Monday, August 26, 2013

Travel Journal#9.15: Polish Woodstock, Harinamas in Germany and Bratislava

Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 9, No. 15
By Krishna-kripa das
(August 2013, part one
)
Polish Woodstock, Harinamas in Germany and Bratislava
(Sent from Newcastle upon Tyne on August 26, 2013)

Where I Went and What I Did

The devotees of the Sri Harinama Mandir traveling party dropped me at the Krakow train station, and I took an overnight train, crowded with young people, to Kostrzyn for my thirteenth time at the Polish Woodstock. The Vaishnava youth European bus tour joined the many regulars who come each year to share Krishna music, food, dance, knowledge, and more, with many tens of thousands of people there at the Polish Woodstock. New kirtana leaders are always coming, this year, Amala Harinam Darling and Jahnavi Harrison, in particular, and they both did a great job. Jayatam Jaya Sila Prabhu had printed thousands of Polish mantra cards with contact information for the International Society for Krishna Consciousness in Poland which I distributed many of. Some of my friends chanted to the crowds waiting at the Kostrzyn train station the day after the Woodstock, and we got a good response as usual. I took another amazingly crowded train to Berlin, and shared a car with people going toward Kassel, to join Sadbhuja Prabhu and his van party, distributing books and doing harinama in different German cities, which culminated in the Ancient Trance festival in Taucha, near Leipzig. Then I shared a group ticket on the train to Berlin, to go on harinama with the devotees there, before taking an overnight bus to Slovakia’s capital of Bratislava to give the Sunday feast lecture. The next three days I remained there, doing three hours of harinama each day with a party lead by Gaura Keshava Prabhu, who was inspired by chanting three months in Union Square with Rama Raya Prabhu’s party, to start a daily harinama party in Bratislava. Next I went to Czech Republic for the Trutnov Open Air Music Festival, also known as the Czech Woodstock, for the fifth time.

As I was in places with no morning lectures such as the Polish Woodstock, or where I gave morning lectures such as Germany and Bratislava, I have very few notes on lectures, but lots of absolutely wonderful quotes from my personal reading of Srila Prabhupada’s books. In addition to those, there is a brief Prabhupada remembrance by Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami, a note from a class by Bhakti Sastri teacher, Adi Purusa Prabhu, and a reflection by myself on spiritual dress.

Itinerary

August 26–29: Newcastle upon Tyne and nearby towns
August 30: Liverpool
August 31: Bolton
September 1–2: Dublin
September 3: Dublin, Philadelphia, Orlando
September 4–6: Gainesville
September 6–10: Tallahassee
September 11–12: Jacksonville
September 13: Gainesville
September 14: Jacksonville Beach Ratha-yatra
September 15–26: Gainesville [except one day in Tampa]
September 27–30: Columbus, Ohio
October 1–November 25: Union Square harinama, New York City
November 26–February 19, 2014: Gainesville
[except with 5 days / month in Tallahassee, one day per month in Tampa]
February 25–April 20, 2014: Mayapur

The Train to the Polish Woodstock

I heard that PKP, the Polish train company, had scheduled many extra trains to come to the Polish Woodstock, and to return home, but I had never ridden one. Nor do I think I will ever ride one again!


Judging from the number of people waiting at the Krakow train station, I could understand the train would be crowded.


There are always people who are not afraid to dress differently at such events as Woodstock, like the girl below with the violet hair and feathered cap.


The train was first announced to be 25 minutes late, and then 40 minutes late, 60 minutes late, and lastly 80 minutes late.


It finally left Krakow 100 minutes late, and arrived in Kostrzyn 120 minutes late!

I have been on trains with people who stay up late, but not that late. In fact, there was no time when all the people were asleep and none of the people were drinking, smoking, and talking loudly.

I talked to a few interesting people, like a boy who wanted to go to India, and a another boy who sat next to me and meditated.

While I was waiting in between the cars of the trains, in a queue for the toilet, several young people chanted a few mantras with me.


Had I been willing to spend 30 euros each way from the UK, I could have brought my harmonium, and got more people into chanting.

