Welcome to Saudi Albany?
→ The Yoga of Ecology




Most observers would agree, though, that changes in regulation do not come from objective scientific studies. (Both sides, after all, can flood any government hearing with experts and impressive-looking scientific reports.) Regulations are determined, in large part, by politics. And the politics of fracking are changing and are very likely to change drastically in coming years. As examples from the last century suggest, the sudden discovery of oil and gas can transform an entire economy and regulatory system to serve the industry’s interests. Economists call this the resource curse — the perverse process in which a valuable discovery like oil, gas, diamonds or gold ends up enriching a few at the cost of impoverishing most of the population. At its worst, the resource curse leads to deeply corrupt regimes like those in Iraq, Iran, Myanmar and Libya. At its mildest, this can create one-industry economies in which there is little innovation and even less resistance to the whims of a handful of powerful interests. Many believe this already describes the oil economies of Louisiana, Texas and Oklahoma and, increasingly, North Dakota, where the fracking industry is entrenched. Politically and economically, it’s hard to argue with an industry that has helped keep the state’s unemployment rate at about 3 percent.

If there is an uneasy equilibrium, right now, between environmentally concerned citizens and pro-fracking industrial groups, what will the political balance be like in a decade? What pressures will be on state legislatures and regulators if the projections are true and the millions of workers in Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia and maybe New York will owe their jobs to fracking. There will be trillions of dollars of new wealth. Will environmental and health concerns have any chance against that juggernaut?

Welcome to Saudi Albany?
→ The Yoga of Ecology




Most observers would agree, though, that changes in regulation do not come from objective scientific studies. (Both sides, after all, can flood any government hearing with experts and impressive-looking scientific reports.) Regulations are determined, in large part, by politics. And the politics of fracking are changing and are very likely to change drastically in coming years. As examples from the last century suggest, the sudden discovery of oil and gas can transform an entire economy and regulatory system to serve the industry’s interests. Economists call this the resource curse — the perverse process in which a valuable discovery like oil, gas, diamonds or gold ends up enriching a few at the cost of impoverishing most of the population. At its worst, the resource curse leads to deeply corrupt regimes like those in Iraq, Iran, Myanmar and Libya. At its mildest, this can create one-industry economies in which there is little innovation and even less resistance to the whims of a handful of powerful interests. Many believe this already describes the oil economies of Louisiana, Texas and Oklahoma and, increasingly, North Dakota, where the fracking industry is entrenched. Politically and economically, it’s hard to argue with an industry that has helped keep the state’s unemployment rate at about 3 percent.

If there is an uneasy equilibrium, right now, between environmentally concerned citizens and pro-fracking industrial groups, what will the political balance be like in a decade? What pressures will be on state legislatures and regulators if the projections are true and the millions of workers in Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia and maybe New York will owe their jobs to fracking. There will be trillions of dollars of new wealth. Will environmental and health concerns have any chance against that juggernaut?

Today’s Produce
→ kurma News

Fresh produce from my garden. By the way dear readers, I now have transferred a lot of my energy to my new Facebook page. If you'd like to find me, and I know you, I will accept your friend request. Comment on this post to get that happening.

produce:

New Anti-Smoking Ad Campaign
→ The Vaishnava Voice

Interesting to see that yet another hard-hitting anti-smoking ad campaign is about to be released here in Britain. Although there’s been drastic changes here in the past ten years, there are still so many smokers who cannot conceive of the devastating cancer that lies ahead for them.

In my childhood – in the 1950s and 1960s – just about everyone smoked – and they smoked everywhere. My local cinema was so smoky you had to look through a fug to actually see the screen. Trains, buses, restaurants, pubs and clubs, schools and even in doctor’s surgeries. The doctor might even be smoking when you went to see him!

Now things have changed, and I am stunned that things have changed so much in a relatively short space of time. Now if you want to smoke you have to leave the public building you’re in and stand out in the street,no matter what the weather. But despite this, the intelligent, thoughtful, health-loving British public just doesn’t get it: smoking kills. And its not propaganda.

There are still 8 million smokers in this country; that’s one in every five adults. Last year 800,000 tried to give it up completely, and half of them were successful. That’s great news.

But half of all smokers – that’s 4 million in this country – will go on to die from smoking-related diseases. That’s a crying shame. And in a country where health is paid for from public taxation – not by the insurance company or by the person who is ill – that places a significant drain on public finances. 4 million people needing expensive cancer care is very expensive. Its also wrong if people who made a decision not to smoke are indirectly forced to pay for the healthcare of those that do. And with the financial recession there’s less money to pay for sick people.

Maybe that’s why the government in the UK is working hard to discourage smoking. At least they’re paying £2.5 million for this new campaign that starts soon. But with total tobacco revenue standing currently at £12 billion it would seem that they’re not trying all that hard.

Here’s the new campaign: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/dec/28/smokers-graphic-ad-campaign-tumour


Enough
→ Seed of Devotion

My alarm clock tone is the 1966 track of Prabhupad singing pranam and Hare Krishna. This morning I decided to put in my earphones and listen to the whole track.

Prabhupad's voice filled my being.

The thought came to me how I want this track to be playing at the time of my death. Seeing myself on my deathbed did not feel morbid at all. In fact, I experienced such peace.

No matter how much my body may change, if I travel the world or remain in a small town, who I marry or if I ever marry, disasters or triumphs that befall me, who my children are or if I ever have children, what my career is, if I accomplish famous deeds or remain utterly unknown, whatever may transpire in my life...

... everything becomes so simple in those moments before I leave this body.

Prabhupad.

The holy name. Krishna.

Listening to Prabhupad sing this morning while I laid in bed, I experienced quiet moments of perfection. I don't need to prove anything in this life, to conquer the world or something. I just need to be me. I am enough.

Prabhupad will come for me.





[for e-mail subscribers, click on this link: http://youtu.be/NCusDs1scmY ]

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Enough
→ Seed of Devotion

My alarm clock tone is the 1966 track of Prabhupad singing pranam and Hare Krishna. This morning I decided to put in my earphones and listen to the whole track.

Prabhupad's voice filled my being.

The thought came to me how I want this track to be playing at the time of my death. Seeing myself on my deathbed did not feel morbid at all. In fact, I experienced such peace.

No matter how much my body may change, if I travel the world or remain in a small town, who I marry or if I ever marry, disasters or triumphs that befall me, who my children are or if I ever have children, what my career is, if I accomplish famous deeds or remain utterly unknown, whatever may transpire in my life...

... everything becomes so simple in those moments before I leave this body.

Prabhupad.

The holy name. Krishna.

Listening to Prabhupad sing this morning while I laid in bed, I experienced quiet moments of perfection. I don't need to prove anything in this life, to conquer the world or something. I just need to be me. I am enough.

Prabhupad will come for me.





[for e-mail subscribers, click on this link: http://youtu.be/NCusDs1scmY ]

Subscribe

Aspects of a Successful Parampara
→ The Vaishnava Voice

 

When one thousand people in the United States were asked the question: “What factors brought you to your present religious belief and membership of your current religious community?” the overwhelming majority, 85%, responded that ‘my friend got me interested,’ or ‘my friend was already involved,’ or ‘I went along to the meetings with friends.’ The findings of this survey suggest that a prime influence in religious self-identification (other than deeply-held personal conviction) is our circle of friends; and what we believe then influences our subsequent choices of friends. The committed relationships we maintain with our circle of friends also seem to be a key ingredient in the expansion, socialisation and sustainability of a religious community.

There will always be highly motivated, self-starting, lone seekers of spiritual wisdom. After a mystical experience, or a deeply heart-warming reading of an ancient text, and armed with only their own initial inspiration, they’ll search out a spiritual practitioner who can share his or her wisdom. They may even join a small, very dedicated, band of austere followers. In India it was formerly quite common for a guru to impart rahasya-vidya, secret teachings, to a handful of such disciples, sometimes only one or two. Those disciples would then pass on the secret mantras and tantras to another two disciples. Over the generations this would form a small and exclusive parampara; perfectly valid and intact, but not one that would have any far-reaching social consequences.

The paramparas associated with the Vaishnava community are, in contrast, dedicated to widespread dissemination of knowledge and practice. They are based upon the compassionate uplifting of humanity with the message of the most merciful incarnations and messengers of God. As such, the mantra – at least the particular parampara’s ‘great mantra’ – is distributed to all comers, irrespective of any material or social consideration. It is this friendship to all – the creation of lines of friendship so important to the socialisation of a religious message – that guarantees the widespread popularity of Vaishnavism and its endurance across the centuries.

Although a parampara is simply the handing down of knowledge from teacher to student – guru to sisya – it also generates a parallel manifestation due to its reaching out in friendship to others: a self-perpetuating community of spiritual friends that forms a distinct social grouping, steadily growing down through many centuries.

The authentic teachings of Vaishnavism in written form have become essential in perpetuating a parampara. For this reason modern-day Vaishnavas of ISKCON have digitized the founder-acarya’s teachings, audio recordings and visual images, and provided bomb-proof, museum-level archives for the original materials. Without preservation of the original teachings there would inevitably be philosophical divergence at some point in the future, threatening the perpetuation of the parampara.

But the other elements that serve to sustain a parampara are those that were amply demonstrated by the acarya himself. Firstly, the personal appearances: individual teaching and lecturing – upadesha and upanyasa – with guidance, correction, encouragement, and enthusiasm given to disciples by a living preceptor. Second, the formation of branches of the community, physical places where, in a dedicated environment, followers may gather together for prayer, meditation, worship and discussions. Third, the utter dedication to reaching out to others in a spirit of friendship: free hot meals of sacred food, theatre and colourful festivals, singing processions and sales of philosophical books in accessible language. It is difficult to imagine the present success of ISKCON without these components so generously arranged by the founder.

The sustainability of the parampara would thus seem to be best guaranteed by the preservation of the teaching; the living presence of the exemplars of the teaching; the proliferation of physical spaces where the practices of spirituality can prosper, and the spirit of reaching out to others. And of course, if everyone can remain friends then success is assured.


Will the West ever solve its water woes?
→ The Yoga of Ecology





"The Colorado River provides fresh water to nearly 40 million people in seven states out west: Arizona, California, Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. A sizable chunk of U.S. agriculture relies on that water — about 15 percent of the nation’s crops and 13 percent of its livestock. (Indeed, the vast majority of the river’s water is used for irrigation and agriculture.)

But there’s a problem: The Colorado River may soon no longer have enough water to satisfy the region’s needs. Thanks to rapid population growth in cities like Las Vegas and Phoenix, water demand is surging. Meanwhile, the supply of water is dropping — and could keep dropping as climate change speeds evaporation, shrinks the snow pack in the Rocky Mountains, and makes droughts more likely."

Will the West ever solve its water woes?
→ The Yoga of Ecology





"The Colorado River provides fresh water to nearly 40 million people in seven states out west: Arizona, California, Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. A sizable chunk of U.S. agriculture relies on that water — about 15 percent of the nation’s crops and 13 percent of its livestock. (Indeed, the vast majority of the river’s water is used for irrigation and agriculture.)

But there’s a problem: The Colorado River may soon no longer have enough water to satisfy the region’s needs. Thanks to rapid population growth in cities like Las Vegas and Phoenix, water demand is surging. Meanwhile, the supply of water is dropping — and could keep dropping as climate change speeds evaporation, shrinks the snow pack in the Rocky Mountains, and makes droughts more likely."

Hung Up
→ Devamrita Swami's Facebook notes

Sometimes what I read ties me in knots. Suddenly the purports in Srila Prabhupada's books reveal their unlimited depths, and I feel like a small child gazing upon the ocean for the first time: "When does it end; where is the bottom?" Let me plunge you into a section of Chaitanya-caritamrita that has overloaded my circuits for two weeks—therefore I didn't write anything (an excellent excuse).

In Jagannatha Puri the devotees of Mahaprabhu had gone to the sea to bathe, preparing for their awesome lunch. Meanwhile, Lord Caitanya sought out Haridasa Thakura—finding him, of course, chanting the mahamantra in ecstatic love of Krishna. Immediately Haridasa Thakura falls on the ground like a stick, offering his respects. Mahaprabhu picks him up and embraces him. 

Now, here is what has shut me down: "Then both the Lord and His servant began to cry in ecstatic love. Indeed, the Lord was transformed by the qualities of His servant, and the servant was  transformed by the qualities of his master." (Madhya 11:187)

Although Mahaprabhu, Krishna Himself, is always the predominator, and the living entity, the predominated, nevertheless, in the exchange of ecstatic love, both become transformed.

This is Krishna's intelligent design—the innermost mystery of existence. 

As Prabhupada writes in the purport:  ". . . the servant of the Lord is the heart of the Lord, and the Lord is the heart of the servant. . . .The Lord is always eager to congratulate the servant because of the servant's transcendental qualities. The servant pleasingly renders service unto the Lord, and the lord also very pleasingly reciprocates, rendering even more service unto the servant." 

 Meanwhile, we are afraid to intensify our relationship with Krishna? Such paranoid madness can only be the result of contact with maya. 


my inspiration for today
→ kirtaniyah sada hari


“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." - Marianne Williamson

I remember the way I felt the first time I heard this, "Wow, that's totally applicable to me and everyone I know!" Years later, I've realized it's not only beautiful and inspirational but more importantly, it's a call to action for all of us. Krsna has given all of us unique abilities and talents and it is our service to culture, nourish them and offer it back in His service. om tat sat. :D

my inspiration for today
→ kirtaniyah sada hari


“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." - Marianne Williamson

I remember the way I felt the first time I heard this, "Wow, that's totally applicable to me and everyone I know!" Years later, I've realized it's not only beautiful and inspirational but more importantly, it's a call to action for all of us. Krsna has given all of us unique abilities and talents and it is our service to culture, nourish them and offer it back in His service. om tat sat. :D

in honour of gita jayanti: a new blog
→ kirtaniyah sada hari


Today, Sunday December 23, 2012 marks Gita Jayanti- the anniversary of when the Bhagavad gita was spoken over 5000 years ago on the sacred grounds of Kurukshetra.

The Bhagavad gita - as it is, is one of my favourite books. In fact, I often comment that it's "my hand book for life". If I have a question, a problem, am frustrated or am in need of some inspiration, the Gita is always there for me. I never need to worry that it's too busy or doesn't have time for me. In short, the Gita never lets me down.

I wanted to do something to commemorate this significant day and so for the first time in my life I consecutively read all 700+ verses - in English. I've recited all the sanskirt verses before and it was a wonderful experience. However, since my understanding of sanskrit is minimal at best, I could only appreciate the beautiful sound vibration of the mantras and not the essence it contained within them.

That's why I challenged myself to read the English translation of all 700+ verses. At some point in time between Chapter 5 and Chapter 6 an idea came to me. Well...it was more like a challenge: write something about every single verse in the Gita. A verse a day on the importance of the topic discussed, the way it makes me feel reading it or perhaps even a question that comes to mind.

And so here I am at the start. Today marks the beginning of diving into THE greatest yoga text. I invite you to join me... www.gita-asitis.blogspot.com

in honour of gita jayanti: a new blog
→ kirtaniyah sada hari


Today, Sunday December 23, 2012 marks Gita Jayanti- the anniversary of when the Bhagavad gita was spoken over 5000 years ago on the sacred grounds of Kurukshetra.

The Bhagavad gita - as it is, is one of my favourite books. In fact, I often comment that it's "my hand book for life". If I have a question, a problem, am frustrated or am in need of some inspiration, the Gita is always there for me. I never need to worry that it's too busy or doesn't have time for me. In short, the Gita never lets me down.

I wanted to do something to commemorate this significant day and so for the first time in my life I consecutively read all 700+ verses - in English. I've recited all the sanskirt verses before and it was a wonderful experience. However, since my understanding of sanskrit is minimal at best, I could only appreciate the beautiful sound vibration of the mantras and not the essence it contained within them.

That's why I challenged myself to read the English translation of all 700+ verses. At some point in time between Chapter 5 and Chapter 6 an idea came to me. Well...it was more like a challenge: write something about every single verse in the Gita. A verse a day on the importance of the topic discussed, the way it makes me feel reading it or perhaps even a question that comes to mind.

And so here I am at the start. Today marks the beginning of diving into THE greatest yoga text. I invite you to join me... www.gita-asitis.blogspot.com

Podcast 006 – Vrindavan Kirtan
→ Oxford Kirtan

This kirtan podcast was recorded last week at our monthly kirtan at the Friends Meeting House. Our kirtan leader was Krishna-ksetra, a renowned musician and singer. The style of this short but very jolly piece is that of Vrindavan, the birth place of Krishna, in North India. It has a lively and spontaneous mood, engaging the emotions in its waves of pace.

Celebrate Krishna’s Eternal Song
→ Toronto Sankirtan Adventures


By H.G. Vaisesika Prabhu
This year, Gita Jayanti, the anniversary of Lord Sri Krishna’s speaking the Bhagavad-Gita to Sri Arjuna, falls on Sunday, December 23rd.
For those whose lives have been forever improved by meeting Lord Krishna personally in the pages of the Gita, Gita Jayanti is not only a day of celebration but also a chance to express their gratitude. And the best way to do so is to share the Gita with others. Krishna Himself says, “There is no servant in this world more dear to Me than he, nor will there ever be one more dear.” (Bg. 18.69)
The Gita teaches the essence of spiritual knowledge, purely and succinctly, in a way that anyone – in any situation of life – can practically apply its instruction and wisdom. And since Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, resides within the heart of every living being, He is always there to help the reader understand the Gita’s profound message.
Many people in the world are innocent; and when they hear the message of the Gita from a devotee, they at once embrace it and attain perfection.
Krishna says, “Again there are those who, although not conversant in spiritual knowledge, begin to worship the Supreme Person upon hearing about Him from others. Because of their tendency to hear from authorities, they also transcend the path of birth and death.” (Bg. 13.26)
More than ever before, people need the common sense and elegance of the Gita. Why? The modern media daily brings us foul rumors, incendiary disputes, and scenes of massacre. And a popular scientist has proclaimed, “The human race is just chemical scum on a moderate sized planet . . .” (Stephen Hawking, interview 1994).
It seems that the public demands these things—at least some studies suggest that they do. And news anchors across the world have come to count on the fact that people have developed an insatiable appetite for calumny and the gory details of tragic events.
As people disclose the acrimony and conflict that trouble their hearts in tens of millions of daily blogs, YouTube clips, Facebook postings, and interviews in the 24-hour news cycle, the resultant din is a toxic outpouring of malignant sound that flows into the ears of the innocent masses, leading the world’s population into anxiety, despair, and mental illness.
The delicate human ear requires Krishna’s soothing voice in the Gita to clarify the heart and fortify the intellect.
Even five thousand years after Lord Krishna’s departure from this world, “the Bhagavad-gita can be consulted in all critical times, not only for solace from all kinds of mental agonies, but also for the way out of great entanglements which may embarrass one in some critical hour.” (SB 1.15.27, purport)
Lord Caitanya exalts the Gita to Srila Sanatana Gosvami: “Kåñëa is so merciful that simply by aiming His instructions at Arjuna, He has given protection to the whole world.” (Cc Madhya 22.56)
The Gita issues from the beautiful lotus mouth of Lord Sri Krishna, our best friend and eternal benefactor. And as that message passes through the pen of Krsna’s empowered representative, Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the Bhagavad-gita “As It Is” becomes all the more relishable.
As Gita Jayanti approaches, please read the Gita, remember the Gita, give the Gita.
Humbly in service,
Vaisesika Dasa

Celebrate Krishna’s Eternal Song
→ Toronto Sankirtan Adventures


By H.G. Vaisesika Prabhu
This year, Gita Jayanti, the anniversary of Lord Sri Krishna’s speaking the Bhagavad-Gita to Sri Arjuna, falls on Sunday, December 23rd.
For those whose lives have been forever improved by meeting Lord Krishna personally in the pages of the Gita, Gita Jayanti is not only a day of celebration but also a chance to express their gratitude. And the best way to do so is to share the Gita with others. Krishna Himself says, “There is no servant in this world more dear to Me than he, nor will there ever be one more dear.” (Bg. 18.69)
The Gita teaches the essence of spiritual knowledge, purely and succinctly, in a way that anyone – in any situation of life – can practically apply its instruction and wisdom. And since Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, resides within the heart of every living being, He is always there to help the reader understand the Gita’s profound message.
Many people in the world are innocent; and when they hear the message of the Gita from a devotee, they at once embrace it and attain perfection.
Krishna says, “Again there are those who, although not conversant in spiritual knowledge, begin to worship the Supreme Person upon hearing about Him from others. Because of their tendency to hear from authorities, they also transcend the path of birth and death.” (Bg. 13.26)
More than ever before, people need the common sense and elegance of the Gita. Why? The modern media daily brings us foul rumors, incendiary disputes, and scenes of massacre. And a popular scientist has proclaimed, “The human race is just chemical scum on a moderate sized planet . . .” (Stephen Hawking, interview 1994).
It seems that the public demands these things—at least some studies suggest that they do. And news anchors across the world have come to count on the fact that people have developed an insatiable appetite for calumny and the gory details of tragic events.
As people disclose the acrimony and conflict that trouble their hearts in tens of millions of daily blogs, YouTube clips, Facebook postings, and interviews in the 24-hour news cycle, the resultant din is a toxic outpouring of malignant sound that flows into the ears of the innocent masses, leading the world’s population into anxiety, despair, and mental illness.
The delicate human ear requires Krishna’s soothing voice in the Gita to clarify the heart and fortify the intellect.
Even five thousand years after Lord Krishna’s departure from this world, “the Bhagavad-gita can be consulted in all critical times, not only for solace from all kinds of mental agonies, but also for the way out of great entanglements which may embarrass one in some critical hour.” (SB 1.15.27, purport)
Lord Caitanya exalts the Gita to Srila Sanatana Gosvami: “Kåñëa is so merciful that simply by aiming His instructions at Arjuna, He has given protection to the whole world.” (Cc Madhya 22.56)
The Gita issues from the beautiful lotus mouth of Lord Sri Krishna, our best friend and eternal benefactor. And as that message passes through the pen of Krsna’s empowered representative, Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the Bhagavad-gita “As It Is” becomes all the more relishable.
As Gita Jayanti approaches, please read the Gita, remember the Gita, give the Gita.
Humbly in service,
Vaisesika Dasa

5 Takeaways From NOAA’s New Study On Climate Change And Extreme Events
→ The Yoga of Ecology


Click here to read the full article from Kelly Levin at WRI Insights

Many people are understandably perplexed at the U.S.’s recent extreme weather events like record heat waves, torrential downpours, droughts, and wildfires. A new report published by scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and other institutions may finally offer some insight into climate change’s connection to the damaging and costly extreme events that are on the rise.

Numerous studies have shown that the Earth is warming rapidly, due in large part to human activities. While existing research focuses on climate change’s implications for the intensity and frequency of extreme events like storms and heat waves, due to scientific complexities, most scientists to date have tip-toed around attributing any single event to climate change.

Until now, that is. Last week, scientists from NOAA, the UK’s Met Office, and other institutions published a special report in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society (BAMS) that attributed a number of recent extreme events to human-induced climate change.


5 Takeaways From NOAA’s New Study On Climate Change And Extreme Events
→ The Yoga of Ecology


Click here to read the full article from Kelly Levin at WRI Insights

Many people are understandably perplexed at the U.S.’s recent extreme weather events like record heat waves, torrential downpours, droughts, and wildfires. A new report published by scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and other institutions may finally offer some insight into climate change’s connection to the damaging and costly extreme events that are on the rise.

Numerous studies have shown that the Earth is warming rapidly, due in large part to human activities. While existing research focuses on climate change’s implications for the intensity and frequency of extreme events like storms and heat waves, due to scientific complexities, most scientists to date have tip-toed around attributing any single event to climate change.

Until now, that is. Last week, scientists from NOAA, the UK’s Met Office, and other institutions published a special report in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society (BAMS) that attributed a number of recent extreme events to human-induced climate change.


Travel Journal#8:22: Alachua and Gainesville, Florida
→ Travel Adventures of a Krishna Monk

Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 8, No. 22
By Krishna-kripa das
(November 2012, part two)
Alachua and Gainesville, Florida
(Sent from Radha Govinda Temple, Brooklyn, New York, on December 21, 2012)

Where I Went and What I Did

I had greatly hoped to make it to Alachua in time to hear the wonderful remembrances on Srila Prabhupada’s disappearance day, but I just caught the end of the kirtana and the feast, and a few remembrances in the evening, which I include below. The next day, we chanted for two hours before the football game in Gainesville, and Dravida Prabhu, who loves to chant, joined us, making it even better than usual. That night we went to a nice festival Madhava Prabhu from the Alachua community had at his place with beautiful kirtanas, enlightening talks, and tasty prasadam in celebration of the anniversary of the appearance of Krishna as Govardhan-sila in his life. Sunday was the Govardhan Puja festival in Alachua. For several days leading up to The Festival of the Holy Name in Alachua, Madhava Prabhu, the kirtana leader from Switzerland, sang kirtana for two or three hours every night and by the grace of Krishna and my friends with cars, I was able to attend all of them. Wednesday we had an amazing harinama at the Farmers Market with thirteen people taking part. Thursday I got to speak about gratitude for Thanksgiving, and people said they liked the lecture. I sent it to the ISKCON Desire Tree website, and you will be able to find it there in a few days. This year’s Festival of the Holy Name was the best so far, and I will mention a few high points for me. Dravida Prabhu, who visits this time of year specifically for the Festival of the Holy Name impressed me by taking eight hours out of the festival to drive with us to Tallahassee to lead the harinama before the football game for a couple of hours. For the final week of November, I stayed in Gainesville’s Krishna House, helping to maintain the harinamas and evening programs, and inspired to see and work with some very enthusiastic new devotees.

