Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 10, No. 21
By Krishna-kripa das
(November 2014, part one)
New York City
(Sent from Brooklyn, New York, on December 16, 2014)
Where I Went and What I Did
By Krishna-kripa das
(November 2014, part one)
New York City
(Sent from Brooklyn, New York, on December 16, 2014)
Where I Went and What I Did
I
continued chanting with the New
York Harinam party organized by Rama Raya Prabhu in Union Square
Park, from 1:30 to 7:30 p.m. every day. In the evenings, we continued
engaging passersby in offering candles to a picture of Krishna in His
childhood feature of Damodar, until the month of Karttika ended. On
rainy and cold days we chanted in subway stations at Union Square and Times Square in
Manhattan and Jackson Heights in Queens.
I
include quotes and notes on Srila Prabhupada's books and lectures,
some notes on Tamal Krishna Goswami's memoirs, and notes on the
classes at the Harinam Ashram by Abhiram Prabhu, Laksmi Nrsimha
Prabhu, Rama Raya Prabhu, and Jayadeva Prabhu, who was visiting from
South Africa. I was especially impressed this issue by great number
of useful realizations of Laksmi Nrsimha Prabhu. I also have a great
quote from Back
to Godhead by
Nagaraja Prabhu.
Itinerary
December
16 to 20: New York City Harinam
December
21: Albany, New York, with family
December
22 to 30: San Juan, Puerto Rico
December
31 to April 2015: Florida (Gainesville, Tallahassee, Jacksonville,
and Tampa)
Harinama
in New York City
I
share stories, photos, and videos from harinamas
in
New York City, at Union Square Park, and the subway stations at Union
Square, Times Square, and Jackson Heights / Roosevelt Avenue.
Sometimes
encouraging passersby to offer candles to the picture of Lord Krishna
as the child Damodara, along with His mother, was a challenge.
One
Afro American guy, when I inquired, “Would you like to offer a
candle?” said, “Are you crazy?” I did not think of anything to
say other than “No.”
One
lady did not want to offer a candle to a pagan God saying it was
against her religion. I mentioned that the Catholics consider the
forms of the saints to be worth of respect, but she replied she was
Jewish and did not believe in that. I explained that God had his
personal and impersonal features and both were worthy of worship, and
I wished her a pleasant day, thanking her for her time.
On
the bright side, one young lady was happy to offer the candle and to
get a card for the Bhagavad-gita
classes,
saying she would definitely go.
Here is another guy happy to
offer a candle.
Sometimes quite a crowd would
watch.
I
offered someone a Krishna:
Reservoir of Pleasure,
and he declined saying, “I am alright.” I replied, “I can see
you are alright, but you could be better!” As he continued walking,
he said thoughtfully, “That is true.” A partial victory.
One
girl seemed happy to see the devotees, and I gave her some shakers to
shake. Then I motioned for her to sit down and she did so
and listened to the chanting with great absorption.
Then
she started to chant as well. She
explained that she was in a jolly mood and decided to celebrate by
chanting with Hare Krishnas.
She must have stayed a whole hour playing the shakers and even
chanting a lot of the time. When she got up to leave I suggested that
she get a CD but she said she was spending her last money on a
therapy session. I said if you listen to the CD, you will not need a
therapy session. I explained that when my last girlfriend broke up
with me, I took shelter of the chanting and surpassed my lamentation
and that my guru approved of my program of chanting therapy. She said
she would definitely be back to chant with us.
One lady with a blissful smile
on her face took a picture of our party in the Times Square subway
station. She told me she knew Hare Krishnas from Amsterdam. I told
her how Hare Krishna founder, Srila Prabhupada, spoke in Vondelpark
there in the 1970s. She said that she remembered that because her
parents were hippies living there at that time. I gave her an
invitation to our temple in Amsterdam, and she said she would give it
to her father.
One
kid loved playing shakers and dancing to our kirtana
in
the Union Square subway station.
He was really into it as you
can see from this video
(http://youtu.be/jJgub2nvd8o?list=UUyX3GeJnezBLxReGX0S6BTw):
A lady also danced in the subway station there.
