Sunday, September 18, 2011

A Personal Tribute to Gopiparanadhana Prabhu

A Personal Tribute to Gopiparanadhana Prabhu
By Krishna-kripa Das

Gopiparanadhana Prabhu and Mandakini dd (translator)
in Questions and Answers tent at Festival of India
in Mielno, Poland, on August 26, 2011


I always like to write something in glorification of devotees I have even a little relationship with when they pass away. I guess I see it as a final service I can render to them. For me I got to know and appreciate Gopiparanadhana Prabhu much more than ever before in late August just this year when I joined the last four days of Indradyumna Swami's Festival of India in Poland. Gopiparanadhana Prabhu would give classes in the mornings to the devotees and answer questions at the festivals in the evenings. I arranged my schedule to attend almost all his question and answer sessions. He would often use the same old analogies that Prabhupada used and that we have heard others use many times, but I felt I appreciated them anew hearing them from him, and that was striking. He was wise and humorous, and he had a refreshing simplicity about him. He also presented spiritual truth in a very nonsectarian way. Once in response to a festival questioner asking what God we worship, he said, “If there is a God, there can only be one.”


In his classes, he shared realizations from his lifetime of devotional practice, such as, “The purpose of this Krishna consciousness movement is to make pure devotees of the Lord. We can come to this movement with mixed motives, but we can expect that Krishna will do everything possible to change our motives. A devotee who wants to advance has to be ready to change.”


I learned details I never knew before like, “Srila Prabhupada later told the editors that the figure of 640 million people killed in the Kurukshetra War was a misprint and should be 6.4 million.”


Discussing King Yudhisthira's lamentation about the deaths on the Battlefield of Kurukshetra, Gopiparanadhana Prabhu said, “What to speak of a pure devotee, a pandit (an ordinary scholar) should not lament for the living or the dead. Death is natural and so is the mixed happiness that we experience in life. A brahmana should not lament. It is the business of sudras to lament and be depressed. If you do so, then you are becoming influenced by the mode of ignorance. If a brahmana finds himself depressed or discouraged, he should get beyond it as soon as possible. And what to speak of a pure devotee, like King Yudhisthira, an eternal servant of Krishna.”


While talking with Gopiparanadhana Prabhu on the Polish tour, I learned he was completing the Tattva-sandarbha, the first of Jiva Goswami's six Sandarbhas. I knew these Sandarbhas were important books in our sampradaya, and I knew also that I would never get around to reading them because of my lifestyle, although they would benefit my spiritual life. The only way I would read them is if I offered to proofread them. Then I would do it as a matter of duty and of service. I told Gopiparanadhana Prabhu that I had proofread the Back to Godhead magazine, Sadaputa Prabhu's books, and the books of Satsvarupa dasa Goswami. I was not competent enough to be the sole proofreader, but I usually caught a few things other people missed, and I offered to read the book. On September 3, he sent it to me saying, “Thank you for offering to read Tattva-sandarbha.” Because of proofreading the BTG and because of being absorbed in Ukraine festival I made little progress on it. However, the day after the festival, September 15, I had a nine-hour bus ride, and I must have spent half the time proofreading Tattva-sandarbha, which has lots of wonderful glorification of Srimad-Bhagavatam in it. I thought of writing Gopiparanadhana Prabhu, and asking if he wanted to see what I had done so far, but on checking my email, I was shocked to find that the person I had spent hours serving that day had left this world, after having all but completed just one of the six Sandarbhas. I liked his association in Poland and looked forward to working with him in future years on the six Sandarbhas, but Krishna had and yet another inconceivable plan. Such is the will of the Lord.


I met Gopiparanadhana Prabhu at the Ukraine festival few years back. During prasadam, I was talking to him about the problem of devotees not pronouncing the Sanskrit properly. He acknowledged the problem, and said, “They should send someone to all the temples to teach the devotees how to properly pronounce the Sanskrit.” I did not ask him who “they” might be.


Once I realized how much his Brhad-bhagavatamrita had made an impression on my mind. For three days I read a hundred pages a day of the final volume, describing Krishna playing with his cowherd boyfriends in the Vrndavana forest. Then over the next week I traveled by train through Germany and Poland, and whenever I would see a forest I would think about Krishna playing with his cowherd boyfriends in the forest of Vrndavana, something I would usually never think of.


