Diary
of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 8, No. 16
By Krishna-kripa das
(August 2012, part two)
By Krishna-kripa das
(August 2012, part two)
Czech
Woodstock, Polish Padayatra & Festival, Slovakia
(Sent from Manchester, England, on September 30, 2012)
(Sent from Manchester, England, on September 30, 2012)
Where
I Went and What I Did
After
the Kirtana Mela in Spain, I took a late night flight to Budapest,
spent the night with Uddhava Prabhu, who I knew from America, and
then took buses to Prague and then to Trutnov for the Trutnov Open
Air Music Festival, also known as the Czech Woodstock. I love sharing
kirtana
with
the people at that event, and I share with you some highlights. Next
at the invitation of my Polish devotee friends, I attended their
padayatra
and
nama-hatta
festival,
both very satisfying experiences. Then I met up with Bhakta Trevor
and Dhruva Prabhu and traveled to eastern Slovakia where we joined
Janananda Goswami and his followers and did harinamas
and
programs in Slovakia and one Czech Republic.
I
have an extensive “Insights” section this time, and include
points from Srila Prabhupada’s lectures and books, realizations by
Janananda Goswami, notes from the lectures, books, and online journal
of Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami, notes on a seminar by Krishna Ksetra
Prabhu on yama
and
niyama,
as
well as an initiation lecture by him, and notes by lectures by senior
devotees in the Polish yatra.
More
Polish Woodstock Stories
Since
I wrote about the Polish Woodstock, I have heard more nice stories
about it from different devotees.
One
devotee from Wroclaw told me he saw a girl at the Woodstock who loved
dancing in our Ratha-yatra procession. She was so enthusiastic that
she induced her boyfriend and another couple to also participate and
so they all spend three hours dancing in the Ratha-yatra procession.
A month later the devotee telling me the story was standing by the
book table after the Ratha-yatra in Wroclaw, and he saw that very
same girl, and she inquired from him which of the book he
recommended.
For
several years, several of my friends and I have done harinama
at
the train station the day after the Polish Woodstock. Many hundreds
of people are camped out around the train station waiting for trains,
and those who liked visiting our Krishna's Village of Peace are happy
to see us once again before returning home. If you haven’t seen the
video for this year, here is a link to it:
Gatida
Prabhu, who organizes the questions and answers tent on the Polish
tour, has a friendly relationship with the person in charge of
organizing all the extra trains needed to take the thousands of
people back to their homes after the event. That man told him that
there was a lot of tension there at the train station among the
people waiting for hours for the trains, but
when the devotees came through with their chanting, the tension
disappeared. The man requested, or practically ordered, that each
year the devotees do harinama
at
the train station after the Woodstock to keep the peace. The man is
also involved in naming the extra trains. One of the trains this year
was a Polish phrase that meant warm and sweet, and referred to the
halava
that
the devotees serve 150,000 plates of during the Woodstock event.
Gatida said we could have some input into the train names and perhaps
next year they could be given names like “Jagannath Express,” one
of the trains in India from Howrah to Puri.
Trutnov
Open Air Music Festival
(Czech
Woodstock)
Our
participation in the Trutnov Open Air Music Festival (also known as
Czech Woodstock) continues for three and a half days. Mostly we
do chanting and distribution of spiritual food. Beyond that there is
bharat-natyam
dance,
face painting, a questions and answers booth, and of course, a book
table. We are friends with Martin, the organizer, who loves the form
of Lord Jagannatha, and includes His face on all the stages, wristbands, and promotional material.
Thus we have our own stage and camp. There
are other stages, and we also got to chant and discuss our philosophy
on the stage next to the main stage this year for a change.
I danced with the mantra sign in front of the stage because I could not find a good place to put it on the stage.
Some
people in the audience put a lot of feeling in their chanting which
was impressive to me. Some even chanted during both the lead and
response, and a few would go on for hours. Often you could just look
at people and chant, smile, and dance, and they would begin to chant,
smile, and dance, too.
One
group of five people from Holland told me they have been coming to
Trutnov for seven years. Dancing and singing with the Hare Krishnas
is a regular daily part of the festival for them. We remembered each
other from previous years, and they all wanted their picture taken
with me. I told them how we have 200 people singing at Queen’s Day
in Amsterdam.
My
harinama
friend
Vishnujana Prabhu said some people told him they have been coming to
our Krishna camp at Trutnov for five years.
At
our spiritual food booth run by Govinda’s restaurant, two girls
came by with trays and a list of food items for a band on the main
stage called Anti-Flag. Apparently three of the band members wanted
vegan Krishna food for dinner and had sent their staff to get it!
According to Wikipedia, Anti-Flag is an American punk rock band from
Pittsburg started back in 1988. They also played at the Polish
Woodstock.
I
would dance a certain step on our stage, and some people in the crowd
would faithfully follow it with delight. The next two days some of
the people would see me and begin the dance I taught them with smiles
on their faces.
I
saw Shari and Elishka chanting and dancing in crowd, mutual friends
who I have known for three years and who appear my video from 2009.
At
Trutnov, Shari says, she only eats our food, and the other food makes
her sick. Shari
wants to get a Ph.D. in ethnology specializing in religion. She is
friends with the people who run the devotee restaurant named
Baladeva’s in Trutnov. She likes the Trutnov festival because you
can count on their being kirtana
there
whenever you go, whereas kirtana
programs
at Govinda’s in Prague are rare. I suggested periodically we should
do a six-hour kirtana
at
Govinda’s in Prague, later Punya Palaka Prabhu and I began to make
plans for one.
One
girl stayed in our tent for over an a hour with her boyfriend, who
was often chanting, but although she smiled, she never chanted the
whole time. I wondered, “What will it take to get that girl to
chant?”
The next day the couple met us on harinama
and
during the harinama
she
began to sing along. Later she came to our camp and chanted with us
as well.
One
lady, who looked to be in her thirties, remembered me from last year.
She said she came to our camp the previous night and found the
kirtana
very powerful, so much so it brought tears to her eyes.
A brother and sister
from Brno both liked the chanting and dancing. I told them I planned
to be in Brno the evening of August 27 hoped to do some chanting
then, and they gave me they contact details so I could inform them.
One young lady whose
mother is Czech and whose father is Italian was singing both during
the lead and the response and dancing vigorously, with heart and
soul. She seemed so enthusiastic that I thought she must have had
previous experience with the devotees, but she said coming to our
tent the night before was her first experience. Mostly she lives in
Prague, so I gave her an invitation to the our Wednesday program at
the Govinda’s restaurant there, which she was happy to receive.