Among the insights, there are many wonderful quotes from the letters of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saravati Thakura, soon to be published as Patramrita, by Touchstone Publishing. Also particularly inspiring are realizations from Dravida and Kalakantha Prabhus. And there are other gems as well.

Prabhupada Disappearance Remembrances

Rasa Lila dd:

Srila Prabhupada patiently teaches me every day something new about Krishna, just as he did when he was present.

He taught you can do something amazing for Krishna at any age, and now that we are approaching his age, we might consider that if we are thinking we are too old to do anything, we should think again.

Mukunda Prabhu:

The Bhaktivedanta Archives is building a concrete room with a door like a bank vault to preserve Prabhupada’s materials and just today on his disappearance day someone came through with a donation.

Vegavati dd:

In Hawaii there were two camps of devotees that disagreed, but when Srila Prabhupada was there and the kirtana was going on, there was so much spiritual love no differences existed.

Puskara Prabhu:

I was in Vrindavan in 1977 the whole time from April to November, when Srila Prabhupada left this world.

Toward the end, rickshaws were delivering salt for the samadhi [holy tomb] but we were in some kind of illusion thinking that Srila Prabhupada would stay.

I was given the job of calling Ramesvara in LA to tell him that Prabhupada had left.

When there was a debate about whether Srila Prabhupada would go to Govardhan or not [just a few days before he left this world]. I asked Bhagatji [a friend of Srila Prabhupada’s] whether Prabhupada would go, and he said with conviction, “He will not go,” as if I were a fool for asking.

There was a devotee Sac-cid-ananda who would sing every day for Srila Prabhupada in his last days. One day he did not sing and Prabhupada asked for him to.

Several times Krishnadasa Babaji Maharaja came. Prabhupada very much liked his association. At different times Srila Prabhupada said he was paramahamsa [topmost devotee].

Once I was painting trees in Vrindavan, thinking all the trees in Vrindavan were desire trees and so it was OK. Then I felt bad because Krishna wasn’t there, so I added Krishna and some cowherd boys. I showed it to Srila Prabhupada. Prabhupada looked for a long time and didn’t say anything. Then he said, “What is the idea? Where is it in the books?”
I said, “The Nectar of Devotion.”
“What verse?” Srila Prabhupada replied.
I said, “Krishna is unlimited.”
Srila Prabhupada replied, “Krishna is unlimited, but you are limited. Stick to the book.”

Gauranga Prasada Prabhu’s Going Away Party

Gauranga Prasada Prabhu was a new devotee in Gainesville who was very eager to apply himself to different aspects of Krishna consciousness such as cooking for the Lord and playing the harmonium and singing. He left Krishna House after not even two years to become the bhakta leader in the Tucson temple, and the Krishna House devotees had a nice going away party for him.

Kalakantha Prabhu: Gauranga Prasada was seeking the truth. He was immediately attracted by Krishna consciousness. He was supported by his family. He has many talents. It is clear he is continuing his practice from a previous life.

Hanan Prabhu asked devotees to say three things each about him:

Clayton: Sincerity, simplicity, wailing on the harmonium with total absorption. Ananda Loka Prabhu: His bright smile. Srutisagara Prabhu: Hard-working, humble. Ghee, butter, hing. Tulasi Priya dd: A good example for me. Dr. Dina Bandhu Prabhu: Always said “welcome home” each weekend when I returned from Jacksonville. New lady: Made me feel at home. Girl with glasses: Eye-opening, laughter. Tall Indian male: Positive. Jai Nitai Gauranga Prabhu: Reliable. Father: An old soul. He had a wisdom about him. He has given so much. Mother: He is well loved. Thank you all here for showing him compassion and giving him safety. Haribol. Amrita Keli dd: Completely lovable, without fault, potent. Just today he came into my dream to remind me to help in the kitchen five minutes after I said I would be there. Andy: A mine of valuable gems like potency, kindness. I feel very enriched. Syamala Kishori dd: Enthusiasm. I love your kirtana.

I mentioned his enthusiasm, his happiness, and his kindness. He kindly sent some Krishna sweets to my relatives for me when I was overseas. I wish him well.

Gauranga Prasada Prabhu:

My plan for life was originally very clear, go to school, get a job, raise a family, but now I feel my life is much more uncertain, but in the best possible way. I just want to serve Krishna and be with the devotees. The rest is just details.

I am grateful for the service opportunities here at Krishna House, which I think are more extensive than any other temple.

comment by Kalakantha Prabhu: I appreciate you were always willing to do the needful.

Harinama at the Farmers Market

The Wednesday before Thanksgiving there were no classes at University of Florida, and so both students and Krishna Lunch workers had more free time. Thus we were able to have a harinama with thirteen people at the Farmers Market! Four of us came together, driven by Michele, a new devotee who loves kirtana. Then a couple more devotees joined us. Then two Krishna Lunch workers along with the sister of one of them. Michele gave the new girl a mantra card, and she chanted Hare Krishna for the first time. Jaya Sri Krishna Prabhu joined us and played the drum. One lady on a nearby bench seemed to be enjoying the kirtana, so we gave her a mantra card, and she chanted along. Later Damodar Prasada gave her a book. Thus Krishna really reciprocated with my desire to have a well-attended harinama in the Farmers Market upon my return to Gainesville. It was great that two new people chanted the mantra.

The Festival of the Holy Name

Festival of the Holy Name is an annual kirtana festival during Thanksgiving weekend featuring two days of 12 hours of kirtana at ISKCON New Raman Reti in Alachua, Florida. This year’s was the third festival.

It was a treat having Niranjana Swami fly in just to be part of the Festival of the Holy Name this year. Agnidev Prabhu, a legendary Hare Krishna kirtana leader, also was a special guest. And of course, there were Madhava and Amala, as usual, as well as Mitra Prabhu, who came from North Carolina, and locals like Visvambhara and Jagannatha Kirtana Prabhus, to name a few.

One friend from Tallahassee, Sara Black, a young Mormon music major, who just completed her Ph.D. dissertation on kirtana at Hare Krishna festivals came to the Festival of the Holy Name for at least the second year. Inspired by her research, she is now writing a book on the recent explosion of interest in kirtana. I encouraged her to stay and hear Niranjana Swami, and she stayed and appreciated the kirtanas of both Niranjana Swami and Agnidev Prabhu. In fact, she and her husband stayed to hear Visvambhara Prabhu whose singing they had previously developed an attachment for and who did the last segment on Friday evening. It was wonderful to see them both intently singing Hare Krishna and clapping along with the music. She developed an interest in Hare Krishna festivals when she grew up in Utah and attended the Holi festival that Caru Prabhu organized his temple in Spanish Fork.

The group of local second generation American Vaishnavas including Gaura Shakti, Krishna Dhama, Govinda, and Ramachandra, and many more, who organized the festival did a great job, and it gets better every year. All thanks and blessings to them.

Insights

Srila Prabhupada:

from a lecture on Srimad-Bhagavatam 5.5.1, given in Bombay, on December 25, 1976:

“This is the difficulty at the present moment that we take leadership of the society although we remain in the bodily conception of life.”

There is a not a problem of overpopulation. We are all sons of Krishna, and He is providing for us. The problem is that we are mismanaging and then claiming God is not providing.

The more you become godless, the more miseries will be inflicted by material nature.

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura (from Patravali, a collection of his letters soon to be published by Touchstone Publishing in an abridged work called Patramrita):

If the mind does not become disturbed at the time of chanting mantras then it should be understood that the chanting is being done perfectly.

In order to test us and benefit us, the Supreme Lord has placed different types of inconveniences in this world. We have to realize those things as being beneficial for us and thus accept them gracefully. Glorious are those who serve the Supreme Lord. In the midst of all difficulties, keep hearing about, chanting, and remembering the Supreme Lord. Other than this I have no better advice. You should always chant a fixed number of rounds of the holy names of Lord Hari. If there is any problem for openly decorating your body with tilaka then you can do it mentally while chanting the appropriate mantras. Know for certain that the holy name of Hari and Lord Hari Himself are one and the same. Know for certain that chanting the holy names of Hari and meeting the Supreme Lord directly are one and the same. Sri Harinama Prabhu is the worshipable Lord of liberated persons.

There is no comparison to Sri Gaurasundara’s compassion, and there is no limit to Sri Krishnacandra’s sweetness.

Simply by reading about glorification of the Supreme Lord and the devotees, all our needs will be fulfilled. Do not be impatient for the result, but rather always chant the holy names of Krishna with patience and tolerance. The Supreme Lord will certainly not sit quietly. According to the degree of one’s sadhana, Sri Gaurahari certainly awards one auspicious results. Service to Hari is called bhakti. You will realize that chanting of the names of Krishna is in itself bhakti.

The forefathers of that family in which a devotee takes birth attain special benefit so that their lives become successful. There is no need to pray for them separately.

Dreams are false. They are manifestations of the enjoyment of one’s thoughts, and they are the results of one’s previous bad association. Therefore just throw away those things from the heart.

Sri Gaurasundara tests us in various ways by putting us into difficulties and different kinds of association. It depends on the good fortune of the living entities for them to pass those tests. As the indwelling Supersoul, Sri Gaurahari has revealed the eternal truth in the hearts of the living entities out of His causeless mercy. Those who have taken shelter at the lotus feet of Lord Hari and the spiritual master never trust the illusory words of misguided people. Only unfortunate people become bewildered by hearing deceitful words. One need not worry about that.

It is the duty of householders to worship the deity of the Supreme Lord with faith and devotion. A householder who has taken complete shelter of the holy names, having realized his relationship with the Supreme Lord, respects deity worshipers. Those who avoid worshiping the deity just to save money incur the sin known as vittasa?hya, or miserliness. Householders with abominable characters and restless minds must engage in deity worship.

You are a learned person and so you must know the scriptural evidence the smarta Bhattacarya Raghunandan has quoted in the ekadasi-tattva.

devata pratimam drstva. yatinacaiva tridandinam
namaskaram na kuryaccet upavasena suddhati
“You are the father, but still you should offer obeisance to your sannyasi son, otherwise you will have to purify yourself of that fault by observing a fast for one full day.”

You were inspiring him to enter a miserable family life, which is a more severe form of vow than the severe vow one takes to worship Hari, because it instills a great fear in one’s mind. Your attempt was not proper.

Those who are faithful and devoted never face obstacles or inauspiciousness. Only those who desire material enjoyment and liberation face inauspiciousness in life.

I have been wandering about since my birth for the attainment of the goal of life about which you have been deceived for the last twelve years. I did not feel any need to hanker after sense gratification, which is the aim of your life and wealth. I never felt any need to accumulate wealth to mitigate my hunger, to maintain my wife and children, or to supply fuel for my illicit desires. I have never made any endeavor for material wealth like you.
Lord Krishna has never put me into any sort of difficulty or anxiety regarding filling my belly, like He has you. I only try to earn that much wealth with which I can engage in the service of Lord Vishnu, and with which I can keep my sinful body healthy just to serve Lord Hari. Apart from that, I never tried to earn any wealth whatsoever. Even today, I am not greedy for anyone’s wealth. I am not greedy for perishable material wealth like you.
Please bless me so that I can remain greedy for eternal wealth, birth after birth. I wish that even my greatest enemy would not have greed for enjoyable wealth. May I not have any desire other than to pray for the benefit of my greatest enemy. Bless me that I may not see in the last days of my life the face of atheists who are greedy for wealth for the purpose of enjoying profit, adoration, distinction, gold, and women.

We, surrounded by enemies, are determined to engage in the service of Lord Hari and His devotees. All of us are more or less forgetful of Lord Krishna while serving the six enemies. All of you together should serve Lord Hari with unity. This is my request. Ekaki amara nahi paya bala. “I have no strength to do it alone.” Remembering this line, all of you should continue to execute kirtana-yajña, which is the goal of life. The responsibility of the leaders in charge of the execution of kirtana-yajña is to make friendship with all, and especially satisfy all the Vai??avas, while engaging in the service of Hari.

This material world is temporary—nobody has come here to live forever. When the Supreme Lord keeps one in a particular place, he should gladly stay there and accept His rewards and punishments. All types of rewards and punishments awarded by the Supreme Lord are meant for our benefit. We welcome the rewards of the Lord’s external energy, maya, whereas we consider her punishments as troublesome. Since the punishments of maya are awarded so that one can obtain the Lord’s mercy, the devotees do not disregard them; rather they gladly accept them as the Lord’s mercy and simply tolerate them. Those who cannot understand worldly inconveniences to be the Lord’s mercy ultimately fall into a state of disappointment while searching for material happiness and advancement.

Our material miseries and scarcities will go away by participating in festivals in the association of those who serve the Supreme Lord. To always remain engaged in hearing and chanting the glories of Lord Hari is the instruction of saintly persons, scriptures, and the Supreme Lord.

According to proper etiquette, in day-to-day business, one should normally start a letter by saying, “all glories to,” or by offering obeisances at the top of the letter.

By calling out the holy names of the Supreme Lord while fixing our mind upon Him, all auspiciousness is achieved. The Supreme Lord alone is the one who awards worldly prosperity, happiness, and distress. We are maintained by Him and are surrendered unto Him. Whatever arrangements He makes for us, we should humbly accept.

Every disturbance is a fault of my mind; nobody can actually harm me in this world.

Try to avoid quarreling. There is no possibility of disharmony if the purpose is one. In the spiritual world, apparent conflict of interests helps to increase the glories of loving service to the Supreme Lord.

Even by riding on the motorcar of the Madras Gaudiya Matha, the principle and guise of a sincere beggar can be maintained. There is no need to externally display artificial renunciation, or luxury by imitating the sahajiyas. Renunciation is a state of the heart. There is a gulf of difference between the considerations of those who misuse renunciation and that of the followers of King Janaka and Raya Ramananda. By taking advantage of, and by imitating, King Janaka or Raya Ramananda, and thus acting like Ravana, is not internal renunciation, or yukta-vairagya. When duplicity is externally displayed, having entered the heart, nobody can achieve his true welfare.

People are extremely averse to us and so their behavior will surely be exhibited according to this mentality. If we can patiently tolerate their insults then one day they will definitely repent their misdeeds.

None of you should be afraid of natural calamities, such as heavy rain or disease. Embrace them and then bid them farewell in due course of time. Srila Jagannatha Dasa Babaji Maharaja used to say that when painful diseases come to our body, if they are not pampered, or do not get excellent food, they will automatically leave. Diseases stay longer in the bodies of aristocratic people because of their luxurious living.

As soon as bodily pleasures are increased, the propensity for serving the Supreme Lord decreases. That is why the Supreme Lord spreads thorns on the path of all kinds of comfort for those upon whom He shows mercy.

I have received your humble letter dated the 29th March and have understood your present physical and mental condition. Always remember the lotus feet of Lord Hari, the spiritual master, and other Vaishnavas without interruption while accepting that all physical and mental miseries are a result of one’s previous karma. In this mood, always pray for the mercy of the Supreme Lord. Gradually, by Krishna’s will, all types of miseries will be destroyed and you will become empowered for the service of the Supreme Lord so that the inclination for constantly worshiping Lord Hari will be awakened. All impediments in the form of bad association will be removed and the propensity to always serve Lord Hari, the spiritual master, and the Vaishnavas will predominate.
I hope that you will soon be cured of your physical and mental illness by the Lord’s mercy so that you will increase our happiness by being engaged in the worship of Hari. It is quite warm here. If you feel extreme pain then invite a devotee known to you from Gaudiya Matha and hear from him Hari-katha and Hari-nama.
There is no happiness in the material world. The material world creates many disturbances by manifesting various kinds of disasters. Although there is good and bad, and partial purity in it, material life often produces varieties of disturbances. That is why the tat te nu’kampam verse has been presented.
There are no such disturbances in the abode of Goloka. Anyway, there is no alternative but to tolerate all inconveniences that come to us at various times and at various places.

Let them harass you as much as possible; you simply must quietly tolerate these disturbances. We firmly believe that the people of the world will not allow injustices to predominate. The Supreme Lord arranges everything for our benefit—this is our firm faith. The atheists cannot flourish in this world for long, for eventually they are pulled down by the punishment of providence. Everything takes place by the will of the Supreme Lord.

The duty of relatives is that they should first offer some foodstuffs to the Supreme Lord on the day of sraddha and then offer some portion of the Lord’s prasada to the departed soul and thus help him achieve his ultimate welfare. Offering the departed souls prasada will satisfy the devotees of the Supreme Lord. There should also be performance of harinama.

When maya conditions us, we remain busy calculating who is big and who is small.

We should unconditionally accept whatever condition Krishna puts us in at any time. The desire to gain physical health with the sole intention of worshiping Krishna is also favorable for devotional service. A non-devotee’s endeavor to demand service from the Supreme Lord, such as becoming cured so that he can attain the platform of anarthas is not acceptable. But to pray for good health to the destroyer of obstacles, Ganesa, and at the lotus feet of the destroyer of obstacles, Lord Nrsimha, for the sake of Krishna bhajana is certainly acceptable.

If our photograph is worshiped when we are alive; this will make us fall down.

If you constantly engage your mind in the Lord’s service then no one can harm you. If you are restless or dissatisfied with others then an inclination for the Lord’s service will not be present within your mind. Your words, body, and mind will form a mental displeasure that will not allow you to serve Hari. Therefore become tolerant like a tree, and by the Lord’s will stay at Samanta-pañcaka. This will be beneficial for you. Wait for the day when Lord Gaura Hari will send you elsewhere.

The dear devotees of Sri Gaurasundara have no other business than to take the treasure of His distribution of Krishna-prema [love of God] and distribute it door to door. This business is their only means of livelihood as they execute their loving devotional service to Krishna.

As Srila Rupa Gosvami elaborately explains in his Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu, there are five principal rasas—neutrality, servitude, friendship, parental love, and conjugal love—and seven secondary rasas—amazement, humor, chivalry, compassion, fury, fear, and dread. Altogether there are twelve rasas, the supreme object of them all is Sri Krishna. In other words, our love and affection are actually meant for Sri Krishna. Unfortunately, out of ignorance, we stubbornly try to squeeze happiness and love out of material relationships, which are not directly connected to Krishna, and thus life is experienced as a constant frustration. The solution is simple: surrender to Krishna, love Krishna, love Krishna’s devotees, and be happy forever.

Pray to the holy name with your heart and soul so that the holy name may bestow mercy upon you. Remembering astakaliya-lila is not to be performed when one is full of anarthas. Only by kirtana can smarana be practiced. At that time, realization of astakaliya-lila-seva is possible. One should not artificially practice astakaliya-lila-smara?a.

We are insignificant beggars. If a rich person or a particular community harasses us then Lord Nrisimha will protect us. No community can hurt our feelings for our religious beliefs.

When the futility of false ego is understood, then we give up bad association and come to know that worldly happiness, worldly knowledge, and worldly settlement, etc., are all useless in comparison to realization of the Supreme Lord, who is eternal, and full of knowledge and bliss. Only when one is initiated into Krishna consciousness like this can he obtain supreme auspiciousness.

By installing deities of Lord Jagannatha and Lord Mahaprabhu in the villages of England and offering Indian foodstuffs to the Lord and then distributing them as maha-prasada, gradually the people of England will support the service of the Supreme Lord by showing sympathy and being faithful. In the future, qualified persons will go there and benefit the people by propagating pure sanatana-dharma.
Oh!When will the time come when all the people of that country honor the transcendental maha-prasada in the Lord’s temple while chanting the holy names of Lord Gauranga with a purified heart and thus understand the value of spiritual life?

Because we will forget the Supreme Lord if we are are satisfied with material happiness, the merciful Lord has created various dangers to test us. Happiness in this material world guarantees forgetfulness of Krishna. Hence, miseries are examples of His compassion.

There are differences of opinion between the resident devotees of the matha and the “big” householder devotees. According to the considerations put forth by Maharaja in Delhi, the Supreme Lord and His devotees are the only objects of service. Just by serving the Supreme Lord and the devotees, the weight of our attached household activities will decrease. But if the residents of the dhama think of themselves as “big devotees,” just like the sahajiyas of Kuliya, and transform the servants of the matha into their servants, then rather than serving the dhama, they will imagine themselves as being objects of service in Vaiku??ha. Living in the dhama is only to serve the devotees, but if instead of serving the Supreme Lord and the devotees, service is demanded from them and displeasure is shown at their activities, then rather than dhama-seva, an offense called dhama-bhoga will be committed.
It is better to live in a place of material enjoyment and serve the devotees of the dhama from a distance than to be an enjoyer of the dhama.

Simply by worshiping Hari, the body, mind, and soul will remain healthy, but if one is averse to bhajana, these three will act unfavorably.

The tendency for material enjoyment is one hundred percent present in the Western countries. Therefore their faith in God is very weak.

Sastra says, “One should take shelter of saintly persons while giving up bad association.” Those who mistake nondevotees to be devotees make a mistake like trying to cheat a blacksmith out of steel. We need not talk about others, but while serving Lord Hari, the spiritual master, and other Vaishnavas, discussions of Agha, Baka, Ravana, and so on automatically arise. Anyway, everything is the Lord’s test. I did not expect such unfavorable behavior from my so-called disciples. Anyhow, this is Kali-yuga and so everything is possible.

To ascertain the varna of a person is the essence of varnasrama. To merge familial identity with one’s personal nature is not its purpose.

The followers of Sri Rupa, without putting faith in their own power, attribute all their successes to the original source. We too do everything for the pleasure of Sri Krishna Caitanya, Sri Rupa, Sri Bhaktivinoda, and our spiritual master.

Bhakti Tirtha Swami (from a YouTube video lecture):

The Vedic scriptures are the oldest scriptures on the planet, and if you follow them, they will make you a better Christian or a better Moslem. And the end result of that is that you will understand that we are servants of God, beyond all sectarian designations.

In our movement we have people of different nations and races all working together to benefit society. Where else is there such an example?

Niranjana Swami:

When a diplomat visited Prabhupada in Geneva, Srila Prabhupada started out by asking if he had any questions. The man said, “No.” Then Srila Prabhupada asked for the harmonium, and played a beautiful Hare Krishna tune for twenty minutes or so. Then he said to the man, “This is what we do.” Then he asked Guru Gauranga Prabhu to give the man prasadam. So I tell this story as a simple introduction to this 12-hour kirtana program. This is what we do.

Badahari Prabhu (from Krishna House):

Using mechanical substitutes for essential body parts or functions cannot extend life without the sanction of the Lord.

Our hearing apparatus works 24/7 and thus can protect us from calamity at all times.

Morning is best for the spiritual cultivation because the ether is not polluted by materialistic sound vibrations.

Srila Prabhupada and Krishna are ready to take you with them, if you are willing to give up the desire to control.

It is hard to be detached from the material world, but because someday you will need to be, it is good to practice.

Beg borrow or steal, somehow get devotional service. The more devotional service we do, we build up our spiritual body.

Comment by Gauranga Prasada Prabhu: Laksmimani dd says that pride, such as that in Vedic scholarship, is one thing that remains as indicated by the word prayesu [almost to nil] in Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.2.18.

Caturatma Prabhu:

In Vrindavan, I was noticing three Govardhan silas on Indradyumna Swami’s altar at the MVT. I asked the origin of them. He said he had to confiscate them from his disciples, and he did not know what he was going to do with them. I said, well I have been wanting to worship Govardhan for some time, I would like to worship them. He said, “Well you’re not shy about asking.” He also had a very large sila, one that was completely impractical to travel with and, he did not have a clue what he would do with Him. I said, “I know just the person, a hefty devotee, who has a desire to worship Govardhan. That was Madhava [from the Alachua community].”

Dravida Prabhu:

The prayers of Brahma are very conclusive and many acaryas have written explanations of them.

Brahma had just experienced that his intellect had failed to appreciate the divinity of Krishna, and so he spoke this verse (SB 10.14.3): “Those who, even while remaining situated in their established social positions, throw away the process of speculative knowledge and with their body, words and mind offer all respects to descriptions of Your personality and activities, dedicating their lives to these narrations, which are vibrated by You personally and by Your pure devotees, certainly conquer Your Lordship, although You are otherwise unconquerable by anyone within the three worlds.”

“What is the ultimate goal of life and how to attain it?” is the main question of a seeker.

There is a logical order to the four imperfections of a conditioned soul. First we have imperfect senses, then we make mistakes, and when we make enough mistakes, we become illusioned, and when we present our illusions as factual knowledge we cheat others.

Adhoksaja is a combination of three words, ja meaning janma or birth, aksa meaning the eyes, or the senses in general, adha which means pushing down. Aksaja thus means knowledge born of sense perception, and adhoksaja therefore means that which pushes down this knowledge born of sense perceptions.

Krishna wants only one thing: love.

One may be a multi-millionaire but if he has no one to exchange love with he is unhappy.

How to serve the topics of the Lord? With our body, by following His instructions, with our minds, by thinking of the topics, and with our words, by repeating them to others.

