Diary
of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 10, No. 10
By Krishna-kripa das
(May 2014, part two)
By Krishna-kripa das
(May 2014, part two)
The
North of England
(Sent from Newcastle upon Tyne, England, on July 7, 2014)
(Sent from Newcastle upon Tyne, England, on July 7, 2014)
Where
I Went and What I Did
I
spent a week based in Manchester, the first three days joining Sutapa
Prabhu and his party from Bhaktivedanta Manor and doing harinama
in
Manchester and Liverpool and attending the first Sheffield
Ratha-yatra. After that I did harinama
in
Manchester with Toshan Krishna Prabhu and Bhakta Dan on Monday,
Tuesday, and Thursday, and did harinama
and
the nama-hatta
program
in Sheffield on Wednesday. Thursday night we did a successful sacred
sounds event in Preston. Friday I joined Raghunatha Bhatta Prabhu and
John from Scotland doing harinama
in
Liverpool and the nama-hatta
program
there. That weekend I did harinamas
and
nama-hatta
programs
in York and Leeds, before returning to the Newcastle area to end the
month with a week of harinamas
there,
and a wonderful eight-hour kirtana,
celebrating twelve continuous months of monthly eight-hour kirtanas
in
Newcastle.
I
share insights from Srila Prabhupada’s books and lectures, a selection from Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami’s journal, notes on a lecture that
Mahavishnu Swami gave in Manchester, notes on a recorded lecture by
Radhanath Swami, excerpts from an upcoming Back
to Godhead magazine,
glorification of kirtana
from
the Preston Sacred Sounds program, and realizations from a Bhakti
Vriksha
meeting
in Newcastle.
Sheffield
Ratha-yatra
After
34 years of playing a leading role in the Sheffield nama-hatta, Kay
decided it was time to organize the first Sheffield Ratha-yatra,
which happened on May 18. Devotees from all over England came for the
Ratha-yatra. Mahavishnu Swami told me he was very happy to be there
and considered it a wonderful event. Parasurama Prabhu and his crew
came with the cart, decorated it, and supplied wonderful prasadam
for
the event. Giridhari Prabhu and the festival team came. Sutapa Prabhu
came with some devotees from the Manor who had been traveling with
him. To my surprise, devotees even came all the way from Newcastle,
way to the north. Some devotees I had seen at the North UK Retreat
two weeks before were there and so were devotees I had seen the
previous week at Birmingham 24-hour kirtana
as
well. It was wonderful to connect with my UK devotee friends I had
not seen since last year at these festivals three weeks in a row!
Sutapa
Prabhu and his party did harinama
for
over an hour before the Ratha-yatra, and I passed out invitations.
One man videoed us for over ten minutes!
As
I talked to one smiling mom, who our party passed, her daughter,
perhaps ten years old, said to me, “Didn’t I see you in York?”
I smiled, and said, “Well, it must have been last year because I
have not been to York this year.” The kid said it was. I told her I
planned to return to York, and asked if she was from there. She said
she was from Sheffield, so I encouraged the whole family to come to
the Ratha-yatra and the stage show after. It was curious how the girl
remembered me from York last year.
Traditionally
the cities do not give the Hare Krishnas the best routes for their
parades, especially for the first year. At least the place where we
pulled the cart was populated by many Sunday shoppers, although not
extensive in size. Hopefully, next year we can extend the route to
include the busy shopping street where we usually do harinama.
The
procession did attract a bit of attention and some passersby stayed
for quite a while to watch and to inquire from the devotees what it
was all about.
Kanwar
and Mariana, who kindly let me stay with them when I visit Sheffield,
came to the Ratha-yatra. He stands with me in this photo.
She
passed out prasadam to onlookers.
Erzsebet
from London is always ready to encourage the onlookers to participate.
Any
festival is more festive with Mahavishnu Swami.
Dayananda
Swami, a fairly new swami who is originally from Rotherham,
practically the next town over, also attended.
At
one point, Kay’s daughter, Radha, led with great enthusiasm.
