Diary
of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 10, No. 19
By Krishna-kripa das
(October 2014, part one)
By Krishna-kripa das
(October 2014, part one)
New
York City
(Sent from Brooklyn, New York, on December 4, 2014)
(Sent from Brooklyn, New York, on December 4, 2014)
Where
I Went and What I Did
I
continued chanting with the New York Harinama party organized by Rama
Raya Prabhu in Union Square Park, from 1:30 to 7:30 p.m. every day.
The month of Karttika began, and we engaged passersby in offering
candles to a picture of Krishna in His childhood feature of Damodar,
just as we do in our temples. On rainy days, we chant in different
subway stations. There
we were not allowed to light candles. I also spoke at evening
programs of Atmanivedana Prabhu at 26 Second Avenue one Saturday.
And one of
Charu Gopika Devi
at
her place in Queens one Friday.
I
have some extremely inspiring quotes from Srila Prabhupada's books,
even more inspiring than usual. I
include a quote from Shack
Notes by
Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami. I
also share great quotes from Candrasekhara
Swami and the senior devotees at the Harinama Ashram, namely Abhiram
Prabhu, Laksmi Nrsimha Prabhu, and Rama Raya Prabhu.
Thanks
to Dorian of Jacksonville for donating to me his extra Smartphone,
which is so useful in my harinama
service,
providing weather forecasts, subway schedules, and access to Srila
Prabhupada's
books while riding the subway. Thanks to Kaliya Krishna Prabhu for his kind donation to cover my subway expenses for the 9 weeks I spent on harinama in New York City. Thanks
to Atma-nivedana Prabhu and Charu Gopika Devi
for
their kind donations.
Itinerary
December
3 to 20: New York City Harinama [except
December 6 for SDG Vyasa-puja]
December
21: Albany, New
York,
with family
December
22 to 30: San Juan, Puerto Rico
December
31 to April 2015: Florida (Gainesville,
Tallahassee, Jacksonville, and Tampa)
Harinama
in Union Square
We
had different positive interactions with the people in general at
Union Square, and I
show
and tell about them. First I show the pictures, then the videos, and finally I tell some stories.
A
mom and two daughters all played instruments with us.
One
female photographer delighted in dancing.
This
girl liked playing the shakers.
This
young lady listened to us and read Chant
and Be Happy.
Then
she
sat
down with us and began chanting.
Later
she danced with Madhavi Devi.
Now
she comes by and chants a few times week.
This
girl had a tough day and was so happy to listen to the chanting for
an hour and chill out.
Two
girls joined us for some time.
Then
a guy joined us.
Jim,
often formally dressed, loves to stop by periodically and listen, and
he does what he can to help the devotees on the party.
Madhvacarya
Prabhu, who I know from when he helped Rtadhvaja Swami take care of
the boys ashram in Alachua, now helps out Adi Purusa Prabhu with his
spiritual food distribution program at Tompkins Square Park three
days a week. When he has time, he comes and plays the drum as in this
picture above.
These
two adventurous young ladies chanted
the mantra which they read from our cards, and played
shakers to the beat.
Clarissa,
a young teenager from Brooklyn, leads the chanting with intensity and
a strong voice.
Nikunjabihari
Prabhu danced attractively.
Seeing
me as she passed by Union Square, one
friend of my mother’s remembered me from the Albany Quaker meeting
earlier in the year.
Our
table with the picture of Damodar has signs on two sides inviting
passersby to “offer a candle, and make a prayer.” From the number
of candles, you can see many people did.
This
young boy offers a prayer as he holds a candle to the picture of
Krishna as Damodar.
A
whole group of kids enjoyed playing shakers to the music.
Here
a new lady offers a candle while Rachel explains to a guy behind her
what is happening.
The
lady in red, a frequent attender, takes pleasure in offering a
candle.
Here
a young man offers a candle.
My
service was to offer the pamphlet, Krishna:
Reservoir of Pleasure,
to everyone who offered a candle, unless they gave a donation, when I
would give them a book.
One
boy celebrated his birthday with the devotees for some time.
Although
very small, he was eager to try to play the mrdanga!
