Diary
of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 13, No. 1
By
Krishna-kripa das
(January 2017, part one)
(January 2017, part one)
Hartford,
New York City Harinama, North and Central Florida
(Sent
from Tallahassee, Florida, on February 7, 2017)
Where I Went and What I Did
After spending New Year’s Day in Hartford attending a
three-hour kirtana and hearing from
Niranjana Swami, I returned to New York City for my two last days with the Yuga
Dharma New York City harinama party.
Then I did two days of harinama in
Jacksonville while staying at our new Bhakti House there. After that I did two
days of harinama in Gainesville,
Friday at Krishna Lunch and later with the Alachua devotees at the corner of
the university and Saturday with a group of enthusiastic followers of Dhira
Govinda Prabhu. Then I went to Tallahassee for four days, chanting at Lake Ella
on Sunday and the next three days at Florida State University. Next I attended
a meeting of Bhaktivedanta Institute in Gainesville. Then I chanted at University
of South Florida in Tampa and attended our first program of the semester there.
Friday, as the previous week, I chanted in Gainesville at Krishna Lunch and
later in the afternoon with the Alachua devotees. That weekend I returned to
Tallahassee and chanted at Lake Ella on Saturday and Sunday, and Monday at a
new event for me, the Tallahassee Martin Luther King Day March.
When I first lived in a Hare Krishna temple, at 55th
Street in New York City in 1979, I met Jayadvaita Swami and Niranjana Prabhu
(now Niranjana Swami). In January of 2017, I happened to meet them both again,
and I share notes on their lectures. I share comments by Brahmatirtha Prabhu
from a meeting of Bhaktivedanta Institute in Gainesville. I share notes on
classes by Prabhupada disciple, Mother Nanda, in Gainesville, Janmastami Prabhu
of Mayapur Institute in Alachua, Garuda Prabhu of Tallahassee, and Tulasirani
Devi Dasi in Gainesville. I also share notes on a karatala seminar given by Bhagavata Purana Prabhu of Vrindavan in
Alachua.
Many, many thanks to Niranjana Swami for his wonderful kirtanas, enlightening lectures, private
darsana, and assistance in reaching
my next destination. Thanks to Nama Kirtan Prabhu, president of ISKCON
Tallahassee, for contributing to my travel there. Thanks to Pyari Mohan Prabhu,
temple president of Hartford, for his kind donation. I also thank Naman, who
chanted with me at University of Central Florida last year while doing his
graduate work there in optics, and who is now working in Hartford, for his kind
donation. Thanks to Niset Kamer for his picture of Dorian and me chanting at
the Jacksonville Art Walk.
Itinerary
January 31–February 7: Tallahassee
February 8: Gainesville and Alachua
February 9: USF, Tampa
February 10–11: Gainesville
February 12: Ocala Regional Rainbow Gathering
February 13–15: UNF and Jacksonville Beach Art Walk
February 16: USF, Tampa
February 17–April 8: North and Central Florida campuses
April 9–11: Washington, D.C.
April 12: Albany
April 13: New York City
April 14–September 5: Europe
Expenses
and Income for 2016 in U.S. Dollars
Expenses
|
|
Travel
|
3055.69
|
Maintenance
|
380.68
|
Gifts
|
340.38
|
Electronics
|
141.53
|
Festival Fees
|
77.97
|
Books
|
50.15
|
Food
|
26.49
|
Loans
|
15.00
|
Lost or Stolen
|
8.31
|
Health
|
38.70
|
Extraneous
|
3.19
|
Total Expenses
|
4,138.09
|
Income
|
|
Donations
|
3999.00
|
Cash Rewards
|
307.78
|
Unspecified
|
121.91
|
Books
|
15.15
|
Total Income
|
4,443.84
|
Balance
|
305.75
|
Note:
The values for books are misleading in that some book expenses are for books I
am personally reading, some income from books is included under donations, and
mostly I distribute books belonging to the temples I am residing at, which I do
not account for here.
I
am not a book distributor. I do harinama,
and if people give me donations, I offer them a book. Therefore, I
distribute the most books when I do harinama
in one place, which I did a lot in the month of May. On the walking harinamas organized by others, I chant and dance and distribute
invitations and free pamphlets, unless no one is distributing books at all, and
then I will approach people who seem to have some genuine attraction to the harinama, and mention that these books
explain about what we are doing here, and in this way I sell a few books, which
I do not keep account of.
Book
Sales on Harinama
|
|
In the
North UK in 2016
|
|
By
Krishna-kripa Das
|
|
Month
|
Books
|
April
|
11
|
May
|
88
|
June
|
27
|
July
|
9
|
August
|
14
|
September
|
4
|
Total
|
153
|
New Year’s
Day in Hartford
Because
Niranjana Swami was recovering from jet lag and because I was also a guest,
Hartford temple president, Pyari Mohan Prabhu, engaged me in giving the Srimad-Bhagavatam class in Hartford.