Some
people watched us from above.
The
Ratha-yatra cart was not permitted to go through the city to the
venue for the stage show, so we just had massive harinama
instead.
I danced and passed out invitations to the stage show as usual. Thanks to Agi Holland for the picture.
We
chanted outside the venue of our stage show for a few minutes after
our procession arrived.
Mahavishnu
Swami added at lot of enthusiasm to the chanting party.
Kanwar
and Mariana, my Sheffield hosts, delighted in the kirtana
circle
dance.
The
stage show was at the Broomhall Centre, the location of our weekly
Wednesday evening program in Sheffield.
It
featured some lively kirtanas
both
by Giridhari Prabhu of the festival team and Radha, Kay’s daughter,
who has a pleasant, powerful voice and a lot of youthful energy.
Kay,
the organizer, is wearing a blue sari, and of the women so attired, is closest to the camera,
and Parasurama Prabhu is playing his ukulele in the front to the right.
The
guys danced nicely,
and
so did the ladies.
Mahavishnu
Swami spoke as well. Dayananda Swami answered questions. There were
also a couple groups of young Indian dancing girls. Some parts of the
program I missed while taking prasadam and talking with my friends.
There
was extra prasadam,
and
Parasurama Prabhu put a table with the pots out by the sidewalk next to the Broomhall Centre, so fortunate passersby could get some and many
did.
Five
of us did harinama
the
Wednesday before the Sunday Ratha-yatra, and one person Kay talked to
came to the Ratha-yatra and liked it so much he came to the weekly
nama
hatta program
the following Wednesday. Two other people who came to the Ratha-yatra
also attended the program the next Wednesday, and one of those, who
lives five minutes walk from the Broomhall Centre, came for several
weeks afterward.
The
first Sheffield Ratha-yatra brought a lot of devotees together from
all over England and increased people’s awareness of and interest
in Krishna in Sheffield. The next Wednesday after the event, when I
did harinama
by
myself in Sheffield before the weekly program, I found the people
much more favorable than usual.
Liverpool
Harinamas
Sutapa
Prabhu and a party of book distributors from Bhaktivedanta Manor
distributed books in Liverpool for four hours and then did harinama
for
an hour and a half or so. I chanted for some time while they were
distributing books, and Phil from Manchester joined me.
One
photographer, Glyn Kelly, took some high quality pictures of us and
kindly agreed to send them to me. If you like his photography, you
may want to see his photo
page on Flickr.
When
I later joined Sutapa Prabhu and his team our chanting procession
encountered a hen party.
Some of the ladies enjoyed dancing with
us
and trying to play our instruments.
Later
an older man danced with our party.
The
next week while I was chanting with a couple friends in Liverpool,
one person came up to me and complained I was chanting in the same
area as his Gaudiya Math book table. I had noticed the Christian
preacher next to me, who did not complain about me, but had not
noticed the Gaudiya Math book table. If I had, I would not have
chanted near it. He interpreted my behavior as challenging and
started blasting the ISKCON GBC and ISKCON devotees. I just wanted to
chant Hare Krishna and not enter into a whole discussion with him, so
I said, “If you were chanting Hare Krishna on the other side of the
street, I would not come up to you and start criticizing your
institution and your guru.” Then I went on singing. He went away
when he realized that I was not interested in listening to him and
that I was not going to stop chanting.
Manchester
Harinamas
After
the Sheffield Ratha-yatra, Mahavishnu Swami and his party stayed
overnight in the Manchester temple. Knowing Mahasvishnu Swami loves
harinama,
I
invited him to do harinama
in
Manchester before continuing on to Brighton, and he kindly agreed.
I
sang by myself before Mahavishnu Swami’s party arrived and met a
young Italian lady who had lived in a Hare Krishna ashram for three
months in Australia last year. She gave a donation and was very happy
to learn of the temple programs in Manchester, her new home.
Mahavishnu
Swami led such a lively kirtana!
One
boy danced with our party with great enthusiasm.
