in lap of Gaura-Nitai [being in Mayapura]. Please I ask Them, please shape me and give good meaning to my visit.
I can occupy myself splendidly if people would just leave me alone.
But you have seen Lord Nrsimha
and can call His names,
please protect me from demons,
please kill my own demons
in the heart.
A day here is worth
millions somewhere else says
Navadvipa Mahatmya.
Bumpkin returns to the
West with stars in eyes
and plan. He’ll be a
Prabhupada Gauranga man.
Tell them. . . . I love you, I love this, but I also love to be alone?it’s hard work but very rewarding in a quiet and deep way.
O Lord, I thank You, it’s You who arrange this, who guide me to do it. Now may I do it purely.
Well life and death are somewhat the same and they are definitely related. When you are aware of death then you live in a certain way, a better way. The certainty of death, and thinking about it, turns your life more serious. It doesn’t mean you live in a deathlike way. You can still be very much in the moment, and so to speak, enjoy it all, but you’re aware that it’s really over soon, and you live in a way to improve your next life. So you see what I mean, how death and life are connected?
Yesterday you were complaining a little that there has been so much talk in your life about people dying, especially devotees in Vrndavana. But partly it’s just your own fear and avoidance of death that makes you not want to hear all of this. And the positive way to take it is to be aware of death as you live. That doesn’t spoil everything in the present moment, but it rather infuses it with a certain energetic fervent quality. If you can drive out sense gratification and serve Krsna then you are successful.
Tomorrow we’ll try a new strategy of just completely closing the windows because the bugs are coming right through the screens. I’ve never seen any place where they have such multitudes of insects. Prabhupada talks about it in some of his lectures, how in Mayapur during the night these creatures are born and live and die in one night and how in the morning you see heaps and heaps of bodies. Sometimes when I heard the lecture I felt perhaps he was exaggerating when he said that there were thousands and thousands of bugs and heaps and heaps of bodies in the morning and that you could sweep them away. But now I see it’s true. Why don’t I take Prabhupada literally true on face value all the time? Just it’s a matter of time before you find out that what he says is true.
from My Letters from Srila Prabhupada, Volume 3, I am Never Displeased with Any Member:
“I was recently speaking with one devotee who told me that her fifteen-year-old daughter is so fixed on becoming a devotee that she even thought of running away from home and joining an ISKCON temple (her mother wants her to stay home and finish school). Despite the horrors that so many of us suffered, there’s another side: Living in a temple really helped us become devotees, solidly fixed in sadhana.
“We shared living space, bathrooms, food, cooking duties, trouble, anxiety and the triumph of having received such a letter from Prabhupada. We worshiped together and felt the bliss of collective peak experience that comes from working hard for Krishna. Our lives were so different from anything we could have imagined them to be. We weren’t living abstract ideas of unity and community as were the hippies in their cynicism. Prabhupada had given us the real thing. Prabhupada was the center. It wasn’t always easy?and I’m aware that I’m stressing the good side?but we were all devotees, disciples, together. There was no question that we could do other than we did if we were sincere. Putting aside the old ISKCON debate, we should be mature enough to just try and feel the essence of something Prabhupada gave us and which many of us are so fortunate to have taken part in, even if things have changed. We joined the spiritual world.”
from Srila Prabhupapa Samadhi Diary:
“O Prabhupada, may we live in you until we die; may we serve in this life and the next. May we study your words and repeat them with joy and conviction. May we know Krishna and Radha through you.”
Dhruva Prabhu:
The Sanskrit verses of the scripture purify us so it is good to chant them repeatedly.
Prabhupada was very liberal and said it does not matter what religion you follow but that you must follow strictly whatever religion you choose. Just like you have to learn math, but which math book you use is up to you.
If we love someone, we must remember that person and we must do something for that person, and so it is with Krishna.
The greatest gift is love of God.
In America the greatest worry is “will my money run out before I die?”
The beauty of Krishna consciousness is the giver and the receiver both benefit.
A saint is not recognized in his own town. The great example is Prabhupada who had so much difficulty preaching Krishna consciousness in India but became very successful in the West.
In the material world if someone praises you, you praise them, “You must be so intelligent to realize how intelligent I am.”
Our preaching is successful if one comes to appreciate different features of Krishna consciousness, the harinama, the prasadam, and the books.
I have been on many harinamas, but the ones that Indradyumna Swami has in Poland are the most amazing. The devotees are all dressed very nicely and play the instruments very nicely. People are very attracted, and you can see it.
In India the children see the mother and father as God because mother and father maintain them as God maintains them.
It is no wonder we fall several times a day, but we must recognize we have fallen, and continue chanting.
We do not see our big faults, but we are very expert in finding innumerable insignificant faults in others.
Ananta Nitai Prabhu:
I always liked harinama, congregational chanting in public, but it was not until I read what Aindra Prabhu wrote that I understood its great importance.
We cannot judge devotees externally. Externals do not represent the internal mood of the devotee, but it is the internal mood that Krishna reciprocates with.
Krishna’s statements in the Gita are enacted in His pastimes.
Tribhuvananatha Prabhu said, referring to the spiritually ignorant, a husband and wife love each other’s false egos at best.
I could chant four rounds a day, and I resigned my self to that, thinking I would never chant anymore than four. I heard that the association of devotees was valuable, so I took a week off from work and attended the temple morning program with fourteen devotees every day. By the fourth day, I was chanting sixteen rounds, and I have been chanting sixteen rounds a day ever since. That was thirteen years ago. Thus I practically can see the power of the association of devotees in my own life.
Mayesvara Prabhu:
Hridayananda Maharaja says just by seeing the smile of the empowered preacher of Krishna consciousness you can understand you are not your body.
comment by me: That reminds me of this description given by Srila Prabhupada in a purport about Kardama Muni, “Pure devotees are so absorbed in thought Krishna that they have no other engagement; although they may seem to think or act otherwise, they are always thinking of Krishna. The smile of such a Krishna conscious person is so attractive that simply by smiling he wins so many admirers, disciples and followers.” (SB 3.22.21)
Madhavananda Prabhu:
In America there was a poll showing that 60%–70% of the people who believe in God do not believe in religion. There is a popular book called How I Left Religion and Found God.
People have not found satisfaction through sectarian religion because they have missed the essence of religion, unmotivated, uninterrupted service to God.
Krishna explains that religion is meant to be practically experienced and to be happily performed. (Bg. 9.2)
Srila Prabhupada said, “Our only business is to get people to chant Hare Krishna.” We do not want anything in exchange. Elsewhere he explained, “Our only business is to make people happy.” He also explained that we are nonsectarian society with members coming from many different religions and that members of ISKCON may retain their own religious faiths.
In Zurich there are many streams but you cannot hear their sweet sounds during the day because of all the cars and buses. In the same way, we cannot hear the soul because of the radio of our minds.
There are saints in every religion who cry for the Lord, and the Lord hears their cries.
If you go to seek a job and when asked your qualification, you say you have none or that you are the most useless person in the world, will you get a job? No. But in spiritual life, it is different.
Having straw in your teeth, both indicates that you are not going to protest nor are you going to cry with your mouth but with your heart.
Narottama Dasa Thakura prays to the Lord, “You are famous as the savior of the most fallen, but if you do not save me, you will have to change your name.”
We have to cry in such a way that it is clear to Krishna that no toys He may give us will satisfy us; nothing will satisfy us except Him.
Sadhus say smaranam means maranam. Remembrance of God means death to all our material desires.
Krishna explains to Arjuna that only those who chant his name, crying from their souls, are dear Him.
All the great religions of the world are based on great saintly persons but later on their so-called followers became more interested in business.
bhakti-yoga bhakti-yoga bhakti-yoga dana
bhakti sei krishna-nama smarane krandana
Visvanatha Cakravati Thakura states that bhakti-yoga is the greatest charity, and bhakti-yoga means chanting the holy name of the Lord with remembrance and with crying.
Ramachandra Dev, was King of Jagannatha Puri, but he was defeated by a Muslim general. After thirteen months and fifteen days in prison, the general offered to release him and allow him to be king again, only he would have to become a Muslim and marry a Muslim woman. Seeing that as the only opportunity to continue his service to Jagannatha, he accepted the condition. All his other wives rejected him, and left him, along with their children. His friends also rejected him. He went to the Puri temple, but the priests would not even let him in, although he was the king of Puri, because he had a Muslim wife. Every night after the temple closed, Ramachandra Dev would go outside it and cry. When he was so aggrieved and he was about to end his life, the Lord appeared and said, “Do not cry.” Then the Lord manifested the Patita-pavana deity outside the temple so the king could see him.
When Ramachandra Dev cried for Krishna, Jagannatha (Krishna) cried for him.
Lord Jagannatha is the form of the greatest ecstasy.
In Orissa there Muslims who help build and pull the Ratha-yatra.
They say in Orissa, “The name of Rama is like a laddu, and the name of Krishna is like ghee, and the name of Hare is like sweetened condensed milk, and you mix them and drink it. That is the Hare Krishna mantra.”
Q: How do I cry for Krishna?
A: Associate with people who are crying for Krishna.
Gour Govinda Swami explained there are two secrets for success:
1. Every day say some prayers to Lord Nityananda.
2. Pray for other people.
There are three kinds of mercy:
1. Mercy for the body.
2. Mercy for the mind.3. Mercy for the soul.
The Deity Govindaji in Jaipur appears effulgent because of all the devotees of the city love Him so much.
It is important to respect the leaders, otherwise progress is difficult.
There is a cartoon with a group of executives sitting at a table, with one at the head. The chief executive had an ax above his head and swords in his side. The chief executive is asking who wants to be the next chief executive.
If we expect people to be able to follow the varnasrama rules and regulations and we reject them if they do not, then we will become irrelevant.
Bhaktivinoda Thakura explains the dress of a Vaishnava is a way we can use the body to progress spiritually. However, if we think that such external features are required, and we disrespect real Vaishnavas who do not follow them, we become sectarian.
There is verse where is it said if you address Krishna before Radha, you get the reaction for killing a brahmana. That because it is so distasteful to Krishna.
In Mahabharata, it is said that the mother is ten times more respectable than the father.
India has the lowest divorce rate in the world.
Adi Purusa Prabhu:
Sankhya, analytical knowledge, is like a kaleidoscope. It is very attractive on the outside, but if you look inside you will find nothing of value.
One should not criticize people. One should not even criticize things because they are Krishna’s things.
A Vaishnava never chastises anyone except his students and disciples, and then only in a loving way.
There is one devotee who is a software engineer. He is so patient, kind, and respectful, all the workers in the company want him as a supervisor.
The biggest sacrifice is to give up your false ego.
If we accept that we do not have to be in the superior position, then that will help us in conflicts with other people.
Once I was arguing and arguing with another devotee. At one point, it occurred to me, I should try to understand how he was seeing things. Much to my surprise, as soon as I starting thinking in this way, the other devotee said, “Now I can understand what you are saying.”
Krishna allows each of us the right to be wrong. If we allow others the right to be wrong, that is a sign of respect. Everyone has a right to their opinion, even if it is not good for them.
Sacinandana Swami explained that our body belongs to Krishna, and therefore, we should loving take of it for Krishna’s service.
Who is the doer? In summary, the soul is responsible but dependent, and the Supersoul and material nature are neutral doers.
Every religion teaches there is a higher reality which is indestructible.
I came to Krishna consciousness because I wanted to find a method so I could experience a higher reality.
Previously I was a Buddhist, but I wondered what was after nirvana and never got clear answer.
We are entitled to eternity, bliss, and knowledge, but now we have turned away, so we have reconnect.
The highest pleasure is experienced in loving relationships by giving love.
Da Vinci depicted God as an old man, perhaps 60 or 70 years old. Why not a million years old? Because he is all-powerful he can stop aging. But if you could stop aging, would you choose to be 60 or 70 years old? No, you would choose to remain youthful. And so it is with Krishna. He is an eternal youth. Krishna is the original cool teenager.
At one point the Vatican removed some references to God as the supreme judge and giver of punishment.
In Vrndavana only the priests can swing Radha-Krishna. Srila Prabhupada has given us very special mercy to allow even visitors to the temple to participate in this pastime by swinging the Lord.
The eight gopis are associated with the eight directions.
By hearing about Krishna’s pure pastimes of love we connect with Him, and we remember these when we pull Radha Krishna on the swing.
