Diary
of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 13, No. 19
By
Krishna-kripa das
(October 2017, part one)
(October 2017, part one)
New
York City and Upstate New York
(Sent
from New York City on November
26, 2017)
Where
I Went and What I Did
Besides
chanting Hare Krishna with the Yuga Dharma New York City harinama
party
every day, except the two days when I visited my family, I
participated in a couple special events
in the beginning of October:
Sri
Gauracandra, a deity of Lord Caitanya was installed on
the altar next to Radha-Muralidhara in
The Bhakti Center, with Radhanath Swami coming to assist, and
Janananda Goswami visited our morning program at The Bhakti Center
and attended our harinama
in
Union Square.
Our
October harinamas
were
special because when Karttika began, we invited passersby to offer
candles to Krishna in His Damodara form.
I
went to Upstate New York for two
days, distributing prasadam
at
an international peace dance in New Paltz, at the Grafton Peace
Pagoda, at the Friends Meeting in Albany, and
at my sister’s house.
I
also had
lunch with my diksa-guru,
Satsvarupa
Dasa Goswami, and did
some service for him in Stuyvesant Falls.
I
share notes on three
Srila Prabhupada lectures and excerpts from Sri
Ksetra: Vaikuntha on Earth, a
soon-to-be-published book about Puri by Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati
Thakura’s disciple, Sundarananda Vidyavinoda Prabhu, from
Touchstone Media. I share notes on lectures by visiting sannyasis,
Janananda
Goswami and Radhanath Swami, and by Prabhupada disciple, Rukmini Devi
Dasi. I also share notes on classes at The Bhakti Center by Brahma
Muhurta Prabhu, the
pujari
for
the deity installation, and Karuna
Nimai,
Ananda
Bihari, Virabhadra Rama, and Mahotsaha Prabhus. I
also share notes on a recorded discussion between Radhanath Swami and
Cornel West which I listened to in Albany with some of my relatives,
and some interesting points from the Grafon Peace Pagoda anniversary
festival and the Friends Meeting.
Thanks to Janananda Goswami for his inspiring kirtans and lecture, and in addition, for reimbursing my travel expenses to and within Paris and changing my euros to dollars. Thanks to Bhakta Larry of Brooklyn for his kind donation. Thanks to Diana and Kate for photos of me on harinama in New York City.
Itinerary
November
11, 2017–January ?, 2018: Yuga Dharma New York City harinama
party
except:
December
2, 2017: Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami Vyasa-puja in Stuyvesant Falls
December
?, 2017: possible visit to Hartford to see Niranjana Swami
December
24, 2017: Christmas Eve with my relatives in Albany
Chanting
Hare Krishna in New York City
Early
October was very warm this year, so mostly the Yuga Dharma New York
City harinama
party
chanted outside at Union Square Park, only chanting in the subway
stations on two or three especially wet or cold days.
I
would spend most of my time at the book table during
harinama.
For
half and hour I would also lead the singing.
During
the month of Karttika, the Yuga Dharma New York City harinama
party gave subway riders an unlimited spiritual boost by encouraging
them to offer lamps to Damodara [Krishna as a child]. “O Narada, no
sin exists anywhere in the three worlds that will not be purified by
offering a lamp to Lord Krishna during Karttika. A person who offers
a lamp to Lord Krishna during Karttika attains the eternal spiritual
world where there is no suffering.” (Karttika Mahatmya in
Hari-bhakti-vilasa,
verses 113–114). Thanks to Mahotsaha Prabhu for enthusiastically
engaging people in this way (https://youtu.be/qt5wu34rQEA):
Here
Rama
Raya Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Union Square, and devotee ladies
and a couple of guys who were passing by dance
(https://youtu.be/fmHGf7NuJVY):
Rama
Raya Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Union Square before his trip to
India for Karttika (https://youtu.be/E9P_qWB4_4g):
Rama
Raya Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Union Square, and many play the
shakers (https://youtu.be/Cl5KZZ4QKRM):
Damodara
Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Union Square, while at the back of our
party a group of friends plays the shakers and chants, and in front
of our party Rama Raya Prabhu and a father and daughter play the
shakers and dance, a small boy tries to play the shakers, and a young
man dances, making it a very lively kirtan and a great way to begin
October (https://youtu.be/FRa3uIujQdQ)
Jaya
Jagannatha Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in a very lively way at Union
Square on three different occasions in the beginning of October 2017.
The first time Janananda Goswami from England is joining us
(https://youtu.be/nbbrBo7HN1M):
Rob,
who regularly gives donations to our party and who appears in the
previous kirtan video and the next one, wore a shirt with the Oscar
Wilde quote, “Every saint had a past, and every sinner has a
future” as he would smoke a cigarette and listen to the kirtan.