Then
Vidyapati Prabhu, a disciple of Mahavishnu Swami who also plays
accordion, sang a joyful kirtana
too, and his guru danced.
An
Indian Lebara salesman bought water for everyone in our party.
I
was wondering how I was going to cover the price of my £13 week bus
ticket for Manchester, but Raghunatha Bhatta Prabhu of Bristol, who
was with the swami’s party, let me distribute his books and keep
the money and as well as the rest of the books, so I got £10 from
that on that very day.
Toshan
Krishna Prabhu, who spent almost six months with Rama Raya Prabhu’s
harinama
party
in Union Square Park, set up a similar program in Manchester with our
friend from Michigan, Bhakta Dan, who also did much harinama
in
New York.
They
had a little altar, his Gopal deity, books, incense, and a donation
box, and they would sit down on a cloth and chant for five or six
hours a day. I would join them for three hours, when I was not
traveling to Sheffield, Preston, Leeds, or Liverpool.
I
would sing part of the time, and the rest of the time dance and
invite people, who were obviously somewhat attracted, to the temple
programs.
While
chanting there in Manchester, I met a young Indian man from
Huddersfield, between Manchester and Leeds, but closer to Leeds. I
gave him all the details for the Leeds programs, and he surprised me
by coming the next Sunday and bringing his friend and his uncle. His
uncle bought a Bhagavad-gita
from
me and gave me a nice donation.
In
the course of my travels, I sometimes see things that I have never
seen before, like a street musician with a monkey mask playing the
drum.
Preston
Sacred Sounds Event
Once
a month devotees in Preston have a Sacred Sounds event which consists
of three hours of chanting and some spiritual food. It is to
introduce people who are musically inclined to the chanting of the
Vedic mantras, particularly the Hare Krishna mantra. They have some
regulars who come every month, and some new people also come.
My
friends Toshan Krishna and Bhakta Dan Prabhus, who play in the
24-hour kirtana
in
Vrindavan and who have been part of the six-hour harinama
in
New York City’s Union Square, kindly agreed to come and share their
enthusiasm for kirtana
with
the people. Both led attractive tunes and people appreciated.
One
lady who came for the first time, learned the mantra, and when the
leader gave everyone the chance to lead the chanting of one mantra,
she chanted it perfectly. She also got very much into the dancing.
It
was a typical late night program that messed up everyone’s
schedule, but on the bright side, several people participated
enthusiastically, and the one new lady had a very positive
introduction to kirtana.
Liverpool
Monthly Program
I
was surprised to meet at our monthly program in Liverpool one girl
named Meg, who had seen the extra harinama
that
I had attended with Sutapa Prabhu and his devotees from the Manor the
previous week.
She
had followed the party for some time, talked to one of the local
devotees, heard of the monthly program and decided to come the
following week. She got there early, helped the devotees cook, bought
some japa
beads,
and stayed late to help straighten up the room. Another new person
also came.
One
young Oriental lad came for the second time and also stayed to help
straighten up the room.
In Liverpool, the university has a meditation
newsletter which the devotees’ program is mentioned in, and often
people come from that. It was great to see there in Liverpool a
program attended by both committed regulars and new people.
York
Harinama
I
was happy to see that Govardhan Devi Dasi and her husband, John, have
increased the size of their party with the addition of Preitie, a
young Indian devotee lady with lots of energy, who comes from Leeds
to assist them on their Saturday harinamas.
Although
York is much smaller that Leeds, Liverpool, and Sheffield, the other
cities in the north where we do harinama,
it
is said to be the biggest tourist city in England outside of London
itself, and on Saturdays it is busy with national and international
tourists. I sang for an hour or so before Govardhan and her husband
joined me and then Preitie came later on.
I was surprised to see the
enthusiasm of Govardhan and Preitie for singing and dancing in the
rain, especially considering Govardhan is senior to me in age.
Thanks to Govardhan’s husband, John, for taking the pictures. He is in the picture below at the Quaker meetinghouse, the venue for our monthly programs in York.