A
couple danced to our kirtana
at
Union Square.
One man played his djembe,
and Lee, aged 70, a regular,
played his flute.
Two young ladies sat down with
us and loved hearing the chanting and playing the shakers.
Another couple took pleasure
in dancing with Bhagavatananda Prabhu and an onlooker took a picture
of the scene.
Two young ladies really
delighted in playing the shakers and dancing.
More students from New York
Film Academy came to Union Square and filmed the devotees. I talked
to them afterward and mentioned how Mijal, also a student there, had
made a documentary on one of our devotees. Eliana, Mijal's
instructor, said she was just telling the students about Mijal and
her Hare Krishna documentary when I came up to talk to them.
I gave Eliana a Krishna:
Reservoir of Pleasure, and she
and another lady on the film crew looked at it with interest.
She smiled when she noticed
that I was photographing her. Usually she is on the other end of the
camera!
When Natabara Gauranga Prabhu
was singing, a small girl began dancing, perhaps inspired by Isaiah,
who enjoys dancing with us regularly.
You can see them both dancing
in this video
(http://youtu.be/mYu6SNk6xDs?list=UUyX3GeJnezBLxReGX0S6BTw):
Once the police stopped us
from playing the drum as people had complained to them about drumming
in the Square, probably because of some of the other park drummers.
We
did a standing up kirtana, just
playing the karatalas.
It
became pretty lively with lots of dancing.
Once while Ananta Prabhu was
leading a lively kirtana, one guy took pleasure in dancing
(http://youtu.be/nAZrtpi7TMY?list=UUyX3GeJnezBLxReGX0S6BTw).
New York City has quite a
variety of people, some quite eccentric in attire and behavior. Some
attract quite a crowd, and this is sometimes a curse and sometimes a
blessing. Sometimes the eccentrics draw the attention of the
onlookers, and even sometimes the devotees themselves, away from the
chanting of the holy name. But they also get people who have no
interest in our chanting to stay within earshot for a lot longer than
they otherwise would and thus become elevated by the spiritual
vibrations, even without their knowledge.
On Halloween, the guy I
refer to as the bird man came by.
He has a bird perched on his head,
and he wears quite a costume. Although it was Halloween, I have seen
him dressed that way on other occasions.
In the beginning of November,
the cat man come by. He has trained his cat to feel completely
satisfied to sit on the man's head.
The man even did a few dance
steps, while cat remained in his fixed position.
One of my favorite subway venues is the Jackson Heights / Roosevelt Ave. subway station.
Ananta
Prabhu sang at Jackson Heights and people liked to listen and a few even danced
(http://youtu.be/GCJx59o1zE0?list=UUyX3GeJnezBLxReGX0S6BTw):
One older man takes
pleasure in dancing with us almost every time we go there.
Rachel would distribute books
there.
Once
in Jackson Heights, a young Afro-American lady with a bright smile,
obviously happy to hear our singing, ascended the stairway across the
hallway from us, glancing in our direction. I came over and offered
her a Krishna:
Reservoir of Pleasure, saying
it described our spiritual practice from India, involving meditation
and yoga. She declined to accept it, saying she was a Christian. I
explained that it was universal knowledge, but she remained doubtful.
I decided to try to give her a cookie, saying enthusiastically, “We
have free cookies today. Do Christians eat cookies?” She said,
“Yes.” and I got her a cookie from the table. She ate the cookie,
continuing to listen to the chanting, and before she left she came up
to me and said, “Christian or no Christian, you are one of the
friendliest people I have met in quite a while.” To
see photos I took but did not include in this journal, click on this
link:
On the Disappearance of
Urjasvat Prabhu
Laksmi Nrsimha Prabhu:
Urjasvat
Prabhu was always
jolly, relishing every aspect of Krishna consciousness, playing the
mrdanga,
chanting
“Hari Haribol,” taking prasadam,
associating
with devotees, and reading
Srila
Prabhupada’s books. He was put in change of the program for new
devotees in New York, and you could see why. Everyone
loved to be with him. In 1975 we had 30 or 40 devotees, and in 1980
when we sold the building we had 200 devotees.