Because it was cold and there were not likely to be many people on the streets
of Hartford, instead of doing three hours of harinama as I usually do, I proposed to the congregation that we
have a three-hour kirtana in the
temple. There were many extra devotees who had attended Niranjana Swami’s
Vyasa-puja the day before and who would be staying for his afternoon Sunday
feast lecture, and I thought that would be a nice engagement for them. Thus it
was settled to have a kirtana from
noon to 3:00 p.m., before the Sunday feast program, which starts with a kirtana at 3:30.
I
started the program with a fifteen-minute kirtana
myself, but as I am not such a great singer and I wanted to encourage others,
I then let others lead. I was happily surprised with the enthusiasm for the
program and with the number of very nice kirtana
singers who were present. Actually I should not have been surprised. Considering
Niranjana Swami has great love for kirtana,
it only makes sense that his disciples and followers also would. I took
videos of some of the devotees singing, which I present in the order in which they sang:
Prema
Bhakti, daughter of Ranjit Prabhu (https://youtu.be/IQkTU6gpFKk):
Niranjana
Swami, GBC and guru (https://youtu.be/OaErTOUkFqY):
Trisakti
Devi Dasi, who lives in Boston (https://youtu.be/uKUvjdpXlOQ):
Both
Niranjana Swami and Pyari Mohan Prabhu were happy I organized the three-hour kirtana (which actually went almost four hours) and positively engaged the
visiting devotees in devotional service, and I was very happy about that.
Niranjana
Swami also led a Hare Krishna kirtana before
his lecture (https://youtu.be/14sGfDluudU):
He
led the Sunday Feast kirtana as well (https://youtu.be/DJejEGO7TSk):
My Last
Two Days with the Yuga Dharma New York City Party
Before
telling about my last two days on harinama
in New York City, I want to share with you some videos I found on my phone
from Christmas in the Times Square subway station:
Rama
Raya Prabhu chants Hare Krishna with joy and intensity on Christmas and several
dance at Times Square subway station (https://youtu.be/y2aI4zOH_LM):
Rama
Raya Prabhu chants Hare Krishna to the tune of “Jingle Bells” (https://youtu.be/pjo9KiQVCXY):
Govind
Prabhu sang a sweet Hare Krishna melody that attracted a nice Christmas crowd (https://youtu.be/5OFs0QXLdyU):
The
day after New Years, we also had a nice crowd of devotees chanting in Times
Square subway station.
Here
Kaliya Krishna Prabhu leads the chanting of Hare Krishna there (https://youtu.be/hpyaJBPcGAc):
The
following day we chanted in Union Square subway station. After returning from
the airport because the Atlanta flight I hoped to fly standby was full, I was
extremely happy to encounter one more kirtana
led by Rama Raya Prabhu (https://youtu.be/Rl3ahK7lI3Q):
His
chanting was so fired up, one passerby stopped to play the shakers, to learn
the mantra, and to sing along (https://youtu.be/juV1tcLiD2M):
Thank
you to Rama Raya Prabhu and all the members of and the supporters of his Yuga
Dharma New York City sankirtana party,
who are keeping the yuga-dharma alive
in that very important city. It was most inspiring to be on their team for
three months, and I hope that by Krishna’s grace, I can come again and be more
of an asset in September.
Harinamas
in Jacksonville
An
event that the Krishna House Gainesville devotees started regularly doing harinama and book distribution at is the
Jacksonville Art Walk on the first Wednesday of each month. Thus after I failed
in my attempt to fly standby to Atlanta on Tuesday, I decided to fly to
Jacksonville on Wednesday. Although the Krishna House devotees did not come
this time, as it was difficult to organize the trip on the first day of the
semester, I was determined to go out and chant anyway.
I was happy that Dorian,
who I chanted with in Orlando last January, had returned to the Jacksonville
area and was pleased to chant with me at the Art Walk for over two hours. Kira
came and chanted an hour and twenty minutes, and Laura for an hour. Both Kira
and Laura danced very nicely, and Kira sang the response loudly and steadily,
making for a nice kirtana. I never
encountered such a high percentage of people who danced to our music, although
we were a very small band. One girl talked to me as I was setting up, saying
she danced with us at the Art Walk two years ago. I told her about our local
programs, and she sounded excited to attend them. I met an older man who I
talked to last year at the Art Walk and who had first seen Hare Krishnas in
1967 in San Francisco and remembered the first Ratha-yatra. He gave a donation
and took a Higher Taste cookbook for
his vegan nephew. One onlooker took this photo of me and Dorian:
I chanted for three hours at Five Points the next day. I met lots of nice people, including two Buddhists and one Christian, who gave donations but did not take books. Kira came out and chanted for 40 minutes. One young man who likes kirtana was happy to hear of our programs.