One evening on the Polish tour he asked me for something to quench his thirst. All the drink from lunch was finished, so I got some tea for him from our restaurant. I was also thirsty but did not want to ask for any for myself, and I was too cheap to buy any water. Ten minutes later I was at questions and answers hearing Gopiparanadhana Prabhu, and a devotee brought some water for him. I was so thirsty, I thought, “This is Krishna's mercy.” I figured he was not thirsty as he just drank a cup of tea, so I drank some of the water, and kept it in my bag, in case he later became thirsty. The devotee came back and asked where the water was. I gave it to the devotee, and he took the top off and set it next to Gopiparanadhana Prabhu, who drank a little, and set it aside, as far as I know, for the rest of the evening. I felt bad for taking his water, and I apologized the next day. He was very understanding of my situation and did not feel at all offended, and that completely relieved my mind.


I share with you the notes I took on Gopiparanadhana Prabhu's lectures to the Polish tour devotees and his answers to the fortunate souls who inquired from him at the evening festivals. I hope that you might feel some happiness remembering his transcendental wisdom and qualities:


Arjuna had a doubt about fighting before the battle, and King Yudhisthira had doubts afterward. Arjuna was not a coward. In the Adi Purana Arjuna tells Krishna, “Just as

young boys and girls are spontaneously attracted to each other, I am spontaneously attracted to fighting.” But by yogamaya he had doubts about fighting at Kurukshetra. Yudhisthira's victory was so decisive that it was clear to everyone that God must want him to be on the throne. Yet by yogamaya, he was not convinced by Vyasadeva or Krishna Himself that the carnage was justified. Krishna was able to convince Arjuna, but he failed to convince Yudhisthira. This was all because Krishna wanted Yudhisthira to be convinced by Bhismadeva.


The Mahabharata is so long because different historical incidents are cited whenever someone wants to convince someone of something. There over 1,000 chapters in Mahabharata, which has 18 major divisions, the 13th of which contains the Bhagavad-gita. The Ganguli translation into English is alright.


Srila Prabhupada wanted all the Puranas [and some other major Vedic works which I did not write down] translated.


A devotee is glorious because he is willing to do whatever Krishna wants.


The material world is created by God for those who want to imagine they can control and enjoy separately from Him.


If you just do pranayama [breath control] it can take thousands of years to realize God, but if you meditate on the personality of God you can be successful in a few years.


Q: Why do we have different traditions?

A: People look at God in different ways. He is trying to make Himself understood to us, but we have our funny ways of understanding. Whatever religion can develop your love of God is a good religion.


There are higher planets and as you go upward in the universe more of the people know about God.


The famous saying about Gandhi is that he was saint among politicians and a politician among saints.


Yudhisthira's problem is that he was too much in the mode of goodness. Ksatriyas in general do not have difficulty being ruthless.


Bhima was more powerful than 10,000 elephants. Arjuna was the supreme archer. And Krishna was on His side. Thus Yudhisthira become emperor of the world.


Throughout the centuries warriors have had the idea that the winner in a war had the grace of God.


If you cannot memorize the Gita at least memorize the first and last verse. One way to tell the meaning of a book is to know what is said in the beginning and what is said in the end.


Yudhisthira preferred to be in the company of brahmanas studying the scriptures and not on the battlefield. But because Krishna wanted him to rule, for him to renounce the throne would be a big mistake.

Our business is to teach and manifest the principles of religion. Ksatriyas protect religion through their physical strength.


We know what Krishna wants us to do because our guru and the authorities appointed by him tell us. If we accept and listen to guru, sadhu, and sastra, we will always know what Krishna wants.


Q: How to avoid identification with the body?

A: Start thinking about who you really are—a servant of the Lord and the Vaishnavas.


If there is a difference of a opinion between one's diksa guru and one's siksa guru, one should accept one's diksa guru's opinion.


One reason archeologists find only stone tools in strata millions of years is no other material will last that long.


Hare Krishna is a famous prayer in India that has been around for thousands of years.