At one point, I realized it would not be able to get any more real sleep, so I put my headphones on and played a Madhava kirtana at its full volume. Then I was smiling and moving to the music, and I was pretty blissful despite my lack of sleep and all the craziness around me. Some people looked at me and smiled, and I took the headphones from my own head, and one by one, put them on the heads of the four people who were watching me, so they could hear, and they would smile. One girl sat diagonally across from me, and I put the headphones on her. She said she liked the music, and I invited her to our Krishna village, saying that the singer on the recording would be performing in person there.

Polish Woodstock

The Polish Woodstock is a free rock concert organized by philanthropist Jurek Oswiak, who appeciates Indradyumna Swami’s work in Poland, and allows him space to a free Krishna festival with kirtana, prasadam, dance, drama, yoga, questions and answers tents, and much, much more. Thus many, many tens of thousands of people mostly from Poland, get a very positive experience of Krishna consciousness.

Joyful to see thousands of people experiencing Krishna kirtana, I have been coming to the Polish Woodstock for thirteen years.

The harinama the first day attracted more people to sing and dance with us, and to follow us back to our camp than ever before, and it was beautiful to see.




My role on the harinamas and the Ratha-yatras was to distribute invitations to our Krishna’s Village of Peace.


At one point, it began raining, and the devotees and onlookers continued to chant and dancing, and Indradyumna Swami continued to photograph them. As I was getting wet, I was looking at our main tent, which was largely vacant, and wondering how many Hare Krishnas does it take to figure out we would be better off in the tent. I decided to suggest to Indradyumna Swami that we might chant in the tent, and he made a beeline for the tent, and everyone followed him, surprising the people who were taking prasadam there, and we chanted and danced in the tent ecstatically for some time.



At the Woodstock, during our lunch, Govinda Prabhu always share verses that we have learned over the year. I taught him the only about how everything becomes easy if one remembers Lord Caitanya, and he taught me the beautiful one about Lord Caitanya that appears at the end of this blog.

Some people who saw me distributing mantra cards at the Mantra Yoga tent remembered me from the train to Kostrzyn, and others from seeing me last year. One man remembers
me from Zary in 2002 or 2003, and comes by to say hello each year. One man excited showed me the picture he took of me on his mobile phone last year, and insisted on taking another picture this year.

I met a girl named Frances from Berlin who was spiritually inquisitive. It was as if she wanted to believe in God but had had too many years of atheistic association to make it easily possible. I encouraged her to explore our tradition, and to try the practice to see if she found any benefit in it.

The program in our main stage begins with chanting, and when I am free, I go there and dance, and in that way try to inspire others. One girl came up, wanting to learn my dance step. After following me a little while, I suggested that Jahnavi Harrison take over as her dance instructor, which she kindly did.

Caturatma Prabhu did questions and answers a lot as usual, here translated by Mandakini dd.


He also would dance like mad in the Ratha-yatra kirtana.


Many, many people enjoyed dancing in the Ratha-yatra.








These include the brahmacari, Jon, below, who is a friend from Gainesville.


We had great singers in the kirtana tent, which was named Mantra Yoga. These included B. B. Govinda Swami, Indradyumna Swami, Bada Haridas Prabhu, Madhava Prabhu, Amala Harinama, Jahnavi Harrison, Acyuta Gopi, and her brother, Ananta.

Here is a video by MayapurTV of the first kirtana by B. B. Govinda Swami (http://youtu.be/465BK4a3ohE):

Here is a video of Jahnavi Harrision from the Woodstock I found on YouTube (http://youtu.be/nk4s6UIXcM0):

The last two days in Mantra Yoga, Madhava Prabhu sang for three and a half hours and then B. B. Govinda Goswami sang for an hour and a half or two hours. It was awesome to see the number of people happily participating by chanting and dancing. I distributed many mantra cards. Somehow it seemed we had more people at the end when Madhava Prabhu would sing first and B. B. Govinda Swami later, and that is how we did it the last two nights.

Here is a video by Mauritius Yatra from the last kirtana of B. B. Govinda (http://youtu.be/1yBFniSvriU):

During Madhava Prabhu’s kirtana one trio became so inspired that they really took up his instruction to chant with all their hearts. The girl read the mantra from a card I gave her.


The girl and two boys would chant during the lead, during the response, and during the instrumental interludes. They did not stop! They chanted loudly chanting with blissful smiles on their faces for over half an hour, and you sensed that Krishna must have been reciprocating with their enthusiasm.


I met a German girl from Bonn, and I wrote down for her the web page for the local temple in the adjacent city of Cologne as she expressed some interest.