Krishna
Prasad Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Union Square, and a lady dances
(https://youtu.be/1gCs8Dkd4cY):
Damodara
Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in Jackson Heights, and Mahotsaha and
Krishna Prasad Prabhus dance (https://youtu.be/a3yBDyLDZ88):
Michael
Collins formerly lived in New York City and would regularly chant
with the Yuga Dharma New
York City
harinama
party. We were happy he and his wife, Madhava, joined us during a
recent one-day visit to New
York City
(https://youtu.be/6C97M1synMQ):
Bhakta
Josh chants Hare Krishna at Union Square, and Premananda Kirtan
Prabhu, who plays trumpet on Indradyumna Swami’s festivals,
accompanies him (https://youtu.be/63i5jLjxcu8):
Kaliya
Krishna Prabhu also chants Hare Krishna at Union Square, with
Premananda Kirtan Prabhu accompaning him
(https://youtu.be/ojOxioxfRlo)
Premananda
Kirtan Prabhu also leads the Hare Krishna chant at Union Square
(https://youtu.be/k3bW3my86QI):
Natabara
Gauranga Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Times Square subway station, and a guy dances with a devotee (https://youtu.be/Gw4TBqc2Gxc):
Damodara
Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Union Square, and a guy who comes by
from time to time dances (https://youtu.be/ANuE6flF3IQ):
Krishna
Prasad Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Union Square, and a couple plays
shakers (https://youtu.be/XHMZzY60Nqk):
Krishna
Prasad Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Times Square subway station, and
Kate dances (https://youtu.be/XcSBveJo85M):
Natabara
Gauranga Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Union Square, and two guys
play shakers (https://youtu.be/kCA0j_ZUHTk):
Pavana
Nitai Chandra Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Union Square, and a guy plays
violin (https://youtu.be/74Ych_W0pAQ):
Kanai
Krishna Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in Union Square, and a man delights
in dancing (https://youtu.be/cfVkDFUunEU):
Kanai
Krishna Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in Union Square, and a kid plays
shakers and dances (https://youtu.be/tjh0iRX5Kuc):
Kanai
Krishna Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in Union Square, and a lady dances
(https://youtu.be/QtTrAZtjVLw):
Kanai
Krishna Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Penn Station subway station
(https://youtu.be/qBb3WhxZqtY):
Chanting
Hare Krishna at The Bhakti Center
Janananda
Goswami chanted Hare Krishna at The Bhakti Center morning program and
got almost everyone to dance (https://youtu.be/fiPU5VjgvHs):
Visiting
Upstate New York
My
sister said she was going to be in New Paltz, half away between
Albany and New York City, the evening before my proposed visit, with
her partner, Victor, and they could give me a ride to Albany. In this
way, I ended up attending the international peace dance in New Paltz
with them on the way back to Albany. I found all but one of the songs
they danced to, which were from different cultures, had God conscious
lyrics. Afterward I distributed the organic hard candies we pass out
on the New York City harinama to
those attending, and I found at least a couple people asked if they were prasadam. I was
surprised. I did not know that so many people involved in the
international peace dances would be aware of what Krishna prasadam
was.
It
turned out the first day of my visit home was the anniversary of
Grafton Peace Pagoda, which my mother was involved in since the
beginning.
It was started by
the Japanese Buddhist
group which chants
“Na-Mu-Myo-Ho-Ren-Ge-Kyo”
and prays for peace, and
some monks performed a ceremony there. They had an interfaith section
of the program, and many different people spoke. The
organizer told my family, if they knew
ahead of time I would
be attending, I could be one
of the interfaith speakers, so perhaps I will do that next year.
The luncheon was potluck, and
I made a quinoa-vegetable dish to share with the people there.
The
next day I went to the Albany Friends Meeting with my mother to
encourage her in her spiritual practice. I chanted several rounds of
the Hare Krishna mantra in my mind during the silent meeting. I
shared about my experience visiting the Quaker pilgrimage site,
Pendle Hill, this summer with my Hare Krishna chanting party. I
mentioned that is said that Quaker founder, George Fox, felt
reluctance to climb the steep hill, though prompted by the Lord from
within, but he persevered and got some revelation at the top about
where he could preach and people would hear his message, and that we
can learn from that to follow inner promptings in the face of
external difficulties. I distributed prasadam after
the meeting.
After
meeting, I borrowed my mother’s car to visit my diksa-guru,
Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami, in
Stuyvesant Falls, 45 minutes away. I read to him during lunch,
accompanied him on his walk, and helped his servant, Baladeva
Vidyabhusana Prabhu, by downloading word processing software for his
computer and typing in some documents to assist in taking care of our
guru’s health.