It makes a big difference if you understand you are eternal and your body is temporary.

Just like if you are on a train and it is crowded and uncomfortable, you can get upset about it, or realize you are only there a couple of hours and tolerate it.


Any religion that can free people from illusion and develop love of God is a good religion.


Just like kids say, “My father is better than your father.” In the same way, foolish people say, “My God is better than your God.”


In some traditions from India they stamp your arms with a hot iron to mark the two points where you get extra arms when you go to the spiritual realm.


On tilaka: In India one who has a serious commitment to some particular path marks his forehead to indicate which spiritual group he belongs to.


Different groups of people require special protection from being exploited, among these are women.


There is less divorce and the families are more stable in India than in Europe.


There are advantages to arranged marriages, one being that a woman does not have to hunt for a husband.


Q: How many wives can a husband have?

A: Ideally no more than one can take care of nicely, but practically it is not socially acceptable to have more than one.


Regarding astrology: If you are determined to do your duty in any situation, then there is no need to consult the signs.


If an astrologer promises you will attain unadulterated happiness if you follow his advice, then abandon him as a cheater.


I did astrology for a while, but I found it frustrating because you could not tell people the whole truth. They only want to hear the good things.


If you enter the service of God, your life becomes transformed, and it does not matter if you are rich or poor or smart or stupid. Our real mission is to find out our individual and eternal relationship with God.


If you just chant Hare Krishna and offer your food to God for one month, without changing any other aspect of your life, you will become spiritually situated.


Self-realization is not artificial, it is uncovering our real nature. Taking help from an expert in spiritual knowledge is required.


Anyone who is interested in being trained up can become a spiritual leader.


According to the Puranas, Buddha is God, but He is teaching atheism, so we offer Him respect as God, but we do not follow His philosophy. Future teachers reintroduced theism.


When God is nicely worshiped, nature is in perfect order, but when He is not worshiped properly, so many anomalies are there.


That Yudhisthira was concerned about the people who were killed to reinstate him on the throne shows that a perfect devotee is not without feeling. The pure devotee does not want only liberation for himself as Prahlada Maharaja says, but is also concerned for others.


Srila Prabhupada said that Socrates was the only real philosopher in the West. Socrates was against the Sophists who used knowledge for persuasion but were not lovers of knowledge for itself.


In the Vedic conception, Gautama Rsi taught there are three kinds of discussion:

(1) Vada—when both sides are looking for the truth

(2) Jalpa—if either side just wants to win, regardless of the truth, but they do not cheat

(3) Vitanda—when either side wants to win so much they are willing to cheat


Yudhisthira is having his moments of doubt, but in the end, he did what Krishna wanted. Similarly we may have our moments, or even years, of doubt, but in the end we have to do what Krishna wants.


Of the gosthyanandi and the bhajanandi, either or both can have pure or mixed motives. If Krishna accepts their service, then that is their perfection.


The gosthyanandi is willing to put aside the pleasure of serving Krishna to go out and share Krishna's message, and because of this additional special quality, he is considered higher. Krishna explains in Bhagavad-gita 18.68–69 that he who explains his message to the devotees is the greatest, and there will not be a greater personality. The gopis confirm this, saying those who spread talks of Krishna are bhuri-da janah [most munificent].


Q: What is the difference between your teaching and Buddhism?

A: Buddhism teaches that nothing is permanent. A chair has no existence but is a temporary energy field. In Krishna consciousness there are souls and God who have eternal existence.


Q: We see the Catholic Church has its problems, and people are leaving. Could you comment on that?

A: It is an age of corruption. I do not want to blame the Catholic Church. All religions have difficulty in this age. It is very difficult to remain pure. Anyone who can do so, we should respect. We have confidence in the practices of chanting the names of God and eating food offered to God which can keep us in a pure state, and we recommend followers of other religions to take this two practices very seriously if they want to maintain purity.


God is all-auspicious and when God is present as His name, all-auspiciousness is there.


These ideas are new to you but are not unfamiliar because we are all souls.


Chemistry can tell how the molecules in the body combine, but it can say nothing about consciousness. Carbon is needed for living bodies, but carbon is not conscious. Consciousness comes from another source.