Bhakti is pure if the goal is to serve Krishna with love, and that we do bhakti only to attain this goal. In addition, one must understand Krishna in truth, and engage in the nine kinds of devotional service.
My siksa guru, Niranjana Swami, has given me the best guidance in my life as a devotee. He explains the key to bhakti is intention. One simply has to act with the desire to please Krishna. If you feel unconnected to Krishna, try adjusting your intention, and you will see it makes all the difference.
Dave [a carpenter from Dublin I met on the bus from Beauvais Airport to Paris]:
I saw the Hare Krishnas in Dublin. Once I spent two hours in a Krishna tent at a festival. It just felt like 40 minutes. Many tunes of the same song, Hare Krishna, and they played in my mind for days after. [I gave him the card for the Sunday feast and Tuesday evening kirtana program in Dublin.]
-----
naham tisthami vaikunthe yoginam hrdayesu va tatra tisthami narada yatra gayanti mad-bhaktah
[Lord Krishna to Narada:] “I am not in Vaikuntha [the spiritual world] nor in the hearts of the yogis. I remain where My devotees engage in glorifying My activities. (Padma Purana, quoted in Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.21.41, purport)
Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 8, No. 14 By Krishna-kripa das (July 2012, part two)
Ireland, Paris, Switzerland (Sent from New Shantipur Farm, Czarnów, Poland, on August 25, 2012)
Where I Went and What I Did
After chanting in Dublin and Belfast, Ananta Nitai and I went to Govindadvipa to chant at a couple towns near our Krishna island, namely Enniskillen, Northern Island, and Cavan, Ireland, with Bhagavata Dasi, who has great enthusiasm for sharing Krishna. Then we returned to Dublin for the 12-hour harinama that we organized for that coming Saturday. After a few more days of harinama in Dublin, I went to chant for three days with my friends in Paris. Then I went to Langenthal, Switzerland, for the Saturday feast program, and to Zurich for the Sunday Jhulan Yatra festival and harinama on Monday. Then off to Berlin enroute to Kostrzyn, Poland, for my twelfth year at the Polish Woodstock festival which I describe in my next journal.
I share insights from a variety of Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami’s books, which are quoted in his online journal, Viraha Bhavan, which I regularly proofread, from Gour Govinda Swami’s disciple, Madhavananda Prabhu, who was visiting Paris, from Bhakti-sastri teacher, Adi Purusa Prabhu, who was visiting Zurich, and from my harinama partners in Dublin and Paris. I also include the experience of a man I met on a bus who met the Hare Krishna devotees at a festival.
Harinamas in Ireland
Invited by Bhagavata Dasi, Ananta Nitai Prabhu and I went to Govindadvipa to do harinamas in two nearby towns, Enniskillen, in Northern Ireland, and Cavan, in the Republic.
In Enniskillen, devotees chant in a little pedestrian area in the center of the town. The people were more appreciative and more charitable in general than the people in Cavan the next day. Bhagavata Dasi had some small books we gave all those who gave a donation, no matter how small. We did, however, encounter one macabre surprise, a fight between two women, perhaps in their twenties or thirties, no more than three meters in front of where we were chanting. One knocked the other down on the ground and was shouting and punching her out, to the horror of her son, who was standing, helpless, nearby. The one on the ground ended up with a bloody nose. No one intervened in the fight, other than a man who said a few words to no avail. The woman who was knocked down had her belongings scattered, and some people helped her pick them up, including the women who punched her out, who found her cell phone a little ways away and returned it to her. Five policemen came and interrogated the aggressive lady. It was truly a bizarre scene. I was singing and playing the harmonium at the time, so I just kept on chanting, as it was not clear what else I could really do. No one seemed to have a better idea. For me, it was just another example of how degrading humanity is becoming?that one woman would beat up another and that no one would try to intervene and prevent injury.
In Cavan the next day we had another great location in the center of the town where we chanted another three hours. The temple president, Gopal Acarya Prabhu, and his family encouraged us by coming out for the first hour or so. The best part was a young man coming up to the devotees, looking for Bhagavad-gita, and giving twenty euros. Otherwise, except for a few smiles, there was not a great response.
Twelve-Hour Harinama in Dublin
The previous week, Ananta Nitai Prabhu suggested that we might do a twenty-four hour harinama in Dublin.Thinking back on how I always have to take a break for three hours to get some rest during the twenty-four hour kirtanas, I suggested we start with a twelve-hour harinama. We settled on a week from Saturday, specifically, Saturday, July 21, and Premarnava Prabhu advertised it on Facebook, and we told all our harinama friends. I was most impressed by the participation of Ananta Nitai Prabhu himself, who participated for at least eleven hours, and the participation of a couple of devotee ladies from out of town, who we had chanted with during our brief tour of Ireland. Bhagavata Dasi took the bus two hours each way from Govindadvipa and chanted for four and half hours. Anet took the train one hour each way from her home and amazingly distributed books during the harinama for ten hours. Her only comment at the end, before returning home, was “When is the next one?” Premarnava Prabhu also put in five hours, and Robert came extra early for the regular Saturday evening harinama to participate. One break dancer enjoyed dancing with us in the afternoon, and group of young boys and one young lady really got into the dancing in the evening.
A couple of girls from Seattle girl happened to encounter our harinama at least twice during the day, and their smiles of joy inspired me to talk with them. One said that seeing the harinama was the best part of her Dublin trip. I encouraged them to visit our temple in Seattle, when they return home, for the local Sunday feast program there. I participated myself in our twelve-hour harinama for over eleven hours. Not realizing the strength of the Irish sun in that chilly land, I got the worst sunburn this year. I learned some strategies for my increasing participation. Just have a small lunch so you do not become tired and need to take rest, and do not drink so much you have to always take a bathroom break. I reported our harinama successes to my authority in the UK and Ireland, Janananda Goswami, who encouraged me to return to Ireland again after I come back to the UK from Europe in late September.
Metroyoga in Paris
I was happy to join my friends, Chandrasekhara Acharya Prabhu, Gadadhara Priya Prabhu, and Bhaktin Sara, in chanting on the metros in Paris again, a program called Metroyoga. Recently Chandrasekhara Acharya has written a nice article for Back to Godhead describing the program. You always meet some people who really appreciate the chanting and the presentation, and that makes it all worth it.
Langenthal, Switzerland
There is a growing community of devotees in Langenthal, Switzerland, about an hour from Zurich, in the German-speaking part of the country. They have a larger temple room than most of our temples in Europe. There were a lot of devotees there who had enthusiasm for the kirtana at their weekly Saturday feast program. At Langenthal three householder families have a prasadam business by which they maintain themselves.
Zurich
I was in Zurich for the Jhulan Yatra (Radha Krishna swing festival) on Sunday and harinama by the lake on Monday. Special features of the Zurich Jhulan Yatra are that the swing is suspended over a pool of water, and to satisfy both the Tamil-speaking congregation, largely from Sri Lanka, and the local German-speaking congregation, the festival is held twice, so I got to swing Radha-Krishna two times. This festival is observed in our temples with Radha Krishna deities for the five days before and including Lord Balarama’s appearance day, but in recent years I had not been in a temple where it was held, so it was a treat to be there in Zurich and to swing Radha and Krishna twice in one day. The Gaudiya Vaishnava sampradaya stresses service to the divine couple, Radha and Krishna, and this swing festival of Theirs gives everyone in the congregation a little experience of that. For that reason, it is one of my favorite festivals.
I felt indebted to temple president, Krishna Prema Rupa Prabhu, who kindly organized a nearly two-hour harinama on Monday with ten devotees down along the lake in Zurich. There was a lot of enthusiasm among the devotees. We even went further around the lake than they ever do, through a small region where they do not have permission to chant, to the other side of the lake where it is again permitted. We passed out many temple invitations, both to the Sunday feast and the upcoming Janmastami festival. One woman came up to me asking about devotees’ summer festival, and I gave her an invitation for the Janmastami event. Apparently there the devotees celebrate Janmastami so nicely people in the city look forward to it each year.
I took a night train from Zurich to Berlin on the way to the Polish Woodstock. Although it was over eleven hours, it was only $43, a rare deal from the Swiss train company, SBB.
Insights
Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami:
Emerson says, “Beware what you set your heart upon, for it will surely be yours.”
Make war on Maya in your life.
O Ugra Lion-Man,
Your black body,Your
stance of ready-to-fight,
massive black head
plainly silver teeth and
10 arms and hands I can
almost see them all?
be real for me,
I don’t fear You because
You are our protector against
evil. Therefore I ask You
please come alive?and
tear out form the roots
my anarthas.
And life ebbs out like from a slightly leaking pot.
I thought this is so strange. The blue-faced murti of a calm Nrsimha holding Laksmi on His lap. India, and a religion of strange forms. Is it not that way? Unless you are born and raised here (or you live here many years and become Indian-religionized) it remains alien to you. But you have one thing?your surrender to Prabhupada. And he expertly teaches and induces you to accept Krsna consciousness in a scientific nonsectarian way. Except for him, even Gaudiya Vaisnavism remains strange gods, alien words, hard to believe miracles. . . .
Srila Prabhupada followed his guru life and soul yet made his own way in America, innovated, etc. Can you?
Don’t want to die “off” or die having not fulfilled what you could have become if you dared. Let everyone live out the best he or she can become.
“How do you develop selfless service for
the guru?” she asks. I’m at a loss to
answer precisely because
I don’t know it myself!
I am in lap of Gaura-Nitai [being in Mayapura]. Please I ask Them, please shape me and give good meaning to my visit.
I can occupy myself splendidly if people would just leave me alone.
But you have seen Lord Nrsimha
and can call His names,
please protect me from demons,
please kill my own demons
in the heart.
A day here is worth
millions somewhere else says
Navadvipa Mahatmya.
Bumpkin returns to the
West with stars in eyes
and plan. He’ll be a
Prabhupada Gauranga man.
Tell them. . . . I love you, I love this, but I also love to be alone?it’s hard work but very rewarding in a quiet and deep way.
O Lord, I thank You, it’s You who arrange this, who guide me to do it. Now may I do it purely.
Well life and death are somewhat the same and they are definitely related. When you are aware of death then you live in a certain way, a better way. The certainty of death, and thinking about it, turns your life more serious. It doesn’t mean you live in a deathlike way. You can still be very much in the moment, and so to speak, enjoy it all, but you’re aware that it’s really over soon, and you live in a way to improve your next life. So you see what I mean, how death and life are connected?
Yesterday you were complaining a little that there has been so much talk in your life about people dying, especially devotees in Vrndavana. But partly it’s just your own fear and avoidance of death that makes you not want to hear all of this. And the positive way to take it is to be aware of death as you live. That doesn’t spoil everything in the present moment, but it rather infuses it with a certain energetic fervent quality. If you can drive out sense gratification and serve Krsna then you are successful.
Tomorrow we’ll try a new strategy of just completely closing the windows because the bugs are coming right through the screens. I’ve never seen any place where they have such multitudes of insects. Prabhupada talks about it in some of his lectures, how in Mayapur during the night these creatures are born and live and die in one night and how in the morning you see heaps and heaps of bodies. Sometimes when I heard the lecture I felt perhaps he was exaggerating when he said that there were thousands and thousands of bugs and heaps and heaps of bodies in the morning and that you could sweep them away. But now I see it’s true. Why don’t I take Prabhupada literally true on face value all the time? Just it’s a matter of time before you find out that what he says is true.
from My Letters from Srila Prabhupada, Volume 3, I am Never Displeased with Any Member:
“I was recently speaking with one devotee who told me that her fifteen-year-old daughter is so fixed on becoming a devotee that she even thought of running away from home and joining an ISKCON temple (her mother wants her to stay home and finish school). Despite the horrors that so many of us suffered, there’s another side: Living in a temple really helped us become devotees, solidly fixed in sadhana.
“We shared living space, bathrooms, food, cooking duties, trouble, anxiety and the triumph of having received such a letter from Prabhupada. We worshiped together and felt the bliss of collective peak experience that comes from working hard for Krishna. Our lives were so different from anything we could have imagined them to be. We weren’t living abstract ideas of unity and community as were the hippies in their cynicism. Prabhupada had given us the real thing. Prabhupada was the center. It wasn’t always easy?and I’m aware that I’m stressing the good side?but we were all devotees, disciples, together. There was no question that we could do other than we did if we were sincere. Putting aside the old ISKCON debate, we should be mature enough to just try and feel the essence of something Prabhupada gave us and which many of us are so fortunate to have taken part in, even if things have changed. We joined the spiritual world.”
from Srila Prabhupapa Samadhi Diary:
“O Prabhupada, may we live in you until we die; may we serve in this life and the next. May we study your words and repeat them with joy and conviction. May we know Krishna and Radha through you.”