That
evening my mother and Victor, my sister’s partner, watched the
YouTube video of Radhanath Swami talking with Cornel West at
Princeton.
The
next day for breakfast I made pancakes with blueberry sauce for my
sister Karen, Victor, my Mom, and Gwen, Matt, and their daughter,
Vianne, who were also visiting from New York City, and I returned to
New York City in time for our harinama.
So
all-in-all there were many opportunities to share Krishna’s mercy
in the form of prasadam during my weekend in Upstate New York.
Funny
Photo
Besides
the photo of Rob I mentioned earlier, I had another photo with a
humorous aspect. At Union Square, there are people who spend all day
playing chess. Generally, playing chess is not something recommended
for those in the renounced order of life, so I was surprised to see
this saffron-clad
swami, non-ISKCON thank God, so engaged at Union Square:
Insights
Srila
Prabhupada:
From
a lecture on Srimad-Bhagavatam
7.6.4
on June 20, 1976 in Detroit:
This
is the essential instruction of all Vedic instructions: Endeavor for
economic gain is a waste of time. One should endeavor to go back home
back to Godhead, to attain the abode of Lord Vishnu.
So
many empires in the West existed
for endeavoring for economic gain, like the British Empire.
Although
everyone endeavors for economic gain, some people live in palatial
buildings and others in slums.
Before
I came to the USA I imagined there would be no poor man, but I see
there are so many poor people here.
Everyone
is under the three modes of material nature, and thus everywhere all
over the world you see different divisions of society. You cannot
change this.
If
you endeavor economically but forget the endeavor to go back to
Godhead, you are simply wasting your time.
Even
the big, big scientists do not know the difference between the
spiritual and material body.
If
one does not know about the soul, he is no better than an animal, and
so we are living in an animal civilization.
The
atom bomb we are proud of is just a manifestation of the defending
propensity which we share with the animals.
We
think our wives, our children, our government, etc., will give us
protection from death, but that is not possible.
We
get a body in our next life according to our mentality, and if we act
as an animal, we will get an animal body in the next life.
Only
if we act for Vishnu can we become free from our karmic bondage.
We
are flattering so many people to get some benefit, but Lord Shiva
says why don’t you flatter Lord Vishnu.
This
human form of life is the only chance to awaken our dormant love for
God.
Although
in other Puranas
there
are material activities, in
the Bhagavatam
there
are strictly spiritual activities.
The
Krishna consciousness movement is to spread this knowledge of the
Vedas and Puranas
to benefit society spiritually.
Now
there are no first class men (brahmanas)
in this world with all good qualities. We are trying to create such a
class. I request you to all act nicely so the people will appreciate
and begin to follow.
In
the West, even students in class are smoking cigarettes.
Try
to become a devotee of Mukunda and make your life successful.
From
a class on Srimad-Bhagavatam
1.10.4 in London on November 25, 1973:
Dharma
is to be situated in one’s position. It is not a kind of faith.
Devotees
also have kama
or
lust, but their desires are different. They desire the necessities of
life.
Because
of his piety, during the reign of Maharaja Yudhisthira, nature
supplied all necessities in abundance.
Meat
is not eaten by the human beings. It is eaten by the tigers and the
dog.
From
a class on Srimad-Bhagavatam
1.10.4 in Mayapur on June 19, 1973:
Krishna
is so kind. We have to remember Krishna at the time of death, and on
the Battlefield of Kuruksetra, everyone was dying seeing Krishna.
What is the question of their liberation? They were all liberated.
Pariksit
Maharaja tried to restrict the activities of the mischievous Kali to
places where sinful activities were going on, but there were no such
places because of the King’s good government, thus Kali being
inconvenienced, in order to restrict the King, influenced a brahmana
boy
to curse him to die.
Sundarananda
Vidyavinoda Prabhu:
From
Sri
Ksetra:Vaikuntha
on Earth:
“Srimad
Bhaktivinoda discussed various scriptures and literatures, visited
different places of pastimes within Sri
Navadvipa
Dhama
and discovered the birthplace of Sri
Gaura by the mercy, extraordinary sight, feelings and inspiration of
Jagannathadasa
Babaji
Maharaja,
and established the Deities of Sri
Gaura-Vishnupriya
in Sri
Mayapura
on the full moon day in the month of Phalguna
in 1300 Bengali Era (21 March 1894). Just like the appearance day of
Sriman
Mahaprabhu,
on that Purnima
day in the month of Phalguna,
a lunar eclipse occurred and all the auspicious stars and planets met
together.”