If you have an appropriate body you can live in any environment.


Nature is so complex that we should wonder where has all the complexity come from.


Q: God is good and all-powerful, then why is there evil in this world.

A: Our explanation is the God does not create the evil. We create it. According to the law of karma, the living entities did something in the past warranting the suffering. We can convince some people to stop causing suffering to others. If people follow the laws of God and are kind to other people, they will become free from karma. We can inoculate the children against polio, but that does not free them from the karma that caused them to get the disease. God is trying to help, but people are stubborn. He sent his son 2000 years ago, and what did they do? They tried to kill him.


The minimal respect we should have for other living beings is that we allow them to live. The modern world has forgotten this because we do not honor the basic commandments of God.


Q: What is consciousness? What about someone who is mentally disturbed?

A: Consciousness is there in the mentally disturbed. It is just disturbed. Consciousness is there when we are asleep, but it is within. Even in a coma, there is still some consciousness. Even in a plant, there is still some consciousness.


When we use our body and mind in ungodly ways, we suffer as a reaction. Sometimes we can see causes within this life, but in other cases, it must be something from a past life.


We can choose to follow the laws of God as they are given in any religion that we select.


Why is suicide wrong? Because it is destroying someone else's property, since ultimately the body belongs to God.


We never made a proper contract for the use of the body for any length of time, and therefore we cannot complain about being kicked out untimely.


Buddhism does not tell about the God or soul, so we are not going to recommend it.


The biggest program with all religions, including Buddhism, is hypocrisy. Although nonviolence is a Buddhist principle, so many Buddhists are eating meat.


Some people think that once the Hare Krishnas get a hold of you cannot get free, but I know for a fact many people have come and gone, so that is not true.


The Koran forbids killing innocent men and women who are bystanders and not fighters. So those who kill innocent people and claim the Koran sanctions it are incorrect.


People are becoming too materialistic. Rather than fighting with each other, religions should unite and face their common enemy—materialism.


Tuesday, September 06, 2011

Travel Journal#7.15: Polish Woodstock, Berlin and Irish Harnamas

Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 7, No. 15
By Krishna-kripa das
(August 2011, part one)
Polish Woodstock, Berlin, and Irish Harinamas
(Sent from Berlin on September 7, 2011)


Where I Went and What I Did


The beginning of August I went on the Polish Woodstock for the eleventh time. It gets better each year, and this year I was happy that several friends from Alachua got to come and experience it themselves. So many thousands of people have positive experiences of the chanting of Hare Krishna, dancing, and eating spiritual food that we are happy just to be part of it. The day after the Woodstock several of us did harinama for the hundreds at the train station on their way home. Next I went on to Berlin, where I did harinama for three days, and then flew to Ireland where we did harinama, both in Belfast in Northern Ireland and Cavan in the Republic of Ireland, for almost a week. While in Belfast, on the weekend of Lord Balarama's appearance, we had a twenty-four hour kirtana, the second one there this year.


I have not so many class notes again this time, as there were either no classes or classes by me, which I do not take notes on. There are some valuable contributions by Prithu Prabhu and Caitanya Candrodaya Prabhu.


Thanks to Govinda, Gaura Hari, and Gopa Kumar Prabhus from the Woodstock, Varaha Murti, Nikunja, and Krishna Caitanya Prabhus from Berlin, and Gauranga Prabhu and the senior brahmacari who does the evening deity service on Wednesdays, both from Belfast, for their kind support of my travels.


Itinerary

 

Dresden: September 8
Ukraine Festival: September 9–15
London: September 16
Boston Ratha-yatra and Prabhupada festival: September 18
New York: September 19–23?
Philadelphia Ratha-yatra: September 24–25
Albany: September 26–30
Florida: October–December


Polish Woodstock 2011


Woodstock: The Day Before


After arriving by 15-hour bus ride with the Croatian and Slovenian devotees, I took some kitchri prasadam, and chanted and danced with devotees playing guitar and singing on the school lawn. Then we did two harinamas at the site, instead of the usual one, and passed out invitations to our Krishna camp, Pokojowa Wioska Kryszny (Krishna's Village of Peace). Because we did two harinamas instead of one, we got three times as many people for prasadam on the first day! By the time the festival was over, devotees would distribute 135,000 plates in the four and a half days, a new record for the Woodstock festival.