Our altar and our book table there are the most beautiful of all the nama-hattas in The North of England.
The mantra sign, to the right, is also unique.
Leeds
Harinama
I
was very impressed by the enthusiasm for harinama
in
Leeds. The weather was either raining or just about to rain for much
of the time. All I had in the beginning was a pair of karatalas.
My
harinama
friends,
Toshan Krishna and Bhakta Dan Prabhus, who had their own
instruments, did not want to continue traveling with me, and the
local devotees did not bring any instruments. One young lady from
Latvia named Elina, who had recently moved to the Leeds area, but who
had not yet attended devotees’ meetings and who had never been on
harinama
before,
decided to come because of attraction to harinama
videos
she had seen on YouTube. I was worried about the kind of experience
she would have because when she joined us there was just me and one
or two older ladies. Later things picked up.
Govardhan Dasi saved the
day, spontaneously driving an hour and forty minutes from her home in
Scarborough, with both a harmonium and a mrdanga,
being
inspired by the previous day’s harinama
in
York. Manoharini Radha Dasi engaged many of the ladies in dancing in
a pattern and made Elina feel part of the team. John, who has been
coming ever since he got an invitation from me last year, and another
new devotee man, enthusiastically distributed invitations.
John,
here holding the pamphlet I originally gave him, was so enthusiastic
in distributing the invitations that although it was raining half the
time, he said that it did not feel that two hours had passed. I was
very impressed to see the enthusiasm of the Leeds devotees on the
rainy harinama.
Govardhan
indicated that she would be willing to come regularly and do harinama
before
the Leeds program on the last Sunday of the month, and that would be
a great boon for them.
Thanks to Raj Prabhu for taking the pictures of the Leeds harinama.
Newcastle
Area Harinamas
I
chanted in Newcastle for five days out of the last six days of the
month, going out for three hours a day. Almost one hour was spent
chanting, coming and going, between the temple and Northumberland
Street, a busy shopping street. During that two hours I was on
Northumberland, people would give me between £6.40 ($11) and £8.50
($14.50), and I would give out invitations to the temple and
distribute a few books, often Chant
and Be Happy.
It is so long ago, I cannot remember any special details, except for
on the day of the eight-hour kirtana,
which
I’ll mention later.
The
day did not chant in Newcastle, Caitanya-candrodaya Prabhu and I had
lunch at Bhakti Rasa Prabhu’s house near Hexham. His wife, Kirtida
dd made awesome lasagna. Afterward we did harinama
in
Hexham for an hour.
Caitanya-candrodaya
Prabhu took this picture of us chanting in front a shop called
humorously enough, “Hares of Hexham.”
During
the course of the harinama
we
met a lady who was very happy to see us, having seen the devotees on
a harinama
in
Hexham earlier in the year.
ISKCON
Newcastle’s 12th
Monthly Eight-Hour Kirtana
I
wasn’t planning to do harinama
before Hare Krishna Newcastle’s 12th monthly eight-hour kirtana,
but sunny Saturdays are rare and I like going out, so I did. On the
way to my spot, an older man said, “You a Hare Krishna? Got any
books for sale?” I pulled out a soft Gita,
saying, “These are £5.” He said, “I just happen to have £5”
and bought it. A great start for a great day!
I
was very inspired to see the complete dedication of many Newcastle
devotees to their monthly eight-hour kirtana.
In addition to chanting, these enthusiastic devotees were fully
engaged in decorating, cooking, and serving prasadam.
A couple Indian youths drove 3½ hours from Birmingham for the event.
Yuka,
from Japan, who studied in nearby Durham, where she met the devotees,
came all the way from Derby to chant and dance with her old devotees
friends.
When
I suggested to my Newcastle friends they do a twelve-hour kirtana
a
year ago, they decided it was more realistic to do an eight-hour one,
and they enthusiastically did their
first eight-hour kirtana
on
the first Ekadasi in June. I had no idea they would appreciate it so
much they would make it a regular monthly event and do it for twelve
months without fail!