Seeing her enthusiasm I was reminded that Krishna promises to reward
us as we surrender to Him, and so if someone puts their heart and
soul into chanting His names, they will certainly experience some
reciprocation from Krishna, who will inspire them to continue.
One
person who only knew Czech I referred to Punya Palaka Prabhu who
later told me what he said. He had very grave look on his face and he
said he experienced the Hare Krishna mantra to be like a powerful
drug, not just marijuana but like heroin. Punya could not understand
if he felt Hare Krishna was positive or not, so he asked him. The man
said gravely that it was neither bad nor good but very powerful. I
found that to be an interesting realization because transcendental
pleasure is beyond the good and bad of the material world, and the
Hare Krishnal mantra is described to be so powerful it can free one
from all his karma. Later on in my reading of Caitanya-caritamrita,
I
found that the author compared the love of God distributed by Lord
Caitanya through the medium of the holy name with a great intoxicant:
“The
fruit of love of Godhead distributed by Caitanya Mahaprabhu is such a
great intoxicant that anyone who eats it, filling his belly,
immediately becomes maddened by it, and automatically he chants,
dances, laughs and enjoys.”
So this young Czech man had a little realization of this, although he
was worried because he was not aware that the effect is beneficial.
On the last night, I
brought my harmonium and sound system in case some of the Trutnov
attendees wanted to continue the chanting while other devotees were
packing up our camp. One lady and three guys stayed and we chanted
another 15 minutes or so, along with Bhaktin Martina (known as TG)
from Slovakia, who likes to sing. The lady in the group lives in
Trutnov, and Punya Palaka Prabhu explained to her that we have
periodic programs in our restaurant there called Baladeva.
Sri Sri Gaura Nitai and Srila Prabhupada were the actual leaders of the Polish Padayatra, whose participants walked for five days, August 19 to 23, between and through villages around New Shantipur farm
in southwestern Poland.
The Polish devotees did padayatra with a small ox cart pulled by one bull.
The devotees did a two-hour evening program with sit down bhajans,
Ramayana puppet
show, lecture,
a stand up kirtana,
During the walk we would chant Hare Krishna the entire time. One or two devotees would distribute books.
The
people in general were happy to see the devotees. One man removed his
hat and waved it in salute, speaking words of praise as the cart
bearing Gaura-Nitai and Srila Prabhupada, and followed by their
harinama
sankirtana party,
passed. One man offered a military salute. Many people waved, smiled,
and took pictures. Even the drivers of cars passing us slowed down
and took pictures.
One car had a sun roof, and a child stood on the
seat of the car and took pictures from the opening in the roof as the
car drove slowly by. From the same car, an adult took pictures
through the opened window on the passenger side of the vehicle. One
car passed us and stopped, and a lady got out to take pictures. I
thought about Lord Caitanya’s prediction of his name being chanted
in every town and village and was filled with ecstatic emotions
seeing it gradually happening. I usually focus on chanting in the
cities because more people benefit, but Lord Caitanya actually said
“nagaradi
grama,”
every town and village. He is so merciful, He wants to benefit
everyone everywhere, in all the teeny little villages, not just the
masses in the cities.
Srila
Prabhupada says on his popular recording describing the Hare Krishna
mantra that “even a dog can take part in the chanting.” I never
had so much realization of the truth of this as at one evening
program on the padayatra,
when
four kids from the audience danced to the kirtana,
with
their pet dog in the middle of them.
Two kids were on each side of
the dog, with the two kids next to the dog each holding one of the
front paws of the animal, while it danced on its back two legs. It
was amazing to see.
Here is a video with some highlights of the Polish Padayatra:
Here is a video with some highlights of the Polish Padayatra:
For
those averse to austerities, I recommend the Polish padayatra
over
the Slovenian and Czech padayatras,
which
I visited in 2009.
In
Poland only the bull and one or two devotees camped out where our
walk finished each day. The rest of the devotees returned to the
temple by minibus and came back early the next afternoon. There was
only about two hours of walking each day, compared to the longest
padayatra
I visited, the one in Slovenia where they do sometimes five or six
hours a day. The Polish padayatra
included
a public program every evening, like the Czech one. The Slovenian
padayatra
did
a public evening program every fourth day or so, but had a more
extensive program of prasadam
and
book distribution during the walk.
When
I first saw the cart which was much smaller than the ones in Czech
and Slovenia, I was thinking in material way that this was a small
time event. I mentioned my surprise at the small cart to a brahmacari
friend,
Pancatattva Prabhu, who said “Small is beautiful.” And indeed it
was a very wonderful padayatra
despite
its apparent smallness. It was beautiful to see the happiness of the
souls in the different towns and villages who from their words and
smiles you could see had a spontaneous attraction to the devotees and
their chanting. It reminded me of Srila Prabhupada’s statement:
“Krishna
consciousness is not an artificial imposition on the mind. This
consciousness is the original energy of the living entity. When we
hear the transcendental vibration, this consciousness is revived and
the process is recommended by authorities for this age. By practical
experience also, we can perceive that by chanting this maha-mantra,
or the great chanting for deliverance, one can at once feel
transcendental ecstasy from the spiritual stratum.”
The
last day of the padayatra
was
the best. We passed out all the prasadam
cookies
as we walked. Sometimes some children followed us for ten or fifteen
minutes, sometimes half an hour, walking or riding their bicycles. I
gave a Polish mantra card to a couple of girls who seemed older and
more seriously attracted than the rest, and they chanted a few
mantras with us.
At
the final kirtana
of
the program, three moms in the audience, perhaps in their thirties,
loudly chanted the Hare Krishna mantra with big smiles on their
faces. Several people videoed the parts of the kirtana,
and
one man videoed the whole thing. We only had a few mantra cards which
we gave to the most enthusiastic chanters. As we were packing up, the
three ladies amazed us by starting a Hare Krishna kirtana
themselves.
Some of the girls danced, and some of the devotees joined in and
began playing the instruments.
We talk about how
Krishna consciousness is universal and meant for everyone. Sometimes
we have doubts because few are attracted. This program was a powerful
confirmation for me that Krishna consciousness is for everyone and
Krishna is all-attractive. Otherwise, how is it that thirty or forty
people from a town so small I cannot find its population listed stay
interested in the whole two-hour program? And how were these moms,
with no prior experience of it, suddenly so happy to chant and so
much attracted they wanted to start chanting on their own when we
stopped?
Lord Caitanya wanted
His name chanted in every town and village, and we can see that He
does reciprocate when His followers endeavor in that way. We can only
hope that more devotees in more countries, cities, towns, and
villages, might endeavor in this way, and Lord Caitanya’s
prediction might be realized sooner, rather than later, and many,
many people will be benefited.