During one harinama Indradyumna Swami greeted Polish Woodstock organizer, Jurek Owsiak.


Woodstock Day 1


Taking advantage of the fact the bands are not playing on Woodstock main stage our the first day of our festival, Indradyumna Swami organized a second Ratha-yatra in the afternoon. A couple girls liked the morning Ratha-yatra so much they came back for the afternoon one and later joined our mantra yoga kirtana tent in the evening and chanted and danced there.


A small group of people sitting 30 feet outside our kirtana tent joking imitated my dancing. Then they called me over to dance in the center of them, and they also joined in singing along with me. Madhava Prabhu was singing a nice tune at that time, and they enjoyed the chanting and dancing.


I explained to one boy that Hare Krishna was both a philosophy and a practice, and he could practice the chanting and see if he felt it was beneficial. He said with a smile that he was already chanting in our tent, and he liked it a lot. He then excused himself to go back to chanting and dancing.


Woodstock Days 2 to 4


For me Woodstock is so engaging, there is only time write about it in reflection after the fact. I told Jayatam Jaya Sila Prabhu, who along with his wife, Mother Nandini, work tirelessly to organize the festival tour for Indradyumna Swami, that I thought it was the best Woodstock ever, and he agreed. Some of my translator friends from previous years said the same. I tried to identify people who seemed to have an attachment for the chanting and tell them about temples and local gatherings in their area. I felt more successful at this than in previous years.


I met a girl from Poznan who loved to dance in our Mantra Yoga tent, but I found my list of Krishna gatherings in Poland did not include one in that city. The next morning I missed our bus from the school to the field for the Ratha-yatra as I was busy proofreading my guru's web page. I caught a ride with some devotee in his vehicle. I asked him where he was from, and he said he was from Poznan, so I asked him for the contact information for the Poznan gathering, so I could pass it on to the Poznan girl and he supplied it, being the organizer of the program himself. Immediately after the Ratha-yatra I met another girl from Poznan, who was also interested in knowing about the local gatherings. Later in the afternoon as I walked across our village, one lady just in front of me was taking a photo of our food distribution, and I jokingly posed in front of her camera, smiling with my arms raised. After she took my picture, I asked what she thought of the Krishna village, and she said she liked it and has been coming for five years. I asked where she was from and she replied, “Poznan.” I told her we had monthly programs there, and she took the contact information for them. I wonder how many other people at the Woodstock are so interested in more frequent Krishna experiences, but we do not know because we do not stop to talk to them.


I also hooked up a couple of people from Bydgoszcz with the local programs. One girl was so serious when I saw her on other occasions she reminded me twice about my promise to send her the contact information. In addition, I gave out four or five invitations to our Warsaw temple and at least a couple to our Wroclaw temple.


Many more people came from Germany than ever before, and from a greater distance. I gave two persons invitations to our temple in Munich, two or three persons invitations to our temple in Leipzig, and about five people invitations to our temple in Berlin. I told the Leipzig people about our Ratha-yatra there on September 3, and one of them said he hoped to meet me there. I also met a group of people who came from Frankfort, several hours away. Beyond Germany, I encountered a couple from Amsterdam and a guy from England.


I talked to boy and girl who both came to the Woodstock for the first time, getting to know each other there. They both liked our Krishna village very much. The girl was from Warsaw and the boy was from Leipzig, and I gave them invitations to our temples in their respective cities. They promised to visit the temples and encouraged each other to do so. Furthermore, I told the boy about the Ratha-yatra in Leipzig on September 3, and he was excited about going. Because of their interest I mentioned that we had books in Polish, English, and German at our book tent, and they enthusiastically went to see them.


Michal, one young Polish man who we met in a parking lot in Norway in July, came to the Woodstock the first time and to our Krishna's Village of Peace. He lives just 40 km away but never came before. He brought the girl he is marrying and another friend, and they had a good time.


I also met a young man who remembers first seeing me at the Woodstock in 2003 in Zary, and then many times since. During the Ratha-yatra he drove by wearing a T-shirt from that very year.