Dhruva Prabhu:
The Sanskrit verses of the scripture purify us so it is good to chant them repeatedly.
Prabhupada was very liberal and said it does not matter what religion you follow but that you must follow strictly whatever religion you choose. Just like you have to learn math, but which math book you use is up to you.
If we love someone, we must remember that person and we must do something for that person, and so it is with Krishna.
The greatest gift is love of God.
In America the greatest worry is “will my money run out before I die?”
The beauty of Krishna consciousness is the giver and the receiver both benefit.
A saint is not recognized in his own town. The great example is Prabhupada who had so much difficulty preaching Krishna consciousness in India but became very successful in the West.
In the material world if someone praises you, you praise them, “You must be so intelligent to realize how intelligent I am.”
Our preaching is successful if one comes to appreciate different features of Krishna consciousness, the harinama, the prasadam, and the books.
I have been on many harinamas, but the ones that Indradyumna Swami has in Poland are the most amazing. The devotees are all dressed very nicely and play the instruments very nicely. People are very attracted, and you can see it.
In India the children see the mother and father as God because mother and father maintain them as God maintains them.
It is no wonder we fall several times a day, but we must recognize we have fallen, and continue chanting.
We do not see our big faults, but we are very expert in finding innumerable insignificant faults in others.
Ananta Nitai Prabhu:
I always liked harinama, congregational chanting in public, but it was not until I read what Aindra Prabhu wrote that I understood its great importance.
We cannot judge devotees externally. Externals do not represent the internal mood of the devotee, but it is the internal mood that Krishna reciprocates with.
Krishna’s statements in the Gita are enacted in His pastimes.
Tribhuvananatha Prabhu said, referring to the spiritually ignorant, a husband and wife love each other’s false egos at best.
I could chant four rounds a day, and I resigned my self to that, thinking I would never chant anymore than four. I heard that the association of devotees was valuable, so I took a week off from work and attended the temple morning program with fourteen devotees every day. By the fourth day, I was chanting sixteen rounds, and I have been chanting sixteen rounds a day ever since. That was thirteen years ago. Thus I practically can see the power of the association of devotees in my own life.
Mayesvara Prabhu:
Hridayananda Maharaja says just by seeing the smile of the empowered preacher of Krishna consciousness you can understand you are not your body.
comment by me: That reminds me of this description given by Srila Prabhupada in a purport about Kardama Muni, “Pure devotees are so absorbed in thought Krishna that they have no other engagement; although they may seem to think or act otherwise, they are always thinking of Krishna. The smile of such a Krishna conscious person is so attractive that simply by smiling he wins so many admirers, disciples and followers.” (SB 3.22.21)
Madhavananda Prabhu:
In America there was a poll showing that 60%–70% of the people who believe in God do not believe in religion. There is a popular book called How I Left Religion and Found God.
People have not found satisfaction through sectarian religion because they have missed the essence of religion, unmotivated, uninterrupted service to God.
Krishna explains that religion is meant to be practically experienced and to be happily performed. (Bg. 9.2)
Srila Prabhupada said, “Our only business is to get people to chant Hare Krishna.” We do not want anything in exchange. Elsewhere he explained, “Our only business is to make people happy.” He also explained that we are nonsectarian society with members coming from many different religions and that members of ISKCON may retain their own religious faiths.
In Zurich there are many streams but you cannot hear their sweet sounds during the day because of all the cars and buses. In the same way, we cannot hear the soul because of the radio of our minds.
There are saints in every religion who cry for the Lord, and the Lord hears their cries.
If you go to seek a job and when asked your qualification, you say you have none or that you are the most useless person in the world, will you get a job? No. But in spiritual life, it is different.
Having straw in your teeth, both indicates that you are not going to protest nor are you going to cry with your mouth but with your heart.
Narottama Dasa Thakura prays to the Lord, “You are famous as the savior of the most fallen, but if you do not save me, you will have to change your name.”
We have to cry in such a way that it is clear to Krishna that no toys He may give us will satisfy us; nothing will satisfy us except Him.
Sadhus say smaranam means maranam. Remembrance of God means death to all our material desires.
Krishna explains to Arjuna that only those who chant his name, crying from their souls, are dear Him.
All the great religions of the world are based on great saintly persons but later on their so-called followers became more interested in business.
bhakti-yoga bhakti-yoga bhakti-yoga dana
bhakti sei krishna-nama smarane krandana
Visvanatha Cakravati Thakura states that bhakti-yoga is the greatest charity, and bhakti-yoga means chanting the holy name of the Lord with remembrance and with crying.
Ramachandra Dev, was King of Jagannatha Puri, but he was defeated by a Muslim general. After thirteen months and fifteen days in prison, the general offered to release him and allow him to be king again, only he would have to become a Muslim and marry a Muslim woman. Seeing that as the only opportunity to continue his service to Jagannatha, he accepted the condition. All his other wives rejected him, and left him, along with their children. His friends also rejected him. He went to the Puri temple, but the priests would not even let him in, although he was the king of Puri, because he had a Muslim wife. Every night after the temple closed, Ramachandra Dev would go outside it and cry. When he was so aggrieved and he was about to end his life, the Lord appeared and said, “Do not cry.” Then the Lord manifested the Patita-pavana deity outside the temple so the king could see him.
When Ramachandra Dev cried for Krishna, Jagannatha (Krishna) cried for him.
Lord Jagannatha is the form of the greatest ecstasy.
In Orissa there Muslims who help build and pull the Ratha-yatra.
They say in Orissa, “The name of Rama is like a laddu, and the name of Krishna is like ghee, and the name of Hare is like sweetened condensed milk, and you mix them and drink it. That is the Hare Krishna mantra.”
Q: How do I cry for Krishna?
A: Associate with people who are crying for Krishna.
Gour Govinda Swami explained there are two secrets for success:
1. Every day say some prayers to Lord Nityananda.
2. Pray for other people.
There are three kinds of mercy:
1. Mercy for the body.
2. Mercy for the mind.3. Mercy for the soul.
The Deity Govindaji in Jaipur appears effulgent because of all the devotees of the city love Him so much.
It is important to respect the leaders, otherwise progress is difficult.
There is a cartoon with a group of executives sitting at a table, with one at the head. The chief executive had an ax above his head and swords in his side. The chief executive is asking who wants to be the next chief executive.
If we expect people to be able to follow the varnasrama rules and regulations and we reject them if they do not, then we will become irrelevant.
Bhaktivinoda Thakura explains the dress of a Vaishnava is a way we can use the body to progress spiritually. However, if we think that such external features are required, and we disrespect real Vaishnavas who do not follow them, we become sectarian.
There is verse where is it said if you address Krishna before Radha, you get the reaction for killing a brahmana. That because it is so distasteful to Krishna.
In Mahabharata, it is said that the mother is ten times more respectable than the father.
India has the lowest divorce rate in the world.
Adi Purusa Prabhu:
Sankhya, analytical knowledge, is like a kaleidoscope. It is very attractive on the outside, but if you look inside you will find nothing of value.
One should not criticize people. One should not even criticize things because they are Krishna’s things.
A Vaishnava never chastises anyone except his students and disciples, and then only in a loving way.
There is one devotee who is a software engineer. He is so patient, kind, and respectful, all the workers in the company want him as a supervisor.
The biggest sacrifice is to give up your false ego.
If we accept that we do not have to be in the superior position, then that will help us in conflicts with other people.
Once I was arguing and arguing with another devotee. At one point, it occurred to me, I should try to understand how he was seeing things. Much to my surprise, as soon as I starting thinking in this way, the other devotee said, “Now I can understand what you are saying.”
Krishna allows each of us the right to be wrong. If we allow others the right to be wrong, that is a sign of respect. Everyone has a right to their opinion, even if it is not good for them.
Sacinandana Swami explained that our body belongs to Krishna, and therefore, we should loving take of it for Krishna’s service.
Who is the doer? In summary, the soul is responsible but dependent, and the Supersoul and material nature are neutral doers.
Every religion teaches there is a higher reality which is indestructible.
I came to Krishna consciousness because I wanted to find a method so I could experience a higher reality.
Previously I was a Buddhist, but I wondered what was after nirvana and never got clear answer.
We are entitled to eternity, bliss, and knowledge, but now we have turned away, so we have reconnect.
The highest pleasure is experienced in loving relationships by giving love.
Da Vinci depicted God as an old man, perhaps 60 or 70 years old. Why not a million years old? Because he is all-powerful he can stop aging. But if you could stop aging, would you choose to be 60 or 70 years old? No, you would choose to remain youthful. And so it is with Krishna. He is an eternal youth. Krishna is the original cool teenager.
At one point the Vatican removed some references to God as the supreme judge and giver of punishment.
In Vrndavana only the priests can swing Radha-Krishna. Srila Prabhupada has given us very special mercy to allow even visitors to the temple to participate in this pastime by swinging the Lord.
The eight gopis are associated with the eight directions.
By hearing about Krishna’s pure pastimes of love we connect with Him, and we remember these when we pull Radha Krishna on the swing.
Bhakti is pure if the goal is to serve Krishna with love, and that we do bhakti only to attain this goal. In addition, one must understand Krishna in truth, and engage in the nine kinds of devotional service.
My siksa guru, Niranjana Swami, has given me the best guidance in my life as a devotee. He explains the key to bhakti is intention. One simply has to act with the desire to please Krishna. If you feel unconnected to Krishna, try adjusting your intention, and you will see it makes all the difference.
Dave [a carpenter from Dublin I met on the bus from Beauvais Airport to Paris]:
I saw the Hare Krishnas in Dublin. Once I spent two hours in a Krishna tent at a festival. It just felt like 40 minutes. Many tunes of the same song, Hare Krishna, and they played in my mind for days after. [I gave him the card for the Sunday feast and Tuesday evening kirtana program in Dublin.]
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naham tisthami vaikunthe yoginam hrdayesu va tatra tisthami narada yatra gayanti mad-bhaktah
[Lord Krishna to Narada:] “I am not in Vaikuntha [the spiritual world] nor in the hearts of the yogis. I remain where My devotees engage in glorifying My activities. (Padma Purana, quoted in Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.21.41, purport)
Sometimes in life human beings make rather difficult, painful experiences, in which people seem to fall into a crevasse, an abyss, very close to annihilation; there are then, most seldom, other people who touch brightening peaks, with an extraordinary expansion of consciousness in which they experience – even though for a few moments – an irrepressible happiness. In the middle, between these two positions, stand the great majority of humanity that carry on an ordinary mediocrity.
Very often I witnessed the experience of the abyss among many people I met, who had asked me for help. A couple of times, between the age of 10 and 30, I found myself on the brink of the abyss, I was at risk, but thanks to the divine mercy I was supported and saved from that devastating experience. Such experience doesn't manifest itself in one's life out of conscious intention but because of a series of factors that have been produced by one's own thoughts, deeds and motivations. We can learn to foresee and recognize it from a series of features, symbols, signs and warnings, related to its original causes. I feel very much sympathetic towards people who happen to face this experience of the abyss, the black whole, a total disorientation; the person feels like drifting downward and there is no end to the crevasse. In that condition of consciousness there is no way to get any better, but only to get worse. Who wishes to do so, may accept my reflection to question oneself and try to understand if and how often, one has found oneself in life on the brink of the abyss, or close to it, when and how he managed to avoid the collapse.
By describing this state of consciousness, I would use the following metaphor: the river of life that suddenly stops flowing. Water remains still and runs no longer. There seems to be real obstacles to cause the obstruction, but they are mainly produced by the doer of that experience. It is the person itself that creates its crevasse and falls into it. Can the elevating experience be also the result of inner projections? I would be inclined to confirm and approve both statements because there is a strong logic link to it, but thinking on this delicate theme, through praying and meditating, I could deepen my comprehension as follows. We are to decide which direction to take, either into the crevasse or towards the peak, however the crevasse and the pike exist, they represent a possibility, it is up to us to decide whether to accept or refuse either one or the other. According to my comprehension, the Shastra and the Sadhu teach that abysses and peaks exist independently from us, but we make them happen in our life by everyday choices. Either a period of mourning, or the death of a child which is a desolating loss for a mother, or for the sake of our ego, any person may fall into an abyss, but the same person can also choose to transform that event in a precious and saving opportunity in order to reach the highest peaks of consciousness.
