Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 13, No. 15
By Krishna-kripa das
(August 2017, part one)
Polish Woodstock, Berlin, Dublin, and Canada
(Sent from New York City on November 3, 2017)
Where
I Went and What I Did
For
the first five days of August, I attended the Polish Woodstock
festival, where we chanted Hare Krishna and shared the chanting with
thousands of people. The next day I chanted in Berlin with Gadadhara
Priya Prabhu and Sara. The day after that was Lord Balarama’s
Appearance Day, and I chanted Hare Krishna on Dublin’s busy
O’Connell Street with five other devotees before our Balarama
festival at the temple there. The next day I flew to Montreal by way
of Boston, for the Vaishnava Sanga Canada festival in rural Quebec.
The next four days I went on harinama
with
Ekalavya Prabhu and other festival devotees in the nearby
medium-sized
town of Shawinigan. During the festival, we heard seminars by Mother
Laxmimoni, Laksminatha
Prabhu, Krishnadasa Kaviraj Prabhu,
Ekalavya
Prabhu, and others in
the daytime, and Madhava Prabhu
and his wife led the chanting of Hare Krishna in the evening for
three hours. I did harinama
with
Ekalavya Prabhu and others in Montreal for two days before going to
Ottawa for Janmastami and Vyasa Puja. In Ottawa, Janmastami festival
attendees chanted through Ottawa for two hours before the festival at
the temple, and one Indian man followed us back for the festival. I
took notes on many beautiful Vyasa Puja homages in Ottawa, before
flying back to Europe in the evening for the North UK Ratha-yatra
tour.
Chanting
Hare Krishna at the Polish Woodstock 2017
On
Tuesday afternoon, we did harinama
around
the Polish Woodstock site and passed out invitations to our Krishna’s
Village of Peace,
where we have kirtana
at
least nine hours every evening and where
devotees serve
150,000 plates of
prasadam
in
five days.
Syama
Rasa Prabhu chanted
Hare Krishna on first Polish Woodstock harinama
2017 (https://youtu.be/p-tqsGg5acY):
One guy passing by decided to carry the balloons in our harinama procession.
Chanting
Hare Krishna in the Polish Woodstock Mantra Yoga Tent
Each
night we would chant our Mantra Yoga tent in our Krishna’s Village
of Peace at the Polish Woodstock from 4 or 5 p.m. till around 2 a.m.
in the morning. We had some of the best kirtaniyas
in
the Hare Krishna movement: Sivarama Swami, B. B. Govinda Swami,
Indradyumna Swami, Bada Haridas Prabhu, Mahatma Prabhu, Madhava
Prabhu, Acyuta Gopi and more. Even for the various sadhu-sanga
festivals
such a line-up would be rare. And we were sharing all that kirtan
enthusiasm with new people who do not regularly get to hear the
chanting of Hare Krishna. It was truly a marvelous experience. I was
happy to see several friends come from America to see Woodstock for
the first time:
Arjuna
Prabhu, Virabhadra Rama Prabhu, Ananda Gauranga Prabhu, and Kishor
Gopal Prabhu.
I
noticed this year the wisdom in putting the face painting tent next
to the Mantra Yoga tent. By doing this, all those who get their faces
painted listened to the chanting of Hare Krishna for quite some time
as they waited in line! Also after their facing painting, they could easily join the nearby kirtan, having acquired some attraction by
hearing it.
I
have video clips from almost every kirtan singer from
almost
every evening. Why so much video of more or less the same thing? Of
course, we know the chanting of Hare Krishna is ever fresh. Also we
are always inviting, “Chant Hare Krishna and be happy.” In these
videos, you will see many people chanting Hare Krishna and being
happy. And these people come from various backgrounds, but they all
are having some spiritual experience to the extent they surrender to
the transcendental sound vibration of the holy names. It makes me so
happy to see so many people chanting and being happy, not just a
little happy, but so happy they want to jump up and down and dance!
One
young Polish lady I had never met who lives in Berlin
wrote
me on Facebook weeks
afterward
asking if I could post more videos of Madhava Prabhu at the Polish
Woodstock this year. I uploaded mine from day 3 and sent her the
link, and she replied, “Thank you. I was there. And I love it. Love
all peoples from Hare Krishna. It was really nice. I’m waiting for
next year. And I wait for more your videos.” Later she shared one
of my videos of people dancing to Madhava Prabhu’s chanting on her
Facebook, commenting to a friend, “Best evening of my life.”
At
the mantra yoga tent, I would give mantra cards to people who seemed
especially interested, and I would sometimes have conversations with
them. I would let people know about Hare Krishna opportunities in
their local region of Poland or the world.
While
talking with people, I met one Polish girl who lives in the UK and
remembered seeing the Hare Krishnas at Stonehenge where we chant at
the Summer Solstice festival. She is on the right in the above
picture.
This
guy stops by to say “Hi” to me every year, remembering me from
the Woodstock in Zary in 2003.
Tuesday,
our day 1, we did kirtan in our Mantra Yoga tent till about midnight.
On
Wednesday, day two, we had two additional powerful kirtan leaders,
Sivarama Swami and B. B. Govinda Swami, both who had come in the past
but not in recent years:
Sivarama
Swami, who leads a very powerful kirtan, only occasionally comes to sing
at the Polish Woodstock, and we were happy to have him back. Here he
leads the chanting of Hare Krishna and many people chant and dance
(https://youtu.be/aq3w2vWQ4jA):
Mahatma
Prabhu sang my favorite Hare Krishna tune in a very beautiful way
early in the evening before there were many in the audience, but
those attending danced very beautifully and enthusiastically
(https://youtu.be/Jg7xf9c3VpU):
Bada
Haridas Prabhu inspired many to chant Hare Krishna and dance at the
Polish Woodstock 2017 on day 2, and it was beautiful to see
(https://youtu.be/KEiDiXs2sSo):
The
wonderful kirtans continued on Thursday, day 3 of our festival and
the first official day of the Polish Woodstock festival.