Poland
Nama-Hatta Festival
Each
year the Polish devotees have a nama-hatta
festival
at their farm in south Poland, New Shantipur. This year’s special
guest was Krishna Ksetra Prabhu, who did a series of lectures on yama
and
nivasa,
the
first two steps of the astanga,
or
eight-step, yoga system. These two also have relevance in
bhakti-yoga,
and
he talked about that. Lots of devotees like kirtana
there,
and it was fun to chant with them. I did a little seminar on the
meanings of our daily songs and prayers as they are more fulfilling
to sing when we know what they mean, and the few people who came were
glad they had.
A
special feature they added this year was a Ratha-yatra on the roads
surrounding the farm.
I was given a
kerosene torch to hold, and I found it challenging to illuminate Lord
Jagannatha while walking along with the cart. You had to avoid
stepping on other people’s toes, setting the cart on fire, or
stepping in the stinging nettle plants along the side of the road.
Still it was great to do another Ratha-yatra, although I recommended
they might consider doing it during the daytime next year. Nama Hatta
leader, Trisama Prabhu, who I have known from coming to the Polish
tour for years, kindly gave me a donation for my travels and invited
me back to the festival next year.
Chanting
Enroute from Poland to Slovakia
Trevor,
who aspires to be initiated by Janananda Goswami, and I traveled
together from Wroclaw, Poland, to Bratislava, Slovakia, together, to
meet my friend, Dhruva Prabhu, who was flying in from London, and
then continued to join Janananda Goswami’s traveling harinama
party
which was presently based on our farm, New Ekacakra, outside Presov,
in eastern Slovakia. While traveling we chanting in Wroclaw before
our train began, and in Klodzko, Poland, while waiting for a bus that
was meant to replace our train to Miedzylesie, the town on the
Polish/Czech border. Two construction workers took a break from their
work to investigate us. Having a limited Polish vocabulary, I
explained our performance as “spiritual vibrations from India,”
which they seemed to understand, accept, and appreciate.
At
Ústí
n.Orlicí in Czech we met a girl I remembered from the Czech
Woodstock this year. She dressed like a hippie, with a long colorful
skirt and had come every day to our Krishna camp with her friends,
and always seemed happy to be there. I mentioned we had programs in
different part of Czech, and she said that she was already in contact
with one of the devotee girls about them. She said she had come to
the Trutnov festival five times. She was so into it she had the
armbands for all five festivals on her arm! I gave her some
maha-prasadam,
burfi from
our Polish farm, and she was very happy to receive it. I was trying
to figure out if there was some reason Krishna arranged we miss our
train in Poland and had to take a later one, and I came to the
conclusion one reason might be He wanted to give that girl some more
mercy.
We
were too late to chant much at Brno, where I hoped we would do
harinama.
We
did chant some while waiting for a tram, on the way to our place to
stay, offered by a Brno student we had met at Trutnov the previous
year, who has began regularly attending the weekly programs at our
local center. (The book distributors were traveling so we could not
stay at the center.) While we were chanting a lady came up to us,
smiling happily to encounter the Hare Krishnas, and she began to sing
along. She talked to our host, and we learned that the woman
apparently lived in Australia from where, she said, she knew about
Hare Krishnas and that she is really into eastern philosophy. Both at
the train station and on the way to our place several people said,
“Hare Krishna” to us. This is probably because each Friday the
devotees do harinama
around
the train station in Brno. We chanted the evening tune with our
host, who we helped to learn the standard karatala
beat,
as Trevor cooked an Ekadasi dinner of potatoes and tomatoes. The next
morming we chanted for the commuters waiting for the city bus, and
people at the train station who happened to be standing on the same
platform as our train toward Bratislava.
We
got to Bratislava airport early, and we must have chanted for an hour
there, both before and after meeting Dhruva Prabhu. We were pleased
that the authorities allowed our chanting to continue unabated.
Trevor practiced a few Hare Krishna tunes in the space between the
carriages on the train to eastern Slovakia and also was not disturbed
by the authorities.
Harinamas
in Slovakia
Gypsy village near
New Ekacakra:
We chanted for one
and half hours at a gypsy village near the Hare Krishna farm in
eastern Slovakia, Nova Ekacakra. For an hour we had an audience of
100 people. Some smiled, some clapped, some danced, and some even
chanted Hare Krishna in tune. When we left the village 50 gypsy
children followed us back to our car. We had one car and nine people
so we had to make two trips to back to the temple, and some of us
kept chanting while we waited for the car to return for us. When the
last car left, there were still twenty kids there to wave good-bye to
the chanting party.
Roznava:
We
must have had about twelve devotees, led by Janananda Goswami, on
harinama
in
Roznava, a district town in eastern Slovakia.
You could understand Hare Krishnas were a rare sight in Roznava by seeing the reactions of the people, but there are always some who smile approvingly, who give the old thumbs up, or take pictures. We started at Tesco, a traditional harinama meeting point in different cities, only surpassed by Marks and Spencers in the UK. Unfortunately we could not even stay a whole hour as we had to catch a couple buses to Hankova, which Maharaja has a disciple and where we stayed the night.
You could understand Hare Krishnas were a rare sight in Roznava by seeing the reactions of the people, but there are always some who smile approvingly, who give the old thumbs up, or take pictures. We started at Tesco, a traditional harinama meeting point in different cities, only surpassed by Marks and Spencers in the UK. Unfortunately we could not even stay a whole hour as we had to catch a couple buses to Hankova, which Maharaja has a disciple and where we stayed the night.
Stitnik:
It
took two buses to Hankova, and so we had twenty minute layover at
Stitnik,
at a bus stop, surrounded by shops in the middle of that small town,
with a bunch of people hanging out. I decided to chant, using our
amplifier, as we sat on the bench waiting for the bus. A couple
people came up close and took pictures. One lady wanted to have her
picture taken with the devotees, and Jivananda Prabhu, the only one
of the four of us who knew the Slovak language spoke to her. A boy
took five minutes of video, smiling a lot while he was filming.
Jivananda Prabhu said book distributors who later came to Stitnik
found the residents still remembering favorably our spontaneous
kirtana
there.
Lucenec,
where a very few devotees live, was another short and sweet harinama.
We
went up and down the main street once before having to catch our
train to Bratislava. Janananda Goswami is very liberal to look after
these devotees in small cities in eastern Slovakia by coming there
and doing harinamas
and
programs with them.