Sometimes in life human beings make rather difficult, painful experiences, in which people seem to fall into a crevasse, an abyss, very close to annihilation; there are then, most seldom, other people who touch brightening peaks, with an extraordinary expansion of consciousness in which they experience – even though for a few moments – an irrepressible happiness. In the middle, between these two positions, stand the great majority of humanity that carry on an ordinary mediocrity.
Very often I witnessed the experience of the abyss among many people I met, who had asked me for help. A couple of times, between the age of 10 and 30, I found myself on the brink of the abyss, I was at risk, but thanks to the divine mercy I was supported and saved from that devastating experience. Such experience doesn't manifest itself in one's life out of conscious intention but because of a series of factors that have been produced by one's own thoughts, deeds and motivations. We can learn to foresee and recognize it from a series of features, symbols, signs and warnings, related to its original causes. I feel very much sympathetic towards people who happen to face this experience of the abyss, the black whole, a total disorientation; the person feels like drifting downward and there is no end to the crevasse. In that condition of consciousness there is no way to get any better, but only to get worse. Who wishes to do so, may accept my reflection to question oneself and try to understand if and how often, one has found oneself in life on the brink of the abyss, or close to it, when and how he managed to avoid the collapse.
By describing this state of consciousness, I would use the following metaphor: the river of life that suddenly stops flowing. Water remains still and runs no longer. There seems to be real obstacles to cause the obstruction, but they are mainly produced by the doer of that experience. It is the person itself that creates its crevasse and falls into it. Can the elevating experience be also the result of inner projections? I would be inclined to confirm and approve both statements because there is a strong logic link to it, but thinking on this delicate theme, through praying and meditating, I could deepen my comprehension as follows. We are to decide which direction to take, either into the crevasse or towards the peak, however the crevasse and the pike exist, they represent a possibility, it is up to us to decide whether to accept or refuse either one or the other. According to my comprehension, the Shastra and the Sadhu teach that abysses and peaks exist independently from us, but we make them happen in our life by everyday choices. Either a period of mourning, or the death of a child which is a desolating loss for a mother, or for the sake of our ego, any person may fall into an abyss, but the same person can also choose to transform that event in a precious and saving opportunity in order to reach the highest peaks of consciousness.
About four years ago, I ventured into an ancient, mystical village in India called Varsana. Palaces, temples, and shrines adorn the hills like so many jewels. In one particular temple, I found a stick of incense on the floor.
I tucked the incense into my journal, waiting for the special moment to let it burn.
In my current upheaval of moving out, I came upon that stick of incense. And so just now, 2:13am on August 21st, I placed a flame to the incense and I am now watching it burn. Scrolls of smoke dance into the air. I am mesmerized and quiet. The unique fragrance brings me to faraway lands and faraway memories.
Four years later, in four hours I shall embark once again upon a journey into the world.
My life as I've known it has been packed away into boxes and carried away into storage. I am equipped with only a suitcase and backpack; these two bags shall contain the elements of my life until next April.
I'm still in disbelief.
I feel as though I'm standing on the edge of a precipice, like one of the mountains I stood upon in Varsana that overlooks a vast landscape of villages that stretch into the horizon. The breezes from up here twine around my body, the echoes of the mountains call me to jump, jump.
Jump. Krishna is your parachute.
Service, adventure, the holy name, and love is calling.
About four years ago, I ventured into an ancient, mystical village in India called Varsana. Palaces, temples, and shrines adorn the hills like so many jewels. In one particular temple, I found a stick of incense on the floor.
I tucked the incense into my journal, waiting for the special moment to let it burn.
In my current upheaval of moving out, I came upon that stick of incense. And so just now, 2:13am on August 21st, I placed a flame to the incense and I am now watching it burn. Scrolls of smoke dance into the air. I am mesmerized and quiet. The unique fragrance brings me to faraway lands and faraway memories.
Four years later, in four hours I shall embark once again upon a journey into the world.
My life as I've known it has been packed away into boxes and carried away into storage. I am equipped with only a suitcase and backpack; these two bags shall contain the elements of my life until next April.
I'm still in disbelief.
I feel as though I'm standing on the edge of a precipice, like one of the mountains I stood upon in Varsana that overlooks a vast landscape of villages that stretch into the horizon. The breezes from up here twine around my body, the echoes of the mountains call me to jump, jump.
Jump. Krishna is your parachute.
Service, adventure, the holy name, and love is calling.
Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 8, No. 13 By Krishna-kripa das (July 2012, part one) The North of England, Dublin, and Belfast (Sent from New Shantipur Farm, Czarnów, Poland, on August 20, 2012)
Where I Went and What I Did
The first week of July I spent in Newcastle doing harinama with Sri Gadadhara Prabhu, and sometimes joined by Prema Sankirtana Prabhu, and once also with photographer, Bhakta Lauris. As usual, sometimes we chanted in Newcastle itself and sometimes in neighboring regions. Next we went to the monthly Manchester harinama, the second Sunday of the month. GBC of the UK Praghosa Prabhu was there, and I got to tell him about my new program of working in his region in the summers under the direction of Janananda Goswami. Brahmacaris from the Bhaktivedanta Manor were visiting and did harinamas with us in Manchester on Monday and Leeds on Tuesday. Wednesday was a wild day traveling from Leeds to Manchester to help with a program for elementary students, and then going to Sheffield for the afternoon harinama and evening program, and then taking a train to Birmingham to catch a bus to Dublin. I spent a few days in Dublin and Belfast chanting three hours almost every day with my new harinama partner, a disciple of Maha-Vishnu Swami, Ananta Nitai Prabhu.
I share a couple quotes from Krishnadasa Kaviraja Goswami about the most sacred place in the world, and Srila Prabhupada’s explanation for why certain activities are considered sinful. I include insights from Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami from a variety of his books. Yadunandana Swami came to Dublin and shared some insights which I include. The question of remembering Krishna at the time of death and the potential problem of Alzheimer’s disease generated an interesting discussion and devotees share some real life stories about that. GBC Praghosa Prabhu at the Manchester Sunday Feast glorified Srila Prabhupada and encouraged us to follow his example. My harinama partners also share some interesting realizations in their classes.
I apologize for the lack of photos to illustrate this issue. My camera died, and I was not enthusiastic enough to ask the devotee photographers for the pictures they took at the time. I tried writing some of them by email later, asking for pictures, but no one responded.
More Harinamas in The North of England
We chanted in Sunderland and three boys, perhaps ten or twelve or so, amazed us by trying to chant and for dancing with us for fifteen minutes. One was especially fired up. Later Sri Gadadhara Prabhu sold a Bhagavad-gita to a couple girls who reminded us of the hippie era by their dress and behavior. They maintained themselves by face painting and Tarot card reading. They joined our harinama and chanted and danced so in such a lively way as we passed through the streets and malls of Sunderland, it was as though they were brahmacarinis from one of our ashrams.
In Manchester we had such a fired up harinama that two or three young Muslim ladies danced right in the middle of one of two facing lines of dancing devotees who were repeatedly coming together, jumping, and moving apart. Although Muslim ladies are often attracted, usually they just smile, take pictures, or dance with their friends a little distant from our party, but this time they were right in the thick of it. At the same time, a couple of visiting Italian girls, also danced in one of the lines of dancing devotees at one end. One man from Kuwait was watching when the Muslim ladies danced and spoke disapprovingly about them to me, saying they were from Pakistan and were setting a bad example for Muslim ladies. His comment seemed a little humorous to me, perhaps because I had not encountered such internal disagreements among the Muslims before.
Sutapa Prabhu and a van load of devotees from Bhaktivedanta Manor were visiting the Manchester area, and we did an amazing four hours of harinama in downtown Manchester on Monday and then harinama for a couple of hours in Leeds on Tuesday before the evening program there. Having all the extra devotees made the kirtana at the Leeds program very lively. As a result of a good experience, Sutapa Prabhu is considering coming to The North of England with some of his party more often to assist the outreach up there.
Manchester Program for School Students
Tribhangananda Prabhu does programs for school children who come to the temple to learn about Hinduism. He makes it really interactive for them by having them dress up as avatars, demigods and demigoddess, and having them hold dolls of different Hindu deities, and pass them around the room. Then he talks about the qualities and activities of each deity. I was surprised that some of the students remembered details of the Ramayana from their Hinduism class at school and were able to identify some of the personalities from it. Sri Gadadhara Prabhu and I played a brief role by leading kirtana for the kids and demonstrating the musical instruments. The kids and their teachers all get prasadam afterward. You could see that both the students and the teachers liked the program. It was impressive to me that the teachers expressed appreciation that my friend and I had taken time out of our lives just to sing for them. As it was, by running and taking two buses, I made it to the train station just two minutes before my train to Sheffield, but my friend, who was less determined, missed his flight to Czech.
Sheffield Harinama and Program
I like Sheffield because you can always count on some of the local devotees to come on harinama. Kay, the leader, and her daughter Radha, are almost always there. Another young man is very steady as well. Radha was scheduled to work but asked for the rest of the afternoon off because it was a slow day, and her boss gave it to her. Mark, who had not been coming around for awhile, saw me when I was chanting alone in the beginning, and he passed out flyers for me. When the others came, he continued with the harinama, and later came to the program. Four girls danced as they walked by the harinama, and then again when they passed by in the other direction. While Radha was singing, she encouraged three girls who were friends to participate. First the girls danced, and then they chanted, and they had a great time. At the program a new lady from India who heard about our ISKCON program from a student at the university, and who knew the devotees from Bangalore, came, stayed the whole time, bought some beads and made a vow to chant one round a day. Steven from Ghana, a regular at that program, and a taxi driver, gave me a complimentary ride to the train. As I reached the train to Sheffield, just two minutes before its departure, which caused me too much anxiety, this time we got there seven minutes early.
Dublin Harinamas
Premarnava and Ananta Nitai Prabhu have a regular program of going out every day on harinama for an hour or an hour and a half, sometimes joined by Mayesvara Prabhu, and so it was great to have their association. Ananta Nitai, in particular, did not mind increasing to three hours almost every day. We chanted in Dublin a couple of days, once assisted by Yadunandana Swami who was visiting and Mayesvara Prabhu, a regular.
Belfast Harinamas
Ananta Nitai Prabhu and I went to the usual Belfast harinama stop after arriving from Dublin by bus, as we had invited the temple devotees to join us there. Soon Bhaktin Annete, who loves distributing books on harinama, appeared and later Satya Rupa Devi, a disciple of Srila Prabhupada who had moved to Ireland from Australia since I visited last year.
The next day we decided to do harinama before the Sunday feast for two and a half hours. This time, Shyama Mayi Devi, a regular on last year’s harinamas who had chanted with our Mayapur harinama party this spring, came out along with Annete. The advantage to pre-Sunday feast harinamas is that the interested people you meet can come back to the temple for the program, and this time it actually happened. A man, perhaps in his forties or fifties, who seemed to be on a spiritual search, came back with us by bus to the temple for the Sunday lecture, kirtana, and feast. I decided to sit with him during the feast, as no one else seemed very interested in talking to him. I asked what he thought of the philosophy, and he said he liked it. Because of his interest, I suggested that Ananta Nitai Prabhu might try to sell him a book. And so he did, not one, but four, and the man gave a 60 pound donation, almost $100. I saw it as Krishna encouraging us in our humble attempts to do outreach.
Monday, another enthusiastic devotee lady, Rukmamati Devi, who is a full-time pujari, joined the harinama, along with one of the other ladies, and Shyama Mayi joined us on Tuesday. I suggested to the four ladies who had come out on harinama over the four days we were there that they arrange their service schedules so they could go out on harinama two or three times a week, as they all were very happy to be chanting in the streets again, and I hope they do.
Next we went to Govindadvipa to chant with Bhagavata Dasi, a very enthusiastic devotee lady who is somewhere around sixty years in age, but still loves to go chanting in the towns near our temple there.
