Harinama in Genoa, Italy (2 min. video)
Srila Prabhupada: For a devotee, liberation is no problem at all. The impersonalists u...

Srila Prabhupada Vyasa-puja in Australia
(Album of photos)
Ramai Swami: Dear master, let my prayer prevail,
For much I long to tell your tale.
Moved by your guru’s words, you began
A worldwide movement, O saintly man.
/7m66T1

(this blog is recorded on the full blog page: quick time player is needed; works best with Firefox or Explorer; if you are using Google Chrome it will automatically play, so if you don't want to listen, mute your speakers.)
[originally posted on 1-08-15]
Sometimes we experience great surprise and intense sadness at the unexpected departure from the bhakti path of a devotee we may have been inspired by or respected. Or even if the devotee struggled to follow the basic devotional practices and disciplines, we can still be unnerved when they leave, and then denounce and attack what is still our faith, reinterpreting their stay in an ashram in terms of cultic manipulation and brainwashing. “What really happened?” me may wonder, and how could I have helped prevent this? Sometimes in the aftermath of such a sudden departure, some devotees worry and wonder if it could happen to them, as it brings up their own doubts. This scenario recently happened in a circle of devotees I know, and it caused me to reflect on what it takes to stay on the path, and the various reasons people leave.

When I was a new devotee I experienced one of my friends leave the temple. I didn’t see him again for three weeks until he came to the Sunday feast. Though I recognized him, I was startled to see his expression. He looked like a shadow of his former self when he had a bright faced countenance. Now he had a dark gloomy appearance and seemed unfocused and dazed. I wondered what had brought this about, as if he had just entered a self-created prison.

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Janmashtami Talk, ISV (Right click to download)

[Prabhupada Vyasapuja offering at Toronto, Canada]

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The post Prabhupada demonstrates how to be both faithful and resourceful for expanding Krishna consciousness appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Dear master, let my prayer prevail,

For much I long to tell your tale.

Moved by your guru’s words, you began

A worldwide movement, O saintly man.

Many disciples came, good and true,

To help you spread the mission, too.

They followed your orders, were loyal and bold

And by your mercy became lofty-souled.

We remember with joy and pride

How you were always by our side.

Everything went on by your grace;

All obstacles we were able to face.

Prabhupada, you came in the holy line,

So brilliant, wonderful, and divine.

You served Krsna with mind and soul—

Please help us reach that lofty goal!

[Janmashtami class at ISKCON, Scarborough, Toronto, Canada]

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The post Krishna descends to show the path to happiness – Sudama pastime analysis appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

[Janmashtami class at ISKCON, Scarborough, Toronto, Canada]

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The post Krishna descends to raise us from transactional love to transformational love appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Russel Brand - Janmashtami 2019 at Bhaktivedanta Manor (1 min. video)
We had a special guest join us here for Janmastami. Hope you had a wonderful time celebrating Janmastami here at Bhaktivedanta Manor with us Russel BRAND. We look forward to welcoming you back very soon. Hare Krishna!

Southport Krsna Janmastami (Australia) (Album of photos)
Ramai Swami: The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna, is the reserv...

August 14, 2019 - On Sri Balaram Jayanti Mahotsava (the Appearance Day of Lord Balaram), ISKCON’s Governing Body Commission (“GBC”) and the Board of Directors of Bharati Center, Inci. (“Brooklyn Temple” or “Temple") won a notable victory in the Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court (“Appellate Court”). A four-judge panel of the Appellate Court denied a motion brought by the Temple’s former directors (“Former Directors”) for a preliminary injunction prohibiting the Temple’s current directors and officers from undertaking “any conduct . . . outside the ordinary course of business,” including the eviction of residents, the sale of real property and a merger or consolidation. Continue reading "New York State Appellate Court Denies Former Brooklyn Temple Directors’ Application for Injunction
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Super Janmastami celebration in Bhaktivedanta Manor (Album of photos)
Srila Prabhupada: “O Lord, Your transcendental name and form are not ascertained by those who merely speculate on the path of imagination. Your name, form and attributes can be ascertained only through devotional service.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 10.2.36)