Chanting
in Czech
Janananda
Goswami attended a monthly nama-hatta
program
just outside the medium-sized city of Pardubice, in northern Czech
Republic, just 85 miles from the Polish border, the city where the
first Czech temple was started. As our over-priced EC train arrived
over an hour before the program, I suggested we do a harinama,
and
so four of us did. I always feel victorious to chant in a new city.
We met two very favorable people. One was a young man who says he
already chants Hare Krishna because he had heard a popular recording
of the mantra a Czech pop singer had made in the 1960s or 1970s.
Jivananda Prabhu talked to him and gave him information about our
programs in Czech Republic. Another was a middle-aged gypsy woman who
loved music, and imitated all our dance steps, spending over 20
minutes participating in our harinama.
She
kept trying to get her friends to join in, and one came over to look
for a few minutes. It reminded me how attraction to Krishna sound is
such an individual thing. Trevor considered the whole 75-minute
harinama
successful
because that one lady was inspired to hear it so much and dance
along. We’ chanted another ten minutes later at the Pardubice train
station as we waited for our train to Poland for the next day’s
Ratha-yatra in Wroclaw, which for us was to be followed by
Kirtana-Mela in Germany.
Insights
Srila
Prabhupada:
from
a lecture on Srimad-Bhagavatam
5.5.2
given in Hyderabad, April 13, 1975:
Mukti
[liberation] means to live without conditions.
To
follow the mahajanas
means
to serve their mission. We are followers of Rupa Goswami. Why?
Because he wanted to establish the mission of Sri Caitanya
Mahaprabhu. He understood that Caitanya was Krishna come as a devotee
to demonstrate the process to love Him.
We are bound up, but
we are declaring independence. That is our foolishness. If you really
want independence you have to surrender to Krishna or His
representative.
For one who
determined to be happy in the material world, it is impossible to
advance in Krishna consciousness.
We
are thinking we are purusa,
the
enjoyer, but we are actually prakrti,
that
which is enjoyed. When we accept our identity as prakrti
and
understand
that
we are to be enjoyed by Krishna, then we are liberated.
As
long as we want something, we cannot be prasanta,
peaceful.
from
lecture on Srimad-Bhagavatam
5.5.2
in London on September 17, 1969:
Liberation or
freedom means you go to the spiritual world and do not come back. Not
like the scientists going to the moon planet, collecting some dust,
and coming back.
People are like
animals. They have two hands and two legs, but they are animals,
because they have been trained to be like animals.
If
you associate with a mahatma
(great soul) you become mahatma, if you associate with debauch, you
become debauch.
from
his Srimad-Bhagavatam
5.7.6 purport:
If
we massage a person’s legs, we do not really serve the legs but the
person who possesses the legs. All the demigods are different parts
of the Lord, and if we offer service to them, we actually serve the
Lord Himself.
Janananda
Goswami:
The
Goswamis are our friends and our primary siksa
[instructing]
gurus. By serving them all obstacles to devotional service are
vanquished and all spiritual desires are fulfilled. This result is
obtained in proportion to our degree of surrender.
Taking the shelter
of feet of the Six Goswamis can be understood to mean taking shelter
of the servants of the Six Goswamis by following their instructions.
Rupa Manjari is in
the party of Lalita.
We cannot write
songs imitating Narottama Dasa Thakura or Bhaktivinoda Thakura as
they are eternal associates of the Lord who have come to reveal a
little of the spiritual world to us.
If we do not like
serve the immediate predecessor, we will not make it in the spiritual
world, because there also the devotees serve their immediate superior
in the service of the Lord. They are satisfied to be the servant of
the servant.
Raganuga
spontaneously
arises after the stage of liberation, after all anartas
or
unwanted things are eliminated. It is not something you can read
about in book and practice. The removal of the anarthas
happens
by the mercy of Krishna who is pleased our practice of following the
instructions of the scriptures and the saintly persons.
The barometer of
advancement is increase in faith.
One of the biggest
reasons we do not advance as that we do not hear attentively.
The
guru gives us practical service we can render to remove anarthas.
In
the beginning we may not be able to understand how the practice Srila
Prabhupada gave us is complete, but if we continue acting according
to it, we will see how we are purified.
Although
the asta-kalika
lila is
not part of our practice, our acaryas
have
given us different songs for different times of day, such as udilo
aruna for
the morning, bhaja
bhakata at
noon,
and
kiba
jaya jaya gourcander in
the evening.
The
sankirtana
movement
is primarily the movement of Lord Nityananda. When He sees someone
trying to distribute the holy name, He becomes very merciful.
To have no fear,
remember Lord Nityananda and chant the holy name.
Q:
What does khoda
nitai mean?
A: Lord Nityananda
is Himself the Owner and Manager [of the marketplace of the holy
name].
Dhruva
Maharaja by following the instructions of Narada he got the darsana
of
the Supreme Lord and offered many prayers from his purified
consciousness to Supreme Lord.
Sri
Caitanya Mahaprabu liked especially the pastimes of Dhruva Maharaja
and Prahlada Maharaja. He was not just absorbed in the the
madhurya-lila.
When
we engage our senses in the service of Krishna, we become free from
maya.
Maya
is
just to see things separately from Krishna. It is not a separate
energy competing with Krishna like Satan.
Fire is in paper and
a iron rod, but it takes more energy to realize the fire in a iron
rod than in paper. But when either paper or a iron is hot, they can
ignite something else.
When the senses are
purified, one sees this material world as the spiritual world.
In practically every
chapter, Krishna is telling Arjuna how he can remember Him.
Srila Prabhupada was
asked, “What is Vaikuntha [the spiritual world] like?”
Srila Prabhupada
replied, “ . . . You cannot see?”
We cannot see
electricity but we can see the effect of electricity, and so it is
true of the Lord. Electricity can create heat or cold or produce
images on a screen and thus we can understand that the electricity is
present. Similarly the Supersoul enters the inert material energy and
produces effects by which understand His presence.
When we try to enjoy
this material energy in different ways we get burned.
Devotional service
means learning how to use that which is at our disposal in
relationship with Krishna.
Instead
of being in the lap of maya,
we
have to come to the lap of Krishna. In age this is possible through
the chanting of the holy name of the Lord.
The same material
energy becomes the vehicle for our going back to Godhead when we
engage it in devotional service.
The Lord delivers
one who tries to engage everything in is devotional service.
Duryodhana is said
to be an expansion of Kali.
Srila Prabhupada
explained that some of the eternal servants of the Lord serve the
Lord only in his pastimes in the material world, and he gave the
example of Arjuna.