“It was Thakura Bhaktivinoda’s intense desire to preach all over the world the unique contribution of Sri Caitanyadeva, who is the deliverer of Kali-yuga. He has written, ‘It is not that Sriman Mahaprabhu incarnated with His associates just to deliver a few human beings of India. But His main purpose was to deliver all living entities of all countries of the world by preaching the eternal religion.’
“He has said, ‘Prithivi paryanta yata ache desa—grama / sarvatra sañcara haiveka mora nama—whatever religious systems are there in the world, in the matured stage they will all turn into one nama—sankirtana-dharma; this seems a definite fact. Alas! When will that day come when the fortunate people of England, France, Russia, Prussia, and America will inundate their respective countries with the waves of harinama kirtana while chanting the holy name of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and taking flags, mridangas, kartalas, etc., in their hands! When will that day come when the pure spiritual love of God will be the only religion for all living entities and as rivers flow and merge in the ocean, all insignificant dharmas of the world will merge into the limitless Vaishnava dharma.’ (Sajjana Tosani, Part IV, page 41)”
“The Ratha-yatra festival took place that year six months after the appearance of the child [Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura]. That year, Sri Jagannathadeva seated on the chariot out of His own will and remained stationary for three days in front of Thakura Bhaktivinoda’s residence. During that time, under the leadership of Bhaktivinoda Thakura, harinama sankirtana was performed for three days in front of Sri Jagannathadeva. During one of these days, the six-month-old child, in his mother’s arms, went in front of Sri Jagannathadeva and touched the Lord’s lotus feet by spreading his hands and was blessed by a flower garland from Sri Jagannatha’s neck. Srimad Bhaktivinoda Thakura performed the child’s grain eating ceremony with mahaprasada.”
“Thereafter, he [Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura] set out to visit the holy places of South India marked by the footprints of Sri Gaura on 23 February 1905. After returning, he lived at Sri Gaura’s birthplace at Sridhama Mayapura and, following in the footsteps of Haridasa Thakura, he observed a vow of chanting one billion holy names of the Lord by unfailingly chanting three lakhs of the holy name daily. He built a bhajana house at Candrasekhara’s house in Sri Mayapura and, considering it the bank of Radhakunda, he continuously performed bhajana there.”
“He [Srila Gaura Kisora Babaji Maharaja] said, ‘By chanting the holy name of one’s worshipable Lord constantly by the mercy and service to the great souls, one attains the platform of raga and when one relishes the chanting of the holy name with attachment and a favorable mood, then the holy name will Himself reveal as forms, qualities, associates, and pastimes. One cannot remember the Lord’s pastimes artificially; one cannot obtain a siddha deha or spiritual body simply by imagination or reading books.’”
“It was Thakura Bhaktivinoda’s intense desire to preach all over the world the unique contribution of Sri Caitanyadeva, who is the deliverer of Kali-yuga. He has written, ‘It is not that Sriman Mahaprabhu incarnated with His associates just to deliver a few human beings of India. But His main purpose was to deliver all living entities of all countries of the world by preaching the eternal religion.’
“He has said, ‘Prithivi paryanta yata ache desa—grama / sarvatra sañcara haiveka mora nama—whatever religious systems are there in the world, in the matured stage they will all turn into one nama—sankirtana-dharma; this seems a definite fact. Alas! When will that day come when the fortunate people of England, France, Russia, Prussia, and America will inundate their respective countries with the waves of harinama kirtana while chanting the holy name of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and taking flags, mridangas, kartalas, etc., in their hands! When will that day come when the pure spiritual love of God will be the only religion for all living entities and as rivers flow and merge in the ocean, all insignificant dharmas of the world will merge into the limitless Vaishnava dharma.’ (Sajjana Tosani, Part IV, page 41)”
“The Ratha-yatra festival took place that year six months after the appearance of the child [Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura]. That year, Sri Jagannathadeva seated on the chariot out of His own will and remained stationary for three days in front of Thakura Bhaktivinoda’s residence. During that time, under the leadership of Bhaktivinoda Thakura, harinama sankirtana was performed for three days in front of Sri Jagannathadeva. During one of these days, the six-month-old child, in his mother’s arms, went in front of Sri Jagannathadeva and touched the Lord’s lotus feet by spreading his hands and was blessed by a flower garland from Sri Jagannatha’s neck. Srimad Bhaktivinoda Thakura performed the child’s grain eating ceremony with mahaprasada.”
“Thereafter, he [Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura] set out to visit the holy places of South India marked by the footprints of Sri Gaura on 23 February 1905. After returning, he lived at Sri Gaura’s birthplace at Sridhama Mayapura and, following in the footsteps of Haridasa Thakura, he observed a vow of chanting one billion holy names of the Lord by unfailingly chanting three lakhs of the holy name daily. He built a bhajana house at Candrasekhara’s house in Sri Mayapura and, considering it the bank of Radhakunda, he continuously performed bhajana there.”