Every
Saturday night we would go on harinama
a
100 or 200 devotees strong.
He later took over as temple
president in the Dominican Republic for many years.
He was found lying on the
floor, clutching a favorite book of Lord Caitanya’s glories. The
day before he had said, “I am just looking in the sky for the
Vaikuntha Express to come and get me.”
Rama Raya Prabhu:
He
visited New York not
too long ago and
with great difficulty came on harinama.
He
classes after his
stroke were extremely powerful realizations of Krishna consciousness.
He
told me in the 1970s
to chant Hare Krishna and there will be no problems. Now looking back
on everything, I can see he was right.
Insights
Srila
Prabhupada:
from a conversation with
disciples in Rome, Italy, in May 1974:
“Many
a rascal thinks that now that he has gotten a human body, he can
never again be degraded to the animal species. . . . But nature will
force him to accept the body of a cat or dog. The decision is not
yours but that of the superior authorities – just as in the office,
when you get promoted or demoted, the decision is not yours but that
of the directors. You cannot say, ‘No, no. I am not going to accept
this new post.’ No. You have to accept.”
from an initiation lecture in
Toronto, Canada, on June 17, 1976:
“If
you purify your existence by tapasya
[austerity],
then you will be happy eternally. There will be no end. Here in the
material world any happiness is temporary – either for five minutes
or five days or five years or five hundred years or five millions of
years. It will end. But if you purify your existence, then the
happiness will never end.”
from
Srimad-Bhagavatam
7.15.24, purport:
“People
do not know that because of killing innocent animals they themselves
will have to suffer severe reactions from material nature. Any
country where people indulge in unnecessary killing of animals will
have to suffer from wars and pestilence imposed by material nature.
Comparing one’s own suffering to the suffering of others,
therefore, one should be kind to all living entities.”
from
Srimad Bhagavtam
10.9.19, purport:
“A
devotee can understand how powerful is unalloyed devotional service
to Krishna;
it is so powerful that Krishna
can be controlled by an unalloyed devotee. This bhrtya-vasyata
does not mean that He is under the control of the servant; rather, He
is under the control of the servant’s pure love.”
from
Srimad Bhagavtam
10.6.27–29,
purport:
The
Ayurveda-sastra
[the medical division of the Vedas] recommends, aushadhi
cintayet vishnum:
even while taking medicine, one should remember Vishnu, because the
medicine is not all and all and Lord Vishnu is the real protector.
The material world is full of danger (padam
padam yad vipadam).
a
letter to Mr. King in February 1975:
“We
practice bhakti-yoga
strictly and since bhakti
includes all other results obtained from practicing other yogas, as
it is declared in the Bhagavad-gita
to be the culmination of all yogas it becomes unnecessary for us to
apply any other techniques besides simply chanting and hearing about
the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, who is called Yogesvara
or the master of all yoga. Of course, it is certain that if one sits
with straight spine it may be of some help in his ability to
concentrate, but it cannot be considered as essential by any means.
That thing which is really essential in bhakti
is to develop one’s eternal dormant love for Krishna.”
from
Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.30.37:
“Lord
Caitanya Mahaprabhu
wanted His followers to move all over the world to preach in every
town and village. In the Caitanya sampradaya,
those who strictly follow the principles of Lord Caitanya must travel
all over the world to preach the message of Lord Caitanya, which is
the same as preaching the words of
Krishna
— Bhagavad-gita
— and Srimad-Bhagavatam.
The more the devotees preach the principles of krishna-katha,
the more people throughout the world will benefit.”
from
a class on Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.9.54 given in Vrindavan:
Dhira
means intelligence. The opposite is crazy or rascal.
Without
understanding what is spirit what is the question of spiritual
advancement of life?
Our
Krishna consciousness movement is to educate the rascals. That is
all.
Those
who are dhira
[sober]
know
“what I am.”
The first question is “what
am I?”
Foolish
people are after preyas,
immediate
benefit, while intelligent people are after sreyas,
ultimate
benefit.
If one wants to enjoy this
material world in sense gratification, he cannot become Krishna
consciousness. That is not possible.