Describing the arena of Lord Krishna’s rasa dance:
Beneath a kalpa-druma tree [desire tree] is a palace wherein Lord Krishna’s jeweled throne is situated in a sacred place, and where the Agama-sastra explains the Lord has multitudes of pastimes with the gopis. It is also said that in this monarch of all places that by seeing Lord Govinda one would attain the qualities of Radharani and Her gopi friends with great joy.”
[Glorifying the names of Krishna is performed by the gopis, Krishna’s greatest devotees:] By playing on His flute Lord Krishna announced His desire to enjoy the rasa dance. The gopis responded by singing various songs glorifying Lord Krishna’s names. These songs greatly pleased the Lord.”
Srila Prabhupada:
from a lecture in Bombay, February 24, 1974:
Why are meat-eating, illicit sex, intoxication, and gambling considered sinful? Because they force the soul to accept another body, which is the source of misery.
Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami:
from Prabhupada Meditations IV:
?It has been almost fourteen years since Prabhupada left us. We are getting older physically, but we are still spiritual infants. We have so much to learn. We pray to Prabhupada for better vision. Arjuna prayed for the eyes to see the Universal Form; we need the eyes to see what is in Prabhupada’s books. We need to understand the deeper meanings of Krishna consciousness. This doesn’t mean that Prabhupada didn’t give us everything. It only means that we have failed to recognize it.”
from his journal, Viraha Bhavan, for July 16, 2012:
It’s nice when sadhus dance so beautifully, like Lord Caitanya did. It enhances the performance of sankirtana and induces onlookers to appreciate and even participate.
from Karttika Papers:
This is Mayapura where you can commit offenses. Everything you do is blessed The Two Brothers Reign. They bring you to gopi-bhava.
Prabhupada said, “Death is not wonderful. Life is wonderful. And this is life, Krsna consciousness.”
We need to take a break from the arduous duties and just hear the pastimes of Krsna.
from Journal and Poems, Volume One:
?In 1977 when Prabhupada was quite ill, he attended a big pandal in Bombay. He had to be carried onto the stage and the audience could see that he was physically diminished. Yet Prabhupada never preached more powerfully. At one of those programs, a man asked, ‘What about health?’ Prabhupada replied, ‘What is health? You’re going to die, so how can you be considered healthy?’ So one of the things I seem to be gaining during this recuperation period is the deepening realization that I’m going to die. I’m trying to recoup a little strength so that I can go on for many more years, but there’s no question of reversing the incurable process of aging unto death. Although this truth should be commonly understood, many have not realized it.
from Vrindavana Writing:
I want to taste the nectar so I can become like a maddened bee and remain always in the lotus of Your confidential pastimes. O Lord, I do not know anything but the spiritual masters who guide me are enticing me toward the goal. I’m not happy to be chanting and hearing without feeling the ecstasy of attraction for You. I am ashamed that this is my condition. I beg You to please relieve me of that shame.
Dear Lord, if there are obstacles to be removed before You grant me this request, then I further request that You show me those obstacles and teach me to surmount them. Give me the courage and intelligence to overcome a weak heart.
If You think I require more time to ripen before You will find me an enjoyable and attractive servant in Your pastimes, then I only ask to be allowed to associate in this world with devotees who have a deep affection for Srimati Radharani. Please allow me to serve those devotees life after life and to learn from them how to return to Her lotus feet.”
Yadunandana Swami:
The Srimad-Bhagavatam is the most glorious scripture because of its focus on describing the birth and activities of the Lord. Of its 335 chapters, the 90 chapters comprising the Tenth Canto deal with the pastimes of Krishna and the Eleventh Canto of over 30 chapters deals the legacy and final instructions of Krishna.
A teacher of nonviolent communications teaches we must know our own needs, and the needs of the others and then figure out how to connect with others, knowing this. The pleasure comes from connecting with others. Our first business in spiritual realization is sambandha, understanding our connection with and connecting with Krishna.
Now there is talk of a God particle. This means that the scientists directly or indirectly conscious of God. The function of the particle is to sustain matter, and that is one of God’s attributes.
One of Ramanujacarya’s gurus had the power to ask the Deity a question and have the Deity reply with an answer. Someone asked him to ask the Deity, “What happens if your devotee cannot remember you at the time of death?” The Deity replied, “If the devotee does not remember Me at the time of death, I will remember my devotee.”
comment by Ananta Nitai Prabhu: My mother had Alzheimer’s disease, and at a certain point, she would just repeat what anyone said. I just chanted the Hare Krishna mantra, two words at a time, and she would repeat them, until she would say, “O stop!” Then I would try one more mantra, and when she would not complain, I would continue. After I while she would say, “O stop!” again. Then I would try one more mantra, and she would again not complain, so I would continue. This went on until she was too tired to say anything. Later my sister said she would sometimes hear my mother chanting the entire Hare Krishna mantra. This was amazing to me as usually someone with that condition cannot remember anything, so I think this is evidence of Krishna giving her some special mercy.
comment by Mayesvara Prabhu: One devotee in Dublin had Alzheimer’s disease. Once he was in a large store, and he got separated from his wife, and he could not remember his own name nor who he had come with to have the store authorities make an announcement. He got the idea to say the Hare Krishna into microphone so his caretaker would understand what happened. Later when his wife could not longer take care of him, he lived in a home with others who required assistance. Many people in that situation in the same home were angry and bitter but he was peaceful and appeared effulgent. His wife would bring him prasadam and garlands from the Deities, and she wiped his face with Ganges water.
comment by me: Malati Prabhu told in a morning class of a devotee seamstress in New Vrindavana, who after a long absence due to Alzheimer’s disease, again took darsana of the Lord, for whom she had made outfits for years. Malati said, “I was surprised to see her absorption in the Deities. She saw me looking at her, and turned to me, saying, ‘You may try to forget Krishna, but Krishna will not forget you.’”
Most of us have both divine and demoniac qualities.
Divine means to follow the instructions of God given in the scriptures.
The life of the soul in the material world is a dilemma. And spiritual life is also a dilemma. When we are preaching, we should consider where we are at, and preach what we have realized. It is important to be balanced and consistence. We must communicate Krishna’s message without hypocrisy.
Today is a birthday party. Devotees are special souls, and it is good to take advantage of such opportunities to glorify them. We wish the devotee a long life in Krishna consciousness.
Praghosa Prabhu (GBC UK):
In the spiritual world the bliss is every increasing yet we decided to come to the place of misery, the material world.
There was nothing in Prabhupada’s life that was separated from his mission.
Past the age of retirement, Prabhupada left India to share this knowledge with the world. He had no doubts about his mission. He knew people were suffering, and he wanted to help them.
If we do not have faith that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, we cannot convince others. Therefore, Prabhupada challenged his leaders, “Are you convinced?”
There are so many words for suffering because it is a constant for everyone in this material world.
None of us are really comfortable in our bodies.
Nature programs are very popular yet if you think about it, all you see the different animals doing is four things, eating, sleeping, mating, and defending.
Radhanatha Swami’s father has 200 channels on his TV, but he is not satisfied as it is difficult to remember which had the best program.
Tell all your friends about Krishna in a way that makes them more attracted to Krishna.
The only reciprocation Prabhupada wanted is that we pass what he gave us.
Ananta Nitai Prabhu:
I always liked harinama, the congregational chanting in public, but it was not until I read what Aindra Prabhu wrote that I understood its great importance.
We cannot judge devotees externally. Externals do not represent the internal mood of the devotee, but it is the internal mood that Krishna reciprocates with.
Krishna’s statements in the Gita are enacted in His pastimes.
Tribhuvanatha Prabhu said, for the spiritually ignorant, a husband and wife love each other’s false ego at best.
Conditioned souls identify either with their bodies or their minds. Fearfulness arises from either identifying ourselves with our body or our mind. When we come in contact with the Lord, this fearfulness is annihilated.
The essence of life is to transcend death and that is the knowledge this Hare Krishna movement is giving.
The more pious we are, the less fearful of death we become, and the more sinful we are the more afraid of death we become.
The more selfless you become, the less you worry about the source of miseries which are in relationship the body.
There was a Christian Bible-Belt family who had a kid at an early age who remembered details of a previous life as a fighter pilot. He listed names and details of different aircraft. The family researched it to disprove the idea of reincarnation, but they became convinced of it.
Scientists describe the body functioning in terms of chemical reactions only, but can you show me a chemical reaction that is aware of itself?
One reason people like dogs because the dogs will not reject them.
comment by Annete: I see that when I am distributing books that some people are so glad to talk to me just because they are so lonely. Sometimes they take a book just because they are happy I talked to them.
comment by Guru Das from the Manor in another Srimad-Bhagavatam class: One’s mind wanders in proportion to one’s lack of desire to surrender to Krishna.
Nrsimha Tirtha Prabhu:
At the ceremony when the child is first offered grains, Narottama Thakura Dasa, as baby, refused to eat the grains because they were not offered to Krishna.
Lord Nityananda Prabhu, the original guru, took Narottama Thakura Dasa, as a youth, to the Padma River, to receive the love of God that Lord Caitanya had deposited there for him.
Narottama Thakura installed the deities in Khettari so the devotees there would make steady advancement by regularly serving the Lord.
Bhugarbha Goswami would chant within the earth, in a cave or underground, to make sure no one would disturb him, and that is why he is called Bhugarbha.
The pure devotees think they are fallen, but that motivates them to do more devotional service.
The acaryas, the great spiritual teachers, are looking for their faults in order to correct themselves, and that is expressed in their songs.
Sri Gadadhara Prabhu:
When we do our work for Krishna, it becomes an art.
Krishna consciousness is simple. Do your work for the gratification of Krishna’s senses not your own.
One householder devotee said, “Do not talk about love until you have been married for 15 years,” the purport being that without staying together and serving each other for a long time, through happiness and distress, there is no question of love.
Srila Prabhupada explained nonviolence as working for the spiritual benefit of everyone, but unless we engage in devotional service, we cannot do this. So not to engage in devotional service is actually violence.
Aindra Prabhu said simplicity is to follow whatever the Lord tells us from within.
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prthivite ache yata nagaradi grama sarvatra pracara haibe mora nama
[Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu said:] “In every town and village, the chanting of My name will be heard.” (Caitanya-bhagavata, Antya 4.126)
Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 8, No. 13 By Krishna-kripa das (July 2012, part one) The North of England, Dublin, and Belfast (Sent from New Shantipur Farm, Czarnów, Poland, on August 20, 2012)
Where I Went and What I Did
The first week of July I spent in Newcastle doing harinama with Sri Gadadhara Prabhu, and sometimes joined by Prema Sankirtana Prabhu, and once also with photographer, Bhakta Lauris. As usual, sometimes we chanted in Newcastle itself and sometimes in neighboring regions. Next we went to the monthly Manchester harinama, the second Sunday of the month. GBC of the UK Praghosa Prabhu was there, and I got to tell him about my new program of working in his region in the summers under the direction of Janananda Goswami. Brahmacaris from the Bhaktivedanta Manor were visiting and did harinamas with us in Manchester on Monday and Leeds on Tuesday. Wednesday was a wild day traveling from Leeds to Manchester to help with a program for elementary students, and then going to Sheffield for the afternoon harinama and evening program, and then taking a train to Birmingham to catch a bus to Dublin. I spent a few days in Dublin and Belfast chanting three hours almost every day with my new harinama partner, a disciple of Maha-Vishnu Swami, Ananta Nitai Prabhu.
I share a couple quotes from Krishnadasa Kaviraja Goswami about the most sacred place in the world, and Srila Prabhupada’s explanation for why certain activities are considered sinful. I include insights from Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami from a variety of his books. Yadunandana Swami came to Dublin and shared some insights which I include. The question of remembering Krishna at the time of death and the potential problem of Alzheimer’s disease generated an interesting discussion and devotees share some real life stories about that. GBC Praghosa Prabhu at the Manchester Sunday Feast glorified Srila Prabhupada and encouraged us to follow his example. My harinama partners also share some interesting realizations in their classes.
I apologize for the lack of photos to illustrate this issue. My camera died, and I was not enthusiastic enough to ask the devotee photographers for the pictures they took at the time. I tried writing some of them by email later, asking for pictures, but no one responded.
More Harinamas in The North of England
We chanted in Sunderland and three boys, perhaps ten or twelve or so, amazed us by trying to chant and for dancing with us for fifteen minutes. One was especially fired up. Later Sri Gadadhara Prabhu sold a Bhagavad-gita to a couple girls who reminded us of the hippie era by their dress and behavior. They maintained themselves by face painting and Tarot card reading. They joined our harinama and chanted and danced so in such a lively way as we passed through the streets and malls of Sunderland, it was as though they were brahmacarinis from one of our ashrams.