Two of Jarasandha’s daughters were wives of Kamsa, so he was upset with Krishna for killing Kamsa and leaving them unprotected.

Everything begins with hearing. If we had not heard about Krishna, how could we have become attracted to Him?

Kathamritam means that hearing about Krishna is like nectar, but you cannot drink too much of such nectar, nor does it have any bad side effects.

Our constitutional position is not to be a university student nor to work a certain job, nor to be a man or woman, nor even a human being.

On Halloween people dress in costumes but if they forget it is just a costume and continue to act as a ghost or Napolean, then they really have a problem. That is our situation in this world.

The topics glorifying Krishna are the purifying force.

The most valuable thing you have is your desire to be Krishna consciousness, and that we must increase by our practice.

The main reason we stay in the material world is because of our desire to hear about things other than Krishna.

Srila Prabhupada said if you take one step toward Krishna, Krishna takes ten steps toward you. These steps are the taste He gives you.

Everything depends on the intensity of one’s attention.

The secret is to keep everything fresh and new. For me it is verses. There are always more verses, and the verses have great depth. The verses are like old friends. And the books . . .

The sastra [with a long ‘a’ (the scripture)] cuts off our attachments, but the sastra [with a short ‘a’ (the weapon)] cuts off our head.

The Siksastakam is throughout the Padyavali (a collection of verses) of Rupa Goswami and was gathered together by Krishnadas Kaviraja Goswami.

Step to memorize verses:

  1. read translation
  2. figure out meter
  3. look at word meanings for the first line
  4. practice saying the first line while remembering its meaning
  5. repeat steps 3 and 4 with all the lines of the verse
  6. practice your verses periodically


The “Madhurastkam,” which describes the sweetness of Krishna, only works because it is about Him. It would become trite to describe any other person as being sweet in so many ways.

Similarly if anyone were dressed as opulently as the Deity one would consider the person to be overdressed but for Krishna such opulence is appropriate and pleasing.

Some people look for the bliss at this festival and that festival, but hooking up with Lord Caitanya and His movement and all the previous spiritual masters by making a contribution to the mission, we taste the real bliss. We forget that this is something bestowed upon us.

Constant prayer and willingness to do austerity for Krishna makes us advanced.

Prabhodananda Sarasvati said, “Lord Caitanya is more magnanimous than ten million mothers.”

The real friend is the friend who will introduce you to your eternal friend Krishna.

The real guru inspires you to chant the holy name.

The holy name is like a touchstone. When our consciousness touches the holy name it becomes transformed.

The chanting is attractive because Krishna is present there.

Three things come from devotional service, the pleasure of serving Krishna, direct experience of Krishna, and detachment from other things. This is compared to the pleasure of eating, nourishment, and freedom from hunger.

Ajamila was so grateful that the holy name saved him from the Yamadutas that he very seriously took to devotional service and attained perfection.

The holy name is supremely pure and made of spiritual bliss.

If we want to associate with Krishna, He is willing to associate with us, primarily through His avatar as the holy name.

There is no downside or bad effect to the pleasure of the holy name. It is all up. Stay high forever.

Talks of materialistic people steal the most valuable gem, our desire for Krishna.

By associating with the faithful, we become faithful.

Progressing in devotional service means refining our activities so they are supportive of chanting.

By chanting japa during class we can commit two offenses at once, inattention to chanting and insulting the Bhagavatam speaker.

Srila Prabhupada was always completely focused on what he was doing for Krishna, and thus he was able to do so much in just eleven years.

In the Eleventh Canto, one verse states that the greatest pure devotee does not want to forget Krishna even for a moment, even in exchange for all the wealth in the world.

Comment by Lilananda Prabhu: Bringing a television into your home is like bring in billions of people who are against Krishna.

Comment: If one chants the names of Nitai Gauranga, Bhakti devi comes chasing after you.

Comment by Kaliyaphani Prabhu: Regarding the Gauranga campaign you mentioned where devotees in Scotland put up posters saying “Chant Gauranga” everywhere, I have a couple stories:

“A devotee doing street sankirtana [book distribution] in Scotland stopped a young mother with a small son. He was a scruffy, cheeky-looking kid. After the exchange, the devotee said to the kid, ‘Can you say Gauranga?’ The reply was, ‘Aye, I can. But it’s nae Gauranga, it’s Gauruunga!’

“Two devotees going door-to-door in central Edinburgh entered a very posh-looking restaurant with the idea of going round the tables to collect. There were big pillars, chandeliers, etc. They hesitated at the doorway thinking it was too posh. Then a customer at a table must have recognized them and at the top of his voiced yelled out, ‘Gaaaaauuuuraaaangaaaa!’ the sound reverberating round the hall and shattering the devotee’s doubts!”

If you make a habit of glorifying devotees you will derive such pleasure from that activity that you will not feel the tendency to criticize devotees. Radhanath Swami is a good example of that.

When we are doing japa and kirtana, we should think, “Now is my time to associate directly with Krishna and to forget everything else.”

We have to come to the platform of always following Srila Prabhupada’s instructions to attain purity in chanting.

Dhanesvara Prabhu was the manager of the production team of me (Dravida Prabhu), Gopiparanadhana Prabhu, and Hridayananda dasa Goswami to complete Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavatam translation. At one point, things were difficult and Gopiparanadhana Prabhu suggested that we worship the Bhagavatam. So we set up an altar and put the Bhagavatam on it, and worshiped it, and ultimately we were successful in completing the translation and publishing it.
We should think, “By chanting the holy name purely all my aspirations will be fulfilled.”

Because we are chanting Hare Krishna, Krishna is reducing our taste for meat eating, illicit sex, intoxication, and gambling.

All of us have the capacity to appreciate the holy name as Rupa Goswami did: “I do not know how much nectar the two syllables ‘Krish-na’ have produced. When the holy name of Krishna is chanted, it appears to dance within the mouth. We then desire many, many mouths. When that name enters the holes of the ears, we desire many millions of ears. And when the holy name dances in the courtyard of the heart, it conquers the activities of the mind, and therefore all the senses become inert.”

We can pray to the holy name for the strength to avoid sinful activities.

Kalakantha Prabhu:

One devotee walked from Africa to Mayapur chanting Hare Krishna. The devotees in general were very impressed with him, but Srila Prabhupada was not impressed. That devotee eventually stopped talking with other devotees and lived alone, saying he wanted to focus on his chanting. Ultimately, however, he went away because people stopped paying attention to him.

Bhaktivinoda Thakura was opposed to the idea of seminal succession of spiritual masters, and so rather than initiating his son, he advised his son to approach Gaurakisora Dasa Babaji Maharaja for initiation.

We cannot become advanced by imitating the symptoms of advanced devotees, but rather absorbing ourselves in Krishna and naturally becoming advanced.

Whatever taste we have for hearing about Krishna is our greatest gift.

The great acaryas [spiritual teachers who teach by example] are not appointed but emerge.

After a day of searching by the order of Dronacarya, their teacher, Duryodhana could not find anyone superior to himself and Yudhisthira could not find anyone inferior to himself. Dronacarya then proclaimed, “Yudhisthira is fit to rule the world and Duryodhana is fit to have his body eaten by jackals.”

Anuttama Prabhu tells a story of an experience on sankirtana:
One man said, “I don’t want your book. I have my own religion. You are going to hell.” Anuttama replied, “What religion are you?”
The man said, “Christian.”
Anuttama inquired, “Are all Christians going to heaven?”
The man said, “No, not all Christians.”
Anuttama asked, “So only people in your church?”
The man replied, “No, not all people in my church are going to heaven.”

The madhyama devotee’s relationship with the innocent person is this: “I want to help this person as much as he wants my help.”

As soon as you take to spiritual life seriously, some people will love you and other people will hate you.

The neophyte devotee cannot abandon the society, friendship, and love of the material world to pursue Krishna.

In no religious scripture will you see a statement like “I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything emanates from Me.” Only Krishna is so bold as to say this, but He says it not because He is arrogant, but to establish the truth. He does this in half a verse. And in rest of the four main verses He talks about His devotees and how He reciprocates with them.

There is a long standing discussion in theology about whether God is attained by works or grace. The relationship between the two is cleared up in Bhagavad-gita: “To those who are constantly devoted to serving Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me.” (Bg. 10.10)

If the most important thing to a person is God, then that person is a devotee or a Vaishnava.

Nondevotees consider the activities of the Lord are too amazing to be true. But what do you expect God to do? Actually the more amazing the activities of Krishna are, the more they are worthy of God, and the more they give us faith in Krishna.

Often in the rest of the Bhagavatam, Sukadeva Goswami quotes other sages, but in the Tenth Canto he speaks himself.

We are frustrated with relationships, we have been hurt in relationships, and so the last thing we want is a relationship with God.

It is pleasing to associate with people who think God is the most important.

Who do we talk to? Who do we reveal our mind to? That is how we associate.

As for seeing someone reputed to be a sadhu: See him once. Take notes. Point out where he differs from Bhagavad-gita. If invited again, point out the differences between his philosophy and Bhagavad-gita, and say you would rather read Bhagavad-gita than hear him.

We cannot gain a taste for Krishna consciousness by pretending we have it.

In fund raising, there is happy money and unhappy money. Unhappy money is that is received by making people feel guilty or which they regret giving and never give again. Happy money is money people feel good giving because they are shown the practical benefits.

Statistics show that a man who retires without a good positive engagement generally dies within two years after retirement.

The highest principle is relationship among the devotees, so if to proceed with our agenda damages our relationship with others, we might consider making an adjustment.

If I ask someone to do something and they say no, I take it that Krishna is telling me to find someone else.

Our standard for wearing saffron at Krishna House is that the devotee as been chanting Hare Krishna for year, and he has a commitment to work full time on the mission for at least two years.

Sesa Prabhu:

Bhakti is compared to an ocean, as there are levels of depth of understanding.

I like to use the indexes in Srila Prabhupada’s books because they are prepared by the devotees with the devotees’ point of view in mind [rather than using the different search engines].

One feature of sin is that it causes us to do more sin.

Sin does not just mean you go and rob a store. You could go to a store and purchase something and also be engaging in sin, if that object you purchase does not help you remember Krishna.

Sinful activities take away knowledge of our constitutional position as loving servants of God.

If you do not want to have a relationship with God, you get the reactions as you deserve.

The results of chanting:

The good results of nama-aparadha (offensive chanting):
it will fulfill one’s desires, but not give love of Krishna
it will allow one to occasionally chant without offense, and that inoffensive chanting will purify the chanter, and thus he gets the association of devotees who instruct him how to chant properly.

Chanting is namabhasa (the clearing or intermediate stage) when done in ignorance, but nama-aparadha (offensive chanting) when done for liberation or sense enjoyment, or by a Mayavadi (one who denies the form of the Lord). Namabhasa has these benefits:
elimination of sinful reactions
liberation from Kali and material consciousness
freedom from fear and worries
contentment
freedom from fear of demons
boundless spiritual bliss

benefits of pure chanting, suddha-nama:
chanting once clears sins from millions of births.
chanting twice gives Krishna prema, love of Krishna.

Krishna is so kind he steals away our sins, even though we may not desire it.

Madhava Prabhu (from Alachua County):

Underneath the Govardhan Hill that Krishna was lifting, each resident of Vrindavan experienced that Krishna was looking at him or her. All of them were free from all material tribulations.

Madhumangala offered to hold the hill for Krishna with his stick, thinking that Krishna must be tired.

Yasoda prayed to Giriraj (Govardhan, the king of hills) to become soft so Krishna would not feel distress in the course of holding it with His soft hand.

Viewing Krishna as he was lifting the Govardhan Hill, the residents of Vrindavan said, “Until now we have not appreciated how Krishna is the very ornament of the earth. He glances lovingly at us. He is delighting our minds with his gentle smile. He is more dazzling than anything.”

Krishna’s ankle bells worshiped Krishna in silent meditation. When he lifted the hill, they jingled slightly, charming the demigods, who worshiped them.

Madhava Prabhu (from Switzerland):

It is said that Krishna will only appear in purified heart, but the holy name is so merciful He will appear even before our heart is pure.

Kirtana is Krishna’s time, or rather, our time with Krishna. You can always talk later.

Srila Prabhupada would say to cry for Krishna, and Aindra Prabhu would say, “If you cannot cry for Krishna, then cry that you cannot cry for Krishna.”

Sacinandana Swami advises to make a resolution at the beginning of kirtana-melas to chant for eight of the twelve hours each day.

Pray to the mind, “I have served you so nicely, just lay off for the next few hours.”

Jai Nitai Gauranga Prabhu:

When asked for evidence that Krishna consciousness is a science, Srila Prabhupada would often quote Bhagavad-gita 2.13, “As the embodied soul continuously passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. A sober person is not bewildered by such a change.”

If people come from all over the city to honor someone, that is amazing, but it is more amazing if people come from all over the nation. In the case of Maharaja Pariksit, people came from all over the entire universe to witness the end of his life.

It is not enough to have theoretical knowledge of God and His protection to become free from fear.

a Vaishnava youth:

Because we are eternal spiritual souls, death is unnatural for us, and it creates fear within us.

Once I was in a new city and was involved in a relationship with someone who was my best friend at that time and who cheated on me, abruptly ending the relationship. In my distressed condition I chanted japa, and as I chanted, I came to realize that all the things I usually take shelter of, like my family and friends, were temporary, and that Krishna is the real shelter. I understood that Krishna had created the situation so I would realize that truth. Since then I have found Krishna to be my true shelter in other situations as well.

Hanan Prabhu:

Anger will make you miserable and make your life shorter.

Anger is like holding something burning in your hand.

Researchers had angry people blow on a glass and analyzed that it produced poison. In an hour an angry person can produce enough poison to kill a guinea pig.

There is a story that Alexander the Great came to Vrindavan. He sent his servant to tell a sage that Alexander the Great was here. The sage, who was worshiping Krishna, the greatest of the great, was not impressed with Alexander, and said, he had no interest in coming out to meet Alexander, but that if Alexander liked he could come in. Alexander, who was used to getting a more royal welcome, was upset. The sage, hearing that Alexander was upset, referred to Alexander as the servant of my servant, which angered Alexander even more, and so he came with drawn sword, demanding to know why. The sage explained that because he had conquered anger while Alexander was still controlled by it, that Alexander was the servant of his servant.

People deal with anger in three ways: by not expressing it, by expressing it violently, and by managing anger and expressing it in a positive way.

-----

‘sadhu-sanga’ ‘sadhu-sanga’ — sarva-sastre kaya
lava-matra sadhu-sange sarva-siddhi haya

“The verdict of all revealed scriptures is that by even a moment’s association with a pure devotee, one can attain all success.” (Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 22.54)


Travel Journal#8:22: Alachua and Gainesville, Florida
→ Travel Adventures of a Krishna Monk

Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 8, No. 22
By Krishna-kripa das
(November 2012, part two)
Alachua and Gainesville, Florida
(Sent from Radha Govinda Temple, Brooklyn, New York, on December 21, 2012)

Where I Went and What I Did

I had greatly hoped to make it to Alachua in time to hear the wonderful remembrances on Srila Prabhupada’s disappearance day, but I just caught the end of the kirtana and the feast, and a few remembrances in the evening, which I include below. The next day, we chanted for two hours before the football game in Gainesville, and Dravida Prabhu, who loves to chant, joined us, making it even better than usual. That night we went to a nice festival Madhava Prabhu from the Alachua community had at his place with beautiful kirtanas, enlightening talks, and tasty prasadam in celebration of the anniversary of the appearance of Krishna as Govardhan-sila in his life. Sunday was the Govardhan Puja festival in Alachua. For several days leading up to The Festival of the Holy Name in Alachua, Madhava Prabhu, the kirtana leader from Switzerland, sang kirtana for two or three hours every night and by the grace of Krishna and my friends with cars, I was able to attend all of them. Wednesday we had an amazing harinama at the Farmers Market with thirteen people taking part. Thursday I got to speak about gratitude for Thanksgiving, and people said they liked the lecture. I sent it to the ISKCON Desire Tree website, and you will be able to find it there in a few days. This year’s Festival of the Holy Name was the best so far, and I will mention a few high points for me. Dravida Prabhu, who visits this time of year specifically for the Festival of the Holy Name impressed me by taking eight hours out of the festival to drive with us to Tallahassee to lead the harinama before the football game for a couple of hours. For the final week of November, I stayed in Gainesville’s Krishna House, helping to maintain the harinamas and evening programs, and inspired to see and work with some very enthusiastic new devotees.

Among the insights, there are many wonderful quotes from the letters of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saravati Thakura, soon to be published as Patramrita, by Touchstone Publishing. Also particularly inspiring are realizations from Dravida and Kalakantha Prabhus. And there are other gems as well.

Prabhupada Disappearance Remembrances

Rasa Lila dd:

Srila Prabhupada patiently teaches me every day something new about Krishna, just as he did when he was present.

He taught you can do something amazing for Krishna at any age, and now that we are approaching his age, we might consider that if we are thinking we are too old to do anything, we should think again.

Mukunda Prabhu:

The Bhaktivedanta Archives is building a concrete room with a door like a bank vault to preserve Prabhupada’s materials and just today on his disappearance day someone came through with a donation.

Vegavati dd:

In Hawaii there were two camps of devotees that disagreed, but when Srila Prabhupada was there and the kirtana was going on, there was so much spiritual love no differences existed.

Puskara Prabhu:

I was in Vrindavan in 1977 the whole time from April to November, when Srila Prabhupada left this world.

Toward the end, rickshaws were delivering salt for the samadhi [holy tomb] but we were in some kind of illusion thinking that Srila Prabhupada would stay.

I was given the job of calling Ramesvara in LA to tell him that Prabhupada had left.

When there was a debate about whether Srila Prabhupada would go to Govardhan or not [just a few days before he left this world]. I asked Bhagatji [a friend of Srila Prabhupada’s] whether Prabhupada would go, and he said with conviction, “He will not go,” as if I were a fool for asking.

There was a devotee Sac-cid-ananda who would sing every day for Srila Prabhupada in his last days. One day he did not sing and Prabhupada asked for him to.

Several times Krishnadasa Babaji Maharaja came. Prabhupada very much liked his association. At different times Srila Prabhupada said he was paramahamsa [topmost devotee].

Once I was painting trees in Vrindavan, thinking all the trees in Vrindavan were desire trees and so it was OK. Then I felt bad because Krishna wasn’t there, so I added Krishna and some cowherd boys. I showed it to Srila Prabhupada. Prabhupada looked for a long time and didn’t say anything. Then he said, “What is the idea? Where is it in the books?”
I said, “The Nectar of Devotion.”
“What verse?” Srila Prabhupada replied.
I said, “Krishna is unlimited.”
Srila Prabhupada replied, “Krishna is unlimited, but you are limited. Stick to the book.”

Gauranga Prasada Prabhu’s Going Away Party

Gauranga Prasada Prabhu was a new devotee in Gainesville who was very eager to apply himself to different aspects of Krishna consciousness such as cooking for the Lord and playing the harmonium and singing. He left Krishna House after not even two years to become the bhakta leader in the Tucson temple, and the Krishna House devotees had a nice going away party for him.

Kalakantha Prabhu: Gauranga Prasada was seeking the truth. He was immediately attracted by Krishna consciousness. He was supported by his family. He has many talents. It is clear he is continuing his practice from a previous life.

Hanan Prabhu asked devotees to say three things each about him:

Clayton: Sincerity, simplicity, wailing on the harmonium with total absorption. Ananda Loka Prabhu: His bright smile. Srutisagara Prabhu: Hard-working, humble. Ghee, butter, hing. Tulasi Priya dd: A good example for me. Dr. Dina Bandhu Prabhu: Always said “welcome home” each weekend when I returned from Jacksonville. New lady: Made me feel at home. Girl with glasses: Eye-opening, laughter. Tall Indian male: Positive. Jai Nitai Gauranga Prabhu: Reliable. Father: An old soul. He had a wisdom about him. He has given so much. Mother: He is well loved. Thank you all here for showing him compassion and giving him safety. Haribol. Amrita Keli dd: Completely lovable, without fault, potent. Just today he came into my dream to remind me to help in the kitchen five minutes after I said I would be there. Andy: A mine of valuable gems like potency, kindness. I feel very enriched. Syamala Kishori dd: Enthusiasm. I love your kirtana.

I mentioned his enthusiasm, his happiness, and his kindness. He kindly sent some Krishna sweets to my relatives for me when I was overseas. I wish him well.

Gauranga Prasada Prabhu:

My plan for life was originally very clear, go to school, get a job, raise a family, but now I feel my life is much more uncertain, but in the best possible way. I just want to serve Krishna and be with the devotees. The rest is just details.

I am grateful for the service opportunities here at Krishna House, which I think are more extensive than any other temple.

comment by Kalakantha Prabhu: I appreciate you were always willing to do the needful.

Harinama at the Farmers Market

The Wednesday before Thanksgiving there were no classes at University of Florida, and so both students and Krishna Lunch workers had more free time. Thus we were able to have a harinama with thirteen people at the Farmers Market! Four of us came together, driven by Michele, a new devotee who loves kirtana. Then a couple more devotees joined us. Then two Krishna Lunch workers along with the sister of one of them. Michele gave the new girl a mantra card, and she chanted Hare Krishna for the first time. Jaya Sri Krishna Prabhu joined us and played the drum. One lady on a nearby bench seemed to be enjoying the kirtana, so we gave her a mantra card, and she chanted along. Later Damodar Prasada gave her a book. Thus Krishna really reciprocated with my desire to have a well-attended harinama in the Farmers Market upon my return to Gainesville. It was great that two new people chanted the mantra.

The Festival of the Holy Name

Festival of the Holy Name is an annual kirtana festival during Thanksgiving weekend featuring two days of 12 hours of kirtana at ISKCON New Raman Reti in Alachua, Florida. This year’s was the third festival.

It was a treat having Niranjana Swami fly in just to be part of the Festival of the Holy Name this year. Agnidev Prabhu, a legendary Hare Krishna kirtana leader, also was a special guest. And of course, there were Madhava and Amala, as usual, as well as Mitra Prabhu, who came from North Carolina, and locals like Visvambhara and Jagannatha Kirtana Prabhus, to name a few.

One friend from Tallahassee, Sara Black, a young Mormon music major, who just completed her Ph.D. dissertation on kirtana at Hare Krishna festivals came to the Festival of the Holy Name for at least the second year. Inspired by her research, she is now writing a book on the recent explosion of interest in kirtana. I encouraged her to stay and hear Niranjana Swami, and she stayed and appreciated the kirtanas of both Niranjana Swami and Agnidev Prabhu. In fact, she and her husband stayed to hear Visvambhara Prabhu whose singing they had previously developed an attachment for and who did the last segment on Friday evening. It was wonderful to see them both intently singing Hare Krishna and clapping along with the music. She developed an interest in Hare Krishna festivals when she grew up in Utah and attended the Holi festival that Caru Prabhu organized his temple in Spanish Fork.

The group of local second generation American Vaishnavas including Gaura Shakti, Krishna Dhama, Govinda, and Ramachandra, and many more, who organized the festival did a great job, and it gets better every year. All thanks and blessings to them.

Insights

Srila Prabhupada:

from a lecture on Srimad-Bhagavatam 5.5.1, given in Bombay, on December 25, 1976:

“This is the difficulty at the present moment that we take leadership of the society although we remain in the bodily conception of life.”

There is a not a problem of overpopulation. We are all sons of Krishna, and He is providing for us. The problem is that we are mismanaging and then claiming God is not providing.

The more you become godless, the more miseries will be inflicted by material nature.

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura (from Patravali, a collection of his letters soon to be published by Touchstone Publishing in an abridged work called Patramrita):

If the mind does not become disturbed at the time of chanting mantras then it should be understood that the chanting is being done perfectly.

In order to test us and benefit us, the Supreme Lord has placed different types of inconveniences in this world. We have to realize those things as being beneficial for us and thus accept them gracefully. Glorious are those who serve the Supreme Lord. In the midst of all difficulties, keep hearing about, chanting, and remembering the Supreme Lord. Other than this I have no better advice. You should always chant a fixed number of rounds of the holy names of Lord Hari. If there is any problem for openly decorating your body with tilaka then you can do it mentally while chanting the appropriate mantras. Know for certain that the holy name of Hari and Lord Hari Himself are one and the same. Know for certain that chanting the holy names of Hari and meeting the Supreme Lord directly are one and the same. Sri Harinama Prabhu is the worshipable Lord of liberated persons.

There is no comparison to Sri Gaurasundara’s compassion, and there is no limit to Sri Krishnacandra’s sweetness.

Simply by reading about glorification of the Supreme Lord and the devotees, all our needs will be fulfilled. Do not be impatient for the result, but rather always chant the holy names of Krishna with patience and tolerance. The Supreme Lord will certainly not sit quietly. According to the degree of one’s sadhana, Sri Gaurahari certainly awards one auspicious results. Service to Hari is called bhakti. You will realize that chanting of the names of Krishna is in itself bhakti.

The forefathers of that family in which a devotee takes birth attain special benefit so that their lives become successful. There is no need to pray for them separately.

Dreams are false. They are manifestations of the enjoyment of one’s thoughts, and they are the results of one’s previous bad association. Therefore just throw away those things from the heart.