One guy gave a donation and told how Krishna Lunch got him through
his time at University of Florida, where he got his degree in 1992. He recalled
playing Frisbee with Daru Prabhu, who ran the lunch program then. I offered him a book. I explained Perfection of Yoga was about yoga and
meditation. I pointed to the illustrated cover of Beyond Birth and Death and mentioned how reincarnation is not so
strange as in this one life we have already transmigrated through different
bodies. He took the Beyond Birth and
Death and gave another donation. A talkative sixty-five-year-old lady, who
remembered the Hare Krishnas from Los Angeles in the late 1960s, bought a Higher Taste cookbook to help her move
toward a more healthy diet. My nose got sunburn from sitting in the sun for
three hours, but I did not care, happy to be outside in the sunshine after the
cold times in New York City underground.
Harinama
in Gainesville
chanting at Krishna Lunch
It
was nice to chant with the Krishna House devotees during the Krishna Lunch in
Gainesville, said to be the longest continuously running mass prasadam program in ISKCON (46 years),
where they daily distribute a thousand plates of sanctified vegetarian food and
chant Hare Krishna for two hours.
I
took some videos of the devotees singing at Krishna Lunch two Fridays, January
6 and 13. Unfortunately the volume is very low the first day I recorded them as
I am accustomed to record amplified kirtanas.
Here
Bhagavata Purana Prabhu, who has chanted with the Krishna-Balarama 24-Hour
Kirtana program for years and who was in the USA teaching a karatala workshop, leads the chanting of
Hare Krishna at Krishna Lunch (https://youtu.be/SF6VaPm1LWM):
Here
Hari Priya, youngest daughter of Yadubara and Visakha Prabhus, chants Hare
Krishna at Krishna Lunch (https://youtu.be/9LFkACef3Lo):
Here
Kishor Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Krishna Lunch (https://youtu.be/b2bwy6unPgo):
The
next week Krishna Nama Prabhu chanted Hare Krishna at Krishna Lunch (https://youtu.be/6NGmp0HZDhY):
Here
Prabhupada disciple, Adikarta Prabhu, who distributes books to students at the
university, led the chanting of Hare Krishna (https://youtu.be/gECTIxD3pK4):
chanting with Alachua devotees at the University
of Florida entrance
The
two Fridays I sang at Krishna Lunch at noontime, I chanted with the Alachua
devotees in the late afternoon at the entrance to the University of Florida. I
took videos of different devotees singing.
Krishna
Keshava Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at the University of Florida entrance (https://youtu.be/KIFACM9w6l0):
Here
Krishna Keshava Prabhu chants the following week and a group of passersby dances
with us (https://youtu.be/vY_L8mFrZ1c):
Bhaktin
Christiana chants Hare Krishna at the University of Florida entrance (https://youtu.be/IYq9TA00evs):
Nagaraja
Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at the University of Florida entrance (https://youtu.be/FoJG25RwEgk):
Nagaraja
Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at the University of Florida entrance the following week
(https://youtu.be/y03CUd9qtp4):
Some
of those who take the Satvatove Institute life coaching workshops run by Dhira
Govinda Prabhu become interested in the practice of bhakti-yoga, and several times a year, he arranges harinamas for them in Gainesville. I
have not been doing harinama in
Gainesville on weekends, although I usually do it on weekends everywhere else,
so I was happy to attend Dhira Govinda Prabhu’s Saturday evening harinama, along with some friends from
Krishna House. I was surprised to see the number of people by the bars and
restaurants on University Avenue around 17th Street, and I may do harinama there with Krishna House
devotees in the future. At one point a group of students from Venezuela took
great pleasure in dancing with the devotees. Because I was too busy playing the
instruments, I was unable to take any video of it.
Harinama
at Lake Ella in Tallahassee
I
chanted at Tallahassee’s Lake Ella, two Sundays, one Saturday, and on Martin
Luther King Day, after the march. Sometimes I was joined by both Nama Kirtan
Prabhu and Melanie, and other times by either one of them. Still other times I
chanted alone. I would try to chant for three hours. One day it was so cold, we
had to stop after an hour and a half.
One
retired philosophy professor inquired about the devotees who ran the Higher
Taste restaurants we formerly had in Tallahassee and which he regularly
attended. I told him he could come for the Krishna Lunch on the campus to get
Krishna food, but he said parking was a problem. I suggested he come to our
place after the campus lunch, and we could serve him lunch there, where parking
would not be a problem, but I do not know if he will come.
We
met people who remembered Daru Brahma Prabhu, who previously ran the Krishna
Lunch program, and Nama Kirtan Prabhu met present Krishna Lunch goers he knew.
We met Indian people who did not know ISKCON was present in Tallahassee, and
they were happy to learn of our temple. We met people who loved our music and
our free vegan cookies, and we encountered no negativity.
Chanting
Hare Krishna at Florida State University
I
was happy to chant Hare Krishna behind the main library at FSU on a grassy area
called Landis Green for three hours each weekday. I have a table with books,
invitations to Krishna Lunch and the Sunday Feast, and vegan oatmeal cookies.
Practically
everyone who attended the Krishna Lunch would say very nice things about it.
Still many people, perhaps half the students stopping by my table, had not
heard of it. I would even encounter juniors, who had been attending the school
for 2½ years and who were vegetarian, who still had not heard of Krishna Lunch
before. Every day I would have some friendly conversations and average about
two new names for our mailing list.