Google
Goswami is the siksa-guru
for
everyone and everyone can approach him to inquire. [jokingly]
Q[by
Dhruva Prabhu]: This verse seems to say that we should not be afraid
of maya
rather,
we should welcome her and engage her in Krishna’s service.
A:
That depends on our qualification. One who is not so advanced cannot
engage the material energy in Krishna’s service in all respects.
Prahlada Maharaja has prayers declaring his fear of
maya and
others declaring his fearlessness of maya.
In
the neophtye state we should be afraid of maya
and
use fear in Krishna’s service in that way.
On
harinama
in
villages in Africa, and even in India, in the beginning it looks like
no one is there and then suddenly people will appear from all
directions.
You may have
problems with your mind. But at least you have a mind, and as the
song indicates, your task is simply to redirect the mind to the lotus
feet for the Lord.
This
is the way to control the mind. To chant Hare Krishna with others.
This is the austerity for this age. It is the essential practice for
all of us. It is not the age for solitary bhajanas.
The
leaders brought in some German devotees to organize the English
devotees to collect money to cover past debts. We bathed wherever we
found water, pure or impure. The food was austere. We worked long
hours, intimidating people to give money. It was complete contrary to
my nature. It was so miserable I could not take it anymore, and I
prayed to Krishna. Suddenly I could deal with the whole situation in
a jovial way and when we came back to the temple that weekend, I was
taken off that service and given just the service I desired.
Draupadi
offended both this month of Purusottama Masa and Durvasa Muni in a
previous life. She wanted a husband, and Durvasa Muni told her to
worship the month of Purusottama, but she did not listen and thus she
offended both the muni
and the month. Thus she had to suffer very much in her next life.
Everyone had rejected this month, but Krishna had accepted it and
made it his own, naming it Purusottama masa,
and
so had become the the best of all holy months. After suffering
greatly in her life as Draupadi, Krishna advised that she and the
Pandavas worship the month of Purusottama, and their fortune
completely changed. They regained everything they had lost.
Sometimes
people complain, “Krishna married 16,108 wives. He is simply
interested in sex. What a debauchee!” We can ask them where did you
get that information that Krishna had so many wives. “From your
books.” But did you continue reading how He expanded in 16,108
forms and lived with each wife in her own palace and satisfied them
in all respects? You can hardly maintain one wife, and yet he
perfectly maintained so many.
Srila
Prabhupada made the point that Krishna as the Supreme Lord is the
proprietor of everything and thus all the ladies belong to him. Thus
the men who claim women as their wives are claiming Krishna’s women
as their own and thus they could be considered debauchees but not
Krishna.
Radhanatha
Swami’s friend Ghanashyama was a prince in a royal family, but he
fell in love with Vrindavana while on pilgrimage with the family, and
decided to stay there. When after several attempts to get him to
return, his family threatened that they would disinherit him and he
would be poverty stricken. He picked up a grain of a dust from
Vrindavan, and said this one grain of dust is more valuable than all
the opulence of the material world.
Purnima
is a holy day, and it is in Purusottama, a holy month. So it is a
very, very holy day.
In
English we say holiday, which derives from holy day, because most
holidays were originally holy days.
Now,
of course, holy days are not so holy. They have calculated more
illegitimate children are conceived on Christmas and more liquor is
drunk on Christmas than any other day. My father would never drink,
smoke, or gamble, but on Christmas he would make an exception and do
all three. He would eat meat, but on Christmas he would eat more than
usual.
We
should take advantage of holy days, such as Purnima and Ekadasi, to
increase our hearing and chanting about Krishna.
The
Six Goswamis wrote books, established temples, excavated the pastimes
places of the Lord, and they taught the practical process of deity
worship.
Bhaktivinoda
Thakura’s song Suddha-bhakata
teaches
the value of devotional service.
When
we associate with someone we are affected by their qualities. Thus if
we associate with people who are attracted to Krishna we are affected
by that.
When
Krishna sees we are serving His devotees, He is very pleased and
cleanses our hearts, and our natural attraction for Krishna arises.
When
there is dirt on an electric contact, it will not conduct properly,
until we clean it. In the same way, when our heart is cleansed with
can connect with Krishna.
Ultimately
it is the mercy of Krishna that we become attracted to Him, so we try
to live in such a way that we attract Krishna’s mercy.
The
material world is mostly upside down, and thus we end up going down.
The
material world is very entangling, like a maze. We cannot see where
was have come from or where we are going. We do not even know where
we supposed to be going.
The
seed that produced the tree cannot be seen once the tree has come
into being. In the same way, we cannot see our origin.
How
this material world works or what causes it to work we cannot
understand.
When
we stop trying to enjoy, control, and exploit this material world,
and we try to surrender to Krishna, He releases us from this material
world.
Devotional
service is a practical way of living our lives in the consciousness
that Krishna is the proprietor.
Some
people say we have get rid of our ego, but that is not actually a
fact. Ego means identity. So we cannot get rid of our identity, but
we can get rid of our false ego, or misconception of our identity.
Otherwise it is like getting rid of our head to get rid of a
headache. The falsity needs to be removed, not the ego.
Some
people thinks that individually is temporary, but in Bg. 15.7
explains that individuality is eternal.
The
nature of the expansion of the living entities to serve the supreme.
In
the material world we see ourselves in the center, but in the
spiritual world we see Krishna in the center. By seeing the things in
this center in relationship to Krishna we become qualified to go to
the spiritual world.
So
people consider if we take parts away from the whole, the whole
becomes less, but there are examples that this is not always true.
For example, when a mother gives birth to a child, both the mother
and child continue to exist. Similarly when Krishna expands as the
living entities, He does not lose His identity nor become lessened.
What
are manifestations of pride?
- Acting without considering the desire of Krishna.
- Lessening one’s spiritual practice.
- Becoming upset if we are not honored.
- Blaming others for our failings.
- Becoming upset when advised by others.
- We see that Krishna, the material energy, and our guru all meant to serve us.
- Showing off.
- Faultfinding.
- Inappropriately instructing others.
- Making no effort to be attentive while chanting japa because you think you have something better to do.
- You do not want to serve. You want to be served.
- Never forgiving.
- Forgetting the misery of being in maya (illusion).
- Taking things for granted.
When
the deity installation ceremony was being televised in Australia,
Srila Prabhupada did not refrain from correcting his disciples,
although it may be misunderstood, because he was more concerned that
Krishna be served properly than what people taught about him.
One
who is not proud never takes offense at all. He sees that Krishna is
trying to educate him or purified him.
You
lose the benefit of the austerity if you advertise it or show it off.
To
counteract pride, give credit to the guru, Krishna, and the other
devotees.