Sometimes
in the evening, we had quite a large party.
In
this
two
video playlist
Nikunjabihari Prabhu is leading. Isaiah dances in the beginning. Then
Richard dances and hands a girl
some shakers, and she delights in playing them. In
the second clip, Madhavi and Alice join in the dancing, going around the
fountain, and the girl delights in dancing too (http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLGerEnGdI0xINLNh_xytcNmp8hiXd9v-l):
Vrajananda
dd, who I saw playing flute at the Baltic Summer festival, sings,
Babhru Prabhu,
the book distributor, dances, and Isaiah dances, and then Madhavi and
Alice. Vrajananda’s
second tune was a
very pretty Hare Krishna tune that also attracted
devotees to dance and a
crowd to watch (http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLGerEnGdI0xLz5ROyPG5iOvEXTPcbKMes):
Murli
Krishna Prabhu sings and devotees dance
(http://youtu.be/O_-3MeAexfg).
Arjuna
leads a lively tune getting devotees to dance (http://youtu.be/W_AhNcJWGbI):
Radha
Gopinath dd, an intense kirtana
lady from
the Baltics, also attracts a crowd and gets devotees dancing.
Jai Giridhari Prabhu joins Babhru Prabhu in dancing, and Clarissa joins the other lady dancers (http://youtu.be/28xRc7pzZ2I):
The two young daughters of Kirtan dd also get their chance to sing (http://youtu.be/9DfeeYEnhgU):
Two
girls were very happy to come upon the chanting party, smiling and
moving with the music. I gave them shakers, and they happily played
them. I then gave them mantra cards, and they both chanted the
response for some of the time after that, one chanting almost every
mantra.
A
young lady named Mijal, who was studying documentary at New York Film
Academy, decided to do a couple projects on the Hare Krishnas at
Union Square. She came to our ashram with a friend who recorded audio
while she recorded video. They made lots of recordings, especially of
Arjuna, a youth from a Hare Krishna family,
who lives in our ashram.
One
young lady vacationing from the Middle East looked with interest at
our party at
Union Square.
When she saw the picture of Srila Prabhupada on the Krishna:
Reservoir of Pleasure,
she said she had many books of his and that she liked them. Before
leaving she began dancing to
the kirtana.
I
asked one girl who liked
to chant with us her name, and she replied, “Karma.”
A
young lady from Long Island came up to the NYC Harinam
book
table and told how she had been a ordained Buddhist monk in Thailand.
She was a singer, and after a week she was kicked out of the ashram
for humming, among other things. Rama Raya Prabhu and I explained
that positive spiritual engagement was more practical and enjoyable
than escaping material desire through meditation on nothingness, and
she was very receptive. Turns out she went to the same high school as
Rama Raya, a few decades later. I told her, “If you have enough
enthusiasm to get ordained as a Buddhist monk, you definitely would
be able to get into reading Bhagavad-gita,”
and
she ended up buying one.
A
group of young people who get together and read Plato’s
Republic chose
Union Square because of the good weather. When they passed our
harinama
party,
a devotee lady invited them to offer candles to Damodar, and they all
did, holding their Republics
in their hands. I talked to their leader about Plato’s analogy of
the cave and how this world is a perverted reflection of the
spiritual world, where we love God in different relationships. He
asked what the relationships were, and I described them. He asked if
they were in a hierarchy, and I explained their order of intimacy. I
considered if they liked philosophy enough to read the Republic
every
week, they would be able to handle Bhagavad-gita,
so
I showed the book to their leader.
He
was impressed with the Sanskrit and the word by word translation, and
he bought the book.
Harinama Ashram
The
New
York Harinama devotees have their own ashram in the
Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, about 35 minutes from Union
Square on the subway. The temple room is in the basement, and there
are three residential floors, and an fixed
up area
on the roof. They have a regular morning program beginning at 5:00
a.m.
Abhiram Prabhu, Laksmi Nrsimha Prabhu, and Rama Raya Prabhu lead
lively kirtanas
and
give inspiring classes. Many of the younger devotees also lead nice
kirtanas.