In Manchester we had such a fired up harinama that two or three young Muslim ladies danced right in the middle of one of two facing lines of dancing devotees who were repeatedly coming together, jumping, and moving apart. Although Muslim ladies are often attracted, usually they just smile, take pictures, or dance with their friends a little distant from our party, but this time they were right in the thick of it. At the same time, a couple of visiting Italian girls, also danced in one of the lines of dancing devotees at one end. One man from Kuwait was watching when the Muslim ladies danced and spoke disapprovingly about them to me, saying they were from Pakistan and were setting a bad example for Muslim ladies. His comment seemed a little humorous to me, perhaps because I had not encountered such internal disagreements among the Muslims before.
Sutapa Prabhu and a van load of devotees from Bhaktivedanta Manor were visiting the Manchester area, and we did an amazing four hours of harinama in downtown Manchester on Monday and then harinama for a couple of hours in Leeds on Tuesday before the evening program there. Having all the extra devotees made the kirtana at the Leeds program very lively. As a result of a good experience, Sutapa Prabhu is considering coming to The North of England with some of his party more often to assist the outreach up there.
Manchester Program for School Students
Tribhangananda Prabhu does programs for school children who come to the temple to learn about Hinduism. He makes it really interactive for them by having them dress up as avatars, demigods and demigoddess, and having them hold dolls of different Hindu deities, and pass them around the room. Then he talks about the qualities and activities of each deity. I was surprised that some of the students remembered details of the Ramayana from their Hinduism class at school and were able to identify some of the personalities from it. Sri Gadadhara Prabhu and I played a brief role by leading kirtana for the kids and demonstrating the musical instruments. The kids and their teachers all get prasadam afterward. You could see that both the students and the teachers liked the program. It was impressive to me that the teachers expressed appreciation that my friend and I had taken time out of our lives just to sing for them. As it was, by running and taking two buses, I made it to the train station just two minutes before my train to Sheffield, but my friend, who was less determined, missed his flight to Czech.
Sheffield Harinama and Program
I like Sheffield because you can always count on some of the local devotees to come on harinama. Kay, the leader, and her daughter Radha, are almost always there. Another young man is very steady as well. Radha was scheduled to work but asked for the rest of the afternoon off because it was a slow day, and her boss gave it to her. Mark, who had not been coming around for awhile, saw me when I was chanting alone in the beginning, and he passed out flyers for me. When the others came, he continued with the harinama, and later came to the program. Four girls danced as they walked by the harinama, and then again when they passed by in the other direction. While Radha was singing, she encouraged three girls who were friends to participate. First the girls danced, and then they chanted, and they had a great time. At the program a new lady from India who heard about our ISKCON program from a student at the university, and who knew the devotees from Bangalore, came, stayed the whole time, bought some beads and made a vow to chant one round a day. Steven from Ghana, a regular at that program, and a taxi driver, gave me a complimentary ride to the train. As I reached the train to Sheffield, just two minutes before its departure, which caused me too much anxiety, this time we got there seven minutes early.
Dublin Harinamas
Premarnava and Ananta Nitai Prabhu have a regular program of going out every day on harinama for an hour or an hour and a half, sometimes joined by Mayesvara Prabhu, and so it was great to have their association. Ananta Nitai, in particular, did not mind increasing to three hours almost every day. We chanted in Dublin a couple of days, once assisted by Yadunandana Swami who was visiting and Mayesvara Prabhu, a regular.
Belfast Harinamas
Ananta Nitai Prabhu and I went to the usual Belfast harinama stop after arriving from Dublin by bus, as we had invited the temple devotees to join us there. Soon Bhaktin Annete, who loves distributing books on harinama, appeared and later Satya Rupa Devi, a disciple of Srila Prabhupada who had moved to Ireland from Australia since I visited last year.
The next day we decided to do harinama before the Sunday feast for two and a half hours. This time, Shyama Mayi Devi, a regular on last year’s harinamas who had chanted with our Mayapur harinama party this spring, came out along with Annete. The advantage to pre-Sunday feast harinamas is that the interested people you meet can come back to the temple for the program, and this time it actually happened. A man, perhaps in his forties or fifties, who seemed to be on a spiritual search, came back with us by bus to the temple for the Sunday lecture, kirtana, and feast. I decided to sit with him during the feast, as no one else seemed very interested in talking to him. I asked what he thought of the philosophy, and he said he liked it. Because of his interest, I suggested that Ananta Nitai Prabhu might try to sell him a book. And so he did, not one, but four, and the man gave a 60 pound donation, almost $100. I saw it as Krishna encouraging us in our humble attempts to do outreach.
Monday, another enthusiastic devotee lady, Rukmamati Devi, who is a full-time pujari, joined the harinama, along with one of the other ladies, and Shyama Mayi joined us on Tuesday. I suggested to the four ladies who had come out on harinama over the four days we were there that they arrange their service schedules so they could go out on harinama two or three times a week, as they all were very happy to be chanting in the streets again, and I hope they do.
Next we went to Govindadvipa to chant with Bhagavata Dasi, a very enthusiastic devotee lady who is somewhere around sixty years in age, but still loves to go chanting in the towns near our temple there.
Describing the arena of Lord Krishna’s rasa dance:
Beneath a kalpa-druma tree [desire tree] is a palace wherein Lord Krishna’s jeweled throne is situated in a sacred place, and where the Agama-sastra explains the Lord has multitudes of pastimes with the gopis. It is also said that in this monarch of all places that by seeing Lord Govinda one would attain the qualities of Radharani and Her gopi friends with great joy.”
[Glorifying the names of Krishna is performed by the gopis, Krishna’s greatest devotees:] By playing on His flute Lord Krishna announced His desire to enjoy the rasa dance. The gopis responded by singing various songs glorifying Lord Krishna’s names. These songs greatly pleased the Lord.”
Srila Prabhupada:
from a lecture in Bombay, February 24, 1974:
Why are meat-eating, illicit sex, intoxication, and gambling considered sinful? Because they force the soul to accept another body, which is the source of misery.
Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami:
from Prabhupada Meditations IV:
?It has been almost fourteen years since Prabhupada left us. We are getting older physically, but we are still spiritual infants. We have so much to learn. We pray to Prabhupada for better vision. Arjuna prayed for the eyes to see the Universal Form; we need the eyes to see what is in Prabhupada’s books. We need to understand the deeper meanings of Krishna consciousness. This doesn’t mean that Prabhupada didn’t give us everything. It only means that we have failed to recognize it.”
from his journal, Viraha Bhavan, for July 16, 2012:
It’s nice when sadhus dance so beautifully, like Lord Caitanya did. It enhances the performance of sankirtana and induces onlookers to appreciate and even participate.
from Karttika Papers:
This is Mayapura where you can commit offenses. Everything you do is blessed The Two Brothers Reign. They bring you to gopi-bhava.
Prabhupada said, “Death is not wonderful. Life is wonderful. And this is life, Krsna consciousness.”
We need to take a break from the arduous duties and just hear the pastimes of Krsna.
from Journal and Poems, Volume One:
?In 1977 when Prabhupada was quite ill, he attended a big pandal in Bombay. He had to be carried onto the stage and the audience could see that he was physically diminished. Yet Prabhupada never preached more powerfully. At one of those programs, a man asked, ‘What about health?’ Prabhupada replied, ‘What is health? You’re going to die, so how can you be considered healthy?’ So one of the things I seem to be gaining during this recuperation period is the deepening realization that I’m going to die. I’m trying to recoup a little strength so that I can go on for many more years, but there’s no question of reversing the incurable process of aging unto death. Although this truth should be commonly understood, many have not realized it.
from Vrindavana Writing:
I want to taste the nectar so I can become like a maddened bee and remain always in the lotus of Your confidential pastimes. O Lord, I do not know anything but the spiritual masters who guide me are enticing me toward the goal. I’m not happy to be chanting and hearing without feeling the ecstasy of attraction for You. I am ashamed that this is my condition. I beg You to please relieve me of that shame.
Dear Lord, if there are obstacles to be removed before You grant me this request, then I further request that You show me those obstacles and teach me to surmount them. Give me the courage and intelligence to overcome a weak heart.
If You think I require more time to ripen before You will find me an enjoyable and attractive servant in Your pastimes, then I only ask to be allowed to associate in this world with devotees who have a deep affection for Srimati Radharani. Please allow me to serve those devotees life after life and to learn from them how to return to Her lotus feet.”
Yadunandana Swami:
The Srimad-Bhagavatam is the most glorious scripture because of its focus on describing the birth and activities of the Lord. Of its 335 chapters, the 90 chapters comprising the Tenth Canto deal with the pastimes of Krishna and the Eleventh Canto of over 30 chapters deals the legacy and final instructions of Krishna.
A teacher of nonviolent communications teaches we must know our own needs, and the needs of the others and then figure out how to connect with others, knowing this. The pleasure comes from connecting with others. Our first business in spiritual realization is sambandha, understanding our connection with and connecting with Krishna.
Now there is talk of a God particle. This means that the scientists directly or indirectly conscious of God. The function of the particle is to sustain matter, and that is one of God’s attributes.
One of Ramanujacarya’s gurus had the power to ask the Deity a question and have the Deity reply with an answer. Someone asked him to ask the Deity, “What happens if your devotee cannot remember you at the time of death?” The Deity replied, “If the devotee does not remember Me at the time of death, I will remember my devotee.”
comment by Ananta Nitai Prabhu: My mother had Alzheimer’s disease, and at a certain point, she would just repeat what anyone said. I just chanted the Hare Krishna mantra, two words at a time, and she would repeat them, until she would say, “O stop!” Then I would try one more mantra, and when she would not complain, I would continue. After I while she would say, “O stop!” again. Then I would try one more mantra, and she would again not complain, so I would continue. This went on until she was too tired to say anything. Later my sister said she would sometimes hear my mother chanting the entire Hare Krishna mantra. This was amazing to me as usually someone with that condition cannot remember anything, so I think this is evidence of Krishna giving her some special mercy.
comment by Mayesvara Prabhu: One devotee in Dublin had Alzheimer’s disease. Once he was in a large store, and he got separated from his wife, and he could not remember his own name nor who he had come with to have the store authorities make an announcement. He got the idea to say the Hare Krishna into microphone so his caretaker would understand what happened. Later when his wife could not longer take care of him, he lived in a home with others who required assistance. Many people in that situation in the same home were angry and bitter but he was peaceful and appeared effulgent. His wife would bring him prasadam and garlands from the Deities, and she wiped his face with Ganges water.
comment by me: Malati Prabhu told in a morning class of a devotee seamstress in New Vrindavana, who after a long absence due to Alzheimer’s disease, again took darsana of the Lord, for whom she had made outfits for years. Malati said, “I was surprised to see her absorption in the Deities. She saw me looking at her, and turned to me, saying, ‘You may try to forget Krishna, but Krishna will not forget you.’”
Most of us have both divine and demoniac qualities.
Divine means to follow the instructions of God given in the scriptures.
The life of the soul in the material world is a dilemma. And spiritual life is also a dilemma. When we are preaching, we should consider where we are at, and preach what we have realized. It is important to be balanced and consistence. We must communicate Krishna’s message without hypocrisy.
Today is a birthday party. Devotees are special souls, and it is good to take advantage of such opportunities to glorify them. We wish the devotee a long life in Krishna consciousness.
Praghosa Prabhu (GBC UK):
In the spiritual world the bliss is every increasing yet we decided to come to the place of misery, the material world.
There was nothing in Prabhupada’s life that was separated from his mission.
Past the age of retirement, Prabhupada left India to share this knowledge with the world. He had no doubts about his mission. He knew people were suffering, and he wanted to help them.
If we do not have faith that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, we cannot convince others. Therefore, Prabhupada challenged his leaders, “Are you convinced?”
There are so many words for suffering because it is a constant for everyone in this material world.
None of us are really comfortable in our bodies.
Nature programs are very popular yet if you think about it, all you see the different animals doing is four things, eating, sleeping, mating, and defending.
Radhanatha Swami’s father has 200 channels on his TV, but he is not satisfied as it is difficult to remember which had the best program.
Tell all your friends about Krishna in a way that makes them more attracted to Krishna.