Sri Gaurasundara tests us in various ways by putting us into difficulties and different kinds of association. It depends on the good fortune of the living entities for them to pass those tests. As the indwelling Supersoul, Sri Gaurahari has revealed the eternal truth in the hearts of the living entities out of His causeless mercy. Those who have taken shelter at the lotus feet of Lord Hari and the spiritual master never trust the illusory words of misguided people. Only unfortunate people become bewildered by hearing deceitful words. One need not worry about that.

It is the duty of householders to worship the deity of the Supreme Lord with faith and devotion. A householder who has taken complete shelter of the holy names, having realized his relationship with the Supreme Lord, respects deity worshipers. Those who avoid worshiping the deity just to save money incur the sin known as vittasa?hya, or miserliness. Householders with abominable characters and restless minds must engage in deity worship.

You are a learned person and so you must know the scriptural evidence the smarta Bhattacarya Raghunandan has quoted in the ekadasi-tattva.

devata pratimam drstva. yatinacaiva tridandinam
namaskaram na kuryaccet upavasena suddhati
“You are the father, but still you should offer obeisance to your sannyasi son, otherwise you will have to purify yourself of that fault by observing a fast for one full day.”

You were inspiring him to enter a miserable family life, which is a more severe form of vow than the severe vow one takes to worship Hari, because it instills a great fear in one’s mind. Your attempt was not proper.

Those who are faithful and devoted never face obstacles or inauspiciousness. Only those who desire material enjoyment and liberation face inauspiciousness in life.

I have been wandering about since my birth for the attainment of the goal of life about which you have been deceived for the last twelve years. I did not feel any need to hanker after sense gratification, which is the aim of your life and wealth. I never felt any need to accumulate wealth to mitigate my hunger, to maintain my wife and children, or to supply fuel for my illicit desires. I have never made any endeavor for material wealth like you.
Lord Krishna has never put me into any sort of difficulty or anxiety regarding filling my belly, like He has you. I only try to earn that much wealth with which I can engage in the service of Lord Vishnu, and with which I can keep my sinful body healthy just to serve Lord Hari. Apart from that, I never tried to earn any wealth whatsoever. Even today, I am not greedy for anyone’s wealth. I am not greedy for perishable material wealth like you.
Please bless me so that I can remain greedy for eternal wealth, birth after birth. I wish that even my greatest enemy would not have greed for enjoyable wealth. May I not have any desire other than to pray for the benefit of my greatest enemy. Bless me that I may not see in the last days of my life the face of atheists who are greedy for wealth for the purpose of enjoying profit, adoration, distinction, gold, and women.

We, surrounded by enemies, are determined to engage in the service of Lord Hari and His devotees. All of us are more or less forgetful of Lord Krishna while serving the six enemies. All of you together should serve Lord Hari with unity. This is my request. Ekaki amara nahi paya bala. “I have no strength to do it alone.” Remembering this line, all of you should continue to execute kirtana-yajña, which is the goal of life. The responsibility of the leaders in charge of the execution of kirtana-yajña is to make friendship with all, and especially satisfy all the Vai??avas, while engaging in the service of Hari.

This material world is temporary—nobody has come here to live forever. When the Supreme Lord keeps one in a particular place, he should gladly stay there and accept His rewards and punishments. All types of rewards and punishments awarded by the Supreme Lord are meant for our benefit. We welcome the rewards of the Lord’s external energy, maya, whereas we consider her punishments as troublesome. Since the punishments of maya are awarded so that one can obtain the Lord’s mercy, the devotees do not disregard them; rather they gladly accept them as the Lord’s mercy and simply tolerate them. Those who cannot understand worldly inconveniences to be the Lord’s mercy ultimately fall into a state of disappointment while searching for material happiness and advancement.

Our material miseries and scarcities will go away by participating in festivals in the association of those who serve the Supreme Lord. To always remain engaged in hearing and chanting the glories of Lord Hari is the instruction of saintly persons, scriptures, and the Supreme Lord.

According to proper etiquette, in day-to-day business, one should normally start a letter by saying, “all glories to,” or by offering obeisances at the top of the letter.

By calling out the holy names of the Supreme Lord while fixing our mind upon Him, all auspiciousness is achieved. The Supreme Lord alone is the one who awards worldly prosperity, happiness, and distress. We are maintained by Him and are surrendered unto Him. Whatever arrangements He makes for us, we should humbly accept.

Every disturbance is a fault of my mind; nobody can actually harm me in this world.

Try to avoid quarreling. There is no possibility of disharmony if the purpose is one. In the spiritual world, apparent conflict of interests helps to increase the glories of loving service to the Supreme Lord.

Even by riding on the motorcar of the Madras Gaudiya Matha, the principle and guise of a sincere beggar can be maintained. There is no need to externally display artificial renunciation, or luxury by imitating the sahajiyas. Renunciation is a state of the heart. There is a gulf of difference between the considerations of those who misuse renunciation and that of the followers of King Janaka and Raya Ramananda. By taking advantage of, and by imitating, King Janaka or Raya Ramananda, and thus acting like Ravana, is not internal renunciation, or yukta-vairagya. When duplicity is externally displayed, having entered the heart, nobody can achieve his true welfare.

People are extremely averse to us and so their behavior will surely be exhibited according to this mentality. If we can patiently tolerate their insults then one day they will definitely repent their misdeeds.

None of you should be afraid of natural calamities, such as heavy rain or disease. Embrace them and then bid them farewell in due course of time. Srila Jagannatha Dasa Babaji Maharaja used to say that when painful diseases come to our body, if they are not pampered, or do not get excellent food, they will automatically leave. Diseases stay longer in the bodies of aristocratic people because of their luxurious living.

As soon as bodily pleasures are increased, the propensity for serving the Supreme Lord decreases. That is why the Supreme Lord spreads thorns on the path of all kinds of comfort for those upon whom He shows mercy.

I have received your humble letter dated the 29th March and have understood your present physical and mental condition. Always remember the lotus feet of Lord Hari, the spiritual master, and other Vaishnavas without interruption while accepting that all physical and mental miseries are a result of one’s previous karma. In this mood, always pray for the mercy of the Supreme Lord. Gradually, by Krishna’s will, all types of miseries will be destroyed and you will become empowered for the service of the Supreme Lord so that the inclination for constantly worshiping Lord Hari will be awakened. All impediments in the form of bad association will be removed and the propensity to always serve Lord Hari, the spiritual master, and the Vaishnavas will predominate.
I hope that you will soon be cured of your physical and mental illness by the Lord’s mercy so that you will increase our happiness by being engaged in the worship of Hari. It is quite warm here. If you feel extreme pain then invite a devotee known to you from Gaudiya Matha and hear from him Hari-katha and Hari-nama.
There is no happiness in the material world. The material world creates many disturbances by manifesting various kinds of disasters. Although there is good and bad, and partial purity in it, material life often produces varieties of disturbances. That is why the tat te nu’kampam verse has been presented.
There are no such disturbances in the abode of Goloka. Anyway, there is no alternative but to tolerate all inconveniences that come to us at various times and at various places.

Let them harass you as much as possible; you simply must quietly tolerate these disturbances. We firmly believe that the people of the world will not allow injustices to predominate. The Supreme Lord arranges everything for our benefit—this is our firm faith. The atheists cannot flourish in this world for long, for eventually they are pulled down by the punishment of providence. Everything takes place by the will of the Supreme Lord.

The duty of relatives is that they should first offer some foodstuffs to the Supreme Lord on the day of sraddha and then offer some portion of the Lord’s prasada to the departed soul and thus help him achieve his ultimate welfare. Offering the departed souls prasada will satisfy the devotees of the Supreme Lord. There should also be performance of harinama.

When maya conditions us, we remain busy calculating who is big and who is small.

We should unconditionally accept whatever condition Krishna puts us in at any time. The desire to gain physical health with the sole intention of worshiping Krishna is also favorable for devotional service. A non-devotee’s endeavor to demand service from the Supreme Lord, such as becoming cured so that he can attain the platform of anarthas is not acceptable. But to pray for good health to the destroyer of obstacles, Ganesa, and at the lotus feet of the destroyer of obstacles, Lord Nrsimha, for the sake of Krishna bhajana is certainly acceptable.

If our photograph is worshiped when we are alive; this will make us fall down.

If you constantly engage your mind in the Lord’s service then no one can harm you. If you are restless or dissatisfied with others then an inclination for the Lord’s service will not be present within your mind. Your words, body, and mind will form a mental displeasure that will not allow you to serve Hari. Therefore become tolerant like a tree, and by the Lord’s will stay at Samanta-pañcaka. This will be beneficial for you. Wait for the day when Lord Gaura Hari will send you elsewhere.

The dear devotees of Sri Gaurasundara have no other business than to take the treasure of His distribution of Krishna-prema [love of God] and distribute it door to door. This business is their only means of livelihood as they execute their loving devotional service to Krishna.

As Srila Rupa Gosvami elaborately explains in his Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu, there are five principal rasas—neutrality, servitude, friendship, parental love, and conjugal love—and seven secondary rasas—amazement, humor, chivalry, compassion, fury, fear, and dread. Altogether there are twelve rasas, the supreme object of them all is Sri Krishna. In other words, our love and affection are actually meant for Sri Krishna. Unfortunately, out of ignorance, we stubbornly try to squeeze happiness and love out of material relationships, which are not directly connected to Krishna, and thus life is experienced as a constant frustration. The solution is simple: surrender to Krishna, love Krishna, love Krishna’s devotees, and be happy forever.

Pray to the holy name with your heart and soul so that the holy name may bestow mercy upon you. Remembering astakaliya-lila is not to be performed when one is full of anarthas. Only by kirtana can smarana be practiced. At that time, realization of astakaliya-lila-seva is possible. One should not artificially practice astakaliya-lila-smara?a.

We are insignificant beggars. If a rich person or a particular community harasses us then Lord Nrisimha will protect us. No community can hurt our feelings for our religious beliefs.

When the futility of false ego is understood, then we give up bad association and come to know that worldly happiness, worldly knowledge, and worldly settlement, etc., are all useless in comparison to realization of the Supreme Lord, who is eternal, and full of knowledge and bliss. Only when one is initiated into Krishna consciousness like this can he obtain supreme auspiciousness.

By installing deities of Lord Jagannatha and Lord Mahaprabhu in the villages of England and offering Indian foodstuffs to the Lord and then distributing them as maha-prasada, gradually the people of England will support the service of the Supreme Lord by showing sympathy and being faithful. In the future, qualified persons will go there and benefit the people by propagating pure sanatana-dharma.
Oh!When will the time come when all the people of that country honor the transcendental maha-prasada in the Lord’s temple while chanting the holy names of Lord Gauranga with a purified heart and thus understand the value of spiritual life?

Because we will forget the Supreme Lord if we are are satisfied with material happiness, the merciful Lord has created various dangers to test us. Happiness in this material world guarantees forgetfulness of Krishna. Hence, miseries are examples of His compassion.

There are differences of opinion between the resident devotees of the matha and the “big” householder devotees. According to the considerations put forth by Maharaja in Delhi, the Supreme Lord and His devotees are the only objects of service. Just by serving the Supreme Lord and the devotees, the weight of our attached household activities will decrease. But if the residents of the dhama think of themselves as “big devotees,” just like the sahajiyas of Kuliya, and transform the servants of the matha into their servants, then rather than serving the dhama, they will imagine themselves as being objects of service in Vaiku??ha. Living in the dhama is only to serve the devotees, but if instead of serving the Supreme Lord and the devotees, service is demanded from them and displeasure is shown at their activities, then rather than dhama-seva, an offense called dhama-bhoga will be committed.
It is better to live in a place of material enjoyment and serve the devotees of the dhama from a distance than to be an enjoyer of the dhama.

Simply by worshiping Hari, the body, mind, and soul will remain healthy, but if one is averse to bhajana, these three will act unfavorably.

The tendency for material enjoyment is one hundred percent present in the Western countries. Therefore their faith in God is very weak.

Sastra says, “One should take shelter of saintly persons while giving up bad association.” Those who mistake nondevotees to be devotees make a mistake like trying to cheat a blacksmith out of steel. We need not talk about others, but while serving Lord Hari, the spiritual master, and other Vaishnavas, discussions of Agha, Baka, Ravana, and so on automatically arise. Anyway, everything is the Lord’s test. I did not expect such unfavorable behavior from my so-called disciples. Anyhow, this is Kali-yuga and so everything is possible.

To ascertain the varna of a person is the essence of varnasrama. To merge familial identity with one’s personal nature is not its purpose.

The followers of Sri Rupa, without putting faith in their own power, attribute all their successes to the original source. We too do everything for the pleasure of Sri Krishna Caitanya, Sri Rupa, Sri Bhaktivinoda, and our spiritual master.

Bhakti Tirtha Swami (from a YouTube video lecture):

The Vedic scriptures are the oldest scriptures on the planet, and if you follow them, they will make you a better Christian or a better Moslem. And the end result of that is that you will understand that we are servants of God, beyond all sectarian designations.

In our movement we have people of different nations and races all working together to benefit society. Where else is there such an example?

Niranjana Swami:

When a diplomat visited Prabhupada in Geneva, Srila Prabhupada started out by asking if he had any questions. The man said, “No.” Then Srila Prabhupada asked for the harmonium, and played a beautiful Hare Krishna tune for twenty minutes or so. Then he said to the man, “This is what we do.” Then he asked Guru Gauranga Prabhu to give the man prasadam. So I tell this story as a simple introduction to this 12-hour kirtana program. This is what we do.

Badahari Prabhu (from Krishna House):

Using mechanical substitutes for essential body parts or functions cannot extend life without the sanction of the Lord.

Our hearing apparatus works 24/7 and thus can protect us from calamity at all times.

Morning is best for the spiritual cultivation because the ether is not polluted by materialistic sound vibrations.

Srila Prabhupada and Krishna are ready to take you with them, if you are willing to give up the desire to control.

It is hard to be detached from the material world, but because someday you will need to be, it is good to practice.

Beg borrow or steal, somehow get devotional service. The more devotional service we do, we build up our spiritual body.

Comment by Gauranga Prasada Prabhu: Laksmimani dd says that pride, such as that in Vedic scholarship, is one thing that remains as indicated by the word prayesu [almost to nil] in Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.2.18.

Caturatma Prabhu:

In Vrindavan, I was noticing three Govardhan silas on Indradyumna Swami’s altar at the MVT. I asked the origin of them. He said he had to confiscate them from his disciples, and he did not know what he was going to do with them. I said, well I have been wanting to worship Govardhan for some time, I would like to worship them. He said, “Well you’re not shy about asking.” He also had a very large sila, one that was completely impractical to travel with and, he did not have a clue what he would do with Him. I said, “I know just the person, a hefty devotee, who has a desire to worship Govardhan. That was Madhava [from the Alachua community].”

Dravida Prabhu:

The prayers of Brahma are very conclusive and many acaryas have written explanations of them.

Brahma had just experienced that his intellect had failed to appreciate the divinity of Krishna, and so he spoke this verse (SB 10.14.3): “Those who, even while remaining situated in their established social positions, throw away the process of speculative knowledge and with their body, words and mind offer all respects to descriptions of Your personality and activities, dedicating their lives to these narrations, which are vibrated by You personally and by Your pure devotees, certainly conquer Your Lordship, although You are otherwise unconquerable by anyone within the three worlds.”

“What is the ultimate goal of life and how to attain it?” is the main question of a seeker.

There is a logical order to the four imperfections of a conditioned soul. First we have imperfect senses, then we make mistakes, and when we make enough mistakes, we become illusioned, and when we present our illusions as factual knowledge we cheat others.

Adhoksaja is a combination of three words, ja meaning janma or birth, aksa meaning the eyes, or the senses in general, adha which means pushing down. Aksaja thus means knowledge born of sense perception, and adhoksaja therefore means that which pushes down this knowledge born of sense perceptions.

Krishna wants only one thing: love.

One may be a multi-millionaire but if he has no one to exchange love with he is unhappy.

How to serve the topics of the Lord? With our body, by following His instructions, with our minds, by thinking of the topics, and with our words, by repeating them to others.

Two of Jarasandha’s daughters were wives of Kamsa, so he was upset with Krishna for killing Kamsa and leaving them unprotected.

Everything begins with hearing. If we had not heard about Krishna, how could we have become attracted to Him?

Kathamritam means that hearing about Krishna is like nectar, but you cannot drink too much of such nectar, nor does it have any bad side effects.

Our constitutional position is not to be a university student nor to work a certain job, nor to be a man or woman, nor even a human being.

On Halloween people dress in costumes but if they forget it is just a costume and continue to act as a ghost or Napolean, then they really have a problem. That is our situation in this world.

The topics glorifying Krishna are the purifying force.

The most valuable thing you have is your desire to be Krishna consciousness, and that we must increase by our practice.

The main reason we stay in the material world is because of our desire to hear about things other than Krishna.

Srila Prabhupada said if you take one step toward Krishna, Krishna takes ten steps toward you. These steps are the taste He gives you.

Everything depends on the intensity of one’s attention.

The secret is to keep everything fresh and new. For me it is verses. There are always more verses, and the verses have great depth. The verses are like old friends. And the books . . .

The sastra [with a long ‘a’ (the scripture)] cuts off our attachments, but the sastra [with a short ‘a’ (the weapon)] cuts off our head.

The Siksastakam is throughout the Padyavali (a collection of verses) of Rupa Goswami and was gathered together by Krishnadas Kaviraja Goswami.

Step to memorize verses:

  1. read translation
  2. figure out meter
  3. look at word meanings for the first line
  4. practice saying the first line while remembering its meaning
  5. repeat steps 3 and 4 with all the lines of the verse
  6. practice your verses periodically


The “Madhurastkam,” which describes the sweetness of Krishna, only works because it is about Him. It would become trite to describe any other person as being sweet in so many ways.

Similarly if anyone were dressed as opulently as the Deity one would consider the person to be overdressed but for Krishna such opulence is appropriate and pleasing.

Some people look for the bliss at this festival and that festival, but hooking up with Lord Caitanya and His movement and all the previous spiritual masters by making a contribution to the mission, we taste the real bliss. We forget that this is something bestowed upon us.

Constant prayer and willingness to do austerity for Krishna makes us advanced.

Prabhodananda Sarasvati said, “Lord Caitanya is more magnanimous than ten million mothers.”

The real friend is the friend who will introduce you to your eternal friend Krishna.

The real guru inspires you to chant the holy name.

The holy name is like a touchstone. When our consciousness touches the holy name it becomes transformed.

The chanting is attractive because Krishna is present there.

Three things come from devotional service, the pleasure of serving Krishna, direct experience of Krishna, and detachment from other things. This is compared to the pleasure of eating, nourishment, and freedom from hunger.

Ajamila was so grateful that the holy name saved him from the Yamadutas that he very seriously took to devotional service and attained perfection.

The holy name is supremely pure and made of spiritual bliss.

If we want to associate with Krishna, He is willing to associate with us, primarily through His avatar as the holy name.

There is no downside or bad effect to the pleasure of the holy name. It is all up. Stay high forever.

Talks of materialistic people steal the most valuable gem, our desire for Krishna.

By associating with the faithful, we become faithful.

Progressing in devotional service means refining our activities so they are supportive of chanting.

By chanting japa during class we can commit two offenses at once, inattention to chanting and insulting the Bhagavatam speaker.

Srila Prabhupada was always completely focused on what he was doing for Krishna, and thus he was able to do so much in just eleven years.

In the Eleventh Canto, one verse states that the greatest pure devotee does not want to forget Krishna even for a moment, even in exchange for all the wealth in the world.

Comment by Lilananda Prabhu: Bringing a television into your home is like bring in billions of people who are against Krishna.

Comment: If one chants the names of Nitai Gauranga, Bhakti devi comes chasing after you.

Comment by Kaliyaphani Prabhu: Regarding the Gauranga campaign you mentioned where devotees in Scotland put up posters saying “Chant Gauranga” everywhere, I have a couple stories:

“A devotee doing street sankirtana [book distribution] in Scotland stopped a young mother with a small son. He was a scruffy, cheeky-looking kid. After the exchange, the devotee said to the kid, ‘Can you say Gauranga?’ The reply was, ‘Aye, I can. But it’s nae Gauranga, it’s Gauruunga!’

“Two devotees going door-to-door in central Edinburgh entered a very posh-looking restaurant with the idea of going round the tables to collect. There were big pillars, chandeliers, etc. They hesitated at the doorway thinking it was too posh. Then a customer at a table must have recognized them and at the top of his voiced yelled out, ‘Gaaaaauuuuraaaangaaaa!’ the sound reverberating round the hall and shattering the devotee’s doubts!”

If you make a habit of glorifying devotees you will derive such pleasure from that activity that you will not feel the tendency to criticize devotees. Radhanath Swami is a good example of that.

When we are doing japa and kirtana, we should think, “Now is my time to associate directly with Krishna and to forget everything else.”

We have to come to the platform of always following Srila Prabhupada’s instructions to attain purity in chanting.

Dhanesvara Prabhu was the manager of the production team of me (Dravida Prabhu), Gopiparanadhana Prabhu, and Hridayananda dasa Goswami to complete Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavatam translation. At one point, things were difficult and Gopiparanadhana Prabhu suggested that we worship the Bhagavatam. So we set up an altar and put the Bhagavatam on it, and worshiped it, and ultimately we were successful in completing the translation and publishing it.
We should think, “By chanting the holy name purely all my aspirations will be fulfilled.”

Because we are chanting Hare Krishna, Krishna is reducing our taste for meat eating, illicit sex, intoxication, and gambling.

All of us have the capacity to appreciate the holy name as Rupa Goswami did: “I do not know how much nectar the two syllables ‘Krish-na’ have produced. When the holy name of Krishna is chanted, it appears to dance within the mouth. We then desire many, many mouths. When that name enters the holes of the ears, we desire many millions of ears. And when the holy name dances in the courtyard of the heart, it conquers the activities of the mind, and therefore all the senses become inert.”

We can pray to the holy name for the strength to avoid sinful activities.

Kalakantha Prabhu:

One devotee walked from Africa to Mayapur chanting Hare Krishna. The devotees in general were very impressed with him, but Srila Prabhupada was not impressed. That devotee eventually stopped talking with other devotees and lived alone, saying he wanted to focus on his chanting. Ultimately, however, he went away because people stopped paying attention to him.

Bhaktivinoda Thakura was opposed to the idea of seminal succession of spiritual masters, and so rather than initiating his son, he advised his son to approach Gaurakisora Dasa Babaji Maharaja for initiation.

We cannot become advanced by imitating the symptoms of advanced devotees, but rather absorbing ourselves in Krishna and naturally becoming advanced.

Whatever taste we have for hearing about Krishna is our greatest gift.

The great acaryas [spiritual teachers who teach by example] are not appointed but emerge.

After a day of searching by the order of Dronacarya, their teacher, Duryodhana could not find anyone superior to himself and Yudhisthira could not find anyone inferior to himself. Dronacarya then proclaimed, “Yudhisthira is fit to rule the world and Duryodhana is fit to have his body eaten by jackals.”

Anuttama Prabhu tells a story of an experience on sankirtana:
One man said, “I don’t want your book. I have my own religion. You are going to hell.” Anuttama replied, “What religion are you?”
The man said, “Christian.”
Anuttama inquired, “Are all Christians going to heaven?”
The man said, “No, not all Christians.”
Anuttama asked, “So only people in your church?”
The man replied, “No, not all people in my church are going to heaven.”

The madhyama devotee’s relationship with the innocent person is this: “I want to help this person as much as he wants my help.”

As soon as you take to spiritual life seriously, some people will love you and other people will hate you.

The neophyte devotee cannot abandon the society, friendship, and love of the material world to pursue Krishna.

In no religious scripture will you see a statement like “I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything emanates from Me.” Only Krishna is so bold as to say this, but He says it not because He is arrogant, but to establish the truth. He does this in half a verse. And in rest of the four main verses He talks about His devotees and how He reciprocates with them.

There is a long standing discussion in theology about whether God is attained by works or grace. The relationship between the two is cleared up in Bhagavad-gita: “To those who are constantly devoted to serving Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me.” (Bg. 10.10)

If the most important thing to a person is God, then that person is a devotee or a Vaishnava.

Nondevotees consider the activities of the Lord are too amazing to be true. But what do you expect God to do? Actually the more amazing the activities of Krishna are, the more they are worthy of God, and the more they give us faith in Krishna.

Often in the rest of the Bhagavatam, Sukadeva Goswami quotes other sages, but in the Tenth Canto he speaks himself.

We are frustrated with relationships, we have been hurt in relationships, and so the last thing we want is a relationship with God.

It is pleasing to associate with people who think God is the most important.

Who do we talk to? Who do we reveal our mind to? That is how we associate.

As for seeing someone reputed to be a sadhu: See him once. Take notes. Point out where he differs from Bhagavad-gita. If invited again, point out the differences between his philosophy and Bhagavad-gita, and say you would rather read Bhagavad-gita than hear him.

We cannot gain a taste for Krishna consciousness by pretending we have it.

In fund raising, there is happy money and unhappy money. Unhappy money is that is received by making people feel guilty or which they regret giving and never give again. Happy money is money people feel good giving because they are shown the practical benefits.

Statistics show that a man who retires without a good positive engagement generally dies within two years after retirement.

The highest principle is relationship among the devotees, so if to proceed with our agenda damages our relationship with others, we might consider making an adjustment.