Full house for the Baltimore temple’s festivities (Album of photos)
Srila Prabhupada: At every step there is danger. Therefore, because the Krishna consciousness movement provides the opportunity for the human being to get out of this material world simply by chanting the Hare Krishna mantra, this movement is the greatest benediction in human society. (Srimad Bhagavatam, 9.7.7 Purport)

Beautiful cake offered to Srila Prabhupada in Brisbane, Australia (Album of photos)
This year the Brisbane Yatra offered this cake to Srila Prabhupada for his Vyasa Puja. The theme was the 26 qualities of a pure devotee. The main cake was Prabhupada’s name cut out into letters and then surrounded by 26 small cakes which were very beautifully painted with one quality written on each cake. We had a fantastic team this year and I would humbly like to thank the following devotees from the bottom of my heart for their wonderful endeavors to please His Divine Grace. First I would like to thank Radha Thakurani for her very long hours and using her amazing cake decorating skills and talents to produce this cake. Then I would like to thank Bhakti Cdd for decorating the small cakes using her artistic skills with lots of love and care. Mohana Gupta was a fabulous surprise helper who spent long hours on Saturday helping with the decorations. Radhas’ son Devaki Nandana worked really hard with rolling out all the fondant, we were really happy to use his strength. Rasika Seva helped to make flowers and young Lakshmi Dasi was an angel with cutting out the letter stencils for us. All glories to your service and hope we can continue to make even better creations for Srila Prabhupada every year.

Krsna is the embodiment of love and affection. He sees the good qualities of a living entity, overlooking the bad. One time a devotee offered Krsna a banana peel instead of the banana but Krsna accepted it. Even if someone is in a lowly position, Krsna is so kind that He can raise him to the topmost position, even up to Krsnaloka.

I also attended Krsna Janmastami at our New Gokula farm in the Hunter Valley. Throughout the day more than 500 guests came and a few hundred stayed on into the evening up till midnight arati. It was a beautiful celebration with nice kirtan, drama abhiseka and Krsna lila lecture and stories.

Wonderful celebration of Sri Krishna Janmastami festival at ISKCON Salem, Tamilnadu, India (Album of photos)
Srila Prabhupada:...

Who was the first disciple of Srila Prabhupada in the West? (3 min. video)
Gargamuni Prabhu, the brother of the first discipl...

Janmastami celebration in Melbourne (Album of photos)
Aniruddha Dāsa: A few quick shots of the temple room, deity room decorations and the deities. I was also able to participate in the abhiṣeka of Rādhā Kṛṣṇa tonight and performed the Sayana Ārati to Rādhā Vallabha. Special mercy today.
These shots could do with a bit of a touch-up but if I spent the time doing that you wouldn’t get to see them.

On Sri Balaram Jayanti Mahotsava (the Appearance Day of Lord Balaram), ISKCON’s Governing Body Commission (“GBC”) and the Board of Directors of Bharati Center, Inci. (“Brooklyn Temple” or “Temple") won a notable victory in the Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court.

Beautiful Janmastami Festival in Los Angeles (Album of photos)
Srila Prabhupada: When loud chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra...

Each year, the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust publishes a limited number of copies of a Vyasa-puja book—a collection of homages to Srila Prabhupada from devotees and temples all over the world. Srila Prabhupada's unique position as the founder-acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) is significant in numerous ways. Essentially, he is the instructing spiritual master for everyone within ISKCON. These books are available below, as .pdf documents for free download. When available, the books are divided into chapters to help you find the section you want faster. Continue reading "Srila Prabhupada 2019 Vyasa Puja Book available online for free download
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Dear Srila Prabhupada,

Please accept our humble obeisances in the dust of your lotus feet for all eternity.

mukam karoti vachalam
pangum langhayate girim
yat-kripa tam aham vande
shri-gurum dina-taranam

“I offer my respectful obeisances unto my spiritual master, the deliverer of the fallen souls. His mercy turns the dumb into eloquent speakers and enables the lame to cross mountains.”