Indradyumna
Swami sang early on in the evening and was followed by other
amazing devotional singers, one after another
(https://youtu.be/BAjfWRJkJQM):
Sivarama
and B. B. Govinda Swamis performed kirtan together, taking turns
leading the Hare Krishna chant (https://youtu.be/0rjOar3e_5o):
Then
B. B. Govinda Swami and Akincana Krishna Prabhu performed kirtan
together, taking turns leading the Hare Krishna chant
(https://youtu.be/BNysh8tucNA):
Then
Acyuta Gopi, back for her fifth time at Woodstock, made her debut for
the year (https://youtu.be/zzSlBOk1fAk):
Finally
Madhava captured the attention of the late night crowd by his
meditative Hare Krishna singing and appeals that the audience respond
ever louder with all their hearts (https://youtu.be/zqgHGAqwDXM):
The
ecstacy continued on the fourth day.
Bada
Haridas Prabhu and other
devotees
chanted,
getting lots of people to dance (https://youtu.be/6P5i5BRR7JA):
Sivarama
Swami and other devotees took
turns leading the Hare Krishna chant and many danced
(https://youtu.be/mpy7wcVFoY0):
Sivarama
Swami ended
with a
rocking Hare Krishna chant getting
many
to
dance
(https://youtu.be/XkcHtW_cb7k):
B.
B. Govinda Swami and other devotees took
turns leading the Hare Krishna chant and many danced
(https://youtu.be/MWW39NjlHlM):
Acyuta
Gopi and friends chanted
Hare Krishna and people danced
wildly, and Chaturatma Prabhu went
crowd surfing (https://youtu.be/ky-76TnKXIU):
Hari
Kirtan Kaufman
chanted early on day 5, inspiring
people to dance
(https://youtu.be/gs6tAsxXPvU):
As
on the third day, Sivarama Swami and B. B. Govinda Swami again
chanted together as a team (https://youtu.be/TUY5r_hdyTo):
As Sivarama Swami and B. B. Govinda concluded singing my favorite Hare Krishna tune on the final day of the Polish Woodstock Festival, looking out from the Mantra Yoga tent I saw one of the most impressive rainbows I have ever seen appearing in the sky (https://youtu.be/r89yfuRLAeQ):
Bada Haridas Prabhu seemed to get a higher percentage of the people to chant Hare Krishna in addition to dancing than the other amazing kirtan leaders we had at the Polish Woodstock this year, and it was inspiring to see. Madhava Naidoo played the drum for him. Chaturatma Dasa Prabhu danced on the stage (https://youtu.be/clTVtRVO1tg):
Then
Acyuta Gopi and her youthful friends chanted Hare Krishna and people
danced wildly till after midnight (https://youtu.be/yfOCufUSuMk):
Madhava
Prabhu led the final kirtan on the final day to an enthusiastic
audience which ended at well past 3 a.m.
(https://youtu.be/DuIzRoFdhqg):
I
also took videos of the evening chanting with my phone which has a
light on it to illuminate the faces of the dancers:
See
some enthusiastic
dancing while Mahatma Prabhu chanted Hare Krishna at the Polish
Woodstock on day 2 (https://youtu.be/E0HxOaf8g94):
Here
is some enthusiastic
dancing while Madhava Prabhu chanted Hare Krishna at the Polish
Woodstock on day 2 (https://youtu.be/x-ixdhUWhcM):
Here
is some dancing
while Madhava Prabhu chanted at
the end of
the
final day
(https://youtu.be/fR1nIH9z7Cw):
Chanting
Hare Krishna at the Polish Woodstock 2017 Ratha-yatras
Each
year at the Polish Woodstock we do four Ratha-yatras, one each day
from Wednesday through Saturday. You see a lot of festival attendees
enjoy dancing with the devotees, pulling the carts, and even chanting
the holy names.
Indradyumna
Swami, organizer of festivals of India’s spiritual culture in
Poland for over twenty years, began the Hare Krishna chant during the
first Ratha-yatra and many people danced
(https://youtu.be/mQx9Mpm8i8A):
Arjuna
Krishna Prabhu, originally from Russia, who chanted on the Polish
Festival Tour for many years, next
led
the Hare Krishna chant during the first Ratha-yatra and many people
danced (https://youtu.be/yer4pMNYxd4):
Govinda
Prabhu, originally from Scotland, who chanted on the Polish Festival
Tour for many years, then
led the Hare Krishna chant during the first Ratha-yatra and many
people danced (https://youtu.be/aZP1Vb4QC0U):
The
second day, Syama Rasa Prabhu began the chanting at the Ratha-yatra
(https://youtu.be/rFFxfqH1xkA):
Indradyumna
Swami also chanted as he does at almost every Ratha-yatra
(https://youtu.be/gmbn3MaI6QI):
Arjuna
Krishna Prabhu had the honor of singing the final kirtan and getting
lots of people dancing (https://youtu.be/FxkYM0gtQXI):
Humorous
Videos from the Polish Woodstock
Often
I have some funny photos. This time I have some funny videos.
Kirtan,
especially the group chanting of Hare Krishna, and prasadam,
the spiritualized food that has been offered to Krishna, are both so
relishable sometimes it is hard to choose either or. Here are two
examples of
people trying to enjoy kirtan and prasadam
at
the same time from
the Polish Woodstock on day 2 and day 5
(https://youtu.be/xoNJWdRifes):
Some
people wear different costumes at the Polish Woodstock. This young
lady, who spent a lot of time dancing in our Mantra Yoga tent, wrote
“Miss America” on her body and used an American flag as a shawl.