If I ask someone to do something and they say no, I take it that Krishna is telling me to find someone else.

Our standard for wearing saffron at Krishna House is that the devotee as been chanting Hare Krishna for year, and he has a commitment to work full time on the mission for at least two years.

Sesa Prabhu:

Bhakti is compared to an ocean, as there are levels of depth of understanding.

I like to use the indexes in Srila Prabhupada’s books because they are prepared by the devotees with the devotees’ point of view in mind [rather than using the different search engines].

One feature of sin is that it causes us to do more sin.

Sin does not just mean you go and rob a store. You could go to a store and purchase something and also be engaging in sin, if that object you purchase does not help you remember Krishna.

Sinful activities take away knowledge of our constitutional position as loving servants of God.

If you do not want to have a relationship with God, you get the reactions as you deserve.

The results of chanting:

The good results of nama-aparadha (offensive chanting):
it will fulfill one’s desires, but not give love of Krishna
it will allow one to occasionally chant without offense, and that inoffensive chanting will purify the chanter, and thus he gets the association of devotees who instruct him how to chant properly.

Chanting is namabhasa (the clearing or intermediate stage) when done in ignorance, but nama-aparadha (offensive chanting) when done for liberation or sense enjoyment, or by a Mayavadi (one who denies the form of the Lord). Namabhasa has these benefits:
elimination of sinful reactions
liberation from Kali and material consciousness
freedom from fear and worries
contentment
freedom from fear of demons
boundless spiritual bliss

benefits of pure chanting, suddha-nama:
chanting once clears sins from millions of births.
chanting twice gives Krishna prema, love of Krishna.

Krishna is so kind he steals away our sins, even though we may not desire it.

Madhava Prabhu (from Alachua County):

Underneath the Govardhan Hill that Krishna was lifting, each resident of Vrindavan experienced that Krishna was looking at him or her. All of them were free from all material tribulations.

Madhumangala offered to hold the hill for Krishna with his stick, thinking that Krishna must be tired.

Yasoda prayed to Giriraj (Govardhan, the king of hills) to become soft so Krishna would not feel distress in the course of holding it with His soft hand.

Viewing Krishna as he was lifting the Govardhan Hill, the residents of Vrindavan said, “Until now we have not appreciated how Krishna is the very ornament of the earth. He glances lovingly at us. He is delighting our minds with his gentle smile. He is more dazzling than anything.”

Krishna’s ankle bells worshiped Krishna in silent meditation. When he lifted the hill, they jingled slightly, charming the demigods, who worshiped them.

Madhava Prabhu (from Switzerland):

It is said that Krishna will only appear in purified heart, but the holy name is so merciful He will appear even before our heart is pure.

Kirtana is Krishna’s time, or rather, our time with Krishna. You can always talk later.

Srila Prabhupada would say to cry for Krishna, and Aindra Prabhu would say, “If you cannot cry for Krishna, then cry that you cannot cry for Krishna.”

Sacinandana Swami advises to make a resolution at the beginning of kirtana-melas to chant for eight of the twelve hours each day.

Pray to the mind, “I have served you so nicely, just lay off for the next few hours.”

Jai Nitai Gauranga Prabhu:

When asked for evidence that Krishna consciousness is a science, Srila Prabhupada would often quote Bhagavad-gita 2.13, “As the embodied soul continuously passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. A sober person is not bewildered by such a change.”

If people come from all over the city to honor someone, that is amazing, but it is more amazing if people come from all over the nation. In the case of Maharaja Pariksit, people came from all over the entire universe to witness the end of his life.

It is not enough to have theoretical knowledge of God and His protection to become free from fear.

a Vaishnava youth:

Because we are eternal spiritual souls, death is unnatural for us, and it creates fear within us.

Once I was in a new city and was involved in a relationship with someone who was my best friend at that time and who cheated on me, abruptly ending the relationship. In my distressed condition I chanted japa, and as I chanted, I came to realize that all the things I usually take shelter of, like my family and friends, were temporary, and that Krishna is the real shelter. I understood that Krishna had created the situation so I would realize that truth. Since then I have found Krishna to be my true shelter in other situations as well.

Hanan Prabhu:

Anger will make you miserable and make your life shorter.

Anger is like holding something burning in your hand.

Researchers had angry people blow on a glass and analyzed that it produced poison. In an hour an angry person can produce enough poison to kill a guinea pig.

There is a story that Alexander the Great came to Vrindavan. He sent his servant to tell a sage that Alexander the Great was here. The sage, who was worshiping Krishna, the greatest of the great, was not impressed with Alexander, and said, he had no interest in coming out to meet Alexander, but that if Alexander liked he could come in. Alexander, who was used to getting a more royal welcome, was upset. The sage, hearing that Alexander was upset, referred to Alexander as the servant of my servant, which angered Alexander even more, and so he came with drawn sword, demanding to know why. The sage explained that because he had conquered anger while Alexander was still controlled by it, that Alexander was the servant of his servant.

People deal with anger in three ways: by not expressing it, by expressing it violently, and by managing anger and expressing it in a positive way.

-----

‘sadhu-sanga’ ‘sadhu-sanga’ — sarva-sastre kaya
lava-matra sadhu-sange sarva-siddhi haya

“The verdict of all revealed scriptures is that by even a moment’s association with a pure devotee, one can attain all success.” (Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 22.54)


Guru and Disciple: New questions are the same as the old ones
→ The Vaishnava Voice

I often get asked questions by people who are looking for a guru: “What sort of teacher should I be looking for?” is shortly followed by: “And where do I begin looking for someone like that?”

After they’ve thought a few moments the next question is: “What sort of things do I have to do before I can become someone’s student?” “What happens if I don’t quite measure up?”

Some time later the questions are more about what will happen after they become initiated: “What is he supposed to teach me?” “How do I know if he’s teaching me the right things?”

Lots of questions but, strangely enough, the same questions that people have been asking for a long time. Proof of this is that way back in the 14th century a great spiritual teacher named Vedanta Deshika gave answers to these questions in a short book  - Nyasa Vimsati. The answers proved so popular and correct that Gopala Bhatta Goswami included them in his handbook of devotional practise, standard for Gaudiya Vaishnavas for the last 500 years.

This is one post for those who like lists! (But worth the effort of reading it)

Fourteen Qualities of the Guru

Taken from the Nyasa Vimsati by Vedanta Deshika (1268-1370)

As included in the Hari Bhakti Vilasa by Gopala Bhatta Goswami (1503-1578)

  1. Sat-sampradaya siddham – He is firmly established in the sampradaya
  2. Sthira dhiyam – His mind remains firmly fixed, even in debates based on deceitful reasoning
  3. Anagam – Free from sin, and never swerves from shastra
  4. Srotriyam – Fully conversant with the Vedas and Vedanta
  5. Brahma nistham – He has resolute devotion to God, free from blemishes
  6. Sattvastham – Dominated by sattva guna
  7. Satya vacam – Free from deceitful speech, he always tells the truth
  8. Samaya niyataya sadu vritya sametam – Adept at anushtanams (prayers and religious practices).
  9. Dambha asuyadhi muktam – No inauspicious characteristics such as egoism or jealousy
  10. Jita visayi ganam – Does not engage in conduct prohibited by the Bhagavat shastras. Has controlled senses
  11. Dirgha bandhum – He is a friend and guide for all those who have sought his  refuge, always seeking their welfare, and lifting them up  to the ultimate destination
  12. Dayalum – Has spontaneous compassion and kindness for his disciples
  13. Skhalite sasitaram – Corrects his disciples and recommends improving actions for  them
  14. Svapara hitaparam – Determines what is mutually good for him and his sisya (disciple) and acts accordingly

Fifteen Qualities of the Good Disciple

  1. Sadh buddhi – Good intelligence
  2. Sadhu sevi – He has the disposition to mingle with, and serve, the sadhus
  3. Samucita carita – He is marked for his righteous conduct, both personal and social
  4. Tattva bodha abhilasi – Has an eagerness to learn spiritual teaching
  5. Susrusu – He excels in helping the guru in his seva
  6. Tyakta mana – He has become humble or at least free from the gross manifestations of pride
  7. Pranipatena para – He has implicit obedience to the guru and bows down in his presence
  8. Prasna kala pratiksa – He waits for the right time to clear his doubts about what he has learned from the acarya
  9. Santa – He is peaceful and self-controlled
  10. Danta – Controls both his mind and speech
  11. Anasuya – Free from jealousy
  12. Saranam upagata – Always eager to hear ‘instructions of divine grace’ from his guru
  13. Sastra visvas Sali – Has total faith in shastra
  14. Paristam prapta – Ready to undergo any tests set by the guru for assessing his state of preparedness to be accepted as a deserving disciple
  15. Krita-vid sisya – He will be a grateful disciple for all that is to be received from the acarya.

Vedanta Deshika concludes: “Tattvata – abhimatam sikshaniya.” (Truly, such a person with these qualities is fit for instruction by the acarya).

Four Key Instructions the Guru must teach the Disciple

  1. The creation, sustenance and dissolution of everything that is animate and inanimate are under the total control of the Lord and His consort. We have to comprehend the Lord as:

(a)    Jagat Karanan – The Creator of all

(b)   Jagat Rakshakan – The Protector of all

(c)    Sarva Samharakan – The Destroyer of all Creations

(d)   Karma Pravrtti Niyamakan – The Commander of all acts initiated by the soul

(e)   Sarva Karma Phala Dhayakan – The Granter of the fruits of all karmas

2. Understanding this unique role of the Lord, please do not consider anyone else as your goal.

3. Do not seek anyone other than Him as a means to reach Him.

4. Knowing that both fear and fearlessness about samsara arises from Him, please do not break His commands in shastra.


New Zealand’s Kuli Mela Aims for Unity, Love and Devotion
→ Seeking The Essence

New Zealand’s Kuli Mela Aims for Unity, Love and Devotion

An article written by Madhava Smullen for ISKCON News and originally posted on December 7th, 2012.

Kuli Mela New Zealand organizers Saraswati Howie and Vrinda Taylor

Kuli Mela has already hit the US, Europe, Russia and Australia. And now, the festival that aims to unite and inspire those who have grown up in the Hare Krishna movement is coming to New Zealand.

 

 

Around 120 “Kulis” are expected to attend the nearly two-week-long event, which will continue to revise the mood and activities of the Kuli Mela template.

The “Kiwi Mela,” running from December 27th to January 6th, is being organized by two childhood friends, Vrinda Taylor and Saraswati Howie. Both attended the local gurukula on the ninety-acre New Varshana farm near Auckland, where the event will be held. To them, all the generations in the community, not just their own, are important.

“This Kuli Mela is not just a youth festival,” says Saraswati. “ Because we don’t live in a youth bubble. We’re trying to create a bond between the generations. To create real and genuine relationships between the younger kids and the older gurukulis; between us and the senior devotees.”

True to this goal, preparations for the Kuli Mela have brought New Zealand devotees of all ages together—all the way from twelve-year-old current gurukula students to 82-year-old Madri mataji. The togetherness has been healing for the devotees, who have been recovering since February of last year from the loss of their Christchurch temple and Deities in an earthquake.

As well as all generations, Kiwi Mela is also attempting to create a space where people from all spiritual affiliations will feel welcome. Organizers hope this will go some way towards healing old rifts and wounds in the New Zealand Hare Krishna community, which has been split for many years between ISKCON and followers of Narayan Maharaja.

 The New Varshana Farm and temple, the location for Kiwi Mela

“It’s about coming together, putting our differences aside, and focusing on the commonality that we have,” says Saraswati.

She also wants Kulis from all levels of spiritual practice to feel welcome and free from judgement.

“I hope to create an atmosphere where youth don’t feel that they have to ostracize themselves from Krishna when they go through whatever they’re gonna go through, as my generation did,” she says.

At the same time, Saraswati sees the Kiwi Mela as a chance to create a deeply Krishna conscious event that helps remove Kulis from any remaining perception by older devotees that they’re just “partiers.”

“As we mature, our events will mature accordingly,” she says.

Combining good healthy fun with Krishna consciousness, the Kiwi Mela will be split into two parts.

The first, “Golden Moon,” will run from December 27th until January 1st in Rotarua, one of New Zealand’s top tourist attractions. A beautiful geothermal hotspot, it’s filled with volcanos, geysers, hot waterfalls and thermal lakes.

 Kulis will bathe in the thermal lakes at Rotarua

Kulis will travel there from Auckland’s New Varshana farm on a specially donated bus at 9:30am on the 27th, launching into a “raging kirtan” as they depart. During the three-and-a-half-hour drive, they’ll also stop for a “Harinama picnic” at one of New Zealand’s most beautiful picnic spots.

At Rotarua, they’ll stay in forest cabins on land owned by the Maori—the native New Zealand tribal people— and will be welcomed by the local Maori tribe.

The first day at Golden Moon will be a relaxed get-to-know-each-other affair, with fun games and a feast in the evening.

The next four days will feature a packed schedule of hikes, bike rides, swimming and other nature activities.

On New Year’s Eve during the afternoon, Kulis will head out for a huge Harinama, chanting Hare Krishna on the streets of Rotarua town.

“Then we’ll return to our camp, where we’ll hold a Holi celebration, followed by what Vrinda has referred to as a gulab shindig,” laughs Saraswati. “We’ll be cooking about 500 gulabjamuns [syrupy sweets] and having gulab eating, throwing and catching, and juggling contests. Sounds rather dangerous!”

Kulis will then settle into a night of kirtan in the forest with a whole host of singers including Nitai and Vijay from US group the Kirtaniyas, who will be fusing traditional mantras with electronic dubstep beats.

 Pohutu geyser, Rotarua. (Courtesy of Destination Rotorua Marketing)

On January 1st, the group will have a spiritual program in honor of Vaishnava saint Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati’s Disappearance Day, and then return to the New Varshana farm.

The official Kuli Mela will run from the 2nd to the 6th of January on the waterfront property, where a 20 x 15 meter marquee will be set up with a full stage and Jagannath Deities from Whangarei preaching center to bless the event. A large yurt will also be set up for bhajans.

An elaborate opening ceremony on the 2nd will feature dances and other performances, as well as a welcome by VIP guests including a local Maori representative. It will be followed by get-to-know-each-other group activities, and in the evening a vegetarian barbecue and Hangi.

“Hangi is a traditional Maori way of cooking,” Saraswati explains. “You heat up rocks in the fire, wrap your food in leaves, and put it in a basket. Then you bury it with the hot rocks underground for three or four hours. When it comes out, it’s infused with the taste of the earth and is just like nothing you can even explain.”

January 3rd and 4th will be packed with activities. After the morning program at the temple and breakfast, Kulis will attend workshops and seminars from 10am to 1pm, break for lunch, and attend more workshops from 3pm to 6pm.

Offered by a host of senior devotees and Kulis, these will include everything from study of Krishna’s pastimes, to relationship skills and nurturing Krishna’s children, to yoga, Ayurvedic cooking, and martial arts, to creative arts like drama, jewelry-making, graffiti, wood-carving, and t-shirt-making.

 Thermal pool, Rotarua. (Courtesy of Destination Rotorua Marketing)

There will also be a major forum, led by Krishnendu Das and Damodara Das, which will explore what kind of vision Kulis would like to shape for the future, and what kind of responsibility they would like to take in the Hare Krishna movement.

At the end of each day, after evening arati at the temple and a buffet dinner, there will be an entertaining variety show from 7:30pm until 11:00pm. It will include dramas, puppet shows, Bharat Natyam dance, and acrobatics and martial arts from multi-talented artist Hari Narayan Das.

There will also be a packed roster of kirtan artists, including Sri Prahlad, Hari Bhakti Dey, and Sudevi and Kishori Mohan.

Finally, audiences will laugh and be thrilled at Kuli’s Got Talent, a humorous Kuli spin on the hit international TV show.

Judges including New Varshana temple president Kalasamvara Das and gurukula drama teacher Bhakti Marga Dasi will cast their verdicts on a variety of extremely talented mridanga players, acrobats, salsa dancers, jugglers and much much more.

Audiences will even get to enjoy the kind of hilariously bad performances featured at the beginning of the TV show, with senior devotees and Kulis delivering purposefully lame talents.

On the evening of January 4th, meanwhile, Kulis will head out onto Auckland’s Queen Street for an epic Harinama, after which they will invite members of the public back for an open event.

The Kuli Mela will end with a closing ceremony on Sunday the 6th, followed by a Kuli-led Sunday Feast at the temple.

“Kulis will be leading the kirtan, giving the class, cooking the prasadam, and serving and looking after everybody,” says Saraswati.

She hopes that attendees will come to Kuli Mela with an open mind and heart, and leave with deepened relationships, feeling inspired and empowered for the future.

“I want to show people that regardless of all our differences, we can work together, and we can create greatness—for Srila Prabhupada,” she says. “I just want to make him happy, and proud of us.”

To book your tickets and for more information, please visit http://kulimelanz.com.


Golden Age – Global Kirtan & Kulimela Association Featured In Bhakti Beat Magazine!
→ Seeking The Essence

Golden Age - Global Kirtan

End of the World? Chant Louder.  Where’s the Bhav on 12.21.12?

An article written by Brenda Patoine for Bhakti Beat and originally posted on December 20th, 2012.

It’s been the subject of scholarly study, doomsday prophesizing and New Age philosophizing alike for…well, pretty much forever.  It’s inspired countless books,  millions of articles, a major motion picture, and more than a few good cartoons.  Whatever your beliefs are about 12.21.12 — the end of the world, the beginning of a new world, or none of the above – one thing is clear:  the occasion is being marked worldwide with consciousness-raising events focused on prayer, meditation, and yes, kirtan.  Along with more than a few end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it blow-out bashes.

 

 

It’s no wonder: 12.21.12 is not only the much-ballyhooed date on which the Mayan calendar supposedly ends (but not really); it is also the winter solstice — the longest night of the year and the turning point for the “return of light” by way of gradually lengthening days.  Some theorists suggest the date coincides with Earth’s crossing a central nexxus in the Milky Way galaxy, signifying the end (or beginning) of an epoch in the orbit of our sun around the galaxy’s spiraling vortex.

There are as many theories out there about what 12.21.12 means as you care to dig for (30.5 million Google results in .24 seconds).  One recurring theme is the idea of a kind of global metanoia, a spiritual transformation or rise in consciousness like the world hasn’t seen in say, 5,125 years (the length of this last period in the Mayan timekeeping system).  Within the “conscious community,” 12.21.12 has become, it would seem, a lightning rod for stepping up the call for global unity and action to recognize our interconnectedness and avert ecological disaster on our home planet, a fate that seems to be racing toward us with accelerating speed.

With that in mind, we set out to find out what was happening in the bhakti community.  We didn’t have to look far…

Worldwide Events

Golden Age Global Kirtan

Quite simply, kirtan will be everywhere on 12.21.12.  From every corner of the globe, chanters will be beating their drums and raising their voices in mantra throughout the day, all day, all night.   Championed by NoCal bhakta K.d. Devi Dasi and the non-profit Kuli Mela Association, whose mission is to promote and preserve bhakti yoga philosophy, Golden Age Global Kirtan links chanters and Krishna communities worldwide for a common gathering celebrating “a shared experience of Loving Service, Bhakti Yoga.”

It has been a volunteer, person-to-person effort, Devi Dasi said, using social networking for spiritual activism. “On a deeper level we are activating a network of real people, real hearts to be connected, not on-line this time, but in our hearts, body, mind and spirit…in COMMUNITY!” she said.  As of Wednesday, some 25 countries had signed on to participate in Global Kirtan — with groups of ’2 or 200′ people — and the list was growing fast as the news went viral in the bhakti world.

“This is not simply each of us in our own corner praying,” Devi Dasi said. “This is a grass-roots call out to one another, as brothers and sisters, activating our communities with unified intentions, beyond borders, countries, or organization.”   For more info and to add your kirtan to the list, visit the Kulimela Assocation’s page on facebook.

UNIFY Global Moment of Peace

This worldwide effort links events around the globe in an umbrella event being called simply, UNIFY.  Highlights are a globally synchronized “Solstice Moment of Peace” at 11:11 GMT (6:11 a.m. EST) and a “Global Unification Moment” at 20:00 GMT (3 p.m. EDT), where people will gather the world over for a silent prayer, meditation or ceremony with the intention of uniting for world peace.  From a Unify.org press release:

The hope behind the ‘Unify’ idea is that joining in with these events will demonstrate that people have more desire to participate in something positive, than to dwell on the doom and gloom of apocalyptic predictions. Unify.org is serving as a hub for these events, including helping organize meditation flash mobs in city centers to live-streaming ceremonies at Mexican archaeological sites with hundreds of thousands in attendance to coordinating an interfaith moment in Jerusalem between major world religions.

Unify.org will live-stream footage of key events on the day including festivals, ceremonies and events from Jerusalem, The Pyramids at Giza, Stonehenge and Glastonbury, Chichen Itza, Palenque, Teotihuacan, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Austin, Texas, Lake Titicaca, Cape Town, Byron Bay, Australia and even Antarctica.  For details on the movement and individual events, see www.unify.org.

Global Convergence at Great Pyramids of Giza, Egypt

Global Convergence is a 3-day adventure retreat to Giza, Egypt (and a continuing Nile River cruise afterward) that culminates with a dawn-breaking ceremony at the Great Pyramid on 12.21.12, which will be live-streamed via www.unify.org.  Details of the ceremony are sketchy on the Global Convergence website, but as far as we can tell, it will feature “a selection of the top electronic music producers and DJ’s from the west coast’s music scene” as well as world-music pioneers Arjun Baba and Fallah Fi Allah, who never fail to rock the stage at Bhakti Fest with their high-voltage brand of Sufi Qawwali music.  Presented by L.A. electronic-music producers The Do Lab; for more details, see www.globalconvergence2012.com.

Best Bhakti Bets

(If we had a teleporter and could go anywhere, we’d beam in on these first — right after Arjun Baba’s set at the Great Pyramid, that is.)

Kirtaniyas at New Braj:  At the top of the list is the first-ever New Braj 24-Hour Kirtan at the community of Krishna devotees in New Braj Village in central California, near Sequoia National Park.  Spearheaded by The Kirtaniyas, the internationally beloved foursome of “Krishna kids” Vijay Krsna, Sarasvati, Rasika Dasi and Nitai Prem, this kirtan immersion will span 12 hours each day Friday and Saturday.  Rumor has it there may be a live-stream of the chanting (the next best thing to beaming there); stay tuned to The Bhakti Beat’s facebook page for up-to-the-minute updates.  Starts at 10 a.m., New Braj Village, CA.  Details here.

SRI Kirtan & World Peace in the Catskills: It will be mantras and meditation in the mountains at this weekend retreat featuring Sruti Ram and Ishwari, the Woodstock, NY duo behind SRI Kirtan, who will lead ecstatic chant as part of Friday evening’s program.  Go for the night or the whole weekend by joining the World Peace Meditation Retreat at the Ashokan Center in Olivebridge, N.Y.  Learn more.

Larisa Stow & Shakti Tribe in Phoenix: Can you say transformance? Any show with this band will transform you; Larisa Stow is passion personified, love without limits, delivering a wake-up call to anyone who will listen. Can you hear it? The Tribe takes their mantra rock to Phoenix this weekend, kicking it off with a celebration of ceremony and community with drum, flute, song and dance that they are headlining Friday night. On Saturday, Stow will lead a Mantra Playshop session, all part of the 12.21.12 festivities of the non-profit Fusion Foundation. Find out more.

Bhakti Blessings Coast-to-Coast

IN THE WEST

Venice, CA:  Rebirth of the Light Winter Solstice Movement Meditation with Shiva Rea, Dave Stringer, Global Sonic DJ Fabian Alsultany , Donna De Lory, Spring Groove, Yehoshua Brill and more. 2-10 p.m., Exhale Center for Sacred Movement, Venice, CA.  More info.

Los Angeles, CA:  Celebrating the New Age, an evening of “live yoga, live music, live food and live people” featuring multi-instrumentalist Sheela Bringi and Clinton Patterson (producer of Bringi’s debut CD in-the-works), with Leonice Shinneman, playing blues/raga/kirtan.  6:30 p.m. at Peace Yoga Gallery, Los Angeles.  Details.

Richmond, CA:  Blessings for the New Millennium,a multicultural evening of mantra, music and sacred ceremony, featuring Daniel Paul and Gina Salá, who are just finishing up their West Coast storm tour to launch their collaborative CD, Tabla Mantra. Includes Sound Healing with  Jan Cercone, Taiko drumming with Eden Aoba Taiko, and of course, tabla mantra with Paul & Salá.  Find out more.

San Rafael, CA:  Cosmic Dance Party with MC Yoga & special guests.  Described as an “Intergalactic Planetary Dance Party In Northern California to celebrate the end of the Mayan Calendar, the Winter Solstice, and anything else that makes you feel like dancing.”  That about covers it…and dance you will want to:  with Robin Livingston on deck and Amanda Devi on visuals, this threesome pumps out high-voltage, bass-heavy tracks from MC’s latest CD, Pilgrimage, that you can’t help but move to.  Get the scoop.

Vancouver, BC: Mantra, kirtan and labyrinth meditation featuring the World Peace Flame, organized by Sandra Leigh and Give Peace a Chant Kirtan Community. 7 p.m., Labyrinth at St. Paul’s Anglican Church, Vancouver, BC. Details here.

