Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 4, No. 23
By Krishna-kripa das
(December 2008, part one)
Harinama in Three Cities
(Sent from
Where I Am and What I Am Doing
After the wettest harinama ever in
Prema Sindhu Prabhu, Derek, and a another devotee chanted with me at
I spent two days in
I also made walnut and cashew burfi sweets for Guru Maharaja’s lunch. He liked the cashew one better.
We had a Vyasa-puja gathering for Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami at Govinda’s Restaurant in Philly that was attended by about twenty-five devotees, including godbrothers, godsisters, disciples, and friends. At one point, he asked us to remember times we felt we benefited from our interaction with him. I said I was inspired by chanting japa with him in Mayapur and
I was planning to go to
Bhagavatananda Prabhu (in back), full of enthusiasm, says “Morning!” to people we met in a friendly way, even while leading. Mother Sraddha (left), despite responsibilities including personally serving her guru, the
When she asked this lady if she wanted books,
the lady said, “Yes. All you have.”
We went out six days a week, from one to two and a half hours.
Monday to Thursday on the streets, or at the Chinese bus station when it rained, or at Suburban Station when it was too cold. Friday nights we did
Prabhupada Nectar
From Ravindra Svarupa Prabhu lectures:
Srila Prabhupada once told reporters he came to give people a brain. Then he explained we had a headless society, and the brahmanas are the head of the social body. The present society is all sudras, people who get pay checks, and a few vaisyas, people who give pay checks.
Prabhupada kept trying despite setback after setback. When asked why the preachers meet difficulties, Srila Prabhupada said, “If there is not a hard struggle, how could they be a glorious victory?”
Soon after Srila Prabhupada took sannyasa he was gored by a cow. He accepted it was
Analysis of how
Once Prabhupada described the brief reunion of Radha and
From Prabhupada’s books:
“Yoga means to concentrate the mind upon the Supreme by controlling the ever-disturbing senses.” (Bg. 2.48).
“The conclusion is that blind faith in a particular mode of nature cannot help a person become elevated to the perfectional stage. One has to consider things carefully, with intelligence, in the association of a bona fide spiritual master. Thus one can change his position to a higher mode of nature.” (Bhagavad-gita 17.2, purport)
“It is essential, therefore, that one constantly associate with pure devotees who are engaged morning and evening in chanting the Hare Krishna mantra. In this way one will get the chance to purify his heart and develop this ecstatic pure love for
“Even by a little association with devotees, the conditioned soul can get out of this miserable material condition. This
Srila Prabhupada faith in the scripture is powerful, as is his ability to create faith in others. Consider this paragraph, “Revealed knowledge may in the beginning be unbelievable because of our paradoxical desire to verify everything with our tiny brains, but the speculative means of attaining knowledge is always imperfect. The perfect knowledge propounded in the revealed scriptures is confirmed by the great acaryas, who have left ample commentations upon them; none of these acaryas has disbelieved in the sastras [scriptures]. One who disbelieves in the sastras is an atheist, and we should not consult an atheist, however great he may be. A staunch believer in the sastras, with all their diversities, is the right person from whom to gather real knowledge. Such knowledge may seem inconceivable in the beginning, but when put forward by the proper authority its meaning is revealed, and then one no longer has any doubts about it.” (CC Adi 5.14, purport)
Inspiration from Lectures
Although both Purnacandra Swami and I are from
Purnacanda Swami, at Govinda’s in
Bg. 8.14 is the first time
When Purnacandra Swami was a new devotee he took it like a yoga society and thought, “Let me try it for five years. After all, my hair will grow back.”
We need to have the humility to know that we need the help of the devotees and the Lord.
Russian saying, “It is better to have a hundred friends than a hundred rubles.”
Laksmi says in the Fifth Canto, “Don’t pray to the Lord for your material needs. He already knows them. Just serve Him and you will get what you need.”
Q by Haryasva: Although we have some faith, we tend to forget that just last week
A: Hearing the holy name and of the process of devotional service from devotees will help make our faith steady.
Ravindra Svarupa Prabhu, SB 6.17.25-27:
Vrtasura has one misfortune after another, but it turns out to be the mercy of the Lord. The same with Pariksit Maharaja and the Pandavas. We say “chant Hare Krishna and be happy,” but if a materialist sees the Bhagavatam pastimes, he may doubt it, seeing all the misfortune.