Prabhupada, by your unreserved mercy we would like to take this opportunity to glorify you on your most divine appearance day and also present you with an offering updating you about your most important project in ISKCON, the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium at your World Headquarters and Place of Worship in Sridham Mayapur.

Since the day you ordered Ambarisa to finance this project in 1976, you have undoubtedly imbedded in our hearts a tiny particle of the vision you had for this temple and its long-term effects on the course of history for thousands of years to come. What to speak of, we cannot even begin to imagine the spiritual effect it will have on the lives of untold numbers of pilgrims who visit:

“I have named this temple Sri Mayapur Candrodaya Mandir, the Rising Moon of Mayapur. Now make it rise, bigger and bigger until it becomes the full moon. And this moonshine will be spread all over the world. All over India they will come to see. From all over the world they will come.”

So important is this project to you and our acharyas that you even said to us,

“If you all build this temple, Bhaktivinoda Thakur will personally come and take you all back to Godhead.”

It has become very obvious to us that we are not building this temple, you are. We have become YOUR hands, YOUR feet, YOUR intelligence, YOUR words, YOUR instruments carrying forward your mercy and Mahaprabhu’s blessings to the fallen conditioned souls of Kali-yuga. And we are confident that in a few more short years we, as your entire ISKCON society, will be able to collectively offer you the completed Temple of the Vedic Planetarium during Gaur Purnima 2022 for your great pleasure and satisfaction. This will truly be the temple built by the hands of every devotee, and Sri Sri Radha Madhava, Sri Pancha Tattva and Sri Nrsimha will at last be moved into Their new home where They can be worshiped for generations of Vaishnavas for years to come.

We would like to now present you with an update of our construction progress and fundraising since your 2018 Vyasa Puja celebration:

TOVP Progress Report

Cushman & Wakefield Come on Board

Of major and critical importance to our progress and a solid strategy to complete the temple by 2022 was Ambarisa prabhu’s decision last August to hire a world-class PMC (Project Management Consultancy) to oversee the remaining phases and elements of construction, Cushman & Wakefield. With their assistance we have come up with a complete action plan of detailed timelines, efficient budgeting, and other effective managerial strategies to ensure our goal is achieved. Most notably they are currently overseeing the completion of the Pujari Floor with the aim of finishing the work by Gaur Purnima 2020. This will be another milestone accomplishment for us as we prepare to install the Deities in Their new home. Below are some highlights from their most recent August Report about the Pujari Floor progress, as well as some details of other temple area work from both Cushman & Wakefield and the TOVP Team.

Cushman & Wakefield Reports

The following highlights cover a wide range of construction, MEPF (mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire-prevention), HVAC (air-conditioning), and other work now being implemented on the pujari floor and in other areas of the temple.

Pujari Floor

• Fire Alarm System – 95% complete
• Public Address System – 95% complete
• Internal Hydrant System – 86% complete
• Fire Sprinkler System – 86% complete
• Water Curtain System – 86% complete

Temple Floor

• Fire Alarm System – 80% complete
• Public Address System – 80% complete
• Internal Hydrant System – 85% complete
• Fire Sprinkler System – 75% complete
• Water Curtain System – 75% complete

Museum Floor

• Fire Alarm System – 50% complete
• Public Address System – 51% complete
• Fire Sprinkler System – 10 % complete

General

• Electrical System
• Wiring – 34% complete
• Cable Trays – 99% complete
• Cabling – 12% complete
• Raceway – 90% complete
• PVC Conducting – 87% complete
• MS Conduiting – 27% complete
• HVAC (air conditioning) System – 65% complete
• PHE (public health engineering) System – 95% complete