Try
to chanting the holy name of the Lord together, try to chant
attentively, pray as Brahma did to not be affected by pride, try to
serve the devotees, and regularly read Srila Prabhupada’s books.
These will help conquer pride.
In
mental japa
there
is no japa
if
the mind wanders, but when japa
is
audible then even if the mind wanders, there is still benefit.
Krishna
reveals Himself to one who He desires, but if we do not follow the
directions of the spiritual master, we cannot expect Krishna to
reveal Himself to us. Thus we should chant the holy name according to
the direction of the spiritual master if we want to advance.
Anyone
can chant the holy name, but if we want to attain pure chanting,
there are certain rules to follow.
Sankirtana
means
chanting together or complete glorification of the Lord. If the goal
of our activities is complete glorification of the Lord, then that
those activities can be considered to be sankirtana.
Even
while sleeping or eating we can chant.
By
chanting while we perform activities we will not be overwhelmed we
that idea that we are the performer of our activities.
Although
certain conditions may be helpful for chanting, we do not need to
wait for any condition before chanting. By chanting one becomes
completely pure.
Lord
Caitanya is giving the holy name to both the qualified and the
unqualified.
I
have heard one million go shopping on Oxford Street, and if they see
or hear the harinama,
they
benefit spiritually.
By
performing kirtana,
we
experience bliss, but by smaranam
one
may not taste bliss, if the mind is impure.
Bhaktisiddanta
Saravati Thakura makes the point that in the Siksastaka
Lord
Caitanya only talks about kirtana.
He
says that if our sadhana
does
not help us in developing attachment to kirtana,
it
is actually an impediment to sadhana.
Sankirtana
is
very absorbing, and we feel something changing within the heart.
Our
little dose of japa
often
turns into a doze.
We
generally beginning by become attracted to the external features of
the kirtana—the
happiness of the devotees, etc.
There
is no impediment to sankirtana.
We
should be trying to remove impediments to sankirtana,
not
increase them.
On World Holy Name
Week we should think of ways to increase the chanting of the holy
name.
Satsvarupa
Dasa Goswami:
from
a Rama Navami lecture:
The
Lord’s pastimes are not allegories. An allegory is a higher meaning
than the literal text, but when the text is about the Lord, the
Supreme Truth, there is nothing higher.
When
Lord Rama broke the bow of Janaka Maharaja, the noise was so loud
that all but Lord Rama, Laksman, and Visvamita Muni became
unconscious.
from
a Nrsimha Caturdasi lecture:
Hiranyakasipu,
although he ruled the whole universe and had all objects of sense
enjoyment, because his senses were not controlled could never be
satisfied, Thus he is an example of the ultimate materialist.
from
Calling Out to Srila Prabhupada:
“O
Prabhupada, whose disciples must find out for themselves the extent
of their surrender to you, but who need you always to direct and
console them on the path;
“O
Prabhupada, who offers the absolute way of sabda-brahma,
and who defies the predominance of the methods known as pratyaksa
(direct
perception) and anumana
(mental
speculation);
“O
Prabhupada, who leads his followers in the intellectual scholarship
of Vyasa, the six Gosvamis, Visvanatha, and Baladeva, and whose own
example was that he never was defeated by an opponent or thrown into
doubt, and who was never impressed by the vain speculations of
Western philosophers, even when he heard their intricate logical
constructions on the nature of God and reality; O Prabhupada, whose
followers gave up their own allegiances to favorite speculators and
writers when you made it clear that the jnanis
can
never arrive at perfect knowledge because of their imperfect methods,
no matter how powerful they may be in mind or in sincerity;
“O
Prabhupada, who brought his followers far beyond mental speculation
and far beyond voidism and far, far beyond the light of
undifferentiated spirit (Brahman); who brought his followers into the
presence of Sri Krishna in Krishnaloka, and who did this simply by
singing the prayers of the Brahma-samhita
and
by explaining that we’re all gods, but Krishna is the
isvara-parama,
the sarva-karana-karanam,
the
cause of all causes;
“O
Prabhupada, who in older age stayed mostly in his room or in a
temple, or who was seen in the lecture hall, at a festival site, in a
brief visit to someone’s home, or who was seen on morning walks in
a park or on a beach; who moved two or three times a month thousands
of miles to another country, and who thereby showed the places that a
sannyasi
preacher
frequents if he wants to follow Prabhupada’s example;
“O
Prabhupada, who cannot be imitated in all the little details of life,
such as what articles he placed on his desk, or how he gestured with
his head and hands or how he thought, because no one can exactly know
the mind of a liberated Vaishnava;
“O
Prabhupada, who should also not be imitated as a guru by accepting
daily guru-puja
from
a big opulent vyasasana,
and whom we cannot imitate by attempting to surpass the Bhaktivedanta
purports to Bhagavad-gita
As It Is, Srimad-Bhagavatam, Caitanya-caritamrta,
and The
Nectar of Devotion,
but who left an unlimited field for his followers to develop in the
literature and arts of Krishna consciousness;
“O
Prabhupada, who sacrificed everything to spread the teachings of Lord
Krishna, but who never lost his own simple devotion to Lord Krishna.”
from
Wild
Garden:
“If
we know better who we are, then we will stop clamoring to be heard,
and we will be able to chant with attention.”
from
Memories:
Prabhupada
said that the more sinful and extravagant we were in youth, the more
we would suffer in old age.
from
Viraha
Bhavan, August
25, 2012, poem:
I
talked with [Jayadvaita] Maharaja about our
possible destination in the next
life. He said he didn’t mind birth and death,
but dreaded adolescence again.
possible destination in the next
life. He said he didn’t mind birth and death,
but dreaded adolescence again.
from
Viraha
Bhavan, August
27, 2012, poem:
Haridasa
Thakura says,
“This loud kind of kirtana is
millions of times better
than the silent utterance
of the holy name
which only benefits oneself. Chanting for others is
far superior for clearing the sins
and making one eligible for love of God.
So these sadhus are performing the
greatest welfare by
singing harinama to the people at large.
“This loud kind of kirtana is
millions of times better
than the silent utterance
of the holy name
which only benefits oneself. Chanting for others is
far superior for clearing the sins
and making one eligible for love of God.
So these sadhus are performing the
greatest welfare by
singing harinama to the people at large.
from
Viraha
Bhavan, August
28, 2012, poem:
Again
they are
performing the topmost yajna
for the age of Kali, congregational
loud chanting. Onlookers are
forced to hear the holy names for
their eternal benefit, “It never
suffers loss or diminution and a little
effort in it can save you from
the greatest fear.” What seems
like casual roadside performance
is the greatest welfare for rescue
of the fallen souls.
performing the topmost yajna
for the age of Kali, congregational
loud chanting. Onlookers are
forced to hear the holy names for
their eternal benefit, “It never
suffers loss or diminution and a little
effort in it can save you from
the greatest fear.” What seems
like casual roadside performance
is the greatest welfare for rescue
of the fallen souls.