One
friendly guy named Chris with the Wesley group on campus took a cookie and
invitation and told me a couple days later that he had his friend pick him up a
Krishna Lunch, and he really liked it. He thought that perhaps one day a week,
he and some of his friends could go to Krishna Lunch as a group. I told him
other groups of friends do that, like a group from the circus. He apparently
knew Garuda Prabhu from his former Peace on Earth Center, and he spoke of
visiting the Sunday Feast with a few friends some time, and I told him that
Garuda comes there each Sunday.
Chanting
Hare Krishna in the Tallahassee Martin Luther King March
Gainesville
and Alachua devotees have been chanting in the Martin Luther King March in
Gainesville for years. During my Florida winters I have usually just spent five
days a month in Tallahassee, and most of my time at Krishna House in
Gainesville, but this year, Ramiya Prabhu encouraged me to spend more time in
Tallahassee, and Kalakantha Prabhu said he had too many people in Krishna
House. Thus I am spending more time in Tallahassee, and because that is where I
was on Martin Luther King Day, I decided to chant in the march there.
Unfortunately,
I could find only one devotee to chant with me, Melanie, so we did not have a
very large party. Still a few people appreciated, and we encountered no
negativity. We chanted for about half an hour in the march and another fifteen
minutes at Cascades Park, before the rest of the program honoring Dr. King got
under way.
I
encouraged my friends at Krishna House to chant in the march in Gainesville,
and I was very happy to learn seventeen of them attended, definitely a new
record for them. One family of onlookers apparently liked the chanting and
dancing so much they participated the whole length of the march, 1.6 miles. The
Tallahassee march was quite a bit shorter, just 0.9 miles.
Chanting
at University of South Florida in Tampa
As
in previous years, I am assisting Ramiya Prabhu in running our weekly programs
at University of South Florida. Because I am in Tallahassee more, I just come every second week this
year.
Because
we had difficulty finding a club president to book rooms for our programs at
USF, we had practically no programs during the fall of 2016.
To
advertise our first program of the spring semester of 2017, I chanted for two
hours and Ananta Devi Dasi, Ramiya Prabhu’s wife, distributed invitations. One
girl, who had come to the club several years ago, came by our table outside the
student center and chanted and played karatalas
for ten minutes.
Amazingly enough we got twelve people to come to
the program. One girl liked it so much she came the next two weeks also, and
several others also became regulars including a guy from Lakeland, whose father
was really into George Harrison and who took a Chant and Be Happy.
There
were some Indians and a young Hispanic lady who had some connection with Hare
Krishna temples before and who were happy to encounter this program at their
university.
It
was very inspiring to see so much initial interest in the club.
SIGNS OF
NOTE
In
the room I stayed in in the Hartford temple, there was a poster entitled “Chant
Anyway” which may inspire you in chanting:
Chant
Anyway!
Your mind is wandering all over the universe
when you chant.
Chant anyway!
Your mind is wandering to the past and future when you chant.
Chant anyway!
You are not able to concentrate on Krishna’s names while you chant.
Chant anyway!
You have no taste for chanting.
Chant anyway!
You have lusty desires.
Chant anyway!
You are making offenses in chanting.
Chant anyway!
You are not praying to Krishna to help you chant better.
Chant anyway!
You often chant late at night.
Chant anyway!
So WHY? Why should you chant despite all the above obstacles?
This is why:
There is no vow like chanting the holy name, no knowledge superior to it, no meditation which comes anywhere near it, and it gives the highest result.
No penance is equal to it, and nothing is as potent or powerful as the holy name.
Chanting is the greatest act of piety and the supreme refuge.
Even the words of the Vedas do not possess sufficient power to describe its magnitude.
Chanting is the highest path to liberation, peace and eternal life.
It’s the pinnacle of devotion, the heart’s joyous proclivity and attraction and the best form of remembrance of the Supreme Lord.
The holy name has appeared solely for the benefit of the living entities as their lord and master, their supreme worshipful object and their spiritual guide and mentor.
Whoever continuously chants Lord Krishna’s holy name, even in his sleep, can easily realize that the name is a direct manifestation of Krishna Himself, in spite of the influences of Kali-yuga.
—Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Saranagati (quoted from Adi Purana)
Chant anyway!
You are not praying to Krishna to help you chant better.
Chant anyway!
You often chant late at night.
Chant anyway!
So WHY? Why should you chant despite all the above obstacles?
This is why:
There is no vow like chanting the holy name, no knowledge superior to it, no meditation which comes anywhere near it, and it gives the highest result.
No penance is equal to it, and nothing is as potent or powerful as the holy name.
Chanting is the greatest act of piety and the supreme refuge.
Even the words of the Vedas do not possess sufficient power to describe its magnitude.
Chanting is the highest path to liberation, peace and eternal life.
It’s the pinnacle of devotion, the heart’s joyous proclivity and attraction and the best form of remembrance of the Supreme Lord.
The holy name has appeared solely for the benefit of the living entities as their lord and master, their supreme worshipful object and their spiritual guide and mentor.