A middle-aged German couple from Berlin asked me about Krishna consciousness, the husband translating what I said for his wife.

I met a girl from Poznan who came everyday to the kirtana for hours. I gave her the contact for the devotee in Poznan who occasionally arranges programs there.

Izabela, who I originally met on our festival tour in Kolobrzeg years ago, but whose family lives in Kostrzyn, came to our camp, bringing friends for prasadam as she does every year. She studied in Wroclaw, then graduated and moved there, and I gave her the contact information for our temple there. Later she and a boy came back to the kirtana tent, and chanted and danced like anything. I do not remember her dancing like that ever before!


One girl with a bandaged foot told me lived in a place where we had no temple or nama-hatta program, but she was beginning her studies in Warsaw at the university. I had no Warsaw temple invitations, so I gave her my card, saying I would sent her the contact information for the temple. She surprised me by writing me the very morning after the Woodstock festival was finished. The vast majority of people I give my cards to do not write.

One man with one leg who was on crutches was so inspired by Bada Haridas Prabhu’s kirtana that he danced as best as one could in that condition. It was awesome to see.


In Mantra Yoga tent people sometimes happily dance in a chain,


sometimes in a circle,


and sometimes forming a bridge, and passing beneath it.


Older people would dance.


And younger people would dance.


I was surprised to see entire Polish families come more than once to our Mantra Yoga tent and dance with the devotees.

Some people would try to follow the dancing of the devotee ladies.



On the last day, as the evening progressed, I saw greater interest in the mantra cards, decidedly more so than in previous years. I would give the new mantra cards, with the mantra and a brief description, to people as they came out of our kirtana tent, thinking that the joy they experienced dancing with us might generate some interest in the mantra. Others, standing outside the tent, would see me handing out the cards, and they would approach me asking for one. In several cases, they asked for two, three, four, or even five, for their friends! Often when I gave someone a card they would smile or fold their hands in gratitude. I found it difficult to remember who I gave the cards to, and sometimes I noticed I thought I remembered the people but I was wrong. A few cards were left on the ground, but I think much less than one percent.

Harinama at the Kostrzyn Train Station

We planned to chant at the train station the day after the Woodstock from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., but even though we ended our program by 2 a.m. the night before, much earlier than usual, devotees slept in so late we ended up going out from 1:10 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. instead. We would have stayed out longer, but I had a train to catch at 3:11 p.m., and I wanted to honor the post-Woodstock feast before leaving. As it was, I reached the train two minutes before it left. We started out with just four devotees on the harinama, Syama Rasa Prabu on the accordion, Vishnu Puri Prabhu on the mrdanga, and Mathura-pati Prabhu on the karatalas, and me, dancing and distributing mantra cards. It was so ecstatic to just be out chanting again, sharing Lord Caitanya gift of unlimited good fortune through the medium of his holy names. There were people who expressed their joy in seeing us by smiling, moving with the music, taking photos and accepting mantra cards. One man with a bandaged foot chanted with us on two occasions, reading the mantra from the card I gave him. He also danced the best he could in that condition and got cards for his two associates.


Two girls shook small boxes of candy in each hand in time with the music. One boy tried singing the mantra along with us.


Another time several girls danced as we passed them.


A couple of guys, luggage in hand, sang and followed us. We were joined by four Indian-looking devotees who encountered our party while looking for a taxi to the green school and who stayed for half an hour or so. The wife of Subuddhi Prabhu, who does art on the tour, was happy to join us and danced for a similar length of time, while her husband purchased rail tickets. When we returned to the school that was our base the devotees were serving out the feast, and those waiting in line were happy to encounter the kirtana party. A guy joined with another mrdanga, two guys played kalatalas, and three young ladies danced with enthusiasm.


Harinama in Germany

I chanted a couple days in Erfurt, in the center of Germany, with Sadbhuja Prabhu (playing harmonium below) and his van party.


Once some kids who were bathing in playground delighted in dancing with us.


Thereafter we went to Taucha, northeast of Leipzig, for the annual Ancient Trance festival, where they set up a yurt and chant and tell Krishna stories late into the night during the three-day event. Apparently Sadbhuja Prabhu has known the organizers from even before he became a devotees. Pradyumna Prabhu from Leipzig, also does vegetarian catering at the ancient trance event, and his food was tasty, especially a soup I had seconds on. Last year another group did the catering, but the organizers wanted Pradyumna back this year because he had done a better job. I liked the ancient trance event and was sorry I had to go to Berlin to catch a bus to Bratislava.