“He [Srila Gaura Kisora Babaji Maharaja] said, ‘By chanting the holy name of one’s worshipable Lord constantly by the mercy and service to the great souls, one attains the platform of raga and when one relishes the chanting of the holy name with attachment and a favorable mood, then the holy name will Himself reveal as forms, qualities, associates, and pastimes. One cannot remember the Lord’s pastimes artificially; one cannot obtain a siddha deha or spiritual body simply by imagination or reading books.’”
“Hearing
of the name, form, qualities, and pastimes of the Lord and His
devotees is called sravana. The practice of sadhana-bhakti depends on hearing the holy name. It begins with sravana, which purifies the heart of the devotee. This hearing process purifies the heart and gives liberation from the filthiness of sense gratification. In this way, by hearing transcendental sound about the form of Krishna, gradually the complete form of the Lord awakens within the heart. Then gradually the qualities of the Lord arise within the heart. As His qualities fully manifest themselves, the different specific aspects of His service and pastimes gradually awaken. In this way, the holy name gradually reveals the Lord’s form, qualities, and pastimes in all their splendor and beauty and in all their different branches.”
“Bhaktivinoda
Thakura writes, ‘The holy name is the bud of the flower of divine love, the abode of devotion’s wonderful mellows. Such is the power that He manifests, that although He displays His power only slightly, He reveals His own divine form and qualities, steals my heart and takes it to Krishna. Being fully manifest, the holy name of Krishna takes me to Vraja and reveals to me His own love dalliance. He gives to me my own divine, eternal body, keeps me near Krishna and completely destroys this mortal frame of mine.’”
“One
day, as Advaita Acarya came to Mahaprabhu after taking darsana of Jagannathadeva, Mahaprabhu inquired from Advaita Acarya and understood that after seeing the lotus face of Sri Jagannathadeva, the Acarya had circumambulated the Lord five or six times.
“To
this, Mahaprabhu said in a joking way, ‘Acarya, you are defeated, because as long as you were at the backside of the Deity while circumambulating, You were bereft of seeing the Lord’s lotus face. However, as long as I take darsana of Jagannatha, My eyes remain fixed on His lotuslike face all the time.’
“Sri
Advaita Acarya
accepted defeat from Sriman
Mahaprabhu
and said that only Sri
Gaurahari knows the confidential meaning of this topic.”
Janananda
Goswami:
People
are so degraded they think degradation to be normal, and if you try
to live or promote a pure life you may be condemned.
As
long as we think ourselves to be enjoyers,
we will be attracted to illicit sex.
When
I got married in 1980, the registrar said, “Have a nice day.” As
I left the office, I saw the divorce office across the corridor.
Marriage is not taken too seriously these days.
Arjuna
expresses concern in the beginning of the Bhagavad-gita
that the women would be degraded due to illicit sex as a result of
being unprotected if their husbands died
in the battle.
The
Bhagavatam reminds
us that life is meant for self-realization and not sense enjoyment.
It
is not just sex, but any type of action motivated by sense enjoyment
causes degradation.
Srila
Prabhupada noted that in Paris even old men in their eighties still
go to strip clubs. As a result of their life, they have not learned
anything.
There
is a process by which we can become free of our material tendencies.
As
children
do not like to be regulated, although it is better for them, the
people in general do not like to be restricted from sense enjoyment.
The
Vedic culture was meant to regulate people so they could give up
their addiction to sense gratification.
Lord
Caitanya appeared at the request of Advaita Acarya and Haridas
Thakura who were
upset by the degradation of society, and He appeared and gave the
medicine of the holy name, which is meant for everyone.
Other
things are like blowing on a boil whereas the holy name purifies our
consciousness.
The
holy name of the Lord can give us shelter from the temptation for
sense enjoyment.
Comment
by Adi Purusa: One of the Hells Angels admitted he stole a book. I
asked him which one, and he said, “The
Joy of No Sex.”
One
teacher refused to teach the course on
“Safe Sex” and took the Board of Education to court. She won. She
felt the students should also be
given
the option of no sex.
You
do not feel like having illicit sex after a fired-up kirtan. You
might after a rock concert, but kirtan is so purifying.
When
I joined the Hare Krishnas in 1969, my parents wanted to send me to a
psychologist for becoming vegetarian, it was so unheard of.
George
Harrison chanted Hare Krishna, John Lennon chanted Hare Krishna, and
Ringo Starr chanted Hare Krishna. One girl who was a model came to
our temple in London wanting a new Bhagavad-gita because
her old one wore out. A devotee asked her how she became connected to
Hare Krishna, and she said Ringo Starr was her boyfriend at one
point, and he would answer the phone “Hare Krishna.” She inquired
from him about Hare Krishna, and he gave her some contact information
and she followed up on it.