Also Izabela, who we met in Kolobrzeg years ago and who lives in Kostrzyn, brought her friends to Krishna's Village of Peace. She told me she has remodeled the attic in her home to facilitate all the people who come to visit her for the Woodstock, and she always brings them to our village.


I always miss some of the ecstatic events of the Ratha-yatra as I am distributing invitations. My friend Gaura Hari Prabhu told me one couple chanted Hare Krishna into our microphone during the Ratha-yatra for some time, reading it from our mantra cards, and he shared this picture.


Indradyumna Swami took this funny picture of me taking a break from the distribution of invitations to take video of the kirtana party. I smiled because my plan was to take a picture of others, but instead Indradyumna Swami was taking a picture of me! It reminds me of my two roles on the Ratha-yatras, filming and distributing invitations.


There are always humorous scenes at Woodstock that you do not see other places. Here one girl pulls the Ratha while holding a small dog in her other hand.


Lord Krishna and His avatars Kapila and Rsabhadeva talk about how attraction to the opposite sex is a cause of material bondage. Kapila talks about how the sensually controlled man is like a dancing dog in the hand of a woman. Thus when I saw this scene of a girl dragging a boy around by a chain, I could not help but smile and ask if I could take a picture of them.


Woodstock: The Day After


As I have for the last few years, I organized a small harinama at the train station the day after Woodstock. My friend, Govinda Prabhu from Scotland, who plays accordion and sings, is a great asset to my party, and he convinced his friend, Gopa Kumar Prabhu, to come to. Vishnu Prabhu, who is an organizer of harinamas on the tour came and played the drum. Two more devotees joined us so we had six altogether. Fortunately one devotee spoke Polish, and he spent a lot of time answering people's inquiries. This time we chanted for two and a half hours (from 13:10 to 15:40) to a much larger crowd than usual. We encountered five different groups of devotees in the course of our harinama, some out shopping, some leaving by train, and others accompanying their friends to the train station. Some of the Alachua bharat-natyam dancers chanted briefly with us as we walked around the crowded streets near the train station. At least half the time we sat down and chanted near the train station, where several hundred people could hear us.


At one point, three people played African djembe drums of a variety of sizes along with us, and five people from the crowd danced with us.


One young girl, dressed like a hippie, loved to sing and dance, and continued walking with our party as we walked around in front of the train station before we left. I recognized her from our Krishna's Village of Peace, where she also danced. She must have danced at least an hour on the harinama, and she was very happy to receive an invitation to the Sunday feast at our Warsaw temple, the nearest large city to her. Many people also took mantra cards in the course of the harinama, and one young lady who lived near Wroclaw took an invitation for our center there. Even though it sprinkled on and off much of the time, all the devotees who went out found it a joyful experience. On the way back to our base, one guy who was drinking beer and loitering near our party kept demanding mantra cards from me so he could also pass them out to the people. We returned to the school that was our base just in time for the post-Woodstock feast which included panir and spinach, a curd vegetable preparation, sweet rice, and laddus, as well as some savories. I left Kostrzyn that evening to do harinama in Berlin. As I approached the train station dressed in my dhoti, many people said “Hare Krishna,” “Hare Rama,” or “Hare Hare.” I smiled and waved but could not stop as I had to catch my own train.


I took 111 video clips at Woodstock, totaling just over two hours altogether. I have not the determination to edit them although I have delayed posting ,this, hoping to include the video. I hope when I take a break from traveling, I can focus on it, and I will share it with you then. For now, here are some videos of kirtana from Arkadiusz from Krakow who has over five hundred videos on YouTube.



All glories to Indradyumna Swami and the five hundred devotees from all over the world who give hundreds of thousands of people the chance to eat spiritual food, hear spiritual sound, become free from bad karma, experience transcendental pleasure, and take another step toward attaining the perfection of pure devotion to the Supreme Lord, who is referred as Krishna, in the Sanskrit language, because He is all-attractive. All glories to Srila Prabhupada, who representing Lord Caitanya, has inspired people all over the world to engage in such transcendental missionary world.