The Berlin police foolishly told the devotees they could do their Ratha-yatra on the same day as they had previously allowed another group do to a large festival. Therefore, although the devotees had printed and distributed 4,000 flyers for the Ratha-yatra, they had to cancel the event, and replace it with a harinama.


The harinama only lasted an hour and a half, and which was attended by about twelve devotees. Still it was nice to go on the harinama, although it was brief.



Some guy danced to our music.


And a lady danced with us as well.


Harinama in Bratislava

While enroute from Berlin to Bratislava, I was grateful that I could proofread my guru’s journal using the free WiFi for adjacent buses at the Berlin terminal and using the WiFi at the Prague bus station, where we had an hour layover.

Jivananda Prabhu kindly picked me up from Bratislava bus station, although the bus was scheduled to arrive at 2:30 a.m. Such a sacrifice for him! I did not wish to come at that time, but my desires to go to the Berlin Ratha-yatra [which was later canceled], to speak at the Bratislava Sunday feast, to save money, and to have to time recover from the journey left only that one option.

When I saw Gaura Keshava Prabhu on Rama Raya’s harnama party in New York City in April, I had no idea that he would become so inspired that he would start a similar program in Bratislava when he returned three months later, and that I would join him there for three days in the summer. The Lord works in mysterious ways.

Although Adi Purusa Prabhu was teaching a Bhakti Sastri class attended by 30 devotees in the temple at the same time, we still had at least 6 people for most of our 3-hour harinama the first day in Bratislava, and at one point we had 9 people! That is pretty fired up!

The red-haired girls had met the devotees previously at a festival.


Some people played the instruments,



and some danced with us, and some did both.


A group who was having a vegan dinner listened and ate some vegan halava we made just for them.


The second day, we chanted downtown.


A girl played the tambourine with us.


Adi Purusa Prabhu himself came out after his class, setting a good example.

The final night, we chanted by a statue.



Devotees came after the Bhakti Sastri class, and we had 14 devotees and three onlookers who joined our party.

Imagine if devotees from all the major cities of the world came to New York City, became inspired by Rama Raya Prabhu’s harinama, and returned to their own cities and started daily harinamas for three or four hours. That would give Lord Caitanya’s mission a big boost!

Thanks to nama-hatta.pl for their pictures of me at the Polish Woodstock, thanks to a German bhakta for pictures of me at Efurt, and thanks to Gaura Keshava Prabhu for his pictures of the harinamas in Bratislava. I have additional pictures I took which I did not include in this blog. If you want to see them, click on this link, or paste the URL into your web browser:

Insights

Srila Prabhupada:

from Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.11.24:

O my Lord, O Supreme Personality of Godhead, will I again be; able to be a servant of Your eternal servants who find shelter only at Your lotus feet? O Lord of my life, may I again become their servant so that my mind may always think of Your transcendental attributes, my words always glorify those attributes, and my body always engage in the loving service of Your Lordship?

Purport:
This verse gives the sum and substance of devotional life. One must first become a servant of the servant of the servant of the Lord (dasanudasa). Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu advised, and He also showed by His own example, that a living entity should always desire to be a servant of the servant of the servant of Krishna, the maintainer of the gopis (gopi-bhartuḥ pada-kamalayor dasa-dasanudasaḥ). This means that one must accept a spiritual master who comes in the disciplic succession and is a servant of the servant of the Lord. Under his direction, one must then engage one’s three properties, namely his body, mind and words. The body should be engaged in physical activity under the order of the master, the mind should think of Krishna incessantly, and one’s words should be engaged in preaching the glories of the Lord. If one is thus engaged in the loving service of the Lord, one’s life is successful.”
from Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.12.7, purport:
Vritrasura encouraged Indra, saying, ‘Don’t be morose because of my victory. There is no need to stop fighting. Instead, you should go on with your duty. When Krishna desires, you will certainly be victorious.’ This verse is very instructive for sincere workers in the Krishna consciousness movement. We should not be jubilant in victory or morose in defeat. We should make a sincere effort to implement the will of Krishna, or Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, and we should not be concerned with victory and defeat. Our only duty is to work sincerely, so that our activities may be recognized by Krishna.”

from Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.12.22, purport:

A pure devotee is never attracted to any exalted position within this material world. He simply wants to associate with the Supreme Personality of Godhead like the inhabitants of Vrindavana—Srimati Radharani, the gopis, Krishna’s father and mother (Nanda Maharaja and Yasoda), Krishna’s friends and Krishna’s servants. He wants to associate with Krishna’s atmosphere of Vrindavana’s beauty. These are the highest ambitions of a devotee of Krishna.”