Later I told her how she could connect with Hare Krishna in her
region of Poland (https://youtu.be/GVORGD5eDmo):
Chanting
Hare Krishna in Berlin
I
like to chant at the train station in Kostrzyn the day after the
Polish Woodstock, which even some train station officials once
appreciated, but this year I learned that very day that Indradyumna
Swami and his staff prefer the last memories the Woodstock attendees
have of Hare Krishna to
be
their more professional presentation. Consequently, I packed my bags
and left within
fifteen minutes to go to Berlin and sing there with my friends,
Gadadhara Priya Prabhu and Sara, who I sang with on the Paris metros
years ago.
Kostrzyn
train station personnel did not allow travelers to purchase tickets
from the German conductors on the train like
I usually do,
as the crowds made it impractical, thus I missed my train while
waiting in line to buy ticket at the station.
As
I made my way through the crowd at the train station, I
chanted japa,
rather
than kirtan, out of respect for Indradyumna Swami, and I
had
nice interactions with no less than seven people who liked Hare
Krishna from the Woodstock. Some took photos of me, and five took
invitations to our temple in Warsaw, with a couple of them expressing
a real desire to go there. Thus I felt Krishna fulfilled my desire to
remind a few people at the train station of Him one last time, even
without doing a harinama
there.
As
I approached the platform of the Berlin train, one older German lady
was ecstatic to encounter a Hare Krishna and told me that we had the
best food at the Woodstock. She also
admitted to having had three servings of halava
and
to have even learned the recipe,
having
become addicted to it and developed a desire to make it herself.
On
harinama
in
Berlin with
Gadadhara Priya Prabhu and Sara,
I took no photos or videos, being fully engaged in singing and
playing the instruments.
Gadadhara Priya Prabhu always tries to encourage people who appear to
be open-minded to chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra
with us when we encounter them on harinama.
Sara took this video clip of a couple guys who experimented by
chanting and dancing briefly with us in Berlin (https://youtu.be/HI2F-jPxyvk):
After
the people chant the mantra, the devotees encourage them to take
prasadam
and/or
books.
Later
Gadadhara
Priya Prabhu was talking to one man who had a liking for Hare
Krishna, and the man’s friend turned
to
me and
said,
“Didn’t I see you in Union Square?” Turns out he lives in New
York City and was visiting his friend in Berlin for a couple of
months.
Next we met a Polish family, where the wife and mother had attended a
cooking class by Rati Manjari devi dasi in Poland.
Sara,
who is from Italy, always makes home-made pasta and pizza for guests,
and between that and the Berlin harinama
the
three of us did together,
I
felt better about not being able to do harinama
at
the
Kostrzyn train station
as I had done for many years.
Chanting
Hare Krishna in Dublin on Lord Balarama’s Appearance Day
Ottawa
devotees invited me to their Vaishnava Sanga Festival in Canada, and
I spent a day in Dublin, en route to Canada from Berlin. My day in
Dublin turned out to be Lord Balarama’s Appearance Day, and thus I
suggested that we do a harinama
before
the devotees’ previously scheduled evening festival there. Manu
Prabhu, a leader for years in Ireland, plays the accordion and is
always ready for harinama,
and
thus we ended up having at least six devotees chanting in the late
afternoon on Dublin’s busy O’Connell Street, not even half a
block from our Govinda’s Restaurant and ISKCON temple there. During
the three hours we chanted people donated twenty-eight euros and
accepted six books, including one Bhagavad-gita.
Manu
Prabhu, an Irish Hare Krishna leader who loves kirtan, leads the
chanting of Hare Krishna (https://youtu.be/7i96C1GX8ps):
The
decoration at the festival was impressive with “BALARAM” in big
letters!
Manu
Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at the Balarama Appearance Day festival in
Dublin temple (https://youtu.be/RmUXbzvlZss):
Chanting
Hare Krishna at the Vaishnava Sanga Canada 2017 Festival
Krishna
Dulal Prabhu, leader of a team of Ottawa devotees organizing the 2017
Vaishnava Sanga Canada festival, chants Hare Krishna in Shawinigan,
Quebec, the day before the festival, despite his busy schedule, to
fulfill my desire for daily harinama
while in Canada, and Ekalayva Prabhu plays the drum
(https://youtu.be/Po55iGLDVtE):
Ekavalya
Prabhu’s sweet chanting of Hare Krishna induces a elderly French
Canadian to dance in Shawinigan, Quebec, the first day of the 2017
Vaishnava Sanga Canada festival, before most attendees arrived
(https://youtu.be/S1OuWL4_CjY):
Anubhava Prabhu, temple president of Montreal, leads the Hare Krishna chant, and Ekalavya Prabhu plays the town piano in Shawinigan, Quebec, later that day (https://youtu.be/Js_SF3ZISBY):
Some
passersby were attracted like this lady who had some previous
experience with Hare Krishna.
She
enjoyed talking with the French-speaking devotees and receiving a
prasadam
garland.
Ekalavya
Prabhu also talked with someone who remembered Hare Krishna from the
past.
On
the second day of the Vaishnava Sanga festival in Canada, we had
twenty-four devotees chanting together in Shawinigan.
Krishnadasa
Kaviraja Prabhu of Toronto first led the chanting of Hare Krishna
(https://youtu.be/VQYMTbI4apg):
Then
Laksminatha Prabhu from Montreal chanted Hare Krishna, and a passerby
delighted in dancing with the devotees
(https://youtu.be/Dq4rQYzeFFY):
Laksminatha
Prabhu, an
enthusiastic harinama
devotee
from Montreal, began the chanting in Shawinigan on the third day of
the festival when
we had thirty-three devotees in our party
(https://youtu.be/fMY-2ZjDB9I):
Then
Krishnadasa
Kaviraja Prabhu led
the Hare Krishna chant, while
Ekalavya Prabhu played
the town piano (https://youtu.be/1hkzFPtDXJI):
In
the evening Madhava Prabhu would lead kirtan for about 3 hours.