It
is very inspiring to be in the association of people with such faith
in the holy name. They
cook enough in the morning for breakfast and lunch, and a few meals
for the hungry in Union Square. They
are looking for more musicians, singers, book distributors and
dancers to expand the program more and more. Visit their web page and consider how your can support them (http://www.nycharinam.com/).
In the fall, during the times we had many devotees visiting, we sometimes had two parties. Once we did Union Square Park and Washington Square Park, and on a bad weather day, we did Times Square subway station and Herald Square subway station. Another time we sent an additional group to Jackson Heights, where we are always well received, especially by the many Indians and Mexicans there. Rama Raya Prabhu thinks that some day we should have 10,000 devotees, and 200 parties of fifty devotees each, all around the City. Why just 10,000, why not 20,000?
For photos I did not include in this journal, click on the link below:
https://picasaweb.google.com/103872792410945983719/TravelJournal1019?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCMW1wNOus5_yvgE&feat=directlink
In the fall, during the times we had many devotees visiting, we sometimes had two parties. Once we did Union Square Park and Washington Square Park, and on a bad weather day, we did Times Square subway station and Herald Square subway station. Another time we sent an additional group to Jackson Heights, where we are always well received, especially by the many Indians and Mexicans there. Rama Raya Prabhu thinks that some day we should have 10,000 devotees, and 200 parties of fifty devotees each, all around the City. Why just 10,000, why not 20,000?
For photos I did not include in this journal, click on the link below:
https://picasaweb.google.com/103872792410945983719/TravelJournal1019?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCMW1wNOus5_yvgE&feat=directlink
Insights
Srila
Prabhupada:
from
Sri
Caitanya-caritamrita,
Adi-lila 7.25, purport:
“The
Krishna consciousness movement of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is so
powerful that it can inundate the entire world and interest all
classes of men in the subject of love of Godhead.”
from
The
Nectar of Devotion,
Chapter 48:
“It
is to be understood that any person who is constantly engaged in
chanting the holy names of the Lord—Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna,
Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare
Hare— has attained a transcendental affection for Krishna, and as
such, in any condition of life, he remains satisfied simply by
remembering the Lord’s name in full affection and ecstatic love.”
from
Srimad-Bhagavatam
7.15.16:
“One
who is content and satisfied and who links his activities with the
Supreme Personality of Godhead residing in everyone’s heart enjoys
transcendental happiness without endeavoring for his livelihood.
Where is such happiness for a materialistic man who is impelled by
lust and greed and who therefore wanders in all directions with a
desire to accumulate wealth?”
from
Srimad-Bhagavatam
7.15.18,
purport:
“
.
. . a devotee is always satisfied because he feels the presence of
the Supersoul within his heart and thinks of Him twenty-four hours a
day. That is real satisfaction. A devotee is never driven by the
dictations of the tongue and genitals, and thus he is never
victimized by the laws of material nature.”
from
Sri
Caitanya-caritamrita,
Madhya-lila 16.64, purport:
“Preaching
Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s
cult throughout the world is more important than staying in Vrindavan
or Jagannath Puri for one’s own personal satisfaction. Spreading
Krishna consciousness is Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s mission;
therefore His sincere devotees must carry out His desire.”
from
Sri
Caitanya-caritamrita,
Madhya-lila 16.70, purport:
“The
Lord replied, ‘You should engage yourself in the service of the
servants of Krishna and always chant the holy name of Krishna. If you
do these two things, you will very soon attain shelter at Krishna
lotus feet.’”
from
Nectar
of Instruction, Preface:
“Everyone
within this material world is engrossed in the modes of passion and
ignorance. One must promote himself to the platform of goodness,
sattva-guna,
by following the instructions of Rupa Gosvami, and then everything
concerning how to make further progress will be revealed.”
from
Srimad-Bhagavatam
7.15.21,
purport:
“For
a devotee to be satisfied with the bare necessities is therefore the
best advice for spiritual advancement.”
from
Srimad-Bhagavatam
7.15.24,
purport:
“Any
country where people indulge in unnecessary killing of animals will
have to suffer from wars and pestilence imposed by material nature.”
from
Srimad-Bhagavatam
7.15.25:
“One
must conquer the modes of passion and ignorance by developing the
mode of goodness, and then one must become detached from the mode of
goodness by promoting oneself to the platform of suddha-sattva.