Any material happiness is like water in a ditch, whereas the spiritual happiness eternally enjoyed in the spiritual world is like an ocean of nectar in which a devotee wants to swim.”

from The Nectar of Devotion, Chapter 48:

It is to be understood that any person who is constantly engaged in chanting the holy names of the Lord—Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare—has attained a transcendental affection for Krishna, and as such, in any condition of life, he remains satisfied simply by remembering the Lord’s name in full affection and ecstatic love.”

from Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.15.2, purport:

This world is temporary, but because of our previous karma we come here and accept bodies, creating temporary relationships in terms of society, friendship, love, nationality and community, which are all finished at death. These temporary relationships did not exist in the past, nor will they exist in the future. Therefore at the present moment the so-called relationships are illusions.”

The Nectar of Instruction preface:

In all spiritual affairs, one’s first duty is to control his mind and senses. Unless one controls his mind and senses, one cannot make any advancement in spiritual life. Everyone within this material world is engrossed in the modes of passion and ignorance. One must promote himself to the platform of goodness, sattva-guna, by following the instructions of Rupa Gosvami, and then everything concerning how to make further progress will be revealed.”

from Letter of 2 August 1972:

I sometimes remember that when I spoke in Portland, there were many Christians there, and they were very much favorable whenever we mentioned that we also are lovers of Christ. So you may preach in that way. We are not canvassing people to convert or criticize; we are canvassing that they should simply use their time for loving God by engaging in His devotional service, whether they are Christian, Catholic, Jew, or whatever. We are after God, that’s all. We are servants of God.

So preach like that, very simply, and hold sankirtana all over the city, and distribute prasadam profusely, especially to the youth, then everything will be successful.”

from 73/08/26 London, lecture on Bhagavad-gita 2.21–22:

But if you engage yourself in the service of Krishna, you’ll find new and new encouragement. That is spiritual. If you find it hackneyed, then you must know that you are not yet serving spiritually, you are serving materially. Formality, stereotype. But if you feel new and new energy, then you know that you are serving spiritually. This is the test. Your enthusiasm will increase, not decrease.

So the test is within our hand. If during mangala-arati we feel laziness, that means I’m not yet spiritually advanced. And if one feels enthused, ‘Now it is time for mangala-arati, let me stand up, let me do this,’ then it is spiritual. Anyone can test.”

from Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 7.82 verse and purport:

Upon seeing the chanting and dancing of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Lord Nityananda predicted that later there would be dancing and chanting in every village.

Purport:

This prediction of Sri Nityananda Prabhu’s is applicable not only in India but also all over the world. That is now happening by His grace. The members of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness are now traveling from one village to another in the Western countries and are even carrying the Deity with them. These devotees distribute
various literatures all over the world. We hope that these devotees who are preaching the message of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu will very seriously follow strictly in His footsteps. If they follow the rules and regulations and chant sixteen rounds daily, their endeavor to preach the cult of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu will certainly be successful.

The Nectar of Instruction, verse 1, purport:

As for the urges of the tongue, we all experience that the tongue wants to eat palatable dishes. Generally we should not allow the tongue to eat according to its choice, but should control the tongue by supplying prasada. The devotee’s attitude is that he will eat only when Krishna gives him prasada. That is the way to control the urge of the tongue.”

from Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 7.101, purport:

In order to become an empowered preacher, one must be favored by Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu or His devotee, the spiritual master. One must also request everyone to chant the maha-mantra. In this way, such a person can convert others to Vaishnavism, showing them how to become pure devotees of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.”

from Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 7.129, purport:

This is an opportunity for everyone. If one simply follows the instructions of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, under the guidance of His representative, and chants the Hare Krishna mantra, teaching everyone as far as possible the same principle, the contamination of the materialistic way of life will not even touch him. It does not matter whether one lives in a holy place like Vrindavana, Navadvipa or Jagannatha Puri or in the midst of European cities, where the materialistic way of life is very prominent. If a devotee follows the instructions of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, he lives in the company of the Lord. Wherever he lives, he converts that place into Vrindavana and Navadvipa. This means that materialism cannot touch him. This is the secret of success for one advancing in Krishna consciousness.”

from Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 7.130, purport:

At whosever house Sri Caitanya accepted His alms by taking prasadam, He would convert the dwellers to His sankirtana movement and advise them just as He advised the brahmana named Kurma.