Whoever continuously chants Lord Krishna’s holy name, even in his sleep, can easily realize that the name is a direct manifestation of Krishna Himself, in spite of the influences of Kali-yuga.
—Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Saranagati (quoted from Adi Purana)
Our
Material Disease: Desiring to be the Master
Although
by our very constitution, we are eternal servants of Krishna, in our
conditioned life everyone is trying to be the master. Indeed our society
encourages us to maintain this misconception. I was reminded of this coming
through the Delancey Street / Essex Street subway station after my last day of harinama in New York City:
Although
we imagine ourselves as being the master [German meister], we are becoming slaves of
intoxication. [Jägermeister is a liqueur that is 35% alcohol.]
Better
we become intoxicated by harinama, and
become masters of our senses!
Insights
Jayadvaita Swami:
When
Sanatana Goswami asked Lord Caitanya what are the characteristics of the Kali avatara, Lord Caitanya replied, “We can
understand the avataras from the
description in the sastras.”
I
asked the follower of some guru who claimed to be an incarnation, “Where
is your guru predicted in the sastra [scripture]?”
He
replied, “Yada yada hi dharmasya . . . ”
[The Bhagavad-gita verse, where Krishna
says, “Whenever there is a decline in religion, I descend.”]
That
does not really cut it. In that way you could accept Donald Trump as an
incarnation. [laughter]
It
has to be an easy process for the Kali age, for there are so many difficulties.
Rupa
and Sanatana Goswamis were great scholars and government ministers not
sentimentalists. They must have seen so much cheating going on, but they
accepted Lord Caitanya as genuine.
Where
does one get the intelligence to do the sankirtana? Tesam satata yuktanam . . . dadami
buddhi yogam tam [To those who are constantly devoted to serving Me with
love, I give the understanding] (Bhagavad-gita
10.10).
Sanatana
Goswami accepted Lord Caitanya, and we are following the Goswamis.
Q
(by Kaliyaphani Prabhu): How could the Mayavadis who say one has to accept sannyasa to enter into spiritual life
accept Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya, who was a householder, as a guru.
A:
He was an expert scholar, so as sometimes we accept knowledge from one who an
expert in a certain field, so did they.
Q:
Why did Lord Caitanya not identify Himself as God?
A:
If Lord Caitanya identified Himself as God then it would encourage others to
also claim to be God. Also the sastra says
the Kali-yuga avatara is
covered.
Q:
Why doesn’t it say humble instead of intelligent?
A:
To be humble is intelligent. Krishna in Bhagavad-gita,
Chapter 13, in his list of items of knowledge [verses 8–12], begins with amanitvan, humility.
Krishna
is the guru of the entire universe, even though He is not authorized by the
GBC. [laughter]
It
is Krishna, but He is appearing in the form of the vartmapradarsaka guru, the diksa
guru, the siksa guru, the Deity, the Bhagavatam, as the taste of water, etc.
It is like a campaign to deliver the fallen souls, and the intelligent person
will see it.
The
person who just sees himself and the deity also does not see the nondevotees.
He does not know the most pleasing way to serve the deity is to get out of the deity
room and give Krishna consciousness to others.
Q:
What is the difference between humility and pridelessness?
A:
Amanitvam [humility] means without desiring
respect, and adambhitvam [pridelessness]
means without arrogance or pride.
Q:
Where do we get the energy to respect others in the community?
A:
We take it out of our account of respect for ourselves. The fool becomes joyful
reviewing his glories. Respect is practical. We must render service to those we
respect. Even if we do not feel it, if we render service, it will still benefit
us.
Prajalpa’s [nonsense talk’s] worst
form is sadhu-ninda [criticism of the
devotee].
Although
one aspires to be a big man, the fate of the big man is that he becomes
intoxicated by his material acquisitions, and he suffers like a dog.
The
king thinks, “I have got my soldiers. I have got my chariots. I am a god among
men.” In this way, he forgets Krishna.
Krishna
comes as death and separates the man from his possessions.
Mucukunda
says, “Now you are calling me king, but soon you will call me feces, worms, or
ashes.”
Although
he appears to be a leader of man, he must become subordinate to his wife to
attain sense gratification.
The
association of devotees awakens one to Krishna consciousness, and one loses
attachment for material enjoyment.
People
are fools, working hard for things that will make them miserable. Why would a
learned person approach Krishna for such material things?
I
am leaving behind the products of material nature and am approaching the Absolute
Truth.
For
so long I have faithfully served my senses and they are not satisfied and I am
not satisfied, and they do not release me from their service. Therefore I am approaching
Krishna to serve Him and become free.
Q:
What is the best way to escape this material existence?
A:
Surrender to Krishna (Bhagavad-gita 7.14).
Everyone is making a program for happiness and attaining distress, but because
it is a divine arrangement, he cannot get out. A prisoner cannot get out by his
own efforts, but the authorities can release him. Similarly, when a person
surrenders to the spiritual master and the spiritual master’s instructions, he
gets out.
Engaging
the senses in Krishna’s service is the only way to control the senses.