Seattle, WA: Dharma Sound is presenting kirtan at 7 p.m., Samudra Yoga, Bremerton, WA.

IN THE EAST

Rosemont, PA:  Stay Strong 2 Release Party and Winter Solstice kirtan celebration with David Newman, Mira and The Beloved.  This is the official release party for Stay Strong 2: You Can Count On Me.  The evening is a benefit for The Bridge Foundation and Global Green USA.  8 p.m., The New Leaf Club, Rosemont, PA.  Details here.

Boston, MA:  Tom Lena is hosting a special Solstice edition of his regularly scheduled Kitchari Kirtan, featuring Beantown chantress Irene Solea. The evening will open with Shakti Rowan leading the KK Posse in a Solstice Ritual to welcome the new earth. 7 p.m., Cambridge, MA.  Details here.

Bedford, NY:  Satya Franche & MA Kirtan will add their “vibration to the celestial vortex” for holiday chanting and potluck gathering, beginning 7 p.m. at Transcendence at Sun Raven, Bedford, NY.  More info.

West Hartford, CT: Celebrate the Winter Solstice with friends and family in a gathering that includes the ancient Homa Hotra fire ceremony to “let go of that which we no longer need and manifest all that we envision for ourselves in the future.”  And of course, there will be chanting and dancing.  8:30 p.m.; West Hartford Yoga.  Details here.

Bennington, VT:  DEVI presents an evening of Solstice kirtan with special guest, Bill ‘Jambavan’ Pfleging.  DEVI’s just-released CD, “The Path of Love,” will be available for purchase.  6 p.m., Karma Cat Yoga, Bennington, VT.  More info.

IN THE MIDWEST

Minneapolis, MN:  The Midwest gets a head start on 12.21.12 with a celebration of mantra by Heartland bhaktas Sitari and Kalyana with Pavan Kumar (aka Susan Shehata, Colleen Buckman and Keith Helke), who are releasing their first self-titled CD on 12.20.  The evening includes a guided “clearing” meditation and a celebration of the return of the sun, and also features the music of Blue Soul Caravan and special guest Jill James. Long-time champions of midwestern bhav, this Minneapolis-based band (which also includes Will Kemperman) made its debut at Bhakti Fest Midwest this summer.  Details here.

Green Bay, WI:  Erika King and Be Alford team up for live music and yin yoga for a Winter Solstice Celebration at the Studio for Well-Being in Neenah, WI.  More info.

Chicago, IL:  The Bodhi Spiritual Center is hosting Birth of the Golden Age Celebration, a two-hour program including a Q & A led by Mariana Gigea on the Awakened State, a Crystal Bowl Meditation, dancing, and hands-on blessings for awakening in the tradition of  Amma Bhagavan, founder of the Oneness University. Find out more.

Your turn: tell us where you’ll be chanting on this long-anticipated day.  Will you be celebrating, praying, hiding your head in the sand…?


Diary of a Lazy Mo’Fo
→ A Convenient Truth


The universe (aka - Shri Krishna) seems to be telling me that I'm a lazy piece of shit that's full of excuses. It started on Facebook last week when I saw a post by my dear god brother Advaita Acarya. It was a link to a video (which I didn't watch), but his comment was something like, "For those who see the importance of distributing Srila Prabhupada's books they'll find a way to do it. For those who don't they'll find a lot of excuses why they can't." Something like that. I replied with a half-joke, "If you ever need excuses, I have a long list (winky face)." I thought I was joking (and he knew I was joking), but was I really joking? Or was there some truth to what I had just said?

Then one night while laying down I was reading this article on Cracked.com:

http://www.cracked.com/blog/6-harsh-truths-that-will-make-you-better-person/

It was like the events of that earlier day all started to make sense. Without going into too much detail, basically I was yelled at for work-related stuff. It was very shocking and emotional for me. I was even crying about it. I was already emotional because of being sick and dealing with the side effects of antibiotics. The getting yelled at was just the proverbial straw that broke my back. It was devastating.

So when I read that article on Cracked.com it was as if Paramatma was speaking to me, telling me the reason why I was getting reprimanded: I'm lazy and full of excuses.

Then today I got an email from my wife and it was a link to this:

http://zenpencils.com/comic/97-charles-bukowski-air-and-light-and-time-and-space/

BAM! There it was...again. And when I asked my wife why she sent it to me, she mentioned how she thought it was a cool comic and that it could also be related to sadhana.

So there it is. Shri Krishna and Shri Guru are clearly speaking to me. I need to stop being lazy, stop making excuses. Not only in terms of devotional service, but just in general, in life itself. Life is not about sitting idly by the side and just avoiding everything and waiting for death.

The really icing on the cake about the message Krishna is sending me was when I came across this video on YouTube by accident:



Spiritual activism. Yeah. Being active. Spiritual life is not about doing nothing. It's not about moving into a cave and not mingling with society, although at times that's exactly what I'd like to do. No. The real experience, the real lessons, the real opportunity to put ideals into practice is out here in the world.

My desire to negate everything (like the Buddhists) is quite impersonal. My relationships with everyone are reflections of how I relate with Shri Guru and Shri Krishna. Seeing duality between people I like and people I don't like is all illusion. Everything is Krishna and Krishna's energies. And I don't mean that in a "repeating what I heard" kind of way. I mean that in the way that THAT'S reality. To not see that is illusion.

Shri Guru speaks to us through everyone and everything, as long as we are receptive to it and not defensive, absorbed in false ego or full of pride. Through humility we can hear the message. We can't hold on to our initial negative reactions of anger, hurt, betrayal, disdain, denial, etc. We can't get caught up in the externals or only see the surface of things. We have to look beyond the appearance of the messenger and hear the message. We have to realize that every interaction with others is an interaction with Krishna.

So now that I can hear what Krishna is trying to tell me, the question becomes, "What am I going to do with this message?" Am I going to ignore it and keep doing whatever? Or am I going to try and make an improvement? Am I going to try and stop making excuses for everything and become proactive and enthused about serving everyone and everything?

My tendency to be lazy is deep-rooted. My tendency to make excuses is also deep-rooted. I can only pray to Shri Nityananda Prabhu that just as He has given me this message, that please also give me the strength to make a change.



Diary of a Lazy Mo’Fo
→ A Convenient Truth


The universe (aka - Shri Krishna) seems to be telling me that I'm a lazy piece of shit that's full of excuses. It started on Facebook last week when I saw a post by my dear god brother Advaita Acarya. It was a link to a video (which I didn't watch), but his comment was something like, "For those who see the importance of distributing Srila Prabhupada's books they'll find a way to do it. For those who don't they'll find a lot of excuses why they can't." Something like that. I replied with a half-joke, "If you ever need excuses, I have a long list (winky face)." I thought I was joking (and he knew I was joking), but was I really joking? Or was there some truth to what I had just said?

Then one night while laying down I was reading this article on Cracked.com:

http://www.cracked.com/blog/6-harsh-truths-that-will-make-you-better-person/

It was like the events of that earlier day all started to make sense. Without going into too much detail, basically I was yelled at for work-related stuff. It was very shocking and emotional for me. I was even crying about it. I was already emotional because of being sick and dealing with the side effects of antibiotics. The getting yelled at was just the proverbial straw that broke my back. It was devastating.

So when I read that article on Cracked.com it was as if Paramatma was speaking to me, telling me the reason why I was getting reprimanded: I'm lazy and full of excuses.

Then today I got an email from my wife and it was a link to this:

http://zenpencils.com/comic/97-charles-bukowski-air-and-light-and-time-and-space/

BAM! There it was...again. And when I asked my wife why she sent it to me, she mentioned how she thought it was a cool comic and that it could also be related to sadhana.

So there it is. Shri Krishna and Shri Guru are clearly speaking to me. I need to stop being lazy, stop making excuses. Not only in terms of devotional service, but just in general, in life itself. Life is not about sitting idly by the side and just avoiding everything and waiting for death.

The really icing on the cake about the message Krishna is sending me was when I came across this video on YouTube by accident:



Spiritual activism. Yeah. Being active. Spiritual life is not about doing nothing. It's not about moving into a cave and not mingling with society, although at times that's exactly what I'd like to do. No. The real experience, the real lessons, the real opportunity to put ideals into practice is out here in the world.

My desire to negate everything (like the Buddhists) is quite impersonal. My relationships with everyone are reflections of how I relate with Shri Guru and Shri Krishna. Seeing duality between people I like and people I don't like is all illusion. Everything is Krishna and Krishna's energies. And I don't mean that in a "repeating what I heard" kind of way. I mean that in the way that THAT'S reality. To not see that is illusion.

Shri Guru speaks to us through everyone and everything, as long as we are receptive to it and not defensive, absorbed in false ego or full of pride. Through humility we can hear the message. We can't hold on to our initial negative reactions of anger, hurt, betrayal, disdain, denial, etc. We can't get caught up in the externals or only see the surface of things. We have to look beyond the appearance of the messenger and hear the message. We have to realize that every interaction with others is an interaction with Krishna.

So now that I can hear what Krishna is trying to tell me, the question becomes, "What am I going to do with this message?" Am I going to ignore it and keep doing whatever? Or am I going to try and make an improvement? Am I going to try and stop making excuses for everything and become proactive and enthused about serving everyone and everything?

My tendency to be lazy is deep-rooted. My tendency to make excuses is also deep-rooted. I can only pray to Shri Nityananda Prabhu that just as He has given me this message, that please also give me the strength to make a change.



How Millions of Farmers are Advancing Agriculture For Themselves
→ The Yoga of Ecology

Click here to read the full article from Jonathan Latham at Independent Science News


The world record yield for paddy rice production is not held by an agricultural research station or by a large-scale farmer from the United States, but by Sumant Kumar who has a farm of just two hectares in Darveshpura village in the state of Bihar in Northern India. His record yield of 22.4 tons per hectare, from a one-acre plot, was achieved with what is known as the System of Rice Intensification (SRI). To put his achievement in perspective, the average paddy yield worldwide is about 4 tons per hectare. Even with the use of fertilizer, average yields are usually not more than 8 tons.

Sumant Kumar’s success was not a fluke. Four of his neighbors, using SRI methods, and all for the first time, matched or exceeded the previous world record from China, 19 tons per hectare. Moreover, they used only modest amounts of inorganic fertilizer and did not need chemical crop protection.

How Millions of Farmers are Advancing Agriculture For Themselves
→ The Yoga of Ecology

Click here to read the full article from Jonathan Latham at Independent Science News


The world record yield for paddy rice production is not held by an agricultural research station or by a large-scale farmer from the United States, but by Sumant Kumar who has a farm of just two hectares in Darveshpura village in the state of Bihar in Northern India. His record yield of 22.4 tons per hectare, from a one-acre plot, was achieved with what is known as the System of Rice Intensification (SRI). To put his achievement in perspective, the average paddy yield worldwide is about 4 tons per hectare. Even with the use of fertilizer, average yields are usually not more than 8 tons.

Sumant Kumar’s success was not a fluke. Four of his neighbors, using SRI methods, and all for the first time, matched or exceeded the previous world record from China, 19 tons per hectare. Moreover, they used only modest amounts of inorganic fertilizer and did not need chemical crop protection.

Wish Granted
→ Seed of Devotion

From the moment I had woken up at 3:30 in the morning, I was an engine revving to go. Go, go, go! Go to Mangal Arati, go to the Mayapur Academy, go practice, go chant, go! Get everything done so that I could go hear my guru speak tonight.

Radhanath Swami had been here in Mayapur for almost a week, speaking every night to 4,000 people on the glories of Lord Chaitanya. Even though the pandal where he was speaking was only a couple hundred meters from where I was studying, I had not yet had time to spend one full night to listen. I was just so, so busy.

But tonight would be different. I was scheduling my day meticulously to leave school on time. Not only that, I was going to sit up at the very, very front and look at Maharaj's face the entire time!

Night fell. Despite my planning, I was still at school. Still practicing for my exam.

The lecture had begun. The pandal was so close by the Academy that I could hear the echoes of the microphone as Maharaj spoke. I felt spikes of pain to be so close yet so far. My hopes from the whole day crashed around me.

And yet at the same time, I knew that by being here, studying for Krishna, that was what Radhanath Swami himself would've wanted of me.

So I stayed.

Later that night, I was walking home from dinner with my friend Jahnava. We were turning a corner on the road when I saw up ahead a figure in orange, walking by himself, his orange cloth lit up by a streetlight behind him. At first I thought he was a brahmachari.

Then I looked again.

"Oh my, Maharaj!" I exclaimed. I immediately knelt to the dust to offer my respects. Jahnava also knelt.

By the time I had stood up, Maharaj had walked up to both of us, his eyes shining, his face beaming.

"Bhakti lata devi!" he said and looked into my eyes. "I have been yearning to see you."

I was speechless for a moment. "Maharaj... I... I've been yearning to see you!"

He was quiet for a moment, smiling, then he turned to Jahnava and asked, "What is your name?"

"Jahnava," she replied.

"Beautiful," he said, holding her gaze for several moments. He turned to me again and was quiet. Then, as if he had all the time in the world, he asked me gently, "How are you?"

"I am very well, Maharaj," I said, and I was thinking I would just end it there. After all, this was someone who only an hour before had been speaking to 4,000 people. Surely he had other things to do, other people to talk to. But I found no such mood of rush in Maharaj's face or his voice. He simply wanted to know how I was.

And so I shared with Maharaj a little about Mayapur Academy, and we spoke about how to learn the essence of every ritual we do. He said that he may come to my graduation in March to hand students their diplomas. "I may hand you yours," Maharaj said with a smile.

Then we folded our palms and bid each other goodbye and goodnight.

Jahnava and I continued to walk home, and my eyes were wide and shining.

The holy land of Mayapur seems to grant wishes.


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Wish Granted
→ Seed of Devotion

From the moment I had woken up at 3:30 in the morning, I was an engine revving to go. Go, go, go! Go to Mangal Arati, go to the Mayapur Academy, go practice, go chant, go! Get everything done so that I could go hear my guru speak tonight.

Radhanath Swami had been here in Mayapur for almost a week, speaking every night to 4,000 people on the glories of Lord Chaitanya. Even though the pandal where he was speaking was only a couple hundred meters from where I was studying, I had not yet had time to spend one full night to listen. I was just so, so busy.

But tonight would be different. I was scheduling my day meticulously to leave school on time. Not only that, I was going to sit up at the very, very front and look at Maharaj's face the entire time!

Night fell. Despite my planning, I was still at school. Still practicing for my exam.

The lecture had begun. The pandal was so close by the Academy that I could hear the echoes of the microphone as Maharaj spoke. I felt spikes of pain to be so close yet so far. My hopes from the whole day crashed around me.

And yet at the same time, I knew that by being here, studying for Krishna, that was what Radhanath Swami himself would've wanted of me.

So I stayed.

Later that night, I was walking home from dinner with my friend Jahnava. We were turning a corner on the road when I saw up ahead a figure in orange, walking by himself, his orange cloth lit up by a streetlight behind him. At first I thought he was a brahmachari.

Then I looked again.

"Oh my, Maharaj!" I exclaimed. I immediately knelt to the dust to offer my respects. Jahnava also knelt.

By the time I had stood up, Maharaj had walked up to both of us, his eyes shining, his face beaming.

"Bhakti lata devi!" he said and looked into my eyes. "I have been yearning to see you."

I was speechless for a moment. "Maharaj... I... I've been yearning to see you!"

He was quiet for a moment, smiling, then he turned to Jahnava and asked, "What is your name?"

"Jahnava," she replied.

"Beautiful," he said, holding her gaze for several moments. He turned to me again and was quiet. Then, as if he had all the time in the world, he asked me gently, "How are you?"

"I am very well, Maharaj," I said, and I was thinking I would just end it there. After all, this was someone who only an hour before had been speaking to 4,000 people. Surely he had other things to do, other people to talk to. But I found no such mood of rush in Maharaj's face or his voice. He simply wanted to know how I was.

And so I shared with Maharaj a little about Mayapur Academy, and we spoke about how to learn the essence of every ritual we do. He said that he may come to my graduation in March to hand students their diplomas. "I may hand you yours," Maharaj said with a smile.

Then we folded our palms and bid each other goodbye and goodnight.

Jahnava and I continued to walk home, and my eyes were wide and shining.

The holy land of Mayapur seems to grant wishes.


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Travel Journal#8.21: London, New York, Jacksonville
→ Travel Adventures of a Krishna Monk


Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 8, No. 21
By Krishna-kripa das
(November 2012, part one)
London, New York, Jacksonville
(Sent from Stuyvesant Falls, New York, on December 17, 2012)

Where I Went and What I Did

I continued to do harinama and lectures in London, based at Radha-Londonisvara’s temple on Soho Street for three days, flying to New York City the afternoon of the third day, to do harinama for a week with Rama Raya and Ekalavya Prabhus and their party who chant for four hours a day, mostly at Union Square. It was amazing to see the enthusiasm of those devotees for harinama and the enthusiasm of the New Yorkers who listened, gave donations, and took books about Krishna consciousness. I took a three-day break from the harinama party to visit family members. I visited my sister and my mother for a day each, cooking several meals and helping my mother with various computer issues. I visited my diksa-guru, Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami, where I assisted his team in a successful marathon to get the first volume of his autobiography, The Story of My Life, printed by the beginning of December. On November 15, I flew to Jacksonville, where I spent a very enlivening day assisting in our outreach at the University of North Florida there.

This issue is bountiful with the insights of great souls. I begin with many quotes from the books and lecture of our founder-acarya Srila Prabhupada. Next there are some wonderful insights from the letters of his guru maharaja, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura from a collection of his letters called Patravali, soon to be published in an abridged form by Touchstone Publishing as Patramrita. After that there some useful quotes from Bhakti Charu Swami and Radhanath Swami. Then I have excerpts from the first volume of the recently published, The Story of My Life, by Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami, mostly memories about the early days of our first center at 26 Second Ave. Then there are some revolutionary quotes by Aindra Prabhu, a great lover of the holy name. And Rama Raya Prabhu, a follower of Aindra, shares his conviction about the public chanting of the holy name. And there is still more!

Itinerary

Dec. 17–19, 2012: serving Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami in Stuyvesant, NY
Dec. 19–23, 2012: harinama in New York City
Dec. 24–25, 2012: visiting family in Albany, NY
Dec. 26, 2012–
Jan. 7, 2013: harinama in New York City
Jan. 8–April 2013: Gainesville, FL (with visits to Tallahassee and Jacksonville)

London Harinamas

I did harinama in London the first three days of November, before flying to New York. As the month of Karttika was starting, there was increased impetus to do more chanting and that boosted attendance on our harinamas. The after-breakfast harinama in London was much more regular and attended by more devotees than usual. In addition, late Friday afternoon we did harinama to Kings Cross for their Friday evening program at their storefront called “Matchless Gifts.” The Saturday Weekend Warrior program of chanting and book distribution was located in Ealing, a London borough which is practically on the way to Heathrow Airport, so I was able to participate for three hours before flying to New York.

Harinama in Manhattan

For several months Rama Raya Prabhu, who spent many years on Aindra Prabhu’s 24-Hour team in Vrindavan, and Ekalavya Prabhu, who plays the trumpet and is an excellent musician and performer, have been doing harinama in Manhattan, usually at Union Square, for four hours each and every day from 4 to 8 p.m. I joined their party for seven days. Once during foul weather we were chanting at Roosevelt Avenue subway station. I was singing my favorite tune of Hare Krishna and Ekalavya Prabhu played trumpet and a crowd of at least fifty people were watching us. I was amazed to see so many people stopped to watch a kirtana in America, especially one I was leading. One Sunday we chanted at Union Square for six hours from 2 to 8 p.m. One time we had seventeen people chanting, mostly practicing devotees with a few new people who had become interested from the daily public chanting in their city. Another day we had fifteen people. Even the slowest days we always had six or seven people at the end, although sometimes in the beginning there were just three or four of us. Some devotees are dedicated and go out every day for at least part of the time. One of these is Rasika Gopi dd, who as Bhaktin Rose went out on harinama with me twice in the Netherlands two and a half years ago.

Several new people have developed an interest in kirtana and Krishna consciousness during the several months the daily harinama has been going on and several thousand books have been distributed to people, just from them hearing the holy name and choosing to give a donation. Both Rama Raya and Ekalavya Prabhus are very enthusiastic about the program, and after a short break from January to March to go on pilgrimage in India, they are looking forward to another successful year.

Sharing Krishna at the University of North Florida

I have been singing on the campus of the University of North Florida in Jacksonville a few times a year since back in 2003 or 2004. I find the students are less under pressure in that relatively small school, and you always find interesting and interested people. People buy books, play instruments with us, like our treats, and talk about spiritual issues.

After a two-and-a-half-hour flight and a two-hour bus ride, I arrived at the campus too tired to chant, so I took lunch and a nap. Then in the late afternoon I decided to sit on a bench on the green and play my harmonium and sing for a couple of hours before our Thursday evening program and invite some new people to come.

I was surprised to meet Regina, one girl who remembered me from our weekly programs back in January, and who told me she has been coming to them ever since. Another girl, Jessica, just came to a single program, back in January, and also remembered me from that. We had a nice conversation about some supernatural experiences she had, and she promised to come to the program. On top of that, I met a math professor, who had done her graduate studies at University of California at San Diego and developed a love for the Krishna lunch the devotees served there each week. I had met her before on the green at UNF, and on days I did not see her there, I would bring prasadam to her office. It was wonderful that she spontaneously walked by during the brief time I was chanting there. I also met one young Indian man who is a Krishna devotee, and had looked online for Krishna temples in the area but had failed to find any. I told him about our program on the campus, and about our temples in Alachua and Gainesville. As a result he became a regular attendee at our programs at UNF.

By the fall semester of 2012, Dina Bandhu and Amrita Keli Prabhus, the devotees doing programs at UNF nature pavilion since January, had created enough interest in the students that they could create a Krishna Club with meetings on the campus. I was happy to see about fifteen people at the weekly program. Sometimes they said they got twenty-five. They do some yoga, have a talk related to Bhagavad-gita, have chanting of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra with instruments, and then Krishna prasadam, spiritual food for the soul. When I was there, after the program they discussed plans for a weekend field trip to a home program in LaCrosse and the Govardhan Puja festival in our Alachua temple. I was surprised to see the number of students interested in the devotional adventure. It was inspiring for me to see the interest in Krishna consciousness in a new place, and I bet such programs could be started on many campuses by enthusiastic young devotees who simply share in a straight forward way whatever they have learned about Krishna with others.

Insights

Srila Prabhupada:

from Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Adi-lila 1.55, purport:

“The development of submissiveness is the cause of proportionate spiritual realization, by which one can ultimately meet the Supreme Lord in person, as a man meets another man face to face. Because of his development of transcendental attachment for the Supreme Lord, a surrendered soul feels the presence of his beloved everywhere, and all his senses are engaged in the loving service of the Lord. His eyes are engaged in seeing the beautiful couple Sri Radha and Krishna sitting on a decorated throne beneath a desire tree in the transcendental land of Vrindavan. His nose is engaged in smelling the spiritual aroma of the lotus feet of the Lord. Similarly, his ears are engaged in hearing messages from Vaikuntha, and his hands embrace the lotus feet of the Lord and His associates. Thus the Lord is manifested to a pure devotee from within and without. This is one of the mysteries of the devotional relationship in which a devotee and the Lord are bound by a tie of spontaneous love. To achieve this love should be the goal of life for every living being.”

from a lecture:

In this material life, you will never be able to make anyone happy by your activities. That is not possible. Neither you will be happy.

For the jnanis (those interested in cultivating knowledge) Krishna says, “After many births and deaths, he who is actually in knowledge surrenders unto Me, knowing Me to be the cause of all causes and all that is. Such a great soul is very rare.” (Bg. 7.19), for the karmis (those interested in enjoying their senses) Krishna says, “Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer or give away, and whatever austerities you perform — do that, O son of Kunti, as an offering to Me.” (Bg. 9.27), and for the yogis Krishna says, “A yogi is greater than the ascetic, greater than the empiricist and greater than the fruitive worker. Therefore, O Arjuna, in all circumstances, be a yogi” (Bg. 6.46).

Nirguna means Krishna is not influenced by the three qualities of material nature (gunas) not that He has no transcendental qualities.

from a lecture:

Meditation begins with the lotus feet of Lord. Meditation on Krishna’s lotus feet destroys the dirty things in our heart.

Krishna’s feet are marked with four primary symbols: ankusa (goad), vajra (thunderbolt), sauraubya (lotus), . . .

When a British reporter asked me where hell was. I told him London is hell. There is no sun. It is always rainy and cold. You to do not have to search out hell in another place, hell is already here.

There is no light so you are paying electricity bill, but in the spiritual world no additional illumination is required. Why do you not go there? Why should we pay the electric bill? Go to the spiritual world. Every planet is effulgence.

In the material world, even the richest person is full of anxiety, but the spiritual world is Vaikuntha, without anxiety, so we should aspire to go there.

No material condition can check Krishna consciousness.

from an early-morning walk in Vrindvana, India, in September 1975:

On one side they promote contraceptives, and on the other side they encourage women
to marry three times a week. This is their civilization. If you want to stop increasing the population, why are you inducing people: “Indulge in sex”? Everything is contradictory. And it is all based on sense gratification.