TOVP Team Reports

Temple

• Main temple kalash, chakra and dome finishing work – 95% complete
• Nrsimhadeva temple kalash, chakra and dome finishing work – completed
• Planetarium kalash, chakra and dome finishing work – completed
• Main Temple Dome bottom tiers marble & GRC work – 30% complete
• Nrsimhadeva Temple Dome bottom tiers marble & GRC work – 75% complete
• Planetarium Dome bottom tiers marble & GRC work – 80% complete
• Main Temple staircase towers finishing work – 60 % complete
• Nrsimhadeva and Planetarium staircase towers finishing work – 75 % complete
• Nrsimhadeva Temple façade, marble, sandstone & GRC work – 80 % complete
• Planetarium side facade marble, sandstone & GRC work – 65% complete
• Main Temple front and back – work is in progress

Art Department

• Many deva murtis such as Garuda, Lakshmidevi and Jaya and Vijaya are now complete and ready for installation.
• The Guru-parampara murtis are well underway.
• Beautiful wall relief panels continue to be produced by our artists.

Planetarium

• We will soon begin the finishing work on the planetarium wing of the temple and have met with a design consultant from Alcove in this regard.

Fundraising Department Report

We visited the following temples with our TOVP Tour since your last Vyasa Puja celebration and raised well over $5 million in pledges from all the wonderful and enthusiastic devotees. The receptions were ecstatic and Lord Nityananda’s Padukas and Lord Nrsimha’s Satari were received with excellence and devotion. We were accompanied by Bhakti Caru Maharaja and Bhakti Purushottama Maharaja on many of these programs. All the ISKCON leadership has been extremely supportive and helpful in this regard and we are grateful for their cooperation.

• China
• Hong Kong
• Taipei
• Los Angeles
• New York
• New Orleans
• Vizag
• Rajahmundry
• Guntur
• Vijayawada
• Nellore
• Tirupati
• Sylhet
• Chittagong
• Dacca
• Chennai
• We attended Lokanath Maharaja’s 70 Anniversary Vyasa Puja celebration in Pandharpur and with his inspiration 70 TOVP Bricks and 3 Kirtanam Pillars of Devotion were sponsored.
• The #Giving Tuesday Online Fundraiser in the U.S. raised $25,000 in one day and was matched by Ambarisa prabhu for a total of $50,000.
• The #Giving TOVP 10 Day Worldwide Online Fundraiser from Akshaya Tritiya till Nrsimha Caturdasi collected over $425,000, $125,000 of which was given by Ambarisa prabhu to match the first $125,000.
• We launched two new fundraising campaigns which are meeting with success:
• Daily Victory Flag Tradition and Monthly Flag Festival
• Pillars of Devotion

We would also like to report to you that the West Bengal Government under the direction of the Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee, has agreed to help us in many ways and recently released funds to build a 4-lane highway from Kolkata to Mayapur. She is keenly interested in helping our project and is also closely working with the Bengal State Tourism Department. With their help your vision of millions of conditioned souls entering the Sri Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir will be fulfilled.

We sincerely hope you are pleased with our service and continue to bless and empower us with your mercy. Your mercy is all we are made of.

Your servants,
Ambarisa das and the TOVP Team

The post Srila Prabhupada Vyasa Puja Offering from Ambarisa and the TOVP Team, August 24, 2019 appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.

"Let others, fearing material existence, worship the Vedas, the Vedic supplementary Puranas and the Mahabharata, but I shall worship Nanda Maharaja, in whose courtyard the Supreme Brahman is crawling." Continue reading "People pray to God; the Vrajavasis pray for God — Meditation on Nandotsava
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I bow down to the beautiful lotus feet of my spiritual master, by whose causeless mercy I have obtained the supreme holy name, the divine mantra, the service of the son of Sacimata, the association of Srila Svarupa Damodara, Rupa Goswami and his older brother Sanatana Goswami, the supreme abode of Mathura, the blissful abode of Vrindavan, the divine Radha Kunda and Govardhan Hill and the desire within my heart for the loving service of Sri Radhika and Madhava in Vrindavan Continue reading "The Most Appropriate Plan
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[Janmashtami Bhagavatam class at ISKCON, Toronto, Canada]

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The post How Krishna made the two lives of the gopis one – and how he can make our two lives one too appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna, is the reservoir of all beauty. All beautiful things emanate from Him, and His personal form is so attractive that it steals the eyes away from all other objects, which then seem devoid of beauty in comparison to Him. When Lord Krsna was on the earth, He attracted the eyes of all people.