Q
(by Tulasirani Devi Dasi): Because I am a grihastha,
I find myself planning to have nice kids to engage in Deity worship and
read Srimad-Bhagavatam to and have a
nice garden for Krishna. I see I want Krishna in the center, but I also want to
enjoy. How do I purify that? Just do it?
A:
We should understand philosophically that what we actually get is a mixture of
happiness and distress. If you are imagining Krishna will fulfill all your
happy dreams, you may be disappointed. Smith
magazine asked their readers to describe their lives in six words. The winner
became a title of a book, Not Exactly
What I Was Expecting. Krishna suggests “yaddriccha
labha santushtah [to be satisfied with gain that comes of its own accord].” (Bhagavad-gita
4.22) And better than that, learn to take pleasure in serving Krishna. What
happens sometimes in household life is one partner becomes more attached sense
gratification, and because of that, the other partner becomes more attached to
sense gratification, and they both suffer.
If
I am thinking of “how I will be happy” instead of “how Krishna will be happy,”
I may attain some happiness, but I will not be as happy as if I just
surrendered to Krishna and concerned myself only with Krishna’s happiness.
Niranjana Swami:
From
a Sunday feast lecture in Hartford on Srimad-Bhagavatam
4.9.11:
Dhruva
Maharaja originally wanted the association of the Lord to ask Him for something
else.
If
the pastime of Dhruva being refused the chance to sit on the lap of his father,
the king, happened now, someone would record it on their phone and put it on
Facebook and drum up support for Dhruva Maharaja.
The
first instruction his mother gave Dhruva was to not seek revenge.
Once
I felt like seeking revenge, but this verse spoken by Samika Rsi kept me from
doing it: “The devotees of the Lord are so forbearing that even though they are
defamed, cheated, cursed, disturbed, neglected or even killed, they are never
inclined to avenge themselves.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam
1.18.48)
Narada
Muni appears wherever there is a good candidate for spiritual instruction.
After
Dhruva Maharaja performed so many severe austerities to see the Lord, all he
asked the Lord was “kindly bless me so that I may associate with great devotees
who engage in Your transcendental loving service constantly, as the waves of a
river constantly flow. Such transcendental devotees are completely situated in
an uncontaminated state of life. By the process of devotional service I shall
surely be able to cross the nescient ocean of material existence, which is
filled with the waves of blazing, firelike dangers. It will be very easy for
me, for I am becoming mad to hear about Your transcendental qualities and
pastimes, which are eternally existent.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam
4.9.11)
Dhruva
Maharaja was sad that all that the Lord talked about with him was his past
material desires and not his present request for the association of the Lord’s
devotees. He lamented because he was purified. Had he not been purified, he
would have been jumping in ecstasy [that the Lord fulfilled his material
desires].
Visvanatha
Cakravarti Thakura makes the point that even when the devotee gets the
association of the Lord, he asks the Lord for the association of devotees.
Haridasa
Thakura asked for the benediction of eating the remnants of the devotees birth
after birth because in his humility he felt he could never remember the Lord,
and he knew the devotees would not let him forget the Lord.
We
should associate with the devotees who help us to remember Krishna.
We
do not always know exactly why the Lord does what He does, but we do know that
whatever the Lord does is for the benefit of the devotee. The Lord knows best.
He knows what it takes to make the devotee qualified to see Him and to come to
Him.
From
a recorded lecture:
Bhaktivinoda
Thakura says, “The bhaktas want to
awaken Krishna’s pleasure by their service.”
Patience
for the bhakta means thinking, “Someday
I will get Krishna’s mercy, whether now or in millions of births.”
Brahmatirtha Prabhu:
From
a Bhaktivedanta Institute of Gainesville meeting:
Mechanistic and
Nonmechanistic Science was Sadaputa Prabhu’s best book.
Sadaputa’s
article “God and the Laws of Physics” is his best article. In it he shows using
chaos theory that God is perfectly compatible with the laws of physics.
Mother Nanda:
Ambarisa
Maharaja was such a sincere devotee he did not even have to pray for
protection.
Comment
by Tulasirani Devi Dasi: It was so striking to me that even if we are not pure
devotees but are the servants of the pure devotee we become dear to Krishna.
Srila
Prabhupada would always say Bhaktisiddhanta Saravati Thakura is our grandfather
spiritual master and the grandfather is more affectionate than the father.
Brahmatirtha
Prabhu: If had known how nice grandchildren were, I would have skipped
children.
It
is an amazing statement that the Lord cannot enjoy His spiritual opulence
without the help of His devotee. Thus we are insignificantly significant to Him.
By
offending devotees, we are giving pain to Krishna who is in their hearts.
Q
(by Brahmatirtha Prabhu): You were president of one of the largest ISKCON
communities and sometimes in a leadership position you have to correct someone,
so how to adjust this.
A:
In addition to chanting Hare Krishna, the most common mantra I chanted was, “I
am really sorry Prabhu, I did not mean to offend you. I am really sorry.”