The only reciprocation Prabhupada wanted is that we pass what he gave us.
Ananta Nitai Prabhu:
I always liked harinama, the congregational chanting in public, but it was not until I read what Aindra Prabhu wrote that I understood its great importance.
We cannot judge devotees externally. Externals do not represent the internal mood of the devotee, but it is the internal mood that Krishna reciprocates with.
Krishna’s statements in the Gita are enacted in His pastimes.
Tribhuvanatha Prabhu said, for the spiritually ignorant, a husband and wife love each other’s false ego at best.
Conditioned souls identify either with their bodies or their minds. Fearfulness arises from either identifying ourselves with our body or our mind. When we come in contact with the Lord, this fearfulness is annihilated.
The essence of life is to transcend death and that is the knowledge this Hare Krishna movement is giving.
The more pious we are, the less fearful of death we become, and the more sinful we are the more afraid of death we become.
The more selfless you become, the less you worry about the source of miseries which are in relationship the body.
There was a Christian Bible-Belt family who had a kid at an early age who remembered details of a previous life as a fighter pilot. He listed names and details of different aircraft. The family researched it to disprove the idea of reincarnation, but they became convinced of it.
Scientists describe the body functioning in terms of chemical reactions only, but can you show me a chemical reaction that is aware of itself?
One reason people like dogs because the dogs will not reject them.
comment by Annete: I see that when I am distributing books that some people are so glad to talk to me just because they are so lonely. Sometimes they take a book just because they are happy I talked to them.
comment by Guru Das from the Manor in another Srimad-Bhagavatam class: One’s mind wanders in proportion to one’s lack of desire to surrender to Krishna.
Nrsimha Tirtha Prabhu:
At the ceremony when the child is first offered grains, Narottama Thakura Dasa, as baby, refused to eat the grains because they were not offered to Krishna.
Lord Nityananda Prabhu, the original guru, took Narottama Thakura Dasa, as a youth, to the Padma River, to receive the love of God that Lord Caitanya had deposited there for him.
Narottama Thakura installed the deities in Khettari so the devotees there would make steady advancement by regularly serving the Lord.
Bhugarbha Goswami would chant within the earth, in a cave or underground, to make sure no one would disturb him, and that is why he is called Bhugarbha.
The pure devotees think they are fallen, but that motivates them to do more devotional service.
The acaryas, the great spiritual teachers, are looking for their faults in order to correct themselves, and that is expressed in their songs.
Sri Gadadhara Prabhu:
When we do our work for Krishna, it becomes an art.
Krishna consciousness is simple. Do your work for the gratification of Krishna’s senses not your own.
One householder devotee said, “Do not talk about love until you have been married for 15 years,” the purport being that without staying together and serving each other for a long time, through happiness and distress, there is no question of love.
Srila Prabhupada explained nonviolence as working for the spiritual benefit of everyone, but unless we engage in devotional service, we cannot do this. So not to engage in devotional service is actually violence.
Aindra Prabhu said simplicity is to follow whatever the Lord tells us from within.
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prthivite ache yata nagaradi grama sarvatra pracara haibe mora nama
[Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu said:] “In every town and village, the chanting of My name will be heard.” (Caitanya-bhagavata, Antya 4.126)
As my plane lands, I try to make sure where to put my legs- where do I stand? Of course I am no pilot, so this is figurative, but one thing this year has really brought is turbulent weather. Good turbulent weather.
At some point in my childhood I was obsessed with religious ritual; I would go to morning mass everyday, pray my rosary reverently- everything about the whole service was sort of romantic. I studied the lives of Saints. Name a saint and I could tell you how they lived.
By the will of providence, as I grew up, that romance ended aprubtly when I was practically forbidden to go to Church. It was a subtle forbiddance, but the result was me running away to "find myself." What I found was the Hare Krsna movement. A romance rekindled! A slightly different mood. With God as the same goal, but awe and reverence not the main point. I was fascinated to know about different ways of approaching God. Loving service was now emphasized. Now go find others who may be spinning in their own cocoons, looking for a similar experience.
So as young monks we romantically took to Krsna's movement, putting aside every other consideration the world had to offer. We were on our way back to Godhead! Young enthusiasm, leave no prisoners, onward spiritual soldiers, march against illusion's snare. It's easy to march when you have a leader in front of you, giving you goals, cheering you on, smashing you, pushing you back to Godhead.
Then at some point the question came, " so what do YOU want to do for Krsna? What responsibilities can you take? Which shoulder would you like to lend for leaning? Who me? Oh, I thought all you big men would stick around forever and I'll just do as you command? Me? Responsibility? Ok, I guess.
So with what tools I had I scurried along, meeting and inviting others- " leave no prisoners, onward spiritual warriors!"
Then came responsibility: feed em, make sure they're trained for battle, mentally, physically, Spiritually. And then reality hit. Mistakes were made, people were pushed too pushed, etc etc. Fights were fought for the cause of the mission, and in most cases, I wondered if anyone was even listening? So came 2012. The year when it all will end, according to some. Nah, according to others. I braced myself, " if it ends, I'll go down swinging! If it doesn't, I'll stay up swinging! But something had to end. For me. Maybe not the world, maybe not the fight, maybe not even the playful-happy-go-super-lucky me! Immature enthusiasm has to die.
So the turbulence was of my own making; all my romantic conceptions placed before me. I now have to solidify them, or let them go. The love for Krsna must increase, for if I don't mend my shaky relationship with him, I am and will always remain incapable of loving anything! Krsna is the root cause of everything. So should I push? Yes, push those who need pushing. Should I march? Yes, with those who like marching. And prisoners? Yes, leave none. But only if I work in conjunction with pushing myself, marching myself, and freeing myself from illusion.
Leave aside immaturity. Mature through chanting, through studying the map out of here (Srila Prabhupada's books), through good association, through breaking the chains that weakens the heart.
I think I'll land here:
With the conviction that love of God is in every living entity. Deep within in each heart, under the envy, the greed, the lust, the madness, the pride, the illusion, is that covered spark who knows nothing but how to love. To Truly love Krsna. And what is my duty? To amuse, to inspire to delight, to somehow other reach deep and give what was given me- a chance to have turbulences, to solidify my desire to re love Krsna, to re meet Krsna, to again have it all be about Krsna.
As my plane lands, I try to make sure where to put my legs- where do I stand? Of course I am no pilot, so this is figurative, but one thing this year has really brought is turbulent weather. Good turbulent weather.
At some point in my childhood I was obsessed with religious ritual; I would go to morning mass everyday, pray my rosary reverently- everything about the whole service was sort of romantic. I studied the lives of Saints. Name a saint and I could tell you how they lived.
By the will of providence, as I grew up, that romance ended aprubtly when I was practically forbidden to go to Church. It was a subtle forbiddance, but the result was me running away to "find myself." What I found was the Hare Krsna movement. A romance rekindled! A slightly different mood. With God as the same goal, but awe and reverence not the main point. I was fascinated to know about different ways of approaching God. Loving service was now emphasized. Now go find others who may be spinning in their own cocoons, looking for a similar experience.
So as young monks we romantically took to Krsna's movement, putting aside every other consideration the world had to offer. We were on our way back to Godhead! Young enthusiasm, leave no prisoners, onward spiritual soldiers, march against illusion's snare. It's easy to march when you have a leader in front of you, giving you goals, cheering you on, smashing you, pushing you back to Godhead.
Then at some point the question came, " so what do YOU want to do for Krsna? What responsibilities can you take? Which shoulder would you like to lend for leaning? Who me? Oh, I thought all you big men would stick around forever and I'll just do as you command? Me? Responsibility? Ok, I guess.
So with what tools I had I scurried along, meeting and inviting others- " leave no prisoners, onward spiritual warriors!"
Then came responsibility: feed em, make sure they're trained for battle, mentally, physically, Spiritually. And then reality hit. Mistakes were made, people were pushed too pushed, etc etc. Fights were fought for the cause of the mission, and in most cases, I wondered if anyone was even listening? So came 2012. The year when it all will end, according to some. Nah, according to others. I braced myself, " if it ends, I'll go down swinging! If it doesn't, I'll stay up swinging! But something had to end. For me. Maybe not the world, maybe not the fight, maybe not even the playful-happy-go-super-lucky me! Immature enthusiasm has to die.
So the turbulence was of my own making; all my romantic conceptions placed before me. I now have to solidify them, or let them go. The love for Krsna must increase, for if I don't mend my shaky relationship with him, I am and will always remain incapable of loving anything! Krsna is the root cause of everything. So should I push? Yes, push those who need pushing. Should I march? Yes, with those who like marching. And prisoners? Yes, leave none. But only if I work in conjunction with pushing myself, marching myself, and freeing myself from illusion.
Leave aside immaturity. Mature through chanting, through studying the map out of here (Srila Prabhupada's books), through good association, through breaking the chains that weakens the heart.
I think I'll land here:
With the conviction that love of God is in every living entity. Deep within in each heart, under the envy, the greed, the lust, the madness, the pride, the illusion, is that covered spark who knows nothing but how to love. To Truly love Krsna. And what is my duty? To amuse, to inspire to delight, to somehow other reach deep and give what was given me- a chance to have turbulences, to solidify my desire to re love Krsna, to re meet Krsna, to again have it all be about Krsna.
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is by far the biggest of its kind in the world. The average daily trading reaches $170 billion, while the total capitalisation of listed companies on the NYSE is well over $14 trillion. As you can imagine, daily events there can often reach fever-pitch. In the late 60’s, a few artful “yippies” conspired to create a publicity stunt at the Wall Street establishment. While swarms of brokers were cutting deals worth millions of dollars, these individuals quietly climbed to a vantage point overlooking the manic trading floor. They attracted everyone’s attention with a loud call, and proceeded to shower down fistfuls of fake dollar bills! As the individuals on the trading floor saw this astonishing sight, a frantic scramble ensued, as they shrugged each other off to grab the cash, while leaving all their lucrative deals hanging! It was incredulous – there was practically no financial benefit in their petty scramble, yet the mere sight of physical cash completely captivated them. For those few moments, their better intelligence lost them. As they realized the trick they quickly retreated back to their business in a desperate attempt to recoup their losses!
The world is full of temptations, allurements and a variety of attractive enticements. A cool-headed analysis of them confirms their ultimate uselessness and striking inability to bring us what we really desire. Unfortunately, in the heat of the moment, such temptations are practically irresistable. The opportunity for instant gratification captures our mind. The urge within seems too intense to tolerate. We know it would be a mistake, but we dont have the inner strength to say 'no'. Nevertheless, the comical Wall Street episode teaches us an age-old lesson. The net result of giving-in to empty, insubstantial temptations is that we feel frustrated, angry, cheated, and disappointed with ourselves. Furthermore, we simultaneously neglect and damage our progressive path in life which is more valuable, fulfilling and long-lasting. The necessity of forgoing immediate pleasure to attain something far greater holds true in every sphere of life – material or spiritual. The Bhagavad-gita offers a variety of solutions for those looking to embrace long-term wellbeing. Learning that art will COST you:
Conviction – be convinced of the great thing you are trying to achieve, and why it requires a certain discipline and self-restraint.
Openness – regardless of success or failure, be open with a friend and seek their advice, support, guidance and feedback.
Safety – be conscious to avoid provoking situations, people and mindsets which may compromise your principles.
Taste – work hard to experience the ‘better life’, and solidify your resolve by feeling the benefits of your restraint.
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is by far the biggest of its kind in the world. The average daily trading reaches $170 billion, while the total capitalisation of listed companies on the NYSE is well over $14 trillion. As you can imagine, daily events there can often reach fever-pitch. In the late 60’s, a few artful “yippies” conspired to create a publicity stunt at the Wall Street establishment. While swarms of brokers were cutting deals worth millions of dollars, these individuals quietly climbed to a vantage point overlooking the manic trading floor. They attracted everyone’s attention with a loud call, and proceeded to shower down fistfuls of fake dollar bills! As the individuals on the trading floor saw this astonishing sight, a frantic scramble ensued, as they shrugged each other off to grab the cash, while leaving all their lucrative deals hanging! It was incredulous – there was practically no financial benefit in their petty scramble, yet the mere sight of physical cash completely captivated them. For those few moments, their better intelligence lost them. As they realized the trick they quickly retreated back to their business in a desperate attempt to recoup their losses!