When Krsna spoke, His words attracted the minds of all who remembered them. By seeing the footsteps of Lord Krsna, people became attracted to Him, and thus they wanted to offer their bodily activities to the Lord as His followers. In this way Krsna very easily spread His glories, which are sung throughout the world by the most sublime and essential Vedic verses.

Lord Krsna considered that simply by hearing and chanting those glories, conditioned souls born in the future would cross beyond the darkness of ignorance. Being satisfied with this arrangement, He left for His desired destination. SB 11.1.6

The devotees at our Southport centre celebrated Krsna Janmastami the day before the main centres and it was a wonderful occasion enjoyed by all.

Dear Srila Prabhupada,

I wish to tell you about my journey to meet you—and how your journey to meet me was effective.

In my youth I aspired to attain perfect happiness, and soon I realized that such happiness could not be achieved materially but only spiritually. And, through reading spiritual books, I came to understand that to achieve spiritual perfection, I needed a guru. In fact, I read that I didn’t even have to choose the guru. He was already there; all I had to do was find him. So whenever I heard about a guru anywhere, even a thousand miles away, I would go to meet him.

One teacher I met was a Zen master, supposedly enlightened and certified by another enlightened master in Japan. I had read a book he had written, and when I heard he was holding a three-day retreat at his ashram in Rochester, New York, I went. Upon my arrival I found that his students were not very happy. But I thought, “Anyway, they’re just students. Let me meet the master.”

During the retreat he held meditation sessions in which everyone had to sit up straight and look at the wall, concentrating on some object he would give us. The master walked around with a stick, and if he thought any of us was falling asleep or that someone’s mind was wandering, he would hit the offender. After one such session, some of his students asked him about his recently having become angry. “Yes, it’s true,” he said. “I lost my temper; I shouldn’t have.” I started to doubt whether he was my guru. Still, I had read that a Zen master might appear ordinary and that one might not recognize him, so I thought, “Maybe this is part of it.” But my doubt remained. Later, he came to Boston, near Brandeis University, where I was studying. After his talk and demonstration, someone in the audience asked about Vedanta. “I have enough trouble keeping up with Zen,” he answered. “How do you expect me to know about Vedanta?” My previous doubt was confirmed: “He is not my perfect master.”

Then a hatha-yogi came to Brandeis to give a lecture. He had long hair and a beard and flowing robes. He said that by yoga you could attain complete mastery over your bodily functions, including the movements of the bowels. You could actually command your intestines: “Ascending colon, advance! Transverse colon, advance! Descending colon, advance!” and finally, “Rectum, pass!” I was really looking for a guru, so I thought, “Anyway, maybe.”

After the lecture, I tried to meet the swami, but he was leaving for the airport. I wanted to ride with him in his car, but there was no room, so I rode with some of his students. On the way, they discussed the various foods they missed since they had joined the ashram. So I started to have some doubts. But then I thought, “Anyway, they are just the students; the master may be on a much higher level.”

When we arrived at the airport, I beheld the swami. There he was—long flowing hair, beard, draping orange robes, a flower in his hair, a twinkle in his eyes—the very picture of Indian spirituality. But then I saw him tightly embracing his women disciples. And I knew: “He is not my perfect master. I have to keep looking.”