Krishna
Ksetra Prabhu:
from
a seminar on yama
and
niyama:
Why
talk about these two limbs of astanga-yoga?
- Because yoga, particularly astanga-yoga, is popular now.
- Bhagavad-gita is very much a yoga scripture, and Krishna advises Arjuna to be a yogi. (Bg. 6.46)
- The sixth chapter of Bhagavad-gita is very much a summary of astanga-yoga.
When
Rupa Goswami explains bhakti
is
not janma-karmady-avrtam
[or
covered by janma,
karma, etc.],
the
adi
[etc.]
refers to yoga.
With
the mercy of the Lord, it becomes possible to practice bhakti-yoga.
So
if we are so engaged we can feel fortunate that we have some of the
Lord’s mercy.
Although
asana
comes
after yama
and
niyama,
most
yoga studios do not teach anything about the preliminaries, yama
and
niyama.
We
think that talk of yama
and
niyama
would
be of great benefit to them. In America, there is the beginning of an
understanding of this idea in the yoga community.
Patanjali
defines yoga as nirodha
vrtti citta, the
winding up of the churning of the consciousness. Traditional yoga
means to stop the movement of the mind.
Pratyahara
comes
from prefix prati,
which
means the opposite, and ahara
which
means to consume. So pratyahara
means
to resist the tendency to consume.
Dharana
means
to concentrate on concentration.
There
is not a distinct border between dhyana
(meditation)
or samadhi
(complete
absorption).
Kevala
is
a “freedom from” the negative, not a “freedom to” do
something positive.
Yama
and
niyama
both
deal with self-control, and therefore, with ethical behavior.
Sometimes
it is said that sankhya
is
the theory and yoga is the practice.
Although the
traditional yoga culminates in oneness, and thus being alone, to get
there we have to properly deal with others.
Yama
and
niyama
are
equipping oneself to climb the mountain of yoga.
Adhikara
means
qualification and authorization, or the right or ability to practice
yoga.
There
are five subdivisions in both yama
and
niyama.
Yama
and
niyama
are
both defined as restraint. The prefix ni
can
mean a greater depth or an application. Thus niyama
can
be regulations or practices. Thus yama
is
more negative and niyama
is
more positive.
Yamas
- ahimsa (nonviolence)
- satya (truthfulness)
- asteya (not stealing)
- brahmacarya (celibacy, continence)
- aparigraha (nonpossessiveness)
Niyamas
- sauca (cleanliness)
- santosa (complete satisfaction)
- tapasya (austerity)Tapasya comes from tapas or heat, as austerity creates a kind of internal heat.
Srila Prabhupada
says it is the voluntary acceptance of difficulty for a higher
purpose.
- svadhyaya (study of the Vedas or self-study)
- isvara-pranidana (surrender unto the Lord)
This is one of the few places that Patanjali refers to the Lord.
Some argue this surrender is only as a means to attain some goal,
while others say that it reveals Patanjali’s nature as a devotee.
Q:
If the astanga
system
is not practical why does Krishna mention it?
A:
Bhagavad-gita
is
something like a supermarket in which Krishna surveys different known
practices.
If
we just had Bhagavad-gita
we
would be confused, and so Lord Caitanya came and told us what to do,
chant Hare Krishna. By following the instructions in chapter six of
Bhagavad-gita
we can better chant Hare Krishna, and by chanting Hare Krishna, we
can better follow the instructions in chapter six.
1.
Ahimsa
(nonviolence):
We may think because
we are vegetarian, we have already got our nonviolence badge, but if
we look deeper, we may see we still have work to do.
I see two reasons
for violence, biological and psychological, biologically for survival
and psychologically from fear, arising from separation from the Lord.
Artful, courageous, and balanced action leads to nonviolence. We all
have talents we can positively engage. By consciously facing fear and
not running from it, we can conquer over fear. Then we will be free
to think of others’ welfare.
2.
Satya
(truthfulness):
Related
to ahimsa.
Because truth has
power it humbles the speaker of truth.
To be true to the
self is the opposite of self-indulgence.
Because Krishna is
the Supreme Truth to be conscious of Krishna is to be truthful.
3.
Asteya
(non
stealing):
Rvaindra Svarupa
Prabhu would remind us, “Before we becoming superhuman, we must
become human.”
4.
Aparigraha
(nonpossessiveness):
If we feel complete,
we will not seek happiness through possessions.
Nonpossessiveness
is
the practice of letting go of all sorts of things.
Krishna says if you
do sacrifice you will get whatever you need. (Bg. 3.10) Otherwise you
are a thief. (Bg. 3.12)
Q: What is the fear
motivating Vaishnava hatred toward other Vaishnava groups?
A: It is a fear
concerning a need for belonging. The fanatics are those who least
secure in their beliefs.
Sometimes we read
Chapter 16, and we think it is about those terrible demons out there.
But in reality, we have to face our our own demons. But we do not
have to go looking for temptation.
5.
Brahmacarya
(celibacy):
Brahmacarya
is very much recommended for spiritual life.
Niyamas:
1.
Sauca
(cleanliness):
Just as we cleanse
the temple daily, because the body is also a temple, we bathe every
day.
God is supremely
pure, yet we give Him a bath every day. Why? Because as we feel good
when we are freshly bathed, so does God.
Cleanliness
is especially for the grhastha
asrama because
there is a tendency to engage too much in sex which is impure. Why is
sex impure? Yoga means freeing the oneself from the churning of the
mind, and nothing churns the mind so much as sexual activity.
What is the
beneficial opposite of material madness? Sobriety and spiritual
madness are both good for spiritual life.
2.
Santosa
(satisfaction):
Needs:
Security
Significance
Satisfaction of
spiritual, mental, and physical needs
Prabhupada
sees varnasrama
as
the vehicle for this.
Expression
Socialization
How to be satisfied?
Make a plan to satisfy real needs. In the face of inevitable
dissatisfaction, count your blessings—be grateful.
Acceptence makes it
possible to let go of negative emotions, admitting we are not God,
just servants of God, and do not have the power to change things.
3.
Tapasya
(austerity):
Austerity
is there in all varnas
and
asramas.
I
am sorry. There are no exceptions.