If you are serious about the
ultimate goal of life, you must approach a spiritual master.
If you want to enjoy sense
gratification go to the club, if you are inquisitive about the
ultimate goal of life join the Krishna consciousness movement.
Rascals think they are
independent. Factually no one can extend their life one moment.
By
yoga system one can become dhira.
It
is a mechanical system, but it is valuable because without become
dhira
one
cannot advance in spiritual.
If by great fortune one
encounters a guru, one can progress.
Dhruva’s mother was Krishna
consciousness so he became so nice.
Dhruva went to the forest to
seek Krishna out of sentiment, but Krishna within his heart could see
he was serious, and sent Narada to be his guru.
If one sees Krishna, there is
no more benediction that is needed.
If
one becomes a devotee, he asks for nothing material as Lord Caitanya
teaches, “Na
dhanam na janam na sundarim . . . [No
wealth, no fame, no women . . . ]”
You may have a very beautiful
wife, but how long can you enjoy.
At the time of death, if you
have doggish mentality, you will have to take the body of a dog.
This is going on. You may
believe or not believe. But if you do not believe you are a rascal.
From a lecture on
Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.2.17 given on August 20, 1972, in Los
Angeles:
“This vibration of Hare
Krishna mantra is so strong that it will benefit anyone who hears.
Therefore we are sending sankirtana party. They may understand
or not understand, they may appreciate or not appreciate, we are
forcing them to become pious simply by hearing this Hare Krishna
mantra. It is so nice.”
Tamal
Krishna Goswami:
No one had greater managerial
duties than Srila Prabhupada yet he never missed an opportunity for
direct preaching.
Without gaining the higher
taste from preaching, what is the motivation for maintaining our
strict vows of renunciation?
Abhirama
Prabhu:
Karandhar Prabhu, by his
organization skill, made ISKCON Los Angeles transition from a group
of well-intentioned ex-hippies to an organized effective society.
At this point we have no
actual love and thus the love of the residents of Vrindavan is not
conceivable.
Is there a love song, where
the singer says, “I will love you like anything for two years, and
then I will find someone else, and then I will love them and forget
all about you.”? No, there is no such song, but there is such love
in this world.
90% of Indians do not know
anything about property taxes because they do not have to pay them.
They just build a hut some place, and no one says anything about it.
Because the rope meant to tie
Lord Damodar was a pure devotee of Krishna, it could not think of
tying up Krishna because it knew Krishna as a rascal kid did not want
to be tied up. But as Krishna realized His mother was becoming
frustrated and felt compassion for her, when He agreed to let her
bind Him, the rope assisted.
We start participating in the
pastime by hearing about it, repeating it, etc.
We follow Srila Prabhupada
because he came to the West to save us.
It
is not advisable to think that you can absorb yourself in Krishna’s
pastimes while neglecting the dharma for the age of harinama
sankirtana.
We must be chaste to our
particular guru although there may be many qualified gurus just as a
wife must be chaste to her husband although there are many qualified
men.
When our relationship with the
divine is intact, all our other relationships become complete.
Although Krishna is most
unforgettable, by the strength of his illusory energy, people can
forget Him and lose themselves in all kinds of other relationships.
In this world, we are
attracted by other people’s opulence and consider those people to
be then worthy of our love.
Even the goddess of fortune
cannot imagine how Mother Yasoda can breast feed Krishna and
reprimand Him.
Krishna always has the
pleasure of being the supreme controller, so He becomes eager
experience being controlled.
Because Krishna trusts Yasoda
He is willing to subordinate Himself to her will.
Krishna
book
was one of the first books Srila Prabhupada printed for mass
distribution.
Janmastami is celebrated in a
big way in India, more so in North India than South India.
Messiah was a commonly used
term like guru. Not that there was only one messiah but that there
was one great messiah.
As no one can attain Krishna
without the mercy of the guru, no one can attain Lord Caitanya, who
is Radha-Krishna Themselves, without the mercy of Lord Nityananda.
The Lord invests His potency
in one who is submissive to the previous spiritual teachers.