Chanting
Hare Krishna in Montreal
Because
I was attached to doing harinama
every
day, I tried to get one together in Montreal the day the festival
ended. Unfortunately, by the time we made it to Montreal, it was just
a few minutes to the Sunday Feast and a senior devotee objected to us
organizing a harinama
at
that time and taking devotees away from the feast program.
So
I stopped trying to enlist others, and Ekalavya Prabhu and I chanted
on the nearby streets for almost an hour, meeting some very nice
people who may well come to the Sunday feast in the future.
Madhava
Prabhu chanted
Hare Krishna in the Montreal Temple the
night after the Vaishnava Sanga festival in Canada ended,
and the congregation responded
enthusiastically which
was beautiful to see
(https://youtu.be/PG5pDKuyPwo):
The
day after Madhava Prabhu’s evening kirtan at the Montreal temple.
We did harinama
for 2 or 3 hours in Montreal outside the Berri-UQAM metro station before my bus to Ottawa.
Here Ekalavya Prabhu leads the chanting of Hare Krishna
(https://youtu.be/9mnK-Snat58):
Here
Advaita
Prabhu
leads the chanting of Hare Krishna (https://youtu.be/uDlOrQ8jFQk):
Janmastami
in Ottawa
Attendees
of the Ottawa Janmastami festival, including visiting Prabhupada
disciple Laxmimoni Devi Dasi and
led by Krishna Dulal Prabhu, chanted Hare Krishna for about two
hours, through the university campus, along the canal, and through
downtown Ottawa. One Indian man joined us and followed us to the
temple for the rest of the Janmastami festival
(https://youtu.be/2RbWiLGoibI):
To see other photos I took but did not include, click on the link below:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/fOMmLoDwqMNGPdL43
Srila Prabhupada Vyasa Puja Offerings
https://photos.app.goo.gl/fOMmLoDwqMNGPdL43
Srila Prabhupada Vyasa Puja Offerings
Guru
Prasada Prabhu:
My
wife was appreciating that you brought us the understanding of
Caitanya and the maha-mantra,
and
Krishna prasadam,
and
your taking the trouble spread Krishna consciousness all over the
world.
Because
you patiently encouraged your disciples in the beginning, they have
now become worthy servants of yourself.
Shanti:
Through
giving Srimad-Bhagavatam
you have given us fearlessness.
Sri
Radha:
Your
depth of compassion is like that of the original spiritual master,
Nityananda Prabhu, not caring for personal discomfort, but only
caring to benefit others.
Your
sense of urgency that we use our life for self-realization is
exemplary.
Krishna
Dulal Prabhu:
Your
Krishna consciousness is like a blazing fire. I can understand this
by experiencing the association of the fired-up devotees who were
personally inflamed by that fire.
Ananda
Mayi Devi:
When
someone saves our life, we feel
so indebted we want to dedicate our life to such a person, how then
can we reciprocate with you, who have saved our soul for eternity.
I
feel you are continuing to save me again and again through your books
and your devotees, in whose hearts you live.
Amit?:
Please
give me your mercy so I can follow your instructions. Thank you for
allowing me to be part of your society.
Shyamala
Gopi:
I
pray you enter my heart and find for me the ways and means to execute
your instructions.
Mathieu:
I
found at Mayapur there was a place for devotees of all levels.
In
Canada we have devotees of different levels and commitment, and I
remember your instruction to cooperate. Please help me in this.
Lila
Mohini Devi Dasi:
Thank
you for your books. They have a special sweetness. They convince of
the urgency of Krishna consciousness. You are still in charge. I
joined 6 years ago at age 71. From this temple in Ottawa I got many
spiritual gifts culminating in spiritual initiation, and I feel much
gratitude and desire to act to repay my debt although that is not
fully possible.
In
the Middle East, we started to distribute slokas
[verses]
on
paper as we were not allowed to distribute spiritual literature there.
After a year, we had 300 followers. Now there are 3,000, and we have
Ratha-yatra now. The Arabs like the prasadam,
which
they call Indian meals.
Sankarsana
Prabhu, the
temple president:
Ottawa
will flourish by the strength of your books. Let us becoming living
bhagavatas
and share your gift. You say to preach we simply have to repeat the
words of the spiritual authorities.
Thank
you for your gifts. We pray that we can successfully share them with
others.
Insights
Satsvarupa
Dasa Goswami:
From
Japa
Transformations:
“You
chant your japa quickly and then slowly. Sometimes you get sleepy. You have heard that even negligent japa brings great benefit, so powerful is harinama. The Names are more merciful than Krishna the person. They are Krishna in the form of sacred syllables. You try to vibrate them out loud, loudly, but you’re not always successful.”
“You’re
not really chanting
as
well as you claim you
are.
There are mountains
and
mountains ahead of
higher
achievement. You are only
in
the foothills of harinama.
But
you’re grateful to be
living
in Hare Krishna space,
breathing
the rare air
of
transcendental sound vibration.
Your
spiritual master has given
you
a great gift; you
owe
it to him to lift yourself
higher
to chant without offense.
Go
into your heart and cry
out
for the mercy,
don’t
be content with the quota.”
From
“It’s Been So Long” in Soul
Eyes:
“It’s
been so long since I’ve seen
my
spiritual master. It’s been so long
since
I’ve seen him smile.
“It’s
been so long since I’ve looked
into
his eyes and seen the soul
of
a saint.
“It’s
been so long since he’s been here
to
correct us. It’s been so long
since
he’s called my name.
“It’s
been so long since he’s lived
among
us, publishing his books,
taking
a morning walk, giving a
Bhagavatam
talk.
“But
we’ve got so many memories,
orders,
books, and videos,
and
his staunch disciples.