Comment
by Brahmatirtha Prabhu: When we are in the position where we have to correct
people, we should think, “It is just a role I am assuming.” Radhanath Swami
begs Krishna, “Do not let me take my role so seriously.” Also those being
corrected might think, “This person correcting me has assumed a great
responsibility in taking on this leadership position which is very difficult. If
he has treated me in a way I think is too extreme, I should not take it too
seriously.”
Janmastami Prabhu:
The
acaryas focus on that fact that the
miseries of Kali-yuga drive one to take shelter of the Lord’s sankirtana movement.
Srila
Prabhupada speaks in his Hare Krishna maha-mantra
address of crying out to Krishna. How do we attain this state of crying?
Bhaktivinoda
Thakura says the qualification to cry is to realize that no material situation
can actually give satisfaction to the soul.
Vrindavana
dasa Thakura writes, “Bhakti means to cry by remembering the holy name of
Krishna.” (Caitanya Bhagavat,
Madhya-khanda 24.72)
He
continues, “The pure name manifests when one cries as he is chanting the holy
name of Krishna.” (Caitanya Bhagavat,
Madhya-khanda 24.73)
[The
complete verses are “Devotional service, devotional service, devotional service
is the greatest treasure. Devotional service means crying while remembering
Krishna’s names. The pure name of Krishna manifests when one cries while
chanting the name of Krishna. Wealth and high birth are useless if one does not
worship Krishna.” (Caitanya Bhagavat,
Madhya-khanda 24.72–73)]
What
does becoming a particle of dust at His lotus feet mean? To only desire to be
engaged in devotional service.
Crying
out of suffering is not the pure crying.
Humility
is anyabhilasita sunyam (being devoid
of desires other than the desire for
pure devotional service).
The
whole Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu is more
or less based on the verse anyabhilasita-sunyam
jñana-karmady-anavritam anukulyena krishnanu-silanam bhaktir uttama – “When
first-class devotional service develops, one must be devoid of all material desires, knowledge obtained by monistic philosophy, and fruitive action. The
devotee must constantly serve Krishna favorably, as Krishna desires.” (Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu 1.1.11).
Bhaktivinoda
Thakura says, “One who does not make the endeavor to rid himself of anarthas attains only misfortune.”
He
continues, “Without receiving the holy name, one will not be able to rid
himself of anarthas despite repeated
attempts.”
“By crying out the holy name,” he says, “in a few days one will
become free from anarthas.”
Comment
by Hariparayana Prabhu: Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura says humility means to
consider, “if someone praises me they are wrong and if someone criticizes me
they are right.” My experience is if you apply these, you become indifferent to
both praise and criticism.
A
devotee interviewed 500 devotees who had stopped practicing Krishna consciousness.
They all had respect and reverence for Srila Prabhupada, but they could not
apply “tat te ’nukampam” in their
distressful situation. [That tat te
’nukampam verse reads, “My dear Lord, one who earnestly waits for You to
bestow Your causeless mercy upon him, all the while patiently suffering the
reactions of his past misdeeds and offering You respectful obeisances with his
heart, words and body, is surely eligible for liberation, for it has become his
rightful claim.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.14.8)]
Comments
by Prana Govinda Prabhu:
Visvanatha
Cakravarti Thakura says offenses can be rectified by acknowledging the offense
and then:
(1)
approaching
the devotee and apologizing
(2)
if
he will not respond, then serving him
(3)
if
he still does not forgive us, taking complete shelter of the holy name, and by
the mercy of the holy name, the person will forgive us
Some
symptoms of reaction to offense include:
1.
Negligence of devotional service
2.
Attachment to things that take us away from devotional service.
Comment
by Madana-mohana Prabhu: The interest of the devotee in liberation is to be free to
engage in devotional service.
Bhagavata Purana Prabhu:
From
his seminar on karatalas:
Six
important things are to understand about karatalas.
1.
Direction
2.
Pitch
3.
Volume
4.
Speed
5.
Open
and closed beats
6.
Upbeat
and downbeat
In
the Prabhupada beat the final beat is half open and half closed.
The
thumb is supposed to be fixed on the strap so you do not lose control of your
instrument. Use your fingers not the thumb to dampen the sound.
The
singer and the mrdanga player work as
a team, and everyone else follows the mrdanga
player.
The
mrdanga is half as loud as the voice,
and the other instruments should be half as loud as the mrdanga.
Srila
Prabhupada would complain about karatalas
clanging [playing all open beats].
Never
put a microphone to record a kirtana next
to the karatalas. The best place is
near the large end of the drum because it is important to hear the bass.
Srila
Prabhupada said that karatala and mrdanga is sufficient. The harmonium is
not a Vedic instrument, but Srila Prabhupada said there is a small harmonium in
the spiritual world. Lord Caitanya said if you do not have karatalas and mrdangas you
can just clap your hands.
The
whompers should be played open and sweetly. They are not a crash instrument.
Aindra
Prabhu once sang for nine hours straight, from after Bhagavatam class to six in the evening. People did not even leave
to use the bathroom.