The world is full of temptations, allurements and a variety of attractive enticements. A cool-headed analysis of them confirms their ultimate uselessness and striking inability to bring us what we really desire. Unfortunately, in the heat of the moment, such temptations are practically irresistable. The opportunity for instant gratification captures our mind. The urge within seems too intense to tolerate. We know it would be a mistake, but we dont have the inner strength to say 'no'. Nevertheless, the comical Wall Street episode teaches us an age-old lesson. The net result of giving-in to empty, insubstantial temptations is that we feel frustrated, angry, cheated, and disappointed with ourselves. Furthermore, we simultaneously neglect and damage our progressive path in life which is more valuable, fulfilling and long-lasting. The necessity of forgoing immediate pleasure to attain something far greater holds true in every sphere of life – material or spiritual. The Bhagavad-gita offers a variety of solutions for those looking to embrace long-term wellbeing. Learning that art will COST you:
Conviction – be convinced of the great thing you are trying to achieve, and why it requires a certain discipline and self-restraint.
Openness – regardless of success or failure, be open with a friend and seek their advice, support, guidance and feedback.
Safety – be conscious to avoid provoking situations, people and mindsets which may compromise your principles.
Taste – work hard to experience the ‘better life’, and solidify your resolve by feeling the benefits of your restraint.
World Renowned kirtan leader, His Grace Gauravani Prabhu visited TKG Academy in the first week of school. He sat right on the floor with all 23 students, completely at home with the kids. He introduced himself as a former Gurukula student and a father. One by one, the children introduced…
I say "again" in the title, because I've gone down this path before. When I first moved out of the temple in 2002 I went back to Michigan to live with my father. I lived in his basement and became a stereotypical artist-slacker. I had been living in the temple for the past seven years and became "fried out" as the devotees say. I had no taste for devotional service. I was having a devotional mid-life crisis and wanted to go out and explore the wonderful world of maya again. And I did it with a gusto. By the end of my experiments with sense gratification though (around 2004), I was left feeling empty, depressed and miserable. That's when my now wife, Kadamba mala, contacted me and pulled me out of the gutter and depression I was falling into. I was getting back on track, back on the devotional path.
So it's curious that I now find myself eight years later going back to the thing that I rejected. In the Srimad Bhagavatam there's that verse about "chewing the chewed". The example is that a man chews some sugar cane to get the sweetness out of it and then discards it. Then he again picks it up to try and chew more sweetness from it, but it's of course long gone. This is what I'm doing. I know there's no real enjoyment in drinking, yet here I am going back to it and trying to pretend its enjoyable.
As I woke up this morning with a migraine I realized it was a wake-up call. Why am I wasting my time in these sorts of activities? There are reasons why I ventured back into it, but to discuss it at length would betray the trust and privacy of others.
One thing I realized by openly talking about drinking is that I don't have very many friends in the devotional community. Not one devotee has contacted me to say, "Is everything okay?" Even those devotees that I served with for years and had many wonderful devotional experiences with. Why is this? Are they too busy "doing service"? What happened to all of the compassion, concern and empathy they had for me when my Guru Maharaja was physically around? Odd.
I'm not bringing this up as a criticism. I'm also guilty of not caring that much about others. Maybe that's the lesson here. Maybe that's the point Krishna and Sri Guru are trying to show me: I don't care about others, so why will they care about me?
Everyone is eager to criticize the sinful activity of my drinking, yet no one is eager to know or question why I started doing it again. Of course, like I said, I wouldn't even really be able to get into much detail about it, so maybe it's all a moot point. We should know though that most people don't act without purpose. There is purpose behind our actions and behind our words. The drinking for me was some kind of way to cope with something personal that's going on. It was also a means of trying to create commonalities in relationships.
Ultimately all of my reasons for drinking again were quite flawed. It's a pointless activity and one that apparently yields negative results for me with migraines. Kind of an obvious choice to stop such an activity, isn't it? I'm getting older and more fragile. I'm no longer a spry young teenager.
We're constantly making choices in our lives and we have to reap the results of our actions. Everyday the devotees are making choices to either be selfless and more Krishna Conscious or they're making choices to be selfish and more entangled in sense gratification. It's an eternal struggle so long as this material body and mind exist. If I continually and simply give up and give in to the sense gratification then what is the point of my existence? How than can I even call myself a devotee or a Vaishnava? It's all a farce.
I know why I dabbled with drinking again. I also know why I have to stop. I've never considered myself to be a pure devotee. I've always been keenly aware of my deficiencies and short-comings. Recently a devotee friend of mine told me that we're all just human. I have to wonder though, at some point we need to stop thinking that we're human. "I'm just a human, I'm just falible" can become a justification mantra. At what point do we fight it? At what point do we stop trying to enjoy our senses? At what point do we stop giving in to our lower natures? We're such poor, selfish creatures. At this point I can only pray to Sri Nityananda Prabhu to continue kicking me...and kicking me He is.
I say "again" in the title, because I've gone down this path before. When I first moved out of the temple in 2002 I went back to Michigan to live with my father. I lived in his basement and became a stereotypical artist-slacker. I had been living in the temple for the past seven years and became "fried out" as the devotees say. I had no taste for devotional service. I was having a devotional mid-life crisis and wanted to go out and explore the wonderful world of maya again. And I did it with a gusto. By the end of my experiments with sense gratification though (around 2004), I was left feeling empty, depressed and miserable. That's when my now wife, Kadamba mala, contacted me and pulled me out of the gutter and depression I was falling into. I was getting back on track, back on the devotional path.
So it's curious that I now find myself eight years later going back to the thing that I rejected. In the Srimad Bhagavatam there's that verse about "chewing the chewed". The example is that a man chews some sugar cane to get the sweetness out of it and then discards it. Then he again picks it up to try and chew more sweetness from it, but it's of course long gone. This is what I'm doing. I know there's no real enjoyment in drinking, yet here I am going back to it and trying to pretend its enjoyable.
As I woke up this morning with a migraine I realized it was a wake-up call. Why am I wasting my time in these sorts of activities? There are reasons why I ventured back into it, but to discuss it at length would betray the trust and privacy of others.
One thing I realized by openly talking about drinking is that I don't have very many friends in the devotional community. Not one devotee has contacted me to say, "Is everything okay?" Even those devotees that I served with for years and had many wonderful devotional experiences with. Why is this? Are they too busy "doing service"? What happened to all of the compassion, concern and empathy they had for me when my Guru Maharaja was physically around? Odd.
I'm not bringing this up as a criticism. I'm also guilty of not caring that much about others. Maybe that's the lesson here. Maybe that's the point Krishna and Sri Guru are trying to show me: I don't care about others, so why will they care about me?
Everyone is eager to criticize the sinful activity of my drinking, yet no one is eager to know or question why I started doing it again. Of course, like I said, I wouldn't even really be able to get into much detail about it, so maybe it's all a moot point. We should know though that most people don't act without purpose. There is purpose behind our actions and behind our words. The drinking for me was some kind of way to cope with something personal that's going on. It was also a means of trying to create commonalities in relationships.
Ultimately all of my reasons for drinking again were quite flawed. It's a pointless activity and one that apparently yields negative results for me with migraines. Kind of an obvious choice to stop such an activity, isn't it? I'm getting older and more fragile. I'm no longer a spry young teenager.
We're constantly making choices in our lives and we have to reap the results of our actions. Everyday the devotees are making choices to either be selfless and more Krishna Conscious or they're making choices to be selfish and more entangled in sense gratification. It's an eternal struggle so long as this material body and mind exist. If I continually and simply give up and give in to the sense gratification then what is the point of my existence? How than can I even call myself a devotee or a Vaishnava? It's all a farce.
I know why I dabbled with drinking again. I also know why I have to stop. I've never considered myself to be a pure devotee. I've always been keenly aware of my deficiencies and short-comings. Recently a devotee friend of mine told me that we're all just human. I have to wonder though, at some point we need to stop thinking that we're human. "I'm just a human, I'm just falible" can become a justification mantra. At what point do we fight it? At what point do we stop trying to enjoy our senses? At what point do we stop giving in to our lower natures? We're such poor, selfish creatures. At this point I can only pray to Sri Nityananda Prabhu to continue kicking me...and kicking me He is.
What a week it had been! One full of activities with preparations of the advent of Sri Krishna. At Sri Jagannatha Mandir, it was one of the best Janmastami ever experienced. Thousands of people showed up. Stage show coupled with … Continue reading →
The clock is ticking down to midnight. I approach the glowing temple - I see hundreds of people inside all singing to the thrum of drums, and many more crowd outside on the verandah, peering in.
The time is coming! The curtains will open soon! I dash to the doors and slip inside.
I stand at the back in a pocket of space, exchanging grins with some friends. Suddenly, someone flips off the lights, which plunges the templeroom into darkness. Now all we can see is the glow that seeps around the curtains of the altar, which dimly illuminates the sea of people with upturned faces.
I can't stay at the back. No way.
I catch sight of a friend, and with a huge grin I motion my head towards the altar. "Let's go!" I say. Her eyes widen and she smiles back. I grab her hand and we weave our way through the densely packed crowds, all the way... all the way to the very heart of the templeroom.
The anticipation of hundreds of people to see the Lord washes around me like deep ocean currents.
Suddenly, three men emerge from behind the curtains and place conch shells to their lips. The sound reverberates like trumpets through the night and hundreds of voices rise in response.
Midnight has arrived.
And when at last, at last.... at last the curtains swish open, hands rise to the sky in surrender, the entire templeroom is filled with cries of exhilaration and joy, every atom of my being seems to be ringing with awe. I raise my own arms. I feel as though a tidal wave of beauty is crashing over and around me.
I fall to the ground in obeisance. Cool marble tingles beneath my hands.
When I rise, I take in the breathtaking form of Radha and Krishna, bedecked with flowers and silks. So begins the midnight arati, the most spectacular kirtan of the year, for midnight on the 8th day of the waxing moon was the moment that Lord Krishna was born.
Just when I think I'm getting a little too overwhelmed with the sound and the heat and the crowds, I look over to see a group of women dancing with zero inhibition. Zero. So I head on over and jump in to the fantastic fray! The dancing spreads and spreads until the entire templeroom of people is dancing and singing at the top of our lungs. I experience all barriers, all judgments, all sins, all pain dissolve. We simply lose ourselves to the bliss and celebration of Krishna and His holy name.
We're throwing a birthday party for God - how can it get any better than this?
The clock is ticking down to midnight. I approach the glowing temple - I see hundreds of people inside all singing to the thrum of drums, and many more crowd outside on the verandah, peering in.
The time is coming! The curtains will open soon! I dash to the doors and slip inside.
I stand at the back in a pocket of space, exchanging grins with some friends. Suddenly, someone flips off the lights, which plunges the templeroom into darkness. Now all we can see is the glow that seeps around the curtains of the altar, which dimly illuminates the sea of people with upturned faces.
I can't stay at the back. No way.
I catch sight of a friend, and with a huge grin I motion my head towards the altar. "Let's go!" I say. Her eyes widen and she smiles back. I grab her hand and we weave our way through the densely packed crowds, all the way... all the way to the very heart of the templeroom.
The anticipation of hundreds of people to see the Lord washes around me like deep ocean currents.
Suddenly, three men emerge from behind the curtains and place conch shells to their lips. The sound reverberates like trumpets through the night and hundreds of voices rise in response.
Midnight has arrived.
And when at last, at last.... at last the curtains swish open, hands rise to the sky in surrender, the entire templeroom is filled with cries of exhilaration and joy, every atom of my being seems to be ringing with awe. I raise my own arms. I feel as though a tidal wave of beauty is crashing over and around me.
I fall to the ground in obeisance. Cool marble tingles beneath my hands.
When I rise, I take in the breathtaking form of Radha and Krishna, bedecked with flowers and silks. So begins the midnight arati, the most spectacular kirtan of the year, for midnight on the 8th day of the waxing moon was the moment that Lord Krishna was born.
Just when I think I'm getting a little too overwhelmed with the sound and the heat and the crowds, I look over to see a group of women dancing with zero inhibition. Zero. So I head on over and jump in to the fantastic fray! The dancing spreads and spreads until the entire templeroom of people is dancing and singing at the top of our lungs. I experience all barriers, all judgments, all sins, all pain dissolve. We simply lose ourselves to the bliss and celebration of Krishna and His holy name.
We're throwing a birthday party for God - how can it get any better than this?