It’s
been so long, but serving in separation
is
the next best thing.
“Once,
in a lecture given in
Berkeley
California, he said,
‘I
travel just to keep my disciples alive.’”
From
Gentle
Power:
“Goodnight.
Chanting myself to sleep.
I
use this bed for sleep atop the mattress
burrowed,
warm, soul encased in body.
“Just
serve Govinda and your obligations
are
paid to sages, fathers,
animals,
vegetables, corpses,
nations,
demigods . . .
Just
serve Govinda.
“I
can’t always get it straight.
I
admire those who do.
I
write my tale of a day
each
day.
What
I know, what comes down
and
what I read and comprehend
in
my master’s books.
“Goodnight.
We are not mad or insidious
or
brilliant. God is all.”
From
his online journal:
“You
always push the mantras out.
You
ask your body to cooperate,
but
it is slowing down.
Even
Haridasa Thakura began to chant
fewer
rounds in his old age.
Lord
Caitanya told him not to worry –
he
was already liberated.
Saint
Thérèse of Lisieux compared herself
to
a little sparrow who looked up
to
saints like Teresa of Avila.
I
want to be like that,
a
little worshiping sparrow
looking
up admiringly
at
the great ones.”
From
Looking Back,
Volume
2:
“Think
of God all the time, little words, bring back, recall Him, re-listen.
When the mind goes off, don’t let it go where it likes, but bring
it back. ‘Wherever the mind goes due to its flickering nature,
bring it back under the control of the higher self.’ He said the
best way is through the maha-mantra, and when you can’t do that, do a part of it, ‘Hare Krishna.’ One word, ‘Krishna.’ Think of it. Krishna. Feel His presence. It’s hard at first, becomes easy because it’s a fact. He is everywhere and everything.”
“Whatever
you are doing, take time out and remember Him, give Him a glance,
look up to Him, do it as much as you can, always be with Him and
you’ll be free of miseries, even if your body is in poor condition.
Without Him you are nowhere. I know who Krishna is theoretically,
now I have to think of Him, even if only in a theoretical way. As
Prabhupada writes at the beginning of Bhagavad-gita, ‘At least theoretically one must accept Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead.’ I have located Him on the map. Now let me look in His direction.
“Looking
His way; so I have been resting. But my mind doesn’t rest. It
goes all over the place. Then bring it back to the Supreme Lord. He
has so many activities. We can think of His pastimes and focus on
His qualities. We can chant His names. The main thing is to bring
the mind back, away from those errant thoughts. You’ve had
millions of errant thoughts, but now you have millions of Krishna
conscious thoughts and entreaties that you can make. You can repeat
and repeat them. Turn to them sincerely and free them from envy.
Don’t put the quality of materialism into your prayers. Pray to
please Him, and while chanting Hare Krishna be above your own wants.
There should be a pleading, and an awareness, and a sincere direction
to your thinking. Hare Krishna Hare Krishna is a prayer form, but within it is the coming closer to the pleading, a coming closer to the wanting to be with; otherwise, your mechanical chanting leaves so much space for exploring where He is not. So fill up all those empty spaces with Him. Otherwise your little devils will be romping and jumping about and reminiscing on past follies. Bring the mind back to the now.”
“Erudition
is of no use if it creates doubts about the value of receiving the
simple truths presented in the Krishna conscious teachings as given
by Srila Prabhupada. Scholarship can trick one into thinking Krishna
consciousness is puerile or make-believe, and such a sophistic
thinker would turn instead to various agnostic philosophies and
religions – a dangerous and futile pursuit for anyone wanting
genuine knowledge. One should be intelligent, like Jiva Gosvami,
and use all opulences in the service of the Lord.”
“Prabhupada
writes, ‘Constantly remembering the lotus feet of the Lord means preparing for liberation from birth and death. Therefore though there may be so-called calamities, they are welcome, because they give us the opportunity to remember the Lord, which means liberation.’ If you are sitting in jail, or standing in line to purchase something, or in a hospital, or just feeling glum, these times can be well utilized to think of Krishna. Circumstances cannot deprive you of your Krishna consciousness. We should always be thinking of how to remember Krishna ourselves and how to give Him to others. If you are happily engaged as a debutante accepting dances from all the handsome men, but don’t tell them how Krishna has charmed you with His beauty, then you are wasting your God-given opulence. Or, if you are raking in the bucks from your business and are just reinvesting it in a capitalistic spirit to make more money for your own sense gratification, it’s like carrying around an octopus with many arms that will eventually entangle and choke you. The best thing is to take shelter of the lotus feet of the Lord, which are ‘accepted as the most suitable boat for crossing the ocean of nescience.’ The material world is itself an ocean of ignorance, because it leaves out keeping Krishna as the only goal.”
“Dangerous,
full of calamities. And the foolish people spend their time making
plans to adjust to the calamities. When they hear a storm is coming,
they get out all their candles or hurricane lamps and make plans in
that way. Build lots of tanks if they hear the enemy is building
tanks. But that is not the way to do it. The whole place will
always be full of calamities. We have to transfer to the place where
there are no calamities. That’s our duty. George W. Bush cannot
save us from calamities by getting us better and better weapons.
People don’t know why they’re going to church or why they should
lead a moral life. But the fact is – impossible for the agnostic
to acknowledge – that the calamities of the world do not actually exist. Prabhupada writes: ‘A man may see a tiger swallowing him in a dream, and he may cry because of this calamity. Actually, there is no tiger and there is no suffering; it is a simply a case of dreams. In the same way, all calamities of life are said to be dreams. If someone is lucky enough to get in contact with the Lord by devotional service, it is all gain. Contact with the Lord by any one of the nine devotional services is always a forward step on the path going back to Godhead.’ Help them aboard. Pick up their luggage. Toss it on board. Push their children on board. ‘All board!’ The whistle is blowing; there is no time to lose. As for yourself, you are already on board because you are thinking of Krishna, whether you miss this train or not.”