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

Without following the religious principle there is not humanity. . . . It does not matter what kind of religion you follow, it doesn’t matter, but you must follow. . . . That is the duty, dharma. Human civilization begins when there is a religious conception of life.

Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura:

from the abridged Patravali, known as Patramrita, to be printed by Touchstone Publishing:

If you pray for the well-being of your subordinates then your own spiritual progress will take place.

As far as the present anarthas [unwanted tendencies] are concerned, if your hearing and chanting is very strong, they cannot display their prominence.
When I think that I am well, I become averse to Krishna, and as a result, I consider senior devotees to be junior to me. That is why, considering this, Lord Krishna keeps me in various distressful conditions, such as in ill health and other inconveniences. At such times I try to understand the meaning of the verse beginning with tat te’nukampam [My dear Lord, one who earnestly waits for You to bestow Your causeless mercy upon him, all the while patiently suffering the reactions of his past misdeeds and offering You respectful obeisances with his heart, words and body, is surely eligible for liberation, for it has become his rightful claim. (Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.14.8)].

When we remain absorbed in material subjects, which are not related to Krishna, we are inclined to quarrel with the different people of the world.

I am very glad to learn that Bhaktisarvasva Giri has received an English certificate. If the sannyasis and brahmacaris keep proving their merit in this way at different places, our happiness will know no bounds.

We should have churches for devotion and love all over India (preaching centers for pure devotional service and love of Krishna). Perhaps you remember the teachings of Mahaprabhu:

prithivite ache yata nagaradi-grama
sarvatra pracara haibe mora nama

“In every town and village of the world, My name [the holy name of Krishna] will be preached.”

No one has the right to drink even a drop of nectar from the ocean of the transcendental mellows of Lord Krishna’s pastimes without the mercy of the daughter of King Vrishabhanu [Radharani, Lord Krishna’s consort].

The dim reflection of madhurya-rasa is svakiya-rasa, and so it is simply another form of dasya-rasa. Many people make a mistake by accepting Lord Narayana’s pastimes with His legitimate wife as madhurya-rasa.

“A Vaishnava comes to this material world according to his karma, and after spending a fixed amount of time here, he goes to where he is being sent by Baladeva, according to his qualifications. Mahalaksmi resides within Balarama, and within Mahalaksmi resides the Supreme Lord. Therefore, Tota has gone back to serve his worshipable Lord. He was a Vaishnava part and parcel of Nityananda Prabhu, the predominating Lord of the sandhini potency and so if you learn to treat Lord Vishnu as your son, you will no longer feel the absence of your son.
“As the Supreme Lord lived in the heart of Tota and so you served Him, so now you should serve Lord Baladeva. The material body of Tota has been merged into the five gross material elements. The spirit soul of Tota will remain engaged in the service of the energetic Lord. Your material son has been separated from his material father. He is meant to be enjoyed by the Supreme Lord and so his real business is to serve Him. Realizing that you are not conditioned by maya, the Supreme Lord will not allow you to become overwhelmed with grief and will bestow upon you His unlimited mercy and power. This is my feeling.”

When Mahaprabhu accepted the renounced order of life, He said to His old mother, His wife Vishnupriya-devi, and the residents of Navadvipa, “I am only a human being and I am related to all of you in some kind of relationship. When I am gone, you should establish your relationship with Krishna instead of Me and thus give Me an opportunity to serve Lord Hari independently.”

“They may think that sincere premika bhaktas, who are under the shelter of the transcendental parakiya-rasa, are less ethical, but love for Hari has such a wonderful power that even a greatly delightful moral standard becomes dim in front of it.”

The Supreme Lord keeps Himself hidden within this universe in order to test us. If we can perceive Him behind every object, our apparent misunderstandings will diminish.

The Supreme Lord’s testing place is this material world. In order to pass this test, one has to hear glorification of Hari from the mouths of devotees of Hari.

Only those whose time for the destruction of anarthas has arrived will hear lectures on the topics of Hari and thus become successful in their attempt to achieve the ultimate goal of life.

If you chant one hundred thousand holy names every day then the offenders will not be able to disturb your bhajana.

There cannot be any better and more favorable condition for bhajana than giving up bad association.

In the inclination for service on the path of aisvarya, the chanting of the holy name, Hare Rama, refers to Lord Rama, the son of Dasaratha. But the devotees who worship the Lord on the path of madhurya know Rama to be Gopi-ramana, or the enjoyer of the gopis. He is the son of Nanda. In that case, the word Rama refers to Radha-ramana, and the word Hara refers to the daughter of Vrsabhanu.

There is never any possibility of falling down for a person who has received even a hint, or reflection, of the mula-mantra, or the secret of unalloyed bhajana. Still, as full-fledged members, their inability to accept the authority of the matha as a result of their previous offenses committed against the Vaishnavas is ultimately due to their personal weakness. When, by the grace of the Supreme Lord, the service attitude is progressively increased within their heart, they will not fall prey to sinful propensities. Try to benefit such fallen persons by helping them. That will be an act of real friendship.

Thoughtless and ignorant people who are unable to comprehend the magnanimous pastimes of exalted personalities question, “Why did Kala Krishnadasa, who was under the shelter of Gaurasundara, become attracted to the Bhattathari women? Why did Chota Haridasa, rather than exhibiting the example of a devotee, engage in inferior activity on the pretext of serving Gaura? Why did Ramacandra Puri give up his subordination to Madhavendra Puri? Why did a few so-called sons of Advaita Acarya Prabhu, and a few so-called disciples of Virabhadra, become independent?”
Ignorant people may like the arguments that challenge the faith of those on the kanistha and madhyama platforms which are put forth by those who are out of touch with reality and cannot accept the actual truth, but when these foolish people enter the deep meaning of the transcendentally magnanimous pastimes of exalted personalities who are under the shelter of Lord Caitanya or His devotees, they will understand that in order to provide an opportunity for well-being to all unfit and fallen souls, Lord Caitanya has revealed the truth that all living entities are constitutionally servants of Lord Krishna. Even though the service of Krishna temporarily manifested in a perverted form as an aversion to Krishna when combined with material enjoyment is abominable in the eyes of unqualified gross materialists who believe in direct perception, it does not violate the principle of the api cet suduracara verse. A maha-bhagavata knows everyone as his spiritual master and therefore only a maha-bhagavata is the spiritual master of the whole world.

The goal of our service is to arrange a meeting between the object of worship and the worshiper.

Bhajana is not something to make a show of. If we chant the holy name loudly, the enjoyment of idleness cannot devour us.

Bhakti Charu Swami:

Lord Caitanya taught Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Vrindavan is His abode, and the gopis method of worship is best.

If Yasoda knew that Krishna was the Supreme Personality could she try to tie Him up?

Everyone forgets that Krishna is God in Vrindavan.

The relationships of friendship, parenthood, and conjugal love are prominent in Vrindavan.

Aghasura could not be killed by the demigods, who would tremble in fear at the sound of his name.

If one performs vaidhi-bhakti he attains Vaikuntha.

After Krishna demonstrated his pastimes, he considered that when bhakti is merely performed according to rules and regulations, no one would ever attain Goloka Vrindavan.

Raganuga means to follow a resident of Vrindavan. By serving Lord Caitanya, we are serving Radharani, and what greater resident of Vrindavan is there than Radharani?

Asvatthama had the benediction from Lord Shiva to be invisible for one night, and so he could kill the sleeping Pandavas without being stopped. Why would Krishna would allow them to be killed? They had played their role in His pastimes and so they would not be needed in this world.

At the border of Vrindavan and Mathura when Krishna and Akrura bathed, Shyamasundara Krishna returned to Vrindavan and Vasudeva Krishna continued to Mathura and Dvaraka.

To go from Vaikuntha to Goloka Vrindavan, you have to come to this world and do sankirtana in Vrindavan.

Regarding your mother, because she went back to Godhead, you should consider what is your relationship with her now. Do you want to follow her example? Do you want to assist her in her service to Krishna? Do you want to pray to her that you might also be engaged in Krishna’s service?

When you give up an old car and buy a new one, do you lament? So in the same way, we should not lament when one gets a better body for serving Krishna.

A rich man is always changing his car while a poor man holds on to it until it is a piece of junk. We are neither the rich man nor the poor man. We are the chauffeur of the richest man, and He will certainly make sure we have a first class car to drive in His service, so we do not have to worry.

Radhanath Swami:

from a BTG article:

Mother Theresa spoke to me years ago, “The greatest problem in this world is not the hunger of the stomach but the hunger of the heart. All over the world both rich and poor suffer. They are lonely, starving for love. Only God’s love can satisfy the hunger of the heart.”

Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami:

from his autobiography, The Story of My Life:

It is always good to live with the chanting and to bring it out in a time of difficulty. It may seem odd to the people who are confining you, but it will always work in your favor. They will know you are religious and serious.

And I was there among the first. I feel he [Srila Prabhupada] will always remember me as “Satsvarupa” from my typing and donations and giving him a daily mango. He picked me up as a sad lonely hippie and made me a happy and responsible son. I will never forget those days or fail to treasure them.

At the welfare office I chanted Hare Krishna mantras silently in my mind. The Swami had approved the practice. I had told him my co-workers engaged in talking nonsense. He said, “Even the greatest philosophers are talking nonsense. Go on chanting Hare Krishna in your mind.”

Going to meet the Swami was the nectar of life, and I did it every morning for Caitanya-caritamrta class and every evening for kirtana and his Bhagavad-gita class. He was so kind and inviting, accepting me as I was, and giving me typing tasks. I gave him my money and that solidified my relationship. He called me “Sat-svaroop.” I don’t have to make up the early days. I just have to remember them as they were. Gradually more intimacy developed and a sense of belonging to his group. I was learning the philosophy of Krishna and eating lunch with him daily and taking “heavenly porridge” with the boys in the morning. It was a favorable burgeoning time. I remember leaving the storefront in the morning and walking to my workplace, feeling that I was a cowherd boy with my necktie in my back pocket. I had friendly talks with Rayarama and the others and felt they were my brotherhood of friends. I had moments alone with the Swami when I asked him questions about the philosophy and commented on how I was feeling. I was no longer intimidated by the city buildings in the concrete jungle. I saw them as material energy, and now they were temporary and in a sense unreal. Real was Krishna in the spiritual world. We had pictures of Radha and Krishna in Goloka Vrindavan. Gradually we were setting the foundation for lifelong commitment starting with the summer of 1966. We kind of knew what we were getting into.

I knew the Swami as my spiritual master, the guru of my soul. He was guiding me into my relationship with Krishna through him. We needed him to be there, and we wanted him and he was there. We knew where to find him, in his apartment, in his temple. He started a Sunday Love Feast and chanting in Tompkins Square Park. He was like putting milk in a bowl, and we were like cats lapping it up. Everything was auspicious, even as the season changed. So life revolved around the activities with the Swami and the future seemed eternal. We didn’t think of it ending. This was just fine, getting up at 1 a.m. and chanting japa on the red beads, sitting on the floor. Then dressing and leaving the apartment, entering the streets and passing people on your way to the storefront. As dependable as the Big Ben clock in London, the Swami would enter the storefront and step out of his shoes and sit and lead us in the morning tune chant for twenty minutes. Then he set up his reel-to-reel tape recorder and started lecturing about Sanatana Swami’s getting out of jail and going to meet Lord Caitanya in Benares. A cliff hanger lecture every morning. I can keep going back and remembering, and it’s always there. I don’t have to make it up. It all actually happened, and it was wonderful as he took me up and molded me into a devotee of Krishna consciousness. He is my Swami, and I hope to remember him now and at the hour of my death and to somehow go to him in that same mood as when I first joined him.

Aindra Prabhu:

from a lecture on March 16, 2009, in Varsana:

Humility means you have to be humble enough to realize that you are a fallen conditioned soul and your only hope is the sankirtana which has been specifically prescribed by the scripture and by Lord Caitanya and His representatives for the fallen souls of this age. No other process can help you.

Manadena means to respect the actual position of the living entities by engaging them in devotional service.

Book distribution is meant to convince the people to take to the sankirtana movement of Lord Caitanya.

If people do not do sankirtana. they will look for a higher taste elsewhere.

Japa is like taking tablets, and sankirtana is an injection.

from a lecture in March of 2010:

There are five more important items of devotional service, but the supreme item is nama-sankirtana. The other items cannot be complete without nama-sankirtana.

One comes to Vrindavan for the service of Srimati Radharani, and the best way to please Srimati Radharani is by chanting Hare Krishna. By pleasing Radharani only can we get the original Krishna.

We used to chant 8 or 10 hours a day [in public], and on Saturday 15 hours. Srila Prabhupada wrote a letter full of approval to Damodara Prabhu, our temple president, for our program in Washington, D.C., where we were chanting 14 hours a day.

In Vrindavan, for every hour of kirtana we get credit for a thousand hours of kirtana.

All except nama-sankirtana [the congregational chanting of the holy name] and what supports it, are cheating religion.

Laksmi Nrsimha Prabhu:

Rupa Goswami read Bharata Muni’s Rasa-tattva, describing mundane relationships in detail, and used his ideas in describing the eternal relationships we can have with Krishna.

In explaining the different rasas to people, I ask them, “Isn’t the love you have for your children different from the love you have for your spouse or the love you have for your parents?”

Dasa Mula—Ten Roots given by Bhaktivinoda Thakura
    1. Pramana: Evidence comes from the scripture.
    2. Parama-tattva: Hari alone is the Truth.
    3. He is the possessor of all potency.
    4. He is the source of all relationships, rasa.
    5. We are all his amsas (parts).
    6. Souls in this world are baddha (bound by maya [illusion]).
    7. Liberated souls are free from maya.
    8. We are simultaneous one with and different from Krishna [acintya-bheda-abheda].
    9. Pure devotion the is only means for perfection.
    10. Love of Krishna is the goal.

Respect means to look again and appreciate the good qualities of the person.

Aldous Huxley says the most realistic vision is to see our ourselves the way others see us and to see others the way they see themselves.

William James says that when two person are in a room there are actually six people: the way each person sees himself, the way each person sees the other, and the way each person actually is.

There is a Sufi saying that “words that come from the heart go to the heart, and words that just come from the lips do not make it past the ears.”

If we appreciate the qualities of others, we should express it.

Dayananda Swami:

Srila Prabhupada did not think the strategy of his godbrothers to distribute the books of his guru maharaja which were written for another time and place was so wise.

As we develop bhakti, our bhakti will impel us to spread it to others.

Maya likes senior devotees. [She says:] “Come with me . . . ”

Rama Raya Prabhu:

This sankirtana movement is not meant just to make a few street vendors teasingly take a few dance steps but to bring everyone on the planet to the point of chanting Hare Krishna with faith and love.

Because of the devotee’s attraction to Krishna, what is going on in the material world, no matter how popular or well advertised it is, is not of interest to him.

Q (by me): Is is sufficient just to go on harinama, which purifies the people, knowingly or unknowingly, to bring everyone on the planet to the point of chanting with faith and love or should we be doing other things too?
A: When the disease is severe, the medicine must be stronger and more frequently given. Thus there should be thousands of sankirtana parties going out regularly all over the world to bring people up to such a level of purity.

Radha Caran Prabhu:

Krishna arranges that the material bodies of the gopis stay home to please their family members while they go in the rasa dance with Krishna.

Pride disturbs the rasa [intimate relationship] we have Krishna, even in the case of the gopis [His most advanced devotees].

Ahladini Radharani Devi Dasa from her BTG article [Vol. 47, No. 1, page 22]:

“Just as red-hot cinders may smolder beneath a pile of hot ashes, love of God, though hidden, burns within the heart of every living entity. And just as blowing air on hot cinders can rekindle a flame, hearing the glories of the Lord can invoke one’s dormant love of God and revive one’s connection to Him.”

Caitanya-carana Prabhu:

Saying a resounding yes to Krsna is the most effective way of saying a decisive no to parasitic material desires.

Dr. Dina Bandhu Prabhu:

Religion regulates behavior, but so does our family or political system.

Religion is not so much different from other fields of study where there are teachers and a path.

Just as achieving an M.D. is not cheap, neither is attaining spiritual perfection.

Murali Gopal Prabhu:

Materialists love to know past, present, and future so they can maximize their sense gratification.

People are interested in the past life because they want to know why they are the way they are, but they do not ask the more important question, “What is my next life?”

Krishna’s cowherd boyfriends entered the mouth of the Aghasura demon fearlessly, although not knowing the future, because they had confidence that because Krishna was their friend, everything would be alright.

Although Krishna is omniscient, for the sake of His pastimes, He sometimes acts as if He does not know.

Although we may use astrology to understand some things about our nature, because a devotee is beyond karma, it cannot accurately predict a devotee’s life.

One devotee lady told Radhanatha Swami that before she became a devotee, by astrology she could very accurately see what was going to happen, but after she became a devotee sometimes astrology was accurate and sometimes not, and she asked him why. Radhanatha Swami explained that because she was now a devotee, Krishna was personally arranging her life.

a devotee at the Bhakti Center:

Offenses begin in the mind, progress to words and ultimately to action.

-----

kalim sabhajayanty arya
guna jñah sara-bhaginah
yatra sankirtanenaiva
sarva-svartho bhilabhyate

“Those who are actually advanced in knowledge are able to appreciate the essential value of this age of Kali. Such enlightened persons worship Kali-yuga because in this fallen age all perfection of life can easily be achieved by the performance of sankirtana [the congregational chanting of the holy name of the Lord].” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.5.36).


Travel Journal#8.21: London, New York, Jacksonville
→ Travel Adventures of a Krishna Monk


Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 8, No. 21
By Krishna-kripa das
(November 2012, part one)
London, New York, Jacksonville
(Sent from Stuyvesant Falls, New York, on December 17, 2012)

Where I Went and What I Did

I continued to do harinama and lectures in London, based at Radha-Londonisvara’s temple on Soho Street for three days, flying to New York City the afternoon of the third day, to do harinama for a week with Rama Raya and Ekalavya Prabhus and their party who chant for four hours a day, mostly at Union Square. It was amazing to see the enthusiasm of those devotees for harinama and the enthusiasm of the New Yorkers who listened, gave donations, and took books about Krishna consciousness. I took a three-day break from the harinama party to visit family members. I visited my sister and my mother for a day each, cooking several meals and helping my mother with various computer issues. I visited my diksa-guru, Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami, where I assisted his team in a successful marathon to get the first volume of his autobiography, The Story of My Life, printed by the beginning of December. On November 15, I flew to Jacksonville, where I spent a very enlivening day assisting in our outreach at the University of North Florida there.

This issue is bountiful with the insights of great souls. I begin with many quotes from the books and lecture of our founder-acarya Srila Prabhupada. Next there are some wonderful insights from the letters of his guru maharaja, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura from a collection of his letters called Patravali, soon to be published in an abridged form by Touchstone Publishing as Patramrita. After that there some useful quotes from Bhakti Charu Swami and Radhanath Swami. Then I have excerpts from the first volume of the recently published, The Story of My Life, by Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami, mostly memories about the early days of our first center at 26 Second Ave. Then there are some revolutionary quotes by Aindra Prabhu, a great lover of the holy name. And Rama Raya Prabhu, a follower of Aindra, shares his conviction about the public chanting of the holy name. And there is still more!

Itinerary

Dec. 17–19, 2012: serving Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami in Stuyvesant, NY
Dec. 19–23, 2012: harinama in New York City
Dec. 24–25, 2012: visiting family in Albany, NY
Dec. 26, 2012–
Jan. 7, 2013: harinama in New York City
Jan. 8–April 2013: Gainesville, FL (with visits to Tallahassee and Jacksonville)

London Harinamas

I did harinama in London the first three days of November, before flying to New York. As the month of Karttika was starting, there was increased impetus to do more chanting and that boosted attendance on our harinamas. The after-breakfast harinama in London was much more regular and attended by more devotees than usual. In addition, late Friday afternoon we did harinama to Kings Cross for their Friday evening program at their storefront called “Matchless Gifts.” The Saturday Weekend Warrior program of chanting and book distribution was located in Ealing, a London borough which is practically on the way to Heathrow Airport, so I was able to participate for three hours before flying to New York.

Harinama in Manhattan

For several months Rama Raya Prabhu, who spent many years on Aindra Prabhu’s 24-Hour team in Vrindavan, and Ekalavya Prabhu, who plays the trumpet and is an excellent musician and performer, have been doing harinama in Manhattan, usually at Union Square, for four hours each and every day from 4 to 8 p.m. I joined their party for seven days. Once during foul weather we were chanting at Roosevelt Avenue subway station. I was singing my favorite tune of Hare Krishna and Ekalavya Prabhu played trumpet and a crowd of at least fifty people were watching us. I was amazed to see so many people stopped to watch a kirtana in America, especially one I was leading. One Sunday we chanted at Union Square for six hours from 2 to 8 p.m. One time we had seventeen people chanting, mostly practicing devotees with a few new people who had become interested from the daily public chanting in their city. Another day we had fifteen people. Even the slowest days we always had six or seven people at the end, although sometimes in the beginning there were just three or four of us. Some devotees are dedicated and go out every day for at least part of the time. One of these is Rasika Gopi dd, who as Bhaktin Rose went out on harinama with me twice in the Netherlands two and a half years ago.

Several new people have developed an interest in kirtana and Krishna consciousness during the several months the daily harinama has been going on and several thousand books have been distributed to people, just from them hearing the holy name and choosing to give a donation. Both Rama Raya and Ekalavya Prabhus are very enthusiastic about the program, and after a short break from January to March to go on pilgrimage in India, they are looking forward to another successful year.

Sharing Krishna at the University of North Florida

I have been singing on the campus of the University of North Florida in Jacksonville a few times a year since back in 2003 or 2004. I find the students are less under pressure in that relatively small school, and you always find interesting and interested people. People buy books, play instruments with us, like our treats, and talk about spiritual issues.

After a two-and-a-half-hour flight and a two-hour bus ride, I arrived at the campus too tired to chant, so I took lunch and a nap. Then in the late afternoon I decided to sit on a bench on the green and play my harmonium and sing for a couple of hours before our Thursday evening program and invite some new people to come.

I was surprised to meet Regina, one girl who remembered me from our weekly programs back in January, and who told me she has been coming to them ever since. Another girl, Jessica, just came to a single program, back in January, and also remembered me from that. We had a nice conversation about some supernatural experiences she had, and she promised to come to the program. On top of that, I met a math professor, who had done her graduate studies at University of California at San Diego and developed a love for the Krishna lunch the devotees served there each week. I had met her before on the green at UNF, and on days I did not see her there, I would bring prasadam to her office. It was wonderful that she spontaneously walked by during the brief time I was chanting there. I also met one young Indian man who is a Krishna devotee, and had looked online for Krishna temples in the area but had failed to find any. I told him about our program on the campus, and about our temples in Alachua and Gainesville. As a result he became a regular attendee at our programs at UNF.

By the fall semester of 2012, Dina Bandhu and Amrita Keli Prabhus, the devotees doing programs at UNF nature pavilion since January, had created enough interest in the students that they could create a Krishna Club with meetings on the campus. I was happy to see about fifteen people at the weekly program. Sometimes they said they got twenty-five. They do some yoga, have a talk related to Bhagavad-gita, have chanting of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra with instruments, and then Krishna prasadam, spiritual food for the soul. When I was there, after the program they discussed plans for a weekend field trip to a home program in LaCrosse and the Govardhan Puja festival in our Alachua temple. I was surprised to see the number of students interested in the devotional adventure. It was inspiring for me to see the interest in Krishna consciousness in a new place, and I bet such programs could be started on many campuses by enthusiastic young devotees who simply share in a straight forward way whatever they have learned about Krishna with others.

Insights

Srila Prabhupada:

from Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Adi-lila 1.55, purport:

“The development of submissiveness is the cause of proportionate spiritual realization, by which one can ultimately meet the Supreme Lord in person, as a man meets another man face to face. Because of his development of transcendental attachment for the Supreme Lord, a surrendered soul feels the presence of his beloved everywhere, and all his senses are engaged in the loving service of the Lord. His eyes are engaged in seeing the beautiful couple Sri Radha and Krishna sitting on a decorated throne beneath a desire tree in the transcendental land of Vrindavan. His nose is engaged in smelling the spiritual aroma of the lotus feet of the Lord. Similarly, his ears are engaged in hearing messages from Vaikuntha, and his hands embrace the lotus feet of the Lord and His associates. Thus the Lord is manifested to a pure devotee from within and without. This is one of the mysteries of the devotional relationship in which a devotee and the Lord are bound by a tie of spontaneous love. To achieve this love should be the goal of life for every living being.”

from a lecture:

In this material life, you will never be able to make anyone happy by your activities. That is not possible. Neither you will be happy.

For the jnanis (those interested in cultivating knowledge) Krishna says, “After many births and deaths, he who is actually in knowledge surrenders unto Me, knowing Me to be the cause of all causes and all that is. Such a great soul is very rare.” (Bg. 7.19), for the karmis (those interested in enjoying their senses) Krishna says, “Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer or give away, and whatever austerities you perform — do that, O son of Kunti, as an offering to Me.” (Bg. 9.27), and for the yogis Krishna says, “A yogi is greater than the ascetic, greater than the empiricist and greater than the fruitive worker. Therefore, O Arjuna, in all circumstances, be a yogi” (Bg. 6.46).