Radhe
Shyam Prabhu, one of the main organizers of the event, was our first
singer.
I
also sang near the beginning. I chanted just half an hour so others would have time to sing.
Kirill,
from Russia, played guitar.
Anjali,
new from last year, sang beautifully, getting the guys dancing.
Dhananjaya
Prabhu, who has been part of ISKCON Newcastle for many years sang,
and when he was not singing, he would often play the bass.
In
our eight-hour kirtana
sometimes
the guys danced with great enthusiasm.
Sometimes
the ladies were inspired to dance.
Sometimes
they swung the kids.
Sometimes
everybody danced in jubilation.
Sometimes
devotees leaped into the air.
We
kept the door to the temple open, hoping to create interest in
passersby. Many appreciated from the doorway, and a few came in and
stayed one for some time.
One
new lady from the street even danced. She brought friends to a Sunday
program a month later.
In
addition to chanting for eight hours from noon to 8:00 p.m. they have
lunch at 3:00 p.m. and dinner at 8:00 p.m.
I
was amazed that there were five desserts for lunch, along with quite
a number of other preparations.
At
the first event last year, there was one meal of four sweets and three other preparations.
This
year during my travels in the UK, I mentioned the Newcastle
eight-hour kirtana
and
for the June event, devotees came from Edinburgh and Karuna Bhavan in
Scotland, and the two Birmingham devotees returned. Actually when I think
about the other temples I go to, even in big cities, it is rare to
have an eight-hour kirtana
every
month. That is an opulence of Newcastle ISKCON and shows the
dedication of the Newcastle devotees to kirtana.
Srila
Prabhupada explains in his purport to Bhagavad-gita
2.69
that “the sage feels transcendental pleasure in the gradual
advancement of spiritual culture.” Here in my spring/summer base in
The North of England, I feel pleasure seeing new people coming in
touch with the spiritual practice of Krishna consciousness and
existing devotees coming to increased levels of enthusiasm for it.
All glories to Lord Caitanya’s auspicious sankirtana
movement,
giving humanity transcendental knowledge and pleasure through the
medium of the congregational chanting of the holy name of the Lord!
The photos I took of these events which I did not use in this journal can be seen by clicking on the link below:
Insights
Srila
Prabhupada:
from
The Nectar of Devotion, Chapter
34:
No
one, while remaining on the material platform, should discuss these
different descriptions of bhava and anubhava by quoting
different statements of transcendental literatures. Such
manifestations are displays of the transcendental pleasure potency of
the Lord. One should simply try to understand that on the spiritual
platform there are many varieties of reciprocal love. Such loving
exchanges should never be considered to be material. In the
Mahabharata, Udyama-parva, it is warned that things
which are inconceivable should not be subjected to arguments.
Actually, the transactions of the spiritual
world are inconceivable to us in our present state of life. Great
liberated souls like Rupa Gosvami and others have tried to give us
some hints of transcendental activities in the spiritual world, but
on the whole these transactions will remain inconceivable to us at
the present moment. Understanding the exchanges of transcendental
loving service with Krishna is possible only when one is actually in
touch with the pleasure potency of the Supreme Lord.”
from
Sri Caitanya-caritamrita Madhya 15.120, purport:
“Unless
Sri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu discloses the fact, no one can
understand who is actually a great devotee of the Lord engaged in His
service. It is therefore said in the Caitanya-caritamrita
(Madhya 23.39), tanra vakya, kriya, mudra vijñeha na bujhaya:
even the most perfect and learned scholar cannot understand a
Vaishnava’s activities. A Vaishnava may be engaged in governmental
service or in a professional business so that externally one cannot
understand his position. Internally, however, he may be a
nitya-siddha Vaishnava—that is, an eternally liberated
Vaishnava.”
from
a lecture on Srimad-Bhagavatam
1.5.32
on August 13, 1974, in Vrindavana, India:
If you execute this
devotional service, immediately you become free from the threefold
miseries.
Chant
Hare Krishna, take prasadam, and
work for Krishna. The result is you will go back to Godhead.