People are so proud. When the corporate automakers first came to
If one actually wants to advance in
Devotees who are fully surrendered do not get karmic reactions, but to complete free their minds from any lingering tendency for enjoyment,
suffer reverses that appear to be like karmic reactions.
Ravindra Svarupa Prabhu, weekly telephone conference call lecture [contact Sraddha at our Philly temple to participate], SB 11.4.5-6
Lord Vishnu is mentioned, but not the mode of goodness, because Vishnu does not touch the mundane mode of goodness although He controls it, but Brahma and Siva are affected by passion and ignorance respectively.
The Lord protects religion as a pastime not as a prescribed duty.
In Drumila’s description of the avataras, he spends half the time (11 of out of 22 verses) discussing Nara-narayana Rsi. Nabhi, the grandfather of the nine yogendras (one of whom, Drumila, is speaking), worshiped Nara-Narayana and attained Vaikuntha. Thus He is described in more detail than other incarnations.
Curiously Nara-narayana Rsi is often spoken of in the singular case although he consists of two persons,
“Long ago this essential anthology of all the Puranas was spoken by the infallible Lord Nara-Narayana Rsi to Narada, who then repeated it to Krishna Dvaipayana Vedavyasa. O best of the Kurus, the same Suta Gosvami who is sitting before us will speak this Bhagavatam to the sages assembled in the great sacrifice at Naimisaranya. This he will do when questioned by the members of the assembly, headed by Saunaka.” (SB 12.4.41-42)
Nara-Narayana Rsi is the presiding deity of Bharata-varsa, and he is the ista-deva of Narada Muni, who offers Him prayers.
Q: Bhava Sindhu what does Prajapati mean?
A: Sometimes Vishnu, Brahma, and those demigods who help to populate the universe are all sometimes called Prajapati.
Ravindra means literally sun god but the name also is used to refer to the Supreme Lord.
Q: What can we tell someone conditioned by superficiality and artificiality?
A: Pascal said that human beings are so mad that to be free from madness is another kind of madness. Like in a battle, you see people dying at every moment, and therefore, if you are not a physical casualty, you are a psychological casualty. A battle is like normal life speeded up. Devotees can see the material world as it is because they have an alternative and so do not have a stake in the material world. Reading Bhagavad-gita as much as possible, and the first two cantos of Srimad-Bhagavatam, especially the beginning of Canto Two, will help. One scholar wrote a scholarly book on the Bhagavatam called Tales for the Dying. We should see we can die at every moment. Srila Prabhupada said, “If one is not pessimistic about the material world there is not impetus for spiritual life.”
Comment: In Ramayana we learn devotees greet each other by asking “Is everything going well on your struggle to conquer birth and death?”
The Bhagavatam tells how the devas and yogis see the universe. I think there is a greater difference between human beings and demigods than there is between ants and human beings. The last course I took in college, as I was becoming a devotee, was “Archeology in
Planets are called grahas because they grab you [from the astrological point of view].
Ravindra Svarupa Prabhu, Bg. 2.48, Sunday Feast Lecture
Working with the desire to enjoy the results is the cause of future material bodies. Bg. 2.47 and 2.48 are said by Visvanatha Cakravarti to be teaching naiskarmya karma yoga.
Even if we fail on the material platform, if we endeavor for spiritual success, that will be our success. I have come to the conclusion that I do not know enough to judge why
Vibisana Prabhu:
Q: Sometimes we go to places where it is difficult to preach. What do we say?
A: Actually in all parts of the world, they are people who are ready for
We have to become without a trace of envy to go back to the spiritual world and associate with
Mother Anindita dd:
When I see devotees from all over the world advancing in devotional service, I see it is not just an Indian thing.
Godel’s theorem states that an arithmetic system cannot be both consistent and complete, but
Real detachment is detachment from being the proprietor and enjoyer of things, not from the things themselves.
kalim sabhajayanty arya
guna jnah sara-bhaginah
yatra sankirtanenaiva
sarva-svartho ’bhilabhyate
[Karabhajana Rsi to Maharaja Nimi]: “Those who are advanced and highly qualified and are interested in the essence of life know the good qualities of Kali-yuga. Such people worship the age of Kali because in this age, simply by chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra [congregationally] one can advance in spiritual knowledge and attain life’s goal” (SB 11.5.36).