Like a man who has a son who
has rebelled and gone away may get another son to go find his
brother, so the Lord sends the pure devotee to invite the conditioned
souls to return to Him. Because of their brotherly relationship he
may likely be successful, more so than if the father went himself.
As the movement is growing, it
is becoming like India, and there are many devotees but not all
disciples.
You are not going to get out
of this material world by being a Hindu, but by strictly following
the guru.
Srila
Prabhupada advised, “Do
not associate with the babaji
in
Radha Kund. Do not associate with the residents of Vrindavan. You
will not understand them, and they will not understand you.
Krishna-Balaram is your Vrindavan.”
Krishna
has invited you via this parampara
(spiritual
lineage), and through it is how you will go back to Godhead. It is as
if you get an invitation from the White House to lunch on November
14, you cannot think, “Oh I am pretty busy on the 14th,
I will go on the 12th.”
The
babajis
preserved
the purity of our succession. They
would rather chant alone at a latrine than to be in the association
of neophyte devotees.
We call others Prabhu. When we
do that, it helps us cultivate humility ,and it cultivates in the
others the attitude of giving spiritual shelter.
If we are not different from
others, we will not go to a different place; we will end up in the
same place.
The dean of the liberal arts
college of New York University said in speech, “Liberal arts means
to understand cosmology. By that I mean knowing where am I, where God
is, and what is in-between.”
Everything
is there in Mahabharata.
Srila Prabhupada remembered
everything I said or did.
He would continue a
conversation that he had begun many days before without thinking
anything of it.
Laksmi
Nrsimha Prabhu:
If we say something we have
heard from scriptural authority, it will have the spiritual potency
to liberate people. We may say other things that sound intelligent
and make sense, but they will lack potency.
Why do you want to be another
face in the crowd when Srila Prabhupada gave you enough information
from the scriptures and the previous teachers to glow?
Tamal Krishna Swami and
Vishnujana Swami were called the spider and the spider web.
Vishnujana Swami would attract people, and Tamal Krishna Swami would
convince them to stay.
We must also accept the mood
of the guru in addition to accepting his order.
The
Vedic paradigm is that the siksa-guru
must
have the same mood as one’s diksa-guru.
The
esaraj
was used before the harmonium for Vaishnava bhajana.
Vishnujana Swami said to me,
“Just travel with me for a year and see what you can get out of it,
and if you do not like it, you can leave.” So I joined him 42 years
ago.
Yoga is for people who are
suffering to become free.
The
Bhagavad-gita
first
gives general knowledge, then the confidential knowledge of the self
as beyond the body, then knowledge of the relationship between the
self and the Superself, and ultimately pure devotion to Krishna.
There is no trace of a
separate conception from the Supreme Godhead in the personalities of
the Lord’s eternal associates.
According
to Kavi Karnapura’s Ananta
Vrindavan Campu,
Krishna’s pastimes of killing the demons and His pastimes as a baby
only occur in His pastimes in the material world.
Bhaktivinoda Thakura says that
inattentiveness causes distraction, laziness, and apathy. Attentive
chanting can overcome all the other offenses.
There
are three kinds of sukriti
[meritorious
activities] karma, jnana,
and
bhakti.
The
genius of Srila Prabhupada is that he planted many seeds of bhakti
by
giving people
the opportunity to hear the glories of Krishna.
Srila Prabhupada told one
disciple that she had no previous piety and her attraction to Krishna
was simply mercy.
Sridhara Maharaja said that
Srila Prabhupada was specifically empowered by Lord Caitanya to
spread Krishna consciousness in the West.
You are in the best field, New
York City. I can tell you that by experience. [Laksmi Nrsimha Prabhu
was temple president in New York City for many years.]
There is one prayer by
Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya that glorifies Lord Nityananda in
relationship with His devotees, as the life force of His two wives,
Jahnava and Vasudha, the son of Mother Padmavati, and the spiritual
brother of Lord Caitanya.
Why
does Krishna give four yoga systems and not just bhakti?
Because people have different natures. He knows everyone is looking
for Him, but because of their different natures, they are looking in
different places. Because they do not know Krishna, they seek
pleasure in His external energy, and because it is His energy, there
is a little pleasure there.