Even
if there is difficulty, do not give up the association of the
devotees.
You
can understand Krishna or see Krishna. It is only possible by
service.
from
Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 15.237, purport:
“In
the Hare Krishna movement, the chanting of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, the dancing in ecstasy and the eating of the remnants of food offered to the Lord are very, very important. One may be illiterate or incapable of understanding the philosophy, but if he partakes of these three items, he will certainly be liberated without delay.”
from
The
Nectar of Devotion,
Chapter 40:
“No
one should claim his eternal relationship with Krishna unless he is
liberated. In the conditioned state of life, the devotees have to
execute the prescribed duties as recommended in the codes of
devotional service. When one is mature in devotional service and is a
realized soul, he can know his own eternal relationship with Krishna.
One should not artificially try to establish some relationship. In
the premature stage it is sometimes found that a lusty, conditioned
person will artificially try to establish some relationship with
Krishna in conjugal love. The result of this is that one becomes
prakrita-sahajiya, or one who takes everything very cheaply.
Although such persons may be very anxious to establish a relationship
with Krishna in conjugal love, their conditioned life in the material
world is still most abominable. A person who has actually established
his relationship with Krishna can no longer act on the material
plane, and his personal character cannot be criticized.”
from
Srimad-Bhagavatam
7.13.8,
purport:
“Temples
and monasteries should be constructed for the preaching of spiritual
consciousness or Krishna consciousness, not to provide free hotels
for persons who are useful for neither material nor spiritual
purposes. Temples and monasteries should be strictly off limits to
worthless clubs of crazy men. In the Krishna consciousness movement
we welcome everyone who agrees at least to follow the movement’s
regulative principles—no illicit sex, no intoxication, no
meat-eating and no gambling. In the temples and monasteries,
gatherings of unnecessary, rejected, lazy fellows should be strictly
disallowed. The temples and monasteries should be used exclusively by
devotees who are serious about spiritual advancement in Krishna
consciousness.”
from
Srimad-Bhagavatam
7.13.9,
purport:
“Such
a sannyasi is free to accept or reject the marks of sannyasa. His only thought is ‘Where is there an opportunity to spread Krishna consciousness?’ Sometimes the Krishna consciousness movement sends its representative sannyasis to foreign countries where the danda and kamandalu are not very much appreciated. We send our preachers in ordinary dress to introduce our books and philosophy. Our only concern is to attract people to Krishna consciousness. We may do this in the dress of sannyasis or in the regular dress of gentlemen. Our only concern is to spread interest in Krishna consciousness.”
Satsvarupa
Dasa Goswami:
from
“Poem
for May 16” in Viraha
Bhavan:
Today’s
drawing shows three
devotees dancing and chanting
with upraised arms.
One is a brown-faced woman
and two are young men.
Harinama brings together
many varieties of people,
and they all get along
amicably and chastely.
They may have different
opinion and moods,
but when they get together
and sing Hare Krishna they are
a unified group.
Harinama is a
great melting pot
where all people
of different backgrounds
mix harmoniously.
This is because beneath
all the external differences
we are all spirit-souls,
servants of Krishna.
In harinama the
superficial differences
are forgotten and
the spiritual oneness
becomes prominent.
devotees dancing and chanting
with upraised arms.
One is a brown-faced woman
and two are young men.
Harinama brings together
many varieties of people,
and they all get along
amicably and chastely.
They may have different
opinion and moods,
but when they get together
and sing Hare Krishna they are
a unified group.
Harinama is a
great melting pot
where all people
of different backgrounds
mix harmoniously.
This is because beneath
all the external differences
we are all spirit-souls,
servants of Krishna.
In harinama the
superficial differences
are forgotten and
the spiritual oneness
becomes prominent.
Mahavishnu
Swami:
Srila
Vyasadeva is the original sankirtana
devotee [distributor of transcendental literature].
We are engaged in distributing Srila Vyasadeva’s work.