“He
repeated, ‘Death is the mirror in which the entire meaning of our
life is reflected. Life and death are parts of the whole. Being
unprepared for death is being unprepared for life. This is the
principal teaching of Tibetan Buddhism.’”
“ISKCON
should apologize to some of the people it’s mishandled. . . . Live by its
rules and regs and votes cast by committees. . . .
Nevertheless, I remain ‘in,’ although I speak out against
mistreatment.”
Mother
Laxmimoni:
Kaliya
was one of the only demons that Krishna did not kill but instead
transformed.
In
the Bhagavatam
it
is stated that all the living entities of Vrindavana, even the
animals, respected the footprints of Krishna by not stepping on them,
so His footprints always remained intact.
Kaliya
had 1,000 hoods, 108 of them prominent.
After
Kaliya’s wives offered prayers to Krishna to release their husband,
Kaliya, then Kaliya himself offered some of the same prayers to
Krishna because he was not smart enough to come up
with his own prayers.
Balarama
stopped some of the cowherd men from going into the river Yamuna to
save Krishna by physically retraining them, others by preaching to
them, and still others by staring at them.
When
I was in Buffalo, one devotee, hearing that one must have been
advanced in a previous life to take to Krishna consciousness, said to
Srila Prabhupada, “Does that mean that I was a great yogi in my
last life?” Srila Prabhupada replied, “Some people come by
mistake.”
We
can learn from this pastime of
Kaliya when
things look bad to call on Krishna and to ask for blessings. We can
seek blessings in terms of permission and in terms of guidance.
We
have a conception of what our life would be like if God favored us,
but often that is a misconception.
Maya
is Krishna’s security force. She does not want to let riff-raff
into the spiritual world, so she is always testing us.
The
acaryas
say
that Sudama Vipra was too attached to renunciation so Krishna gave
him wealth.
Comments
by Paramahamsa Prabhu:
We
can learn from this pastime of
Kaliya that
we
should
not be disturbed if Krishna destroys our false pride.
Pride
does not effect just the proud person but poisons everything around.
Comment
by devotee lady: Although we do so much service, our minds change
very slowly.
Many
times Srila Prabhupada said that our society runs on love and trust.
He was an example of one who was trustworthy. In the 1960s we had no
trust in our parents and in the government, and we were looking for a
place to put our trust.
As
new devotees in the 1960s, Bhagavad-gita
was
difficult for us because
the person saying the war was bad was wrong and the person saying the
war was right was God.
In
our ISKCON society these days, Srila Prabhupada is practically the
only one we trust, but Srila Prabhupada wanted us to trust each
other.
In
the beginning we trusted the other devotees, but we became jaded.
Why
did we trust Srila Prabhupada?
One
devotee:
He did not want anything from us.
Ekavalya
Prabhu
:
He made a major sacrifice for us.
Paurnamasi
Devi
Dasi:
He showed real love.
Another
devotee:
He walked his talk.
Still
another devotee:
He was non-judgmental.
Prabhupada
facilitated us because he had faith in the holy name.
Prabhupada
created within us a willingness to surrender.
Radhanath
Swami says that to say “I trust you” is more important than to
say “I love you.”
In
the material world, we are forced to trust people.
If
we are going to get people to join the Krishna consciousness
movement, we are going to have to get them to trust us.
Someone
asked me, what did Srila Prabhupada do to make you chant Hare Krishna?
I replied that he did not say anything but he did a lot. I watched him a
lot, and I came feel I want to be like him when I grow up.
Integrity,
competence and effective communication help in
building
personal trust.
If
you see someone is more interested in his own situation than
contributing to the good of the whole project, that creates distrust.
It
is better to be
attached
to doing what is right than to
be attached to being
right.
People
could see Srila Prabhupada’s intention was to act for the highest
good of others, and people could appreciate.
Srila
Prabhupada was always with his spiritual master and Krishna, and
therefore, he was always accountable.
If
you do not care about other people, better you tell them that and go
about your life.
If
you want to care for other people, but it is difficult for you, then
try in different ways, people will appreciate, and you will get
better at it.
Work
to improve your abilities.
Sometimes
we are in a groove and it becomes a rut, and we are afraid to change,
but we should be willing to change.
People
will follow you if they know where you are going.
Unspoken
intentions create distrust.
When
I was studying psychology in college, I learned one is intelligent
the more he can postpone his sense gratification. We did not use
those words, but that is what it amounted to.
The
mentality we desire is “I do not care if I am the person who is
pleasing Krishna. I just want to see that Krishna is pleased.”
When
you brag about your austerity, then you share the result with the
person you brag to.
We
may think one preacher is bigger and one lesser, but that is our
conception. Krishna appreciates anyone sharing Krishna consciousness.
If
a
mother gives Krishna consciousness to her children, that is pure
devotional service.
“In
1969 when I got landed immigrant status at the Canadian boarder.
Jagadish and I came in ‘devotional clothes’ to the peace
bridge boarder crossing and applied at the boarder for our ‘green
card’ status in Canada. We got it easily, and as we were leaving
we handed them a BTG, waved good bye and left. It was a red covered
magazine with puppets of Radha and Krishna on it. A few minutes later
we were stopped on the road by police and brought back to the boarder
crossing. They requested us to see a doctor and take a drug test. It
turned out that the magazine had something about Allen Ginsburg in it
and so they thought we might be using drugs . . . because he was a
famous advocate of intoxication. When we told Srila Prabhupada he
said we should be more careful about what we put in BTG. He said ‘by
associating with 5th class men people will think we are 5th class.’”
I
asked Bhurijana Prabhu how to become humble. He said just live life,
and you will become humble.