Aindra
Prabhu had a dream of Prabhupada in which Srila Prabhupada said, “Why is no one
cleaning my toilets?” Thus Aindra Prabhu took up the service of cleaning the
toilets.
Aindra
Prabhu’s room was 50% mud and 50% cow dung.
Garuda Prabhu of
Tallahassee:
Chanting
the name of God is the sweet thing that we are all looking for.
Wherever
tulasi [the sacred plant used in
Krishna worship] resides is Vaikuntha [the spiritual world].
The
Vedas are the oldest and largest scripture in the world.
In
Dvarupa-yuga people were more advanced than we are now. For example, no one
knows how the pyramids were built.
I
invite people to come to the temple at least once to support it. “They are
giving free food, their music opens up your heart, etc. Just come once to
support it.”
Hippies
in a group called “Janitors of the Planet” in Haight Ashbury said, “Of all the
traditions we studied, this swami [Srila Prabhupada] had the most lasting
effect on us because he was always serving others.”
After
this krishna-katha [discourse about
the Lord] we have been hearing, if we
were to die now, we would go back to Godhead. There is no doubt.
One
lady called the Peace Pilgrim walked across the USA 24 times. She had some
interesting realizations:
“Sometimes
difficulties of the body show that the body is just a transient garment and the
reality is the indestructible essence.”
“Those
who feel hate and fear are out of harmony with God’s will and are likely to
have difficulties.”
“Difficulties
push us to do God’s will.”
“By
living up to the highest light I have, I find I get the chance to come to a
higher level.”
“Judging
others will not help them and will injure you. Inspiring others to judge
themselves will be more fruitful.”
Dialog
between two Sunday Feast program guests during the questions and answers:
Guest
1: I am not part of this culture.
Guest
2: You are part of it because you are seeking enlightenment.
Tulasirani Devi Dasi:
My
qualification for speaking on the power of positive thinking is that my mind
has a tendency to think negatively, so I have spent a lot of time reprograming
my mind so it does think positively.
We
worry because we see practically that we cannot always realize our goals.
Material
positive thinking that causes attachment to meeting material goals ultimately
causes negative effects because material things are ultimately taken away from us.
Positive
thinking in the mode of goodness makes obstacles into opportunities.
Those
who are pure in heart see difficulties as opportunities to learn lessons from and
thus are grateful for them.
You
are allowed to not believe in karma, but I am going to talk about it anyway.
It
is very easy to blame others or to blame situations for our suffering.
Sometimes
people who do bad appear to be enjoying, and so people have doubts about the
law of karma. You can use the analogy of a farmer’s silo to explain how the law of
karma works. The farmers put grain into the top of the silo and take grain out
from the bottom of the silo. They could put poor grain in the silo for many
years, yet still be taking out good grain from the bottom. After some time
though, the grain they take out will be the poor grain they have been putting
in more recently. So it is with karma.
If
we act in service to the divine, then whether we are successful in a particular
endeavor does not matter, as the pleasure actually comes from the divine
service, but unless you actually experience it, you will not understand it.
If
all our desires were fulfilled, we could become illusioned by thinking we were
the supreme enjoyer.
Positive
thinking does not mean blindly thinking that everything is good when it is not,
but to grow from negative experiences and to connect with the source.
Q:
Why do we forget our previous lives?
A:
Because we would be overwhelmed by remembering the details of them and could
not continue to enjoy the material happiness that we came here to pursue so God
allows us to forget.
One
friend of mine who is sincere about attaining perfect spiritual consciousness
in one life had a really traumatic experience and was wondering the cause of
it. She was given a very horrific vision of something she did in a previous
life, and she become very shocked, and it made her even more serious about her
spiritual practice.
From
a comment during a class of mine on the power of devotee association:
I
was attending programs in Athens where I went to college, and I liked the
chanting, the devotees, and the prasadam,
but I still had many doubts. I wrote down all my doubts on a piece of
paper, and I went to hear Radhanath Swami give a lecture at the Columbus
temple, and in his lecture he answered all my doubts without me even expressing
them. I was amazed!
Hari Priya:
From
a comment during a class of mine on the power of devotee association:
When
I was growing up at Saranagati farm, I was fortunate to have the association of
Yamuna Devi for many years. She made devotional service to Krishna fun for us
kids by engaging us in different positive ways.
-----
Recently
I have been reminded a lot about this following definition of pure devotional
service given by Srila Rupa Goswami in his Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu.
Since our lineage follows Rupa Goswami, and we are trying to attain pure
devotional service to Lord Krishna, this verse is very important. It is quoted
in the chapter of Sri
Caitanya-caritamrita containing the teachings of Lord Caitanya to Rupa Goswami.
anyabhilasita-sunyam
jñana-karmady-anavritam
anukulyena
krishnanu-
silanam
bhaktir uttama
“When
first-class devotional service develops, one must be devoid of all material
desires, knowledge obtained by monistic philosophy, and fruitive action. The
devotee must constantly serve Krishna favorably, as Krishna desires.” (Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu 1.1.11,
translation by Srila Prabhupada from Sri
Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 19.167).