Purport:

The cult of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is explained here very nicely. One who surrenders to Him and is ready to follow Him with heart and soul does not need to change his location. Nor is it necessary for one to change his status. One may remain a householder, a medical practitioner, an engineer or whatever. It doesn’t matter. One only has to follow the instruction of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra and instruct relatives and friends in the teachings of the Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam. One has to learn humility and meekness at home, following the instructions of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, and in that way one’s life will be spiritually successful.”

from Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 7.132:

While on His tour, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu would spend the night at a temple or on the roadside.While on His tour, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu would spend the night at a temple or on the roadside.”

comment by Krishna-kripa das: Spending the night at a temple or on the roadside me of traveling with Parasurama Prabhu. Then it was mostly on the roadside.

from Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.15.3:

O King, as small particles of sand sometimes come together and are sometimes separated due to the force of the waves, the living entities who have accepted material bodies sometimes come together and are sometimes separated by the force of time.”

from Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.15.5, purport:

A dream does not exist before one falls asleep, nor does it continue after one awakens. The period for dreaming exists only between these two, and therefore it is false in the sense that it is impermanent. Similarly, the entire material creation, including our own creation and those of others, is impermanent. We do not lament for the situation in a dream before the dream takes place or after it is over, and so during the dream, or during a dreamlike situation, one should not accept it as factual and lament about it. This is real knowledge.”

from Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.15.6, purport:

The present chaotic conditions of the world are due to the ignorance of leaders who forget that they have been appointed to act by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Because they have been appointed by the Lord, their duty is to consult the Lord and act accordingly. The book for consultation is Bhagavad-gita, in which the Supreme Lord gives directions. Therefore those who are engaged in creation, maintenance and annihilation should consult the Supreme Person, who has appointed them, and should act accordingly. Then everyone will be satisfied, and there will be no disturbances.”

from Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.15.21–23:

O King, owner of the state of Surasena, one’s wife, his house, the opulence of his kingdom, and his various other opulences and objects of sense perception are all the same in that they are temporary. Ones kingdom, military power, treasury, servants, ministers, friends and relatives are all causes of fear, illusion, lamentation and distress. They are like a gandharva-nagara, a nonexistent palace that one imagines to exist in the forest. Because they are impermanent, they are no better than illusions, dreams and mental concoctions.”

The disciples of Srila Prabhupada:

from Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.7.39:

A learned sage should take his satisfaction in the simple maintenance of his existence and should not seek satisfaction through gratifying the material senses. In other words, one should care for the material body in such a way that one’s higher knowledge is not destroyed and so that one’s speech and mind are not deviated from self-realization.”

Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami:

from his journal, Viraha Bhavan, “Poem for July 30”:

Once I wrote to Prabhupada that
I had little Jagannathas, and he
wrote back that Jagannatha is neither big or small.”

Adi Purusa Prabhu:

Visvanatha Cakravarti says Chapter 7 of Bhagavad-gita describes six types of the devotees, the four mentioned in verse 7.16, the jnana-misra bhakta [whose devotion is mixed with desire for knowledge], and the pure devotee. All attain Vaikuntha, but it is a question of time. Those desiring sense gratification delay their success. Motive determines the speed we attain perfection.

Krishna-kripa das:

an observation:

The superiors of Radharani do not like Krishna or His cowherd friends to associate with Her; therefore these friends sometimes clothe themselves in female dress so they can give Radharani a message from Krishna.” The above statement from The Nectar of Devotion is evidence that men and women dress differently in the spiritual world. This is contrary to a recent trend in the material world of women dressing as men do.

-----

sruyatam sruyatam nityam
giyatam giyatam muda
cintyatam cintyatam bhaktas
caitanya-caritamritam

O devotees, may the transcendental life and characteristics of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu always be chanted and meditated upon with great happiness.” (Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Antya-lila 12.1)