Next I heard of an “enlightened” psychology professor who was teaching at Antioch College, in Ohio, which was known as a progressive university, and I wanted to meet him immediately. Ready to do anything to find my guru, I got in my car and drove the seven hundred miles. When I arrived, with great anticipation and eagerness I searched out the professor’s office and inquired about him from his secretary. “He’s playing golf,” she informed me. “Playing golf?” I asked incredulously. “I thought he was supposed to be enlightened.” “That is his Zen,” she replied. “Oh, no!” I thought. “Playing golf? He is not my perfect master.”

Although I was disappointed about the professor, the Antioch campus was full of people interested in spiritual life, and while I was there I spoke with some of them. Some students in the Student Union told me about a guru who had recently visited the campus. “The guru is in the heart,” he had said, “where he sits on a lotus flower. You can actually see him and speak with him.” “Wow!” I thought; “that sounds attractive.” That night I tried to really focus on my heart. And indeed, I got a definite impression that there was a divine personality there, with whom I could have a sublime, personal relationship. And he seemed just about to speak. I was very excited, and I became eager to meet him.

Back at Brandeis, one of my psychology professors invited J. Krishnamurti to speak. I attended the lecture, and during a break I told my professor that I wanted to meet Krishnamurti. “Why?” my professor asked. “I may want him as my guru,” I replied. “Oh, he doesn’t accept disciples,” my professor said. “He doesn’t even touch money.” My professor was impressed. But I wasn’t. I thought, “If he is actually able to help people, why should he refuse? Just to be renounced? He is not my perfect master.”

I kept searching. I already had the idea that you don’t have to choose your guru, that he is already there. I even had a mental picture of what he looked like—and he didn’t have hair. All the swamis and yogis I had encountered had long hair and beards, so I was starting to despair: “How am I ever going to meet my guru?”

Then one day I saw a poster on campus: Lecture—Bhagavad-gita As It Is—Swami Bhaktivedanta. My friends and I were supposed to go to the movies that night, but I wanted to attend the lecture instead. When I suggested that, however, one friend in particular got really upset. “Why can’t you be normal like other people?” she complained. “All you want to do is see swamis and yogis.” And the argument became so intense that I decided not to go. I didn’t want to disappoint my friends, so I tried to go along with their idea. But something inside me was impelling me to go to the lecture. Finally I said, “Okay, let’s go to a later show. But first I have to go to the lecture by the swami. I promise, he will be the last one I go see.”

My friends reluctantly came along, but because we’d been arguing, we arrived at the auditorium late and missed the lecture.

Entering the auditorium, I beheld an elderly Indian gentleman—you—sitting on a cushion on stage. To the side, a young devotee (Satsvarupa dasa) sang into a microphone, and other devotees were dancing in a circle around you. Satsvarupa was singing right into the microphone, and the sound was reverberating off the bare brick walls. One by one, students from the audience jumped onto the stage and joined in. I also felt like going up, but I knew my friends wouldn’t approve; that would have been too much for them. More students were jumping up, climbing on the stage, and joining the circle, dancing. I kept trying to focus my eyes on you, but I couldn’t; your effulgence was too great.

When the kirtan ended, one of the devotees announced that they needed a lift to Harvard Square or to Boston. As my friends and I were still going to the movie and it was at Harvard Square, I invited the devotees to ride with us, and everyone piled into my station wagon. I was the driver, and also in front were two ladies. In the back seat were three or four devotees, and in the rear compartment were my friends and I don’t even know how many more—I don’t think we could have fit anyone else.

Satsvarupa was squeezed in the rear with my best friend, Gary. Because of our impersonal readings, my friend was saying that ultimately everything was void. And Satsvarupa was saying, “There is no void in the creation of God.” But my friend kept insisting: “Everything is ultimately void.” I was overhearing them from the front, and puffed up as I was, I thought, “Oh, how silly that they are arguing over this.” I thought I had it all figured out. So I turned to the back and announced something I had read in some Zen book: “It is not void, and it is not not-void, but to give it a name, we call it the void.” I thought I had resolved the whole controversy. But still, they kept arguing.