It
is said some places in India they do not put flutes in Krishna’s
hands, because it says in the scripture that if you hear Krishna’s
flute, you will become so attracted by Him you will lose interest in
your material life.
If
money falls on our head, and we can engage it in Krishna’s service,
so be it, but to strive and endeavor and be anxiety to accumulate
wealth is not good for a devotee.
The
rate of death due to opiate overdose in America is reaching a
dangerous level because people are not satisfied with all their
material acquisitions.
The
God consciousness person qualified for the throne is one who has no
desire for the throne.
We
are all going to die in the near future, the only question is how
near.
Wealth
may come and wealth may go, but if you think that happiness lies in
wealth, you will not get Krishna.
Even
if it looks like devotional service, if we are attached to it in a
material way, it will keep us in this world.
Dhritarastra
heard the same Bhagavad-gita
as
Arjuna and Sanjaya did, but he became angry that Krishna meddled in
the affair and convinced Arjuna to fight.
We
are not striving for wealth, and we are not striving for poverty. We
are striving for attachment to Krishna.
Being
responsible makes us grow.
At
the end of the Bhagavad-gita,
Krishna
was there, Arjuna was there, and the battlefield was there, but
Arjuna’s consciousness had changed. By practicing Krishna
consciousness, our consciousness will change.
When
I was in Potomac, Ananta Vrindavana, the temple president, got a call
from a Muslim lady, who said her son was dying in the hospital and
that he had said he liked Krishna, and asked if we could come there,
and so we did. The family was Muslim. They knew nothing of Krishna except that the man said he was a devotee of Krishna! Now they were pulling the plug on his life support, and he was about to die so they called the temple. This man was 35ish and in excellent health. They said he came home saying he had a headache and went to sleep, never to wake up. Apparently he had fallen while skateboarding. They called the temple, and we went. We chanted prayers, brought maha, Ganges water, flower garlands and tulasi. We preached to the mother who was, obviously, very distraught. By the end both mother and sister were calm, grateful and saying they were going to come to the temple. They were saying they would come to New Vrindaban!!! I don't know if Ananta Vrindavana ever saw them again . . . but it was a very powerful experience for everyone involved.
Krishna
can engage others in chastising the demons or establishing dharma,
but to enliven the devotees He appears Himself.
Krishna
appears as His name, in japa
and
kirtan, and in the Srimad-Bhagavatam,
but
in the form of His pastimes He is most attractive.
Sometimes
Krishna takes us back kicking and screaming because we are reluctant
to go.
We
think that
Nrsimhadeva and Hiranyakasipu are the stars of that pastime, but
actually Prahlada, the person Nrsimhadeva came to protect, is the
star. We learn from him that we have a long way to go to become pure
devotees of his level.
In
Los Angeles we had decorated the temple with the symbols of Vishnu.
When Srila Prabhupada came there, he said, “These are the symbols
of Vishnu. He uses the conch and the lotus to bless the devotees and
the club and the disc to chastise the demons.”
When
Krishna appears, all the incarnations appear within Him.
The
ultimate reason that Krishna comes is because He wants to. He wants
to give everyone something to talk about.
Rejuvanate
means to make young again. Krishna wants to rejuvanate the devotional
service of hearing, chanting, remembering, and so on.
Just
by His presence He guaranteed the victory of the Pandavas.
If
we do not allow ourselves to be attracted by His pastimes, then
Krishna will have to kick us through the agency of His material
energy.
We
would take the small Radha-Krishna deities through the neighborhood
of the Los Angeles temple and encourage all the devotees to get
something from their
homes and offer it to Krishna.
Srila
Prabhupada called his western disciples his “dancing white
elephants.” Actually formerly sometimes a king would give a white
elephant to another king as a gift, but it was actually a trick. The
white elephants were very rare and were considered sacred so you
could not put them to work, but you still had to feed them.
The
older gopis
would
catch Krishna stealing butter and tie him up and bring Him to Yashoda
for punishment. On the way, however, Krishna would untie Himself and
tie up the son of the gopi
who
had captured him. When the gopi
arrived
at Yashoda’s house to reveal the culprit, she found to her surprise
that she had her own son captive.
Laksminatha
Prabhu:
It
is the nature of the soul to be humble.
We
are humble in relationship to Lord Caitanya and not to the people on
sankirtana.
As
a devotee, it is good if people take you seriously, but you should
not take yourself seriously.
We
are meant to be servants of Krishna and not the
controllers
and the enjoyers of Krishna’s material energy.
Pious
people realize without God they cannot fulfill their desires.
If
we do not mature in our reasons for coming to Krishna, we will not
progress.
At
a certain point I realized as a devotee I did not exist as part of
the material world. Previously I had a job working for the government, and they over paid me. I got a letter from the government, “You owe
the Queen $300.” I replied, “I am a Hare Krishna. I do not have
any money. Forget it.” They never bothered me again.
When
you love someone, you do not care where you are, you just want to be
with that person. In Vrindavana, the people are just happy to be with
Krishna.
We
have to love Krishna for who He is, not just as someone who can
fulfill our desires.
Krishna
does not condemn anyone for coming to Him for material goals, but we
condemn ourselves if we remain on that platform and do not progress.
We
have to be humble about it because we have broken our relationship
with Krishna.
Some
people think that God is egocentric and wants our praise. But it is
not like that. Krishna wants us to be happy, and He knows we will be
happy engaged in His service.
We
should feel like glorifying Krishna, but because of anarthas
[unwanted
desires] we
do not.
Sitting
down with Krishna by chanting Hare Krishna for two hours is my
vacation.
The
real technique for chanting japa
is
to value it.
When
we share Krishna consciousness with others, when we see them become
inspired it rejuvenates ourselves.
On
harinama
we
become rejuvenated seeing others attracted.