All this can be automatically done if one engages in the service of
the spiritual master with faith and devotion. In this way one can
conquer the influence of the modes of nature.”
from
Srimad
Bhagavatam 4.29.46,
purport:
“The
Supreme Personality of Godhead, influenced by the merciful devotees’
attempt to deliver fallen souls, enlightens the people in general
from within by His causeless mercy.”
from
Srimad-Bhagavatam
7.15.27,
purport:
“The
Supreme Personality of Godhead gives real knowledge to the entire
world, and the spiritual master, as the representative of the Supreme
Godhead, carries the message throughout the world. Therefore, on the
absolute platform, there is no difference between the spiritual
master and the Supreme Personality of Godhead.”
"There
is no one as merciful as Sri Caitanya Mahāprabhu within all three
worlds. Simply by seeing Him from a distance, one is overwhelmed with
love of Godhead." (Sri
Caitanya-caritamrita,
Madhya 16.121)
“The
meaning of controlled speech conveyed by Srila Rupa
Gosvami
advocates the positive process of krishna-katha,
engaging the speaking process in glorifying the Supreme Lord Sri
Krishna. The tongue can thus glorify the name, form, qualities and
pastimes of the Lord. The preacher of krishna-katha
is always beyond the clutches of death.” (Nectar
of Instruction,
verse
1,
purport)
“When
one’s consciousness is uncontaminated by material lusty desires, it
becomes calm and peaceful in all activities, for one is situated in
eternal blissful life. Once situated on that platform, one does not
return to materialistic activities.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam
7.15.35)
from
Srimad-Bhagavatam
7.15.36,
purport
“In
our Krishna consciousness movement it is advised, therefore, that the
sannyasis
and brahmacaris
keep strictly aloof from the association of women so that there will
be no chance of their falling down again as victims of lusty
desires.”
from
Srimad-Bhagavatam
7.15.41,
purport
“The
Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, personally gives
instructions on how one can return home, back to Godhead, but if one
does not care to listen to His instructions, the result will be that
one will never go back to Godhead, but will continue life in this
miserable condition of repeated birth and death in material existence
(mrityu-samsara-vartmani).”
from Nectar of Instruction, verse 10:
from Nectar of Instruction, verse 10:
“The
gopis
are exalted above all the advanced devotees because they are always
totally dependent upon Sri Krishna, the transcendental cowherd boy.”
from
Nectar
of Instruction,
verse
10,
purport:
“Of
all these devotees, the gopis
are recognized as superior because they do not know anything other
than satisfying Krishna. Nor do the gopis
expect any return from Krishna. Indeed, sometimes Krishna puts them
into extreme suffering by separating Himself from them. Nonetheless,
they cannot forget Krishna.”
from
Nectar
of Instruction,
verse
2,
purport:
“Human
life is meant for God realization, and the human being is given
higher intelligence for this purpose. Those who believe that this
higher intelligence is meant to attain a higher state should follow
the instructions of the Vedic literatures. By taking such
instructions from higher authorities, one can actually become
situated in perfect knowledge and give real meaning to life.”
“Association
with those engaged in a similar line of business is very conducive to
advancement in that business. Consequently materialistic persons form
various associations and clubs to enhance their endeavors. For
example, in the business world we find such institutions as the stock
exchange and chamber of commerce. Similarly, we have established the
International Society for Krishna Consciousness to give people an
opportunity to associate with those who have not forgotten Krishna.
This spiritual association offered by our ISKCON movement is
increasing day by day. Many people from different parts of the world
are joining this Society to awaken their dormant Krishna
consciousness.”
from
Srimad-Bhagavatam
6.10.6, purport:
“At
the present moment the entire world is in a dangerous position under
the spell of a godless civilization. The Krishna consciousness
movement needs many exalted, learned persons who will sacrifice their
lives to revive God consciousness throughout the world. We therefore
invite all