One of the ladies up front with me was Jahnava. I had been trying to understand all the different paths and philosophies, so I asked her about Zen. “This world seems real,” she said, “but it is illusory, like images on a movie screen. Now, if you withdraw your consciousness from the screen, you will find that there is a beam of light.” I thought, “This is the best explanation I’ve ever heard, even better than the Zen books.” “And if you keep following that beam of light back,” she continued, “you come to a point.” I thought, “Wow, this is getting to the void.” But then she said, “But behind that point there is a projector, and behind the projector there is a person.” Then I thought, “This philosophy encompasses everything that Zen does, and more.”

Then I asked her about Yogananda. She dismissed him out of hand: “Oh, he is just a shopkeeper. Whatever you want, he keeps in stock. You want yoga, he will give you that. Whatever you ask for, he pulls off the shelf.” Then she said, “At his ashram in California he has a Gandhi peace memorial. But Gandhi wasn’t a worker for world peace. He was a politician who wanted to drive the British out of India.” She just dismissed him: “He doesn’t even know who Gandhi is.”

“She is speaking with authority,” I thought. But I sensed that it couldn’t all be coming from her. How was it possible for a girl of only twenty or so to have so much knowledge and speak with such authority? But she did have authority. And I knew it wasn’t coming from her. Then I thought, “This must be coming from her teacher. I want to meet him.”

When we got to Harvard Square, I let the devotees out. But as I was driving away, I realized that I didn’t know how to get in touch with them. How would I meet the guru? I immediately stopped the car—at the center of Harvard Square—jumped out, and ran after them. I caught up to one, Patita Pavana. When he stopped, he turned his head and pointed to the crowd around us. “You see these people?” he said. “They’re all sleepwalkers. They don’t know what they’re doing, or why. They’re just conforming.” His words were so intriguing and deep; I wanted to hear more.

Suddenly I became aware of the honking of horns all around us. I’d left my car in the middle of the roundabout, and the traffic at Harvard Square was backed up. The honking kept getting louder. “I want to meet the Swami,” I said. “Quick, give me the address.” “Come at seven,” he said, “tomorrow night.” I could hardly wait.

The next evening when I arrived, the small storefront temple was packed with young people. You were sitting on a cushion at the far end. The walls were decorated with exotic paintings, and the aroma of incense filled the air. When you began speaking, I had difficulty understanding what you were saying. You had a thick Bengali accent, and the philosophy was new to me. But I did hear you say that out of many thousands of men, one would seek perfection. “That’s me!” I thought. “He’s talking about me!”

After the lecture, you called for questions. Someone asked, “Since everything comes from God, or Krishna, does maya also come from Krishna?” You replied that everything comes from Krishna, just like everything comes from the sun. The cloud also comes from the sun, although it covers our vision of the sun. But the sun is never covered by the cloud; only our vision is covered.

I was burning to ask my question. “There are so many swamis and yogis” I began, “and each recommends a different process of self-realization, and each says that his is the best. So how do I know which is actually best?”

You responded, “What is your goal? Do you want to serve God, or do you want to become God?” How brilliant—how perfect! I was asking about the means, but to determine the best means, we must first establish the end, the goal.

“When you seek after God, God, who is situated within your heart, will give you all facility. But if you want to become God, you will be cheated; you are cheating yourself. How you can become God? You are trying to become God, then how you became a dog? God cannot become a dog. God is always God.

“The Mayavadi philosopher says that ‘I am God, but by maya, I am thinking I am not God. So, by meditation I shall become God.’ But that means he is under the punishment of maya. God has come under the influence of maya? How is that? God is great, and if He is under the influence of maya, then maya becomes greater than God.

“So, the idea is that as long as we shall continue this hallucination that ‘I am God,’ there is no question of getting the favor of God. Then you do your own business, and try to find yourself whether you are God or something else. As soon as I think, ‘I am God,’ I am cheating myself. Who will help you? That is going on. Everyone is thinking, ‘I am God.’