In
England, for some time they
would play the Hare Krishna mantra during intervals in the middle of
the football (soccer) matches. That was the first time I heard it.
Next was in the musical Hair.
I
had read all the popular spiritual books of the time, Autobiography
of a Yogi, Be Here Now, Mahabharata, Ramayana, Vedanta-sutra, and
other versions of Bhagavad-gita, but
none seemed to give a practical direction that I could follow.
As
soon as I read Back to Godhead, I
began chanting Hare Krishna. My friend jokingly suggested I chant
fish and chips instead.
Srila
Prabhupada said, “This chanting comes from the depths of the soul.”
From
chanting we can see beyond duality and see the unity.
Seeing
we are all the same spiritual quality, we feel a sense of unity.
This
mantra is practically enhanced by the crazy atmosphere of New York
City. Other things might improve us
slightly materially, but this
mantra can provide a complete solution.
This
is not another thing to bring us a little peace but rather
to help us transcend the
whole material world.
Q:
Were you searching for the good or for the truth?
A:
Both. The truth and the good are the same thing. The more we
appreciate Krishna, the Supreme Truth, we can appreciate everything.
Radhanath
Swami:
One
Gaura Krishna Prabhu of Chowpatty arranged for the fund raising,
carving, and shipping of the deity of Gauracandra we are installing
today. Soon after that he
died in plane crash in the Himalayas in the sacred place of
Muktinatha. The deity sat here for years. I am satisfied today that
Gaura Krishna’s endeavor is complete.
To
awaken the natural love we have in the heart for the one Supreme
Being is the goal of all religion.
Krishna
is the supreme object of love, and Radha is the supreme lover. The
Supreme Absolute Truth is manifest as the supreme lover and the
supreme beloved.
Krishna
is embodiment of all love and exchanges of love.
As
Lord Caitanya, Krishna comes to taste the sweetness of the love of
His supreme devotee. He also taught people how to awaken their love
of God.
Lord
Caitanya’s gift is available to anyone who will sincerely accept
it.
The
only true value of humanity is integrity and compassion.
Advaita
Acarya could see all the exploitation and the terrorism to come in
the future, and thus prayed for Lord Caitanya’s advent.
Everyone
loved Lord Caitanya as a child. They did not know He was Krishna.
They just loved Him. When He would cry, they tried to pacify Him in
many ways, but He would just cry louder. Finally in desperation they
would chant the name of the Lord, and then He would stop and look at
them with the most beautiful smile.
Lord
Caitanya as a child found a
puppy which he loved to play with. When he was busy, His mother told
the puppy to leave and go to his home. Because that puppy had Lord
Caitanya’s association, in the town the puppy stood on his hind
legs and chanted the holy name and manifested symptoms of love of
God. Seeing
the puppy chant the holy name and dance, others also began to chant
and dance.
Then the puppy
lay down and left its body and attained the spiritual world.
Jagai
and Madhai were so evil that for sport they
would lock people’s doors
and set their
houses on fire and watch them burn.
When
we realize our love of God, we come to love others who are also part
of God.
The
soul has the power to experience limitless and endless love in
relationship with God and to recognize that potency in souls other
than himself.
Through
association with lovers of God, chanting the holy names of God, and
hearing about the glories of God, this
love develops.
To
access the mercy of the holy name, we have to strive to live in
harmony with our nature, which is to serve.
It
is the unselfish service attitude that inspires the all-attractive
Lord to reveal Himself.
If
we desire to be an instrument of the Lord’s compassion and chant
the holy name in that spirit, we will be successful.
Prabhupada
came from East to the West, but he also came from West Bengal to the
East Village and he circled the world many times to spread love of
God.
Krishna
steps aside from his position of God to love us and to
be loved by us. Lord
Caitanya reveals this truth about Him.
We
must simply
try to appreciate Lord Caitanya’s message, no matter what our
background is.
Lord
Caitanya, who has come to reveal the love of Radha-Murlidhara to the
world, has come to appear in our temple.
Let
us pray to put bhakti
in the center, to move toward the light, no matter how much darkness
may be present. Let us celebrate by having kirtan.
Lord
Caitanya would bow down at the feet of even sinful people who chant
the holy name.
From
a conversation with Cornel West:
Brooker
T. Washington, an emancipated slave, said: “I will not give anyone
the chance to cause me to degrade himself by hating him.”
Care is the symptom of love.
We act not to gain anything material but to express the love of God within us through every thought, word, and deed.