God is complete, but how could
He be complete without a form?
Bhakti is not a stepping stone
leading you somewhere. It is the means and the ends.
In
the beginning of Caitanya
Bhagavata the
holding of festivals on the appearance and disappearance days of the
incarnations of the Lord and His pure devotees is stated to be of
great importance.
Janmastami
for me was always simply fasting, kirtana
(chanting),
and Krishna-katha.
It
was always earth shattering news when Srila Prabhupada had serious
health problems. We could not imagine how we could continue the
mission without Srila Prabhupada’s personal guidance. We would hold
twenty-four-hour kirtana
for
his recovery, begging Krishna not to take Srila Prabhupada.
The force of Srila
Prabhupada’s purity generated enthusiasm and determination to
spread Krishna consciousness.
We have to become Krishna
conscious, and we have to convince others.
I was in charge of the money
belt on Radha Damodara. Tamal Krishna told me to never take it off. I
took it off to take a shower. I was late for mangala arati, so
I ran to the temple room with it hanging on a hook in the bathroom.
Tamal Krishna called me into his office, and he said he needed some
money. I reached for the money belt, but it was not there. I went to
look for it, and I could not find it. Tamal Krishna chastised me for
a while, and then handed me the money belt back. That was just to
impress upon me the importance of being responsible. Srila Prabhupada
had done the same with him, and he was doing it to me.
Srila
Prabhupada’s vision was
so
broad that it included seemingly contradictory ideas of preaching. He
encouraged both the sannyasis
and brahmacaris
in their bus program and the grhasthas
in their businesses to support the preaching.
Both management and preaching
must both go on, and those involved in each must appreciate those
involved in the other.
We cannot understand the
greatness of a devotee without service to him.
The Radha Damodara party
picked up many people who would never would have made it a temple. My
friend, Radha Ramana, who joined with me, and I were included among
them. I had tried to live in our Henry Street temple before, but it
was too claustrophobic for me.
Srila Prabhupada was a man of
total practicality.
On the Radha Damodara party we
would occasionally run into the library party, headed by Satsvarupa
Dasa Goswami, which was placing Srila Prabhupada’s books in
university libraries.
My wife’s uncle worked hard
his whole life without taking a vacation until age 72 when he
retired. He then bought round trip plane tickets for he and his wife
to enjoy their first vacation. Unfortunately, while standing in the
check-in line, he died of a heart attack.
Srila Prabhupada, the Six
Goswamis, and Lord Caitanya have given the world pure devotional
service, unmotivated and uninterrupted service to Krishna.
Bhaktivinoda Thakura said that
bhakti can be cultivated through five venues, the mind, the
body, the senses, the natural inclinations of the soul, and through
society. Family life is under the heading of society.
One of the greatest joys of
the householder is that his children become devotees, and one of his
greatest heartbreaks is that they are not so inclined.
If you worship Krishna
regardless of your desires, you become purified, and you do not want
anything.
If one is progressing
spiritually, if Krishna fulfills his material desires, the devotee is
not very much concerned about it.
Destiny is the language of
God. What happens to me is for my benefit. Krishna sees what lessons
we need, and they unfold.
Forget what we have done for
others, remember what others have done for us, and remember death.
We have four voices to contend
with that of the body and senses, that of the mind, that of the
intelligence, that of the ego, and beyond them the voice of the soul.
What you allow yourself to
contemplate you will become attached to. It does not matter if you
have been in the movement for five years or five minutes.
It is the nature of devotional
service that if we live it, we will want to give it, and if we give
it, we will want to live it more.
My father was very strongly
built and was not intimidated by anyone. The only time I saw fear in
my father’s eyes was at the time of death. Without relationship
with Krishna, we cannot be fearless at the time of death, for death
is nothing for a devotee.
Many
brahmacaris
did
join the Radha Damodar party. Hemanga Prabhu wanted to join. The
temple presidents did not want all their men to join our party, so we
told him he could not come. He said, “Suppose I bloop [leave the
temple] and you find me hitchhiking on the street, will you pick me
up?” We said we would and so it happened that way, and he
came on the party.