“So, what you are thinking? You are trying to become God? What is your idea? Or you are thinking there is no God?”

“I am thinking that there is God,” I replied.

“There is God? You are thinking like that?”

But I knew that I couldn’t cheat you, so I replied, “Yes. But I can see that I was trying to become God.”

“So, you are trying to become God—that means you are not God. Is it not? How you became not-God? God is so great that He never becomes not-God. So, your conclusion should be that ‘I am not that God who is great. I am a different God who becomes sometimes not-God.’ Therefore you are a different God from that God who is great. Is it not?

“That is a fact. Because you are part and parcel of God, you are minute God; therefore you have the potency of becoming not-God. Just like a fire and a spark of the fire: A spark, when it is in the fire, is bright fire, but as soon as it goes out of the fire, it becomes extinguished. But the big fire never becomes extinguished. Similarly, you are not that big fire; you are that small spark. You have fallen down; therefore you are not God. Now you have to raise yourself again to the fire, you will again be a blazing spark.

“So, that is the difference. That is stated in the Vedic literature. Every living entity is Brahman, but the Supreme Brahman is Krishna. He never becomes not-God. We see in Krishna’s life, when He was a child on the lap of His mother, He was God. So many demons were killed. He didn’t have to meditate to become God. While He was playing, He was God, and when He was fighting on the Battlefield of Kurukshetra, He was God. That is God. Not that sometimes not-God, sometimes God. That is not God. God is always God, in any circumstance. That is God.”

As you were speaking, I got the clear impression that you knew everything about me, that you were seeing right into me, into Waltham, into my apartment, into my bathroom, right to the wall on which I had pasted a sign I had inscribed in beautiful ornate lettering: YOU ARE GOD.

My search was over. I offered my obeisances. I had found my spiritual master.

The devotees put their heads on the floor and offered obeisances. I also kept my head on the floor in surrender—for a long time. I felt so glad. I had finally found my perfect master and wanted to surrender fully. At the same time, I also felt ashamed and humiliated—my abominable desire to become God had been exposed; everyone there knew I had wanted to become God.

After some time, I heard sounds indicating that devotees were bringing plates of food, prasada, to their guests. Something inside prompted me to look up. I expected everyone would be glaring at me, but no. People were blissfully taking prasada, and when they saw me get up they simply smiled.

Moments earlier, when a devotee had offered you a large plate of prasada, you had responded, “I am not God; I cannot eat so much.”

The prasada I was given looked just like everything else in the temple—colorful, attractive, and variegated. Because of macrobiotics and other speculations, I never expected a feast. Where to begin? I picked up what must have been a cauliflower pakora, put it in my mouth, bit into it. . . and felt an explosion of taste. One by one, I sampled the preparations: bada, sweet rice—every taste new, incomparable. I thought everything was perfect: the guru, the prasada, the chanting.

I loved the chanting. The devotees had a sign with the Hare Krishna mantra written in Indian-style lettering. During the kirtan, as I was looking at the letters on the sign, they started to move, dissolve, form, and unform themselves. These were the signs I’d been looking for, and everything indicated that you were my spiritual master.

From the time you answered my question and I bowed my head, I surrendered. From that first meeting, my whole life’s purpose became to bring people to meet you. And I was able to do that for many years. But when you passed away, I wondered, What will be my service now? My whole service had been to bring people to you.

Now I understand that you are always present, and that by speaking of you, hearing about you, remembering you, and, most significantly, by studying your books and following your instructions, by practicing and preaching Krishna consciousness, serving your mission, we can experience your presence. So I can continue doing what I was doing when you were personally present—introducing souls to you—which is what I feel most natural doing. Because I know that somehow or other, if someone comes in touch with you, his life will be successful.

Hare Krishna.

Your eternal, humbled servant,
Giriraj Swami

[Janmashtami talk at Toronto, Canada]

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[Talk at Toronto, Canada]

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Podcast Summary

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