What was the defect
of Gandhi’s austerity of fasting for political ends? It had only
temporary results.
4.
Svadhyaya
(study
of the scriptures):
It
is encouraged that you find the different parts of the scripture that
are your favorites, and make them yours. Dhanurdhara Swami taught a
course twenty years ago on the Second Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam,
and
he said at that point he had read it fifty times. He just really
liked the Second Canto.
Learning about the
self is the second most interesting thing. The most interesting thing
is learning about Krishna. The more we know, the more interesting it
gets. And the more we know, the less we think we know.
5.
Isvara-pranidhana
(surrender
unto the Lord):
Prayer, meditation.
This brings a
religion element to classical yoga.
Five factors:
place: nothing
happens no where
person: nothing
happens without the doer
senses: nothing
happens without instruments for the action
effort: nothing
happens without effort
daiva
(destiny,
fate, or for us, divinity, the will of God): nothing happens without
God.
Isvara-pranidhana
reminds
us there is a final controller.
After
one of the classes on yama
and
niyama,
I
told Krishna Ksetra Prabhu I thought of a subtitle for it:
Yama
and
Niyama: If
You Don’t Begin at the Beginning, You Won’t End at the End
He smiled liking it.
from an initiation
lecture:
Initiation
is into the Krishna conscious practice of bhakti-yoga.
I am happy to be
taking part in this. I was sitting as a initiate forty years ago in
Paris. It was outside, and a rain forced the ceremony to completed
the next day.
“Initiation”
in addition to meaning “beginning” also means “entering” and
“connecting.”
We
hear a lot about hearing, and it is important to consider it is
something that we do for our whole life. The ongoing hearing is the
confirmation of the connection made at initiation. At initiation we
commit ourselves to hearing from our guru and the previous acaryas.
And
we affirm what we have heard by repeating it. Not just repeating it
like a parrot. We have to consider what we heard and digest it.
The
best way to learn something is to teach it to others. This is
especially important for the brahmana
initiates
to understand.
We are pushed from
behind and pulled from in front back to Godhead. In a sense, all be
have to do is to yield to this pushing and pulling. We have to become
malleable to the guru. We must yield to Krishna’s will, and we must
hear vigilantly to know what Krishna’s will is.
The aspirations of
those in this world are temporary.
The promise is we
can go to this spiritual world, where water is like nectar, very
easily.
We are praying for
the mercy of Srila Prabhupada and the support of all the Vaishnavas
and Vaishnavas.
Bhaktivinoda
Thakura says if we can avoid inattention we can avoid all the
offenses. I recommend you read his Harinama
Cintamani where
he elaborates on the offenses and how to overcome them.
Vraja Dhama Ananda
Dasa.
Marut-suta Dasa, a
name of Hanuman.
I want to thank
Trisama Prabhu for the behind the scenes work cultivating all the
creepers of these devotees.
Always remember
Vishnu and never forget Vishnu can be simplified to always remember
Vishnu, because if you remember Him you are not forgetting Him.
Trisama
Prabhu:
In
New Shantipur farm we have two devotees, the president and the
pujari.
In
Warsaw there are four devotees. In Wroclaw there are six devotees. If
all ISKCON was was a confederation of temples, we would have twelve
devotees in Poland, but we are not just a confederation temples but a
community sharing a lifestyle based on following Srila Prabhupada.
In
the spiritual world, what do Krishna’s mother and father do? They
take care of cows. They are vaisyas.
So
there is even varnasrama
in
the spiritual world.
One
feature of daivi-varnasrama
is
that the people spontaneously want to do the role Krishna has given
them for Krishna’s pleasure.
If
one wants to be in a certain varna
but
it is not his nature and he is not trained for it, it will be very
difficult.
A king is someone
who has the desires to make other people’s lives better, not for
profit, but out of duty.
The
vaisyas
formerly
understood the law of karma—the more you give, the more you get.
We have been talking
about karma for twenty years, and people are beginning to understand
to karma, but they ask where is a community that operates according
to these ideas.
If we are
understanding that there is one family with Krishna in the center and
we are all His children, why can’t we show a community with this
value.
Everyone who has
faith in Krishna is deserving of respect, and we can create a
community with this understanding.
It is a problem that
managers do not have the trust of those they manage, but management
is required, so somehow this trust must be developed.
Covey did a seminar
in Australia attended by 2000 people. One devotee attended. And the
end of the seminar, everyone left, and the devotee stayed to ask
Covey, who was packing up his papers, a question.
“How
many people we be able to create a successful business based on what
you said?” the devotee asked.
Covey answered,
“None of them. Those who are successful businessmen do not have
time to come to such seminars. They are busy building up their
businesses. They may send some representative to come.”
Dvaraka
Acyuta Prabhu:
We meet people who
say they love God, but they do not act as if they love God.
It is easier to die
for God than to live for God because we have to do many things each
day in His service.
Srila Prabhupada
equates enthusiasm with seriousness.
There
is one devotee who distributed books and prasadam
for
thirty years. After twenty-five years someone said I have been seeing
you do these things for twenty-five years and by seeing you I feel
happy.
By remembering
devotees of Krishna, we remember Krishna.
Prabhupada
transplanted Vedic knowledge to the west. Medically transplantation
is a difficult operation. So much care as to be there to prevent
rejection of the new organ. No one else could to this transplant,
only Srila Prabhupada.
There
is a relationship between enthusiasm, conviction, and patience, and
the three qualities of the soul, sac-cid-ananda.
enthusiasm—happiness
conviction—knowledge
patience—eternality
Association with
devotees increases our enthusiasm for devotional service.
To learn the
Absolute Truth we must go to someone who knows the Absolute Truth.
There
is a story of the thief who took shelter of a temple to avoid the
police. By hearing the Bhagavatam
he
gave up his thieving business.
On a walk in Mumbai,
a girl came up to Srila Prabhupada and said, “Hare Krishna,
Swamiji!” Srila Prabhupada said to his associates, “Our mission
is successful.”
The devotees were
perplexed as to Srila Prabhupada’s conclusion, so he explained that
just as by testing a single grain of rice you can tell the whole pot
is cooked, similarly by seeing this one person is chanting Hare
Krishna as a result of our work, we can understand all of Mumbai is
chanting Hare Krishna.
-----
ei
pañca-tattva-rupe
sri-krishna-caitanya
krishna-nama-prema
diya visva kaila dhanya
“Sri
Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu and
His associates of the Pañca-tattva
distributed
the holy name of the Lord to invoke love of Godhead throughout the
universe, and thus the entire universe was thankful.” (Sri
Caitanya-caritamrita, Adi-lila 7.163)