Just as we realize we must eat and sleep to achieve success in life. Similarly we have to understand we must have a regular spiritual practice.
Care is the symptom of love.
We act not to gain anything material but to express the love of God within us through every thought, word, and deed.
Just as we realize we must eat and sleep to achieve success in life. Similarly we have to understand we must have a regular spiritual practice.
Rukmini
Devi Dasi:
We
pray today to Lord Caitanya, “Appear
today and bless New York City with Your moonlike face.”
In
the yoga community many people know the “Hanuman Chalisa,”
but we should make Lord Caitanya famous.
Lord
Caitanya wanted to make Radharani’s love famous all over the world.
Lord Caitanya left His family for the call of Krishna just as Radha
left Her family in pursuit of Krishna.
I
accept Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
The
supreme abode is Vrndavana.
The
greatest worshipers of Krishna are the gopis.
The
Srimad-Bhagavatam is
the spotless Purana.
These
truths were all given by Lord Caitanya.
This
creed is given
in Caitanya-manjusa.
Real
recitation of the Bhagavatam
is
like that of Gadadhara Pandit, to smudge the ink with your tears.
Because
of the deep samskaras
from
his youth, Ajamila appreciated the name Narayana and gave his son
that name.
I
have a relative in Florida who does not know what to do with her time
so she has face lifts.
Srila
Prabhupada cried seeing the old men wasting the ends
of their lives playing golf.
Srila
Prabhupada initiated many young men into sannyasa.
Many
were unqualified, and they fell down. Now some devotees who have
difficulty with brahmacarya
choose
to get married before taking sannyasa.
Radhanath
Swami once said, “Real varnasrama
means
that everyone’s contribution must be honored.”
The
deity is saksat
[directly]
Krishna Himself. So we can pray to the deity for His mercy.
Comment
by Adi Purusa Prabhu: The Goswamis were dear to both the sober and
ruffians. So we should be like that. It is easy to the preach to the
gentle people, but we have to reach out to everyone.
At
the stock exchange, someone asked Radhanath Swami, “What does it
feel like to talk in the presence so many millionaires?”
Radhanath
Swami replied,
“I guess they consider me harmless.”
Time
flies whether you are having fun or not.
Young
people are enthusiastic but sometimes fanatical, while older people
are wise but tend to be cynical. Thus it is best to use the positive
qualities of both. I see we do that at The
Bhakti Center.
We
can become moonlike by basking in the moonlight of the great
devotees.
Brahma
Muhurta Prabhu [pujari for
installation of The Bhakti Center Gauracandra]:
The
deity is fully installed at the first darsana
when you see the deity and the deity sees you.
Before
the installation, you handed the deity to us to perform the
installation and now we hand Him back to you for you to serve.
Now
the deity is your responsibility to take care of the rest of your
lives.
Karuna
Nimai
Prabhu:
Ajamila was saved simply because he began the practice of bhakti.
If by interacting with the devotees we feel inspired in devotional service to Krishna that is what is meant by association.
Like Narada served the bhaktivedantas, Tapan Misra’s son, Raghunatha, served Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, and thus attained perfection.
Ajamila was saved simply because he began the practice of bhakti.
If by interacting with the devotees we feel inspired in devotional service to Krishna that is what is meant by association.
Like Narada served the bhaktivedantas, Tapan Misra’s son, Raghunatha, served Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, and thus attained perfection.
Ananda
Bihari Prabhu:
We
do not have to worry about how to give up sinful activities. We just
need to become enthusiastic about performing devotional service to
Krishna.
Ajamila
was eighty-eight years old and still had a small child. This is
amazing to me. I am thirty-two, and I find over ninety percent of my
energy is used in raising a single child.
Because
of his past devotional service, Ajamila was able call out the name of
the Lord at the end of life.
If
we like to judge people for their sinful activities we can get bodies
like the disfigured Yamadutas who assist Yamaraja. But if we
like to appreciate whatever acts of devotion people are doing, we
can become like the messengers of Lord Vishnu.
Comments
by Doyal Gauranga Prabhu:
There
are two or three cases of KGB agents in Russia who originally were
spying on the Hare Krishna movement but because of living with the
devotees and following the devotee lifestyle they ended up becoming
devotees.
There
is a case in Chowpatty of one murderer who joined the temple to kill
a devotee who was a lawyer. He had to follow him for seven days and
in the course of doing that he become so purified he became a
devotee.
Comments
by Adi Purusa Prabhu:
Over
the years, all kinds of people who could not fit in anywhere else
came to New Vrindaban, and because they were engaged in devotional
service, despite their backgrounds,
which were in some cases criminal, many of them became very nice
devotees.