The
Srimad-Bhagavatam convinces us that the Absolute Truth, the
source of all energies, is a person.
You
are not from any of these places [America, Canada, England, etc.].
Before you were born, where were you? You do not know.
Lord
Caitanya desired that all people hear Bhagavad-gita
and
Srimad-Bhagavatam
to
become free from lamentation,
illusion, and fearfulness.
Srila
Prabhupada said in a conversation, “When I came to America, I gave.
Others went to take. I did not want to take anything, I wanted to
give.”
Srila
Prabhupada saw that if no one was going to bring Krishna
consciousness to the West, then he must do it.
Srila
Prabhupada admitted his books were not up to the scholarly standard
and thus he engaged editors like Pradyumna and Jayadvaita.
Srila
Prabhupada was firmly fixed in the conclusion of the
Srimad-Bhagavatam
that
material advancement of civilization is a waste of time. Life is
meant for understanding and perfecting our relationship with God.
Because
Srila Prabhupada was so submissive to Krishna’s desire to preach,
desiring to dance as He liked, Krishna empowered him.
Manchester
has everything but mini-Prabhupadas—people enthusiastic to share
Krishna consciousness.
If
there is nobody to do it in this world I must do it.
No
one knows who to love, or with whom we have the ultimate relationship
of love. Once they know that ultimate relationship, they can learn
how to love others.
Spiritually
we are stunted.
People
are thinking somewhere out there in this world there is real
happiness.
Kesava
Bharati Swami used to have a room in the Soho temple, and people from
the lunch program would come and he would answer their questions for
hours. As a result many people joined the Krishna consciousness
movement.
Reading
Srila
Prabhupada-lilamrita and
associating with Srila Prabhupada’s early disciples can give us
conviction in Krishna consciousness.
The
early UK devotees were successful because of their love and gratitude
for Srila Prabhupada.
Srila
Prabhupada was so bold. In London he had the devotees announce the
installation of the deities although they did not have deities.
There
is a pastime in Mula Prakriti Devi Dasi’s book about when Srila
Prabhupada was living in Delhi. A man offered to clean his room, and
while doing so removed the spider webs from it. Seeing this, Srila
Prabhupada expressed dismay, saying, “The spiders were the original
tenants. They were here before me.”
Radhanath
Swami:
from
a recorded lecture:
Our
spiritual advancement is there according to how much we are willing
to cooperate to expand the Lord’s mission.
Things
do not happen automatically. Krishna’s mercy comes in reciprocation
for our sincerity.
Due
to their humility, the great devotees would cry to Lord Krishna, and
by that consciousness of Krishna, they would feel Krishna’s
presence.
People
leave their Deity worship and their gurus looking for “the nectar,”
but the real nectar is in devotional service.
Nagaraja
Prabhu:
from
“Magical Distractions” in Back
To Godhead, Vol.
48, No. 5:
“The
Internet and the smart phone haven’t solved our greatest problem:
we’re all going to die. While our eyes are glued to our digital
screens, time is stealing our limited stock of days.”
“Srila
Prabhupada writes, ‘The material world is an illusory energy to
deviate the living entities from the path of self-realization.’”
Navina
Syama Prabhu:
from
“Taking Shelter” in Back
to Godhead, Vol.
48, No. 5:
As Srila Prabhupada
instructed, “The more one sleeps, that means he’s under the
control of maya.” (Lecture, Mumbai, December 22, 1975) This
is why he insisted that his followers rise at the brahma-muhurta
hour, well before dawn, and seek comfort instead in the early-morning
chanting of the holy names. “If you want to follow Caitanya
Mahaprabhu, there is no question of sleeping in the morning.”