Nirguna means Krishna is not influenced by the three qualities of material nature (gunas) not that He has no transcendental qualities.

from a lecture:

Meditation begins with the lotus feet of Lord. Meditation on Krishna’s lotus feet destroys the dirty things in our heart.

Krishna’s feet are marked with four primary symbols: ankusa (goad), vajra (thunderbolt), sauraubya (lotus), . . .

When a British reporter asked me where hell was. I told him London is hell. There is no sun. It is always rainy and cold. You to do not have to search out hell in another place, hell is already here.

There is no light so you are paying electricity bill, but in the spiritual world no additional illumination is required. Why do you not go there? Why should we pay the electric bill? Go to the spiritual world. Every planet is effulgence.

In the material world, even the richest person is full of anxiety, but the spiritual world is Vaikuntha, without anxiety, so we should aspire to go there.

No material condition can check Krishna consciousness.

from an early-morning walk in Vrindvana, India, in September 1975:

On one side they promote contraceptives, and on the other side they encourage women
to marry three times a week. This is their civilization. If you want to stop increasing the population, why are you inducing people: “Indulge in sex”? Everything is contradictory. And it is all based on sense gratification.

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

Without following the religious principle there is not humanity. . . . It does not matter what kind of religion you follow, it doesn’t matter, but you must follow. . . . That is the duty, dharma. Human civilization begins when there is a religious conception of life.

Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura:

from the abridged Patravali, known as Patramrita, to be printed by Touchstone Publishing:

If you pray for the well-being of your subordinates then your own spiritual progress will take place.

As far as the present anarthas [unwanted tendencies] are concerned, if your hearing and chanting is very strong, they cannot display their prominence.
When I think that I am well, I become averse to Krishna, and as a result, I consider senior devotees to be junior to me. That is why, considering this, Lord Krishna keeps me in various distressful conditions, such as in ill health and other inconveniences. At such times I try to understand the meaning of the verse beginning with tat te’nukampam [My dear Lord, one who earnestly waits for You to bestow Your causeless mercy upon him, all the while patiently suffering the reactions of his past misdeeds and offering You respectful obeisances with his heart, words and body, is surely eligible for liberation, for it has become his rightful claim. (Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.14.8)].

When we remain absorbed in material subjects, which are not related to Krishna, we are inclined to quarrel with the different people of the world.

I am very glad to learn that Bhaktisarvasva Giri has received an English certificate. If the sannyasis and brahmacaris keep proving their merit in this way at different places, our happiness will know no bounds.

We should have churches for devotion and love all over India (preaching centers for pure devotional service and love of Krishna). Perhaps you remember the teachings of Mahaprabhu:

prithivite ache yata nagaradi-grama
sarvatra pracara haibe mora nama

“In every town and village of the world, My name [the holy name of Krishna] will be preached.”

No one has the right to drink even a drop of nectar from the ocean of the transcendental mellows of Lord Krishna’s pastimes without the mercy of the daughter of King Vrishabhanu [Radharani, Lord Krishna’s consort].

The dim reflection of madhurya-rasa is svakiya-rasa, and so it is simply another form of dasya-rasa. Many people make a mistake by accepting Lord Narayana’s pastimes with His legitimate wife as madhurya-rasa.

“A Vaishnava comes to this material world according to his karma, and after spending a fixed amount of time here, he goes to where he is being sent by Baladeva, according to his qualifications. Mahalaksmi resides within Balarama, and within Mahalaksmi resides the Supreme Lord. Therefore, Tota has gone back to serve his worshipable Lord. He was a Vaishnava part and parcel of Nityananda Prabhu, the predominating Lord of the sandhini potency and so if you learn to treat Lord Vishnu as your son, you will no longer feel the absence of your son.
“As the Supreme Lord lived in the heart of Tota and so you served Him, so now you should serve Lord Baladeva. The material body of Tota has been merged into the five gross material elements. The spirit soul of Tota will remain engaged in the service of the energetic Lord. Your material son has been separated from his material father. He is meant to be enjoyed by the Supreme Lord and so his real business is to serve Him. Realizing that you are not conditioned by maya, the Supreme Lord will not allow you to become overwhelmed with grief and will bestow upon you His unlimited mercy and power. This is my feeling.”

When Mahaprabhu accepted the renounced order of life, He said to His old mother, His wife Vishnupriya-devi, and the residents of Navadvipa, “I am only a human being and I am related to all of you in some kind of relationship. When I am gone, you should establish your relationship with Krishna instead of Me and thus give Me an opportunity to serve Lord Hari independently.”

“They may think that sincere premika bhaktas, who are under the shelter of the transcendental parakiya-rasa, are less ethical, but love for Hari has such a wonderful power that even a greatly delightful moral standard becomes dim in front of it.”

The Supreme Lord keeps Himself hidden within this universe in order to test us. If we can perceive Him behind every object, our apparent misunderstandings will diminish.

The Supreme Lord’s testing place is this material world. In order to pass this test, one has to hear glorification of Hari from the mouths of devotees of Hari.

Only those whose time for the destruction of anarthas has arrived will hear lectures on the topics of Hari and thus become successful in their attempt to achieve the ultimate goal of life.

If you chant one hundred thousand holy names every day then the offenders will not be able to disturb your bhajana.

There cannot be any better and more favorable condition for bhajana than giving up bad association.

In the inclination for service on the path of aisvarya, the chanting of the holy name, Hare Rama, refers to Lord Rama, the son of Dasaratha. But the devotees who worship the Lord on the path of madhurya know Rama to be Gopi-ramana, or the enjoyer of the gopis. He is the son of Nanda. In that case, the word Rama refers to Radha-ramana, and the word Hara refers to the daughter of Vrsabhanu.

There is never any possibility of falling down for a person who has received even a hint, or reflection, of the mula-mantra, or the secret of unalloyed bhajana. Still, as full-fledged members, their inability to accept the authority of the matha as a result of their previous offenses committed against the Vaishnavas is ultimately due to their personal weakness. When, by the grace of the Supreme Lord, the service attitude is progressively increased within their heart, they will not fall prey to sinful propensities. Try to benefit such fallen persons by helping them. That will be an act of real friendship.

Thoughtless and ignorant people who are unable to comprehend the magnanimous pastimes of exalted personalities question, “Why did Kala Krishnadasa, who was under the shelter of Gaurasundara, become attracted to the Bhattathari women? Why did Chota Haridasa, rather than exhibiting the example of a devotee, engage in inferior activity on the pretext of serving Gaura? Why did Ramacandra Puri give up his subordination to Madhavendra Puri? Why did a few so-called sons of Advaita Acarya Prabhu, and a few so-called disciples of Virabhadra, become independent?”
Ignorant people may like the arguments that challenge the faith of those on the kanistha and madhyama platforms which are put forth by those who are out of touch with reality and cannot accept the actual truth, but when these foolish people enter the deep meaning of the transcendentally magnanimous pastimes of exalted personalities who are under the shelter of Lord Caitanya or His devotees, they will understand that in order to provide an opportunity for well-being to all unfit and fallen souls, Lord Caitanya has revealed the truth that all living entities are constitutionally servants of Lord Krishna. Even though the service of Krishna temporarily manifested in a perverted form as an aversion to Krishna when combined with material enjoyment is abominable in the eyes of unqualified gross materialists who believe in direct perception, it does not violate the principle of the api cet suduracara verse. A maha-bhagavata knows everyone as his spiritual master and therefore only a maha-bhagavata is the spiritual master of the whole world.

The goal of our service is to arrange a meeting between the object of worship and the worshiper.

Bhajana is not something to make a show of. If we chant the holy name loudly, the enjoyment of idleness cannot devour us.

Bhakti Charu Swami:

Lord Caitanya taught Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Vrindavan is His abode, and the gopis method of worship is best.

If Yasoda knew that Krishna was the Supreme Personality could she try to tie Him up?

Everyone forgets that Krishna is God in Vrindavan.

The relationships of friendship, parenthood, and conjugal love are prominent in Vrindavan.

Aghasura could not be killed by the demigods, who would tremble in fear at the sound of his name.

If one performs vaidhi-bhakti he attains Vaikuntha.

After Krishna demonstrated his pastimes, he considered that when bhakti is merely performed according to rules and regulations, no one would ever attain Goloka Vrindavan.

Raganuga means to follow a resident of Vrindavan. By serving Lord Caitanya, we are serving Radharani, and what greater resident of Vrindavan is there than Radharani?

Asvatthama had the benediction from Lord Shiva to be invisible for one night, and so he could kill the sleeping Pandavas without being stopped. Why would Krishna would allow them to be killed? They had played their role in His pastimes and so they would not be needed in this world.

At the border of Vrindavan and Mathura when Krishna and Akrura bathed, Shyamasundara Krishna returned to Vrindavan and Vasudeva Krishna continued to Mathura and Dvaraka.

To go from Vaikuntha to Goloka Vrindavan, you have to come to this world and do sankirtana in Vrindavan.

Regarding your mother, because she went back to Godhead, you should consider what is your relationship with her now. Do you want to follow her example? Do you want to assist her in her service to Krishna? Do you want to pray to her that you might also be engaged in Krishna’s service?

When you give up an old car and buy a new one, do you lament? So in the same way, we should not lament when one gets a better body for serving Krishna.

A rich man is always changing his car while a poor man holds on to it until it is a piece of junk. We are neither the rich man nor the poor man. We are the chauffeur of the richest man, and He will certainly make sure we have a first class car to drive in His service, so we do not have to worry.

Radhanath Swami:

from a BTG article:

Mother Theresa spoke to me years ago, “The greatest problem in this world is not the hunger of the stomach but the hunger of the heart. All over the world both rich and poor suffer. They are lonely, starving for love. Only God’s love can satisfy the hunger of the heart.”

Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami:

from his autobiography, The Story of My Life:

It is always good to live with the chanting and to bring it out in a time of difficulty. It may seem odd to the people who are confining you, but it will always work in your favor. They will know you are religious and serious.

And I was there among the first. I feel he [Srila Prabhupada] will always remember me as “Satsvarupa” from my typing and donations and giving him a daily mango. He picked me up as a sad lonely hippie and made me a happy and responsible son. I will never forget those days or fail to treasure them.

At the welfare office I chanted Hare Krishna mantras silently in my mind. The Swami had approved the practice. I had told him my co-workers engaged in talking nonsense. He said, “Even the greatest philosophers are talking nonsense. Go on chanting Hare Krishna in your mind.”

Going to meet the Swami was the nectar of life, and I did it every morning for Caitanya-caritamrta class and every evening for kirtana and his Bhagavad-gita class. He was so kind and inviting, accepting me as I was, and giving me typing tasks. I gave him my money and that solidified my relationship. He called me “Sat-svaroop.” I don’t have to make up the early days. I just have to remember them as they were. Gradually more intimacy developed and a sense of belonging to his group. I was learning the philosophy of Krishna and eating lunch with him daily and taking “heavenly porridge” with the boys in the morning. It was a favorable burgeoning time. I remember leaving the storefront in the morning and walking to my workplace, feeling that I was a cowherd boy with my necktie in my back pocket. I had friendly talks with Rayarama and the others and felt they were my brotherhood of friends. I had moments alone with the Swami when I asked him questions about the philosophy and commented on how I was feeling. I was no longer intimidated by the city buildings in the concrete jungle. I saw them as material energy, and now they were temporary and in a sense unreal. Real was Krishna in the spiritual world. We had pictures of Radha and Krishna in Goloka Vrindavan. Gradually we were setting the foundation for lifelong commitment starting with the summer of 1966. We kind of knew what we were getting into.

I knew the Swami as my spiritual master, the guru of my soul. He was guiding me into my relationship with Krishna through him. We needed him to be there, and we wanted him and he was there. We knew where to find him, in his apartment, in his temple. He started a Sunday Love Feast and chanting in Tompkins Square Park. He was like putting milk in a bowl, and we were like cats lapping it up. Everything was auspicious, even as the season changed. So life revolved around the activities with the Swami and the future seemed eternal. We didn’t think of it ending. This was just fine, getting up at 1 a.m. and chanting japa on the red beads, sitting on the floor. Then dressing and leaving the apartment, entering the streets and passing people on your way to the storefront. As dependable as the Big Ben clock in London, the Swami would enter the storefront and step out of his shoes and sit and lead us in the morning tune chant for twenty minutes. Then he set up his reel-to-reel tape recorder and started lecturing about Sanatana Swami’s getting out of jail and going to meet Lord Caitanya in Benares. A cliff hanger lecture every morning. I can keep going back and remembering, and it’s always there. I don’t have to make it up. It all actually happened, and it was wonderful as he took me up and molded me into a devotee of Krishna consciousness. He is my Swami, and I hope to remember him now and at the hour of my death and to somehow go to him in that same mood as when I first joined him.

Aindra Prabhu:

from a lecture on March 16, 2009, in Varsana:

Humility means you have to be humble enough to realize that you are a fallen conditioned soul and your only hope is the sankirtana which has been specifically prescribed by the scripture and by Lord Caitanya and His representatives for the fallen souls of this age. No other process can help you.

Manadena means to respect the actual position of the living entities by engaging them in devotional service.

Book distribution is meant to convince the people to take to the sankirtana movement of Lord Caitanya.

If people do not do sankirtana. they will look for a higher taste elsewhere.

Japa is like taking tablets, and sankirtana is an injection.

from a lecture in March of 2010:

There are five more important items of devotional service, but the supreme item is nama-sankirtana. The other items cannot be complete without nama-sankirtana.

One comes to Vrindavan for the service of Srimati Radharani, and the best way to please Srimati Radharani is by chanting Hare Krishna. By pleasing Radharani only can we get the original Krishna.

We used to chant 8 or 10 hours a day [in public], and on Saturday 15 hours. Srila Prabhupada wrote a letter full of approval to Damodara Prabhu, our temple president, for our program in Washington, D.C., where we were chanting 14 hours a day.

In Vrindavan, for every hour of kirtana we get credit for a thousand hours of kirtana.

All except nama-sankirtana [the congregational chanting of the holy name] and what supports it, are cheating religion.

Laksmi Nrsimha Prabhu:

Rupa Goswami read Bharata Muni’s Rasa-tattva, describing mundane relationships in detail, and used his ideas in describing the eternal relationships we can have with Krishna.

In explaining the different rasas to people, I ask them, “Isn’t the love you have for your children different from the love you have for your spouse or the love you have for your parents?”

Dasa Mula—Ten Roots given by Bhaktivinoda Thakura
    1. Pramana: Evidence comes from the scripture.
    2. Parama-tattva: Hari alone is the Truth.
    3. He is the possessor of all potency.
    4. He is the source of all relationships, rasa.
    5. We are all his amsas (parts).
    6. Souls in this world are baddha (bound by maya [illusion]).
    7. Liberated souls are free from maya.
    8. We are simultaneous one with and different from Krishna [acintya-bheda-abheda].
    9. Pure devotion the is only means for perfection.
    10. Love of Krishna is the goal.

Respect means to look again and appreciate the good qualities of the person.

Aldous Huxley says the most realistic vision is to see our ourselves the way others see us and to see others the way they see themselves.

William James says that when two person are in a room there are actually six people: the way each person sees himself, the way each person sees the other, and the way each person actually is.

There is a Sufi saying that “words that come from the heart go to the heart, and words that just come from the lips do not make it past the ears.”

If we appreciate the qualities of others, we should express it.

Dayananda Swami:

Srila Prabhupada did not think the strategy of his godbrothers to distribute the books of his guru maharaja which were written for another time and place was so wise.

As we develop bhakti, our bhakti will impel us to spread it to others.

Maya likes senior devotees. [She says:] “Come with me . . . ”

Rama Raya Prabhu:

This sankirtana movement is not meant just to make a few street vendors teasingly take a few dance steps but to bring everyone on the planet to the point of chanting Hare Krishna with faith and love.

Because of the devotee’s attraction to Krishna, what is going on in the material world, no matter how popular or well advertised it is, is not of interest to him.

Q (by me): Is is sufficient just to go on harinama, which purifies the people, knowingly or unknowingly, to bring everyone on the planet to the point of chanting with faith and love or should we be doing other things too?
A: When the disease is severe, the medicine must be stronger and more frequently given. Thus there should be thousands of sankirtana parties going out regularly all over the world to bring people up to such a level of purity.

Radha Caran Prabhu:

Krishna arranges that the material bodies of the gopis stay home to please their family members while they go in the rasa dance with Krishna.

Pride disturbs the rasa [intimate relationship] we have Krishna, even in the case of the gopis [His most advanced devotees].

Ahladini Radharani Devi Dasa from her BTG article [Vol. 47, No. 1, page 22]:

“Just as red-hot cinders may smolder beneath a pile of hot ashes, love of God, though hidden, burns within the heart of every living entity. And just as blowing air on hot cinders can rekindle a flame, hearing the glories of the Lord can invoke one’s dormant love of God and revive one’s connection to Him.”

Caitanya-carana Prabhu:

Saying a resounding yes to Krsna is the most effective way of saying a decisive no to parasitic material desires.

Dr. Dina Bandhu Prabhu:

Religion regulates behavior, but so does our family or political system.

Religion is not so much different from other fields of study where there are teachers and a path.

Just as achieving an M.D. is not cheap, neither is attaining spiritual perfection.

Murali Gopal Prabhu:

Materialists love to know past, present, and future so they can maximize their sense gratification.

People are interested in the past life because they want to know why they are the way they are, but they do not ask the more important question, “What is my next life?”

Krishna’s cowherd boyfriends entered the mouth of the Aghasura demon fearlessly, although not knowing the future, because they had confidence that because Krishna was their friend, everything would be alright.

Although Krishna is omniscient, for the sake of His pastimes, He sometimes acts as if He does not know.

Although we may use astrology to understand some things about our nature, because a devotee is beyond karma, it cannot accurately predict a devotee’s life.

One devotee lady told Radhanatha Swami that before she became a devotee, by astrology she could very accurately see what was going to happen, but after she became a devotee sometimes astrology was accurate and sometimes not, and she asked him why. Radhanatha Swami explained that because she was now a devotee, Krishna was personally arranging her life.

a devotee at the Bhakti Center:

Offenses begin in the mind, progress to words and ultimately to action.

-----

kalim sabhajayanty arya
guna jñah sara-bhaginah
yatra sankirtanenaiva
sarva-svartho bhilabhyate

“Those who are actually advanced in knowledge are able to appreciate the essential value of this age of Kali. Such enlightened persons worship Kali-yuga because in this fallen age all perfection of life can easily be achieved by the performance of sankirtana [the congregational chanting of the holy name of the Lord].” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.5.36).


Obama’s Speech
→ The Vaishnava Voice

This was President Obama’s speech yesterday:

Thank you. Thank you, Governor. To all the families, first responders, to the community of Newtown, clergy, guests – Scripture tells us: “…do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away…inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.”

We gather here in memory of twenty beautiful children and six remarkable adults. They lost their lives in a school that could have been any school; in a quiet town full of good and decent people that could be any town in America.

Here in Newtown, I come to offer the love and prayers of a nation. I am very mindful that mere words cannot match the depths of your sorrow, nor can they heal your wounded hearts. I can only hope it helps for you to know that you’re not alone in your grief; that our world too has been torn apart; that all across this land of ours, we have wept with you, we’ve pulled our children tight. And you must know that whatever measure of comfort we can provide, we will provide; whatever portion of sadness that we can share with you to ease this heavy load, we will gladly bear it. Newtown – you are not alone.

As these difficult days have unfolded, you’ve also inspired us with stories of strength and resolve and sacrifice. We know that when danger arrived in the halls of Sandy Hook Elementary, the school’s staff did not flinch, they did not hesitate. Dawn Hochsprung and Mary Sherlach, Vicki Soto, Lauren Rousseau, Rachel Davino and Anne Marie Murphy – they responded as we all hope we might respond in such terrifying circumstances – with courage and with love, giving their lives to protect the children in their care.

We know that there were other teachers who barricaded themselves inside classrooms, and kept steady through it all, and reassured their students by saying “wait for the good guys, they’re coming”; “show me your smile.”

And we know that good guys came. The first responders who raced to the scene, helping to guide those in harm’s way to safety, and comfort those in need, holding at bay their own shock and trauma because they had a job to do, and others needed them more.

And then there were the scenes of the schoolchildren, helping one another, holding each other, dutifully following instructions in the way that young children sometimes do; one child even trying to encourage a grown-up by saying, “I know karate. So it’s okay. I’ll lead the way out.”

As a community, you’ve inspired us, Newtown. In the face of indescribable violence, in the face of unconscionable evil, you’ve looked out for each other, and you’ve cared for one another, and you’ve loved one another.This is how Newtown will be remembered. And with time, and God’s grace, that love will see you through.

But we, as a nation, we are left with some hard questions. Someone once described the joy and anxiety of parenthood as the equivalent of having your heart outside of your body all the time, walking around. With their very first cry, this most precious, vital part of ourselves – our child – is suddenly exposed to the world, to possible mishap or malice. And every parent knows there is nothing we will not do to shield our children from harm. And yet, we also know that with that child’s very first step, and each step after that, they are separating from us; that we won’t – that we can’t always be there for them. They’ll suffer sickness and setbacks and broken hearts and disappointments. And we learn that our most important job is to give them what they need to become self-reliant and capable and resilient, ready to face the world without fear.

And we know we can’t do this by ourselves. It comes as a shock at a certain point where you realize, no matter how much you love these kids, you can’t do it by yourself. That this job of keeping our children safe, and teaching them well, is something we can only do together, with the help of friends and neighbors, the help of a community, and the help of a nation. And in that way, we come to realize that we bear a responsibility for every child because we’re counting on everybody else to help look after ours; that we’re all parents; that they’re all our children.

This is our first task – caring for our children. It’s our first job. If we don’t get that right, we don’t get anything right. That’s how, as a society, we will be judged.

And by that measure, can we truly say, as a nation, that we are meeting our obligations? Can we honestly say that we’re doing enough to keep our children – all of them – safe from harm? Can we claim, as a nation, that we’re all together there, letting them know that they are loved, and teaching them to love in return? Can we say that we’re truly doing enough to give all the children of this country the chance they deserve to live out their lives in happiness and with purpose?

I’ve been reflecting on this the last few days, and if we’re honest with ourselves, the answer is no. We’re not doing enough. And we will have to change.

Since I’ve been President, this is the fourth time we have come together to comfort a grieving community torn apart by a mass shooting. The fourth time we’ve hugged survivors. The fourth time we’ve consoled the families of victims. And in between, there have been an endless series of deadly shootings across the country, almost daily reports of victims, many of them children, in small towns and big cities all across America – victims whose – much of the time, their only fault was being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

We can’t tolerate this anymore. These tragedies must end. And to end them, we must change. We will be told that the causes of such violence are complex, and that is true. No single law – no set of laws can eliminate evil from the world, or prevent every senseless act of violence in our society.

But that can’t be an excuse for inaction. Surely, we can do better than this. If there is even one step we can take to save another child, or another parent, or another town, from the grief that has visited Tucson, and Aurora, and Oak Creek, and Newtown, and communities from Columbine to Blacksburg before that – then surely we have an obligation to try.

In the coming weeks, I will use whatever power this office holds to engage my fellow citizens – from law enforcement to mental health professionals to parents and educators – in an effort aimed at preventing more tragedies like this. Because what choice do we have? We can’t accept events like this as routine. Are we really prepared to say that we’re powerless in the face of such carnage, that the politics are too hard? Are we prepared to say that such violence visited on our children year after year after year is somehow the price of our freedom?

All the world’s religions – so many of them represented here today – start with a simple question: Why are we here? What gives our life meaning? What gives our acts purpose? We know our time on this Earth is fleeting. We know that we will each have our share of pleasure and pain; that even after we chase after some earthly goal, whether it’s wealth or power or fame, or just simple comfort, we will, in some fashion, fall short of what we had hoped. We know that no matter how good our intentions, we will all stumble sometimes, in some way. We will make mistakes, we will experience hardships. And even when we’re trying to do the right thing, we know that much of our time will be spent groping through the darkness, so often unable to discern God’s heavenly plans.

There’s only one thing we can be sure of, and that is the love that we have – for our children, for our families, for each other. The warmth of a small child’s embrace – that is true. The memories we have of them, the joy that they bring, the wonder we see through their eyes, that fierce and boundless love we feel for them, a love that takes us out of ourselves, and binds us to something larger – we know that’s what matters. We know we’re always doing right when we’re taking care of them, when we’re teaching them well, when we’re showing acts of kindness. We don’t go wrong when we do that.

That’s what we can be sure of. And that’s what you, the people of Newtown, have reminded us. That’s how you’ve inspired us. You remind us what matters. And that’s what should drive us forward in everything we do, for as long as God sees fit to keep us on this Earth.

“Let the little children come to me,” Jesus said, “and do not hinder them – for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.”

Charlotte. Daniel. Olivia. Josephine. Ana. Dylan. Madeleine. Catherine. Chase. Jesse. James. Grace. Emilie. Jack. Noah. Caroline. Jessica. Benjamin. Avielle. Allison.

God has called them all home. For those of us who remain, let us find the strength to carry on, and make our country worthy of their memory.

May God bless and keep those we’ve lost in His heavenly place. May He grace those we still have with His holy comfort. And may He bless and watch over this community, and the United States of America.