There
is Hells Angel guy who lives near me who would smash bottles on the
sidewalk next to me and throw half-eaten turkey sandwiches at me, but
who now helps me load furniture and says, “I do not know why I like
you, Adi. I don’t like anyone.”
Virabhadra
Rama Prabhu:
The
opulence of the deity worship is not just the nice clothes but the
extent that the congregation is involved in the worship.
The
response of the Yamadutas is full of logic and reason based on the
revealed scriptures and analysis of Ajamila’s sinful life, and
their arguments are convincing, but they forgot one important point,
and when we hear the Vishnuduta’s superior arguments we are
convinced of
their point of view.
We
have to analyze where maya
is
entering into our life and close those doors.
My
brother and I went to visit our father just a few weeks before he
left his body. He felt guilty about leaving our mother, and he
distanced himself for years.
He gave up practicing Krishna consciousness and was practicing
Christianity. When we left to visit him so many devotees gave us so
much devotional paraphernalia,
including a garland offered to his guru, Tamal Krishna Goswami. When
we saw him, we saw he had got beyond his guilt and resumed his
devotional practices like chanting japa. It
was amazing to see how Krishna consciousness he became in the three
days we were there.
If
we see someone with bad qualities, we should think, “I had bad
qualities, and I got the mercy.”
Mahotsaha
Prabhu:
The
material nature seems nice in the beginning, but it always
degrades.
Krishna
gives people the faith to maintain material attachments because they
want to so much, and he fulfills everyone’s desire.
One
speaker said, “Most people in Kali-yuga are going to hell, but some
are going to heaven. Unfortunately they are devotees.”
When
people tell me they are OK, I say, “You will not be for long. Take
this book.”
On
book distribution often people tell me, “I never usually walk this
way, but for some reason I came this way today.” Krishna directs
the wandering of all living entities.
Akincana
Krishna Das Babaji told B. B. Govinda Swami, “No
other acarya in
history has distributed love of Krishna so widely as your gurudeva.”
The
theme of the Damodara pastime is that God is conquered by love.
Cornel
West:
From
a conversation with Radhanath Swami:
Tenderness
is what love feels like in private.
I do try to take quite seriously the endless quest for unarmed truth, understanding that the condition of truth is allow suffering to speak. . . . I do not think of being true unless I embody a sensitivity to the pains and hurts of others.
The conclusion of an Aristotelian syllogism is action.
There is no Christ or Christianity without our Judaic heritage.
Secular people take their deeper values from those with a spiritual foundation.
It was against the law for blacks to worship God without white supervision.
It does not make sense to love your enemy if you have no connection to a higher power.
People mistakenly think that success is to become well adjusted to injustice.
I do try to take quite seriously the endless quest for unarmed truth, understanding that the condition of truth is allow suffering to speak. . . . I do not think of being true unless I embody a sensitivity to the pains and hurts of others.
The conclusion of an Aristotelian syllogism is action.
There is no Christ or Christianity without our Judaic heritage.
Secular people take their deeper values from those with a spiritual foundation.
It was against the law for blacks to worship God without white supervision.
It does not make sense to love your enemy if you have no connection to a higher power.
People mistakenly think that success is to become well adjusted to injustice.
Quoted
at the Grafton Peace Pagoda:
Justice
is what love looks like in public.
Hindu
lady at
the Grafton Peace Pagoda:
Mahesh is the god of destruction but not the destroyer. He is like the environmental God, cleaning up. No one wanted to deal with the poison churned up from the ocean, but Mahesh cleaned it up.
Mahesh is the god of destruction but not the destroyer. He is like the environmental God, cleaning up. No one wanted to deal with the poison churned up from the ocean, but Mahesh cleaned it up.
Dot
Richards from
the Albany Quaker Meeting:
The Quaker movie, Friendly Persuasion, has one line when a Quaker asked about whether he should join the guard to oppose Confederate forces that may attack his home, and a non-Quaker friend replied, “I do hope that someday a better way is found to solve conflict.”
The Quaker movie, Friendly Persuasion, has one line when a Quaker asked about whether he should join the guard to oppose Confederate forces that may attack his home, and a non-Quaker friend replied, “I do hope that someday a better way is found to solve conflict.”
-----
How
important is it to always remember the Supreme Lord? This favorite
verse of mine gives an indication:
hanis
tan mahac chidram
sa
mohah sa ca vibhramah
yan-muhurtam
ksanam vapi
vasudevam
na cintayet
“If
even for a moment remembrance of Vasudeva, the Supreme Personality of
Godhead, is missed, that is the greatest loss, that is the greatest
illusion, and that is the greatest anomaly.” (Vishnu Purana, quoted in purport to Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.9.36)