If
we find ourselves not inspired, we should do something about it.
Deena
Bandhu Prabhu in Vrindavana says that sampradaya
means
inheritance. We inherit all the wisdom from the chain of spiritual
teachers.
Srila
Prabhupada said if you chant Hare Krishna for 30 years you can become
a pure devotee.
Bhagavad-gita
7.3
says that only one in thousands of people endeavors for perfection
and of those who have attained perfection, hardly one knows Krishna
in truth. This does mean that Krishna is being difficult, but rather
that we are being stubborn.
We
have to understand that Krishna’s mission is much greater than
ourselves, and when we are associated with something greater than
ourselves, we become inspired.
Our
process of becoming detached is to become attached to Krishna.
Gokulananda
Prabhu:
Prabhupada
said to be bold for Krishna.
Respecting
people disarms their egos.
Krishnadasa
Kaviraj Prabhu:
The
maha-mantra
is
the way we come to realize that our experience of sense perceptions
is illusory. It does this by chipping away at the false ego which
causes us to identify with these temporary things.
Persons
illusioned by sense gratification like to take the good and the bad
rather than pursue the every increasing good of the spiritual world.
We
need to use the dualities of happiness and distress to remind us of
Krishna.
It
is popular these days to have an attitude of gratitude, but the
people in general do not know who to feel gratitude to. We know
Krishna is the cause of all our good fortune, and feeling gratitude
toward Him can help us develop our relationship with Him.
Every
other religion is hoping for some material gain.
The
true goal of the pure devotee is just to have pure devotional service. I
have never encountered such purity of purpose in the writings I have
read from other traditions.
Kunti
is saying, “When calamities come, I get to remember You (Krishna),
and that remembrance is my supreme benefit, so let the calamities
come.”
Comment
by Mother Laxmimoni: We were memorizing verses from Kunti’s
prayers, and we asked Srila Prabhupada about memorizing her prayer
for calamities. Srila Prabhupada replied that we did not need to pray
for calamities because they will come anyway.
Manu
Prabhu:
Balarama
is always playing with Krishna.
Lord
Balarama appears to take the really deeply anarthas
from
our hearts. We should especially pray to Lord Balarama to become free
from the anartha
of
pride.
Ekalavya
Prabhu:
The
Srimad-Bhagavatam
is
so powerful that even if it is translated imperfectly [as far as
grammar is concerned] it is still beneficial.
The
essential message of the Bhagavatam
is
that Krishna is God, and we are God’s servants.
As
we are being transformed by the Bhagavatam,
the
entire society can be transformed by the Bhagavatam.
Krishna
is like the sun, and where He is present, there is no darkness.
Similarly where there is the Bhagavatam,
there
is no garbage [the place of pilgrimage for crows].
Comment
by Mother Laxmimoni: Srila Prabhupada had great urgency to focus on
the good of the whole world. If we do not follow that and focus on
our own lives, we will end up becoming envious of others.
When
others are
glorified in our presence we should be happy. If we are not, that is
an indication that we are envious.
This
is the 1,000th anniversary of the birth of Ramanujacarya.
Lord
Caitanya accepted two principles from the Sri sampradaya,
(1)
service of the Vaishnavas and (2) worship of the Deity.
Natha
Muni had a son Isvara Muni, who had a son Yamuna, who ultimately
became
Yamunacarya. Isvara Muni left his body, and Natha Muni took sannyasa,
and
so Yamuna was taken care of by his mother and grandmother. They put
him in the school of Bhasyacarya, and he excelled there. Bhasyacarya
was out of the ashram, and two students of Kolahala, the court
pandit, visited and found only Yamuna there. They were demanding to
see Bhasyacarya because he had not paid the tax he owed Kolahala for
being defeated by him for many years. Seeing the uncivil behavior of
the students of Kolahala, Yamuna concluded that Kolahala was a bogus
guru, and he told them that, and he challenged Kolahala to a debate.
After answering perfectly all of Kolahala questions, Yamuna said he
would make three points, and if Kolahala could not defeat them, he
would lose:
1.
The mother of Kolahala is not barren.
2.
The king is a righteous king.
3.
The queen is a chaste lady.
Kolahala
was stumped, and Yamuna had to give the proper response:
1.
Manu
Samhita says
that a woman with but one child is considered barren.
2.
The
king is very expert in executing his duties and taking care of the
citizens, but Manu
Samhita says
the king assumes one-sixth of the pious and sinful reactions of the
citizens, and because in Kali-yuga most people are sinful, so the
otherwise righteous king is entangled in sinful reactions and cannot
be considered completely righteous.
3.
Manu
Samhita says
within the body of the king there are eight principal demigods, so
how can the queen be considered chaste?
Thus
Yamuna won the debate and half the kingdom, but by being entangled in
the state management he forgot his spiritual life. His grandfather
sent his best disciple to convince Yamuna to focus again on his
spiritual life.
As
Yamunacarya, he put the Alvars works to music and wrote Stotra
Ratna.
Harinamamrita
Dasa:
From
a conversation:
When
I distribute books, I look for people who seem unhappy. I ask them if
they are suffering. When they
tell me their problems, I show them a Bhagavad-gita,
and
ask them to read verse 2.7 and purport. I say they can take the book
and give a donation, whatever they want.
-----
Reflecting
on recent classes I have heard and reviewing the notes on classes and
Vyasa Puja offerings here, I am simply inspired by the realizations
of the devotees, and so once again I recall this verse, which
mentions sadhu-sanga [association
with pure devotees] three times:
‘sadhu-sanga’,
‘sadhu-sanga’—sarve
sastre kaya
lava-matra
sadhu-sange sarva-siddhi haya
“The
verdict of all revealed scriptures is that by even a moment’s
association with a pure devotee, one can attain all success.” (Sri
Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 22.54)