Cavan Harinamas


There was a festival of Irish music in Cavan, Ireland, and what is normally a sleepy Irish town became a great venue for devotees to do harinama for several days. Bhagavata Dasi, who you can see playing the accordion in the video, loves to sing Hare Krishna in public in different Irish cities, and she led us in this endeavor.

The first day three devotees and three local kids danced in front our party.


The next day after our four-hour harinama, four girls asked if we were going to continue playing. We said not because there was too much competition with other musicians. We started packing up, and one of them again asked if we were going to continue playing, and I said no because of the competition. They then suggested we find another place. It did not seem practical to find another place as every 10 meters there was another street musician. We told them we would return there the next day, and they were very happy to hear it. It was nice to see Krishna has supporters in Ireland among the youth!


Insights from Devotees


Prithu Prabhu [from a conversation in Berlin]:


During Prabhupada’s time the Frankfort temple lacked life and manpower. I proposed to Prabhupada that we close it. He protested, practically shouting at me, “Even if a child is born deaf and dumb, it does not mean that you kill it!”


ISKCON is like invalid football. Someone has no arms, someone has no legs. Rather than picking on each others’ shortcomings we should capitalize on our strengths.


It is in the mode of ignorance to throw people out. Prabhupada said that only if one is violent toward devotees can he be kicked out, but not otherwise.


Krishna-kripa das:


In the course of talking about Lord Balarama on His appearance day this year, His role as a well-wishing peacemaker I found striking.


When the Kurus unlawfully arrested the youthful Yadu, Samba, a son of Lord Krishna, Lord Balarama discouraged the Yadus from fighting about it, but rather He personally went to Hastinapura to negotiate a peaceful settlement.


When Bhima and Duryodhana were involved in a duel, out of affection for both, he advised them to stop fighting. He argued that since Duryodhana was a better club fighter and Bhima was stronger, it was unlike that either would win a decisive victory and so that it was better to stop the combat. Unfortunately, they were too enraged with mutual animosity to hear the Lord’s wise words.


Caitanya-candrodaya Prabhu:


During Soviet times there were some people whose job description was to persecute the devotees. Some became somewhat purified because they had to study Bhagavad-gita to do their service. Once Bhakti Vijnana Goswami was questioned by the authorities and asked if he would spy on his people. He declined, saying it was against his principles, and the man replied except for your four regulative principles, what principles do you have?


To ask for love of Krishna is our only real prayer.


You can study the Upanisads in the mode of passion like the scholars do, not desiring the brahma jnana (spiritual knowledge) they provide.


The only thing Krishna looks for is the love of His devotee.


Keeping the qualities of goodness in the temple is preaching because it shows people how they can keep their home in the mode of goodness and elevate themselves spiritually.


There is such a good result from chanting Hare Krishna in any circumstance, what to speak if one chants to please his guru or if one chants desiring to awaken one’s love of God.


Comment by Nitai Sacinandana Prabhu: There is a story of a lady who was clinically dead but came back to life. During the time she was considered dead, her hearing was still functioning and she heard her relatives quarreling over her property. She became so disgusted she that disinherited all of them.


Syama-mayi dd [from a conversation]:


Once I stopped in a bowling alley to call my guru's servant and confirm that I would cook for my guru the next day. The building had a bar with really horrible music playing. It was hard for me to hear him on the phone because of the music, and he asked where I was and I explained. I was so disgusted with the place I was praying to Krishna, “Stop this nonsense.” That night I was awakened by a large explosion that shook my residence. We read in the paper the next day that the “Real IRA”, a splinter group that continued bombings after the cease fire, had blown-up up the bowling alley, where I had just been hours before.


Padmanetra Prabhu [from a conversation]:


ISKCON is such an international movement that in my class of 70 students at Radhadesh, 60 different nations were represented.


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krishna-mantra haite habe samsara-mocana

krishna-nama haite pabe krishnera carana


[While explaining His chanting of Hare Krishna to the Mayavadi sannyasis, Lord Caitanya quoted His spiritual master, who had instructed Him thus:] “Simply by chanting the holy name of Krishna one can obtain freedom from material existence. Indeed, simply by chanting the Hare Krishna mantra one will be able to see the lotus feet of the Lord.” (Sri Caitanya-caritamrita Adi-lila 7.73)