(Conversation, Aligarh, India, September 9, 1976)
Back
to Godhead magazine, Vol. 48, No. 5, from the “Vedic Thoughts”
page:
from
Rg Veda 1.156.3, [quoted in Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.2.49,
purport]:
“O Vishnu, Your name is completely transcendental. Thus it is self-manifest. Indeed, even without properly understanding the glories of chanting Your holy name, if we vibrate Your name with at least a small understanding of its glories – that is, if we simply repeat the syllables of Your holy name – gradually we shall understand it.”
from
Skanda
Purana 3.4.4–5:
Parasara
Muni said, “You should know, O best of brahmanas,
that in each cycle of four ages the branches of the Vedas are thus
organized by a different Vyasa. But Krishna-dvaipayana Vyasa, know it
well, is the Supreme Lord Narayana Himself. Who else on earth, O
Maitreya, could be the author of the Mahabharata?”
from Sri
Naradiya, quoted in Caitanya-bhagavata, Adi-khanda 16.283:
“Compared to a
person who is attached to chanting japa, the person who
performs loud chanting of the holy name of Sri Hari is one hundred
times better. This is because the person who chants japa
purifies himself, whereas the person who chants the holy name loudly
in kirtana purifies himself, all those who are with him, and
everyone else who hears the holy vibration.”
Caitanya-candrodaya
Prabhu:
A
simple person with a simple heart who is just trying to be Krishna
consciousness, what they cook, that is real prasadam.
Raghunatha Bhatta
Prabhu:
[Regarding the love
of God awakened through the chanting:] There is no frustration in
that love and no end to that love.
Toshan Krishna
Prabhu:
The
mantra is everything. There is nothing higher than the mantra. There
is nothing that I can put into the kirtana
to make it better for you. You have your own relationship with the
Personality of Godhead. You have to put into it yourself. In the
kirtana, I hear from
you and you hear from me. Although there are many of you and one of
me, we are both chanting and hearing.
Bhakta Dan:
This chanting can
bring about that happiness we are looking for deep in our hearts.
The
maha-mantra
is
the best mantra. The fruit of it is to sing and dance eternally in
the spiritual world with Krishna, the Supreme.
Purushottam
Kumar:
from
“Time for the Journey Back Home”
in Back
to Godhead, Vol.
48, No. 5:
“Suppose
you are presented with a luxury car, say a Rolls Royce, with a
warning that it contains a bomb that will definitely explode at some
unrevealed time. Who would be drawn by the charm of owning such a
luxurious suicide car? The unequivocal response would be, ‘No sane
person would even look at it.’ But all of us own such a vehicle and
are obsessed by it. We call it our body, and we go overboard to
display
our fondness for it.”
Jake:
One
time I analyzed what I do and what I want to get from it, and I found
that everything I was doing I was doing for some motive except coming
to the temple.
Anu:
I
had emotions like arrogance, and I always thought that they were
perfectly OK, but now I feel as a servant of the Lord and his
devotees, I should not have such emotions.
Kirill:
I
feel to lose the mercy of the Lord is the greatest loss.
Anjali:
What
I am concerned with now is how to have a deeper relationship with
God, how to relate nicely with others, and how to reciprocate with
those who have helped me so far.
Attendee
at a nama-hatta
program:
Another
way we can understand that a vegetarian diet is natural for human
beings is to consider our behavior when we are hungry. If we see some
fruit, we will naturally think of eating it, but if we see a cow, we
will not think of eating that.
Anonymous
devotee:
The
reason I am not Christian or Muslim is I like prasadam.
-----
ceto-darpana-marjanam
bhava-maha-davagni-nirvapanam
sreyah-kairava-candrika-vitaranam
vidya-vadhu-jivanam
anandambudhi-vardhanam
prati-padam purnamritasvadanam
sarvatma-snapanam
param vijayate sri-krishna-sankirtanam
“Glory to the Sri
Krishna sankirtana, [the congregational chanting of the holy
name of Lord Krishna] which cleanses the heart of all the dust
accumulated for years and extinguishes the fire of conditional life,
of repeated birth and death. This sankirtana movement is the
prime benediction for humanity at large because it spreads the rays
of the benediction moon. It is the life of all transcendental
knowledge. It increases the ocean of transcendental bliss, and it
enables us to fully taste the nectar for which we are always
anxious.” (Lord Caitanya in His Siksastakam, verse 1)