The neophyte devotee starts
out being enthusiastic about everything, and later sometimes is
unenthusiastic about those things he does not like to do.
We do not see things as they
are but as we are.
Bhakti is taking ourselves out
of the center of the universe and putting Krishna there.
On the Radha Damodara party
when the Christians chanted slogans to disturb us at Berkeley, the
students shouted them down. We did not have to do a thing. We kept on
chanting.
Bhaktivinoda Thakura cites six
types of materialists:
those with no faith in God and
no morals
those with morals but no faith
in God
those with morals and faith in
God but morals are more important
pretenders and their followers
impersonalists
polytheists
Pradyumna
who was knowledgeable in Sanskrit defined bhakti
as
“to make oneself available.”
I tell people that I do not
watch the news because it is the same things, just different names
and places.
Nagaraja Prabhu:
from
“The Alarm is Ringing,” in Back
to Godhead, Vol.
49, No. 2, March / April 2015:
“We’re
all eternal spiritual beings, but we’re asleep in our material
bodies, our present short life of no more eternal significance than
the dream we had last night. The Vedas are the alarm to wake us up to
reality. If we ignore that transcendental sound calling to us from
our eternal home, we’re like the dreamer who thinks his ringing
alarm clock to be a sound within his dream. He just snoozes on, sunk
in deep illusion while life passes by.”
Rama Raya Prabhu:
The greatest fight in our life
is to conquer our own mind and senses.
Srila Prabhupada asked Toshan
Krishna Prabhu how he got the permit for the Ratha-yatra in New York
City. Toshan replied, “I just asked for permission for a parade
with three hand pulled carts, and they gave me a permit.”
Expanding the discussion of
the Lord pastimes with the devotees and others gives joy to the
devotees.
We
are trying to get the mercy of the pure devotee by showing our
sincerity by doing the sadhana
nicely.
In
addition to performing sankirtana
and
engaging others in it, we have to convince others of its paramount
importance.
In 1907 Bhaktivinoda Thakura
wrote his last writing that he cares not for piety but only that
which will assist him in his pure devotional service.
To
preach Krishna consciousness is the only valid reason to leave the
holy dhama.
Bhaktisiddhanta Saravati
Thakura said Radha Kund [Lord Krishna's favorite body of water] would
be very nice if it was rescued from 100 immoral men. Actually these
men are not living at Radha Kund they are living at Naraka Kund
[hell].
Bhaktivinoda Thakura says that
family members who are nondevotees are no better than strangers.
We should be expert in not
creating problems in a situation where there are no problems.
Prabhupada called the 26
Second Avenue, ‘A kindergarten of spiritual life.’
Jayadeva Prabhu [from South
Africa]:
Prahlada Maharaja considered
that material benedictions are a potential obstacle in pure
devotional service and so he did not want any such benediction from
Lord Nrsimha.
By Prahlada Maharaja’s
association we can come up to a higher standard of devotional
service.
If people ask you if Krishna
consciousness is a religion, and you say “yes,” they will not
want to hear about it. If you say it is a spiritual culture, you can
continue the conversation.
If they say “I am God, you
are God, she is God,” if you explain that we are both one with God
and different from God, thus partially accepting what they say, they
may be inclined to continue the conversation or buy a book about
Krishna consciousness and gain higher knowledge.
The intelligence is next to
the soul and meant to protect the soul, but if it is contaminated by
lust we will be mislead. We should neglect our materially
contaminated intelligence, and take direction from our spiritual
master, the revealed books of knowledge, and the community of saints.
Association with preachers is
valuable since one must be empowered by Krishna to preach, and thus
you are associating with people empowered by Krishna.
You can melt the hearts of the
devotees even more by doing service for them.
An advanced disciple
immediately understands what the guru wants.
-----
tattva-vastu—krishna,
krishna-bhakti, prema-rupa
nama-sankirtana—saba
ananda-svarupa
“The Absolute Truth is Sri
Krishna, and loving devotion to Sri Krishna exhibited in pure love is
achieved through congregational chanting of the holy name, which is
the essence of all bliss.” (Sri Caitanya-caritamrita,
Adi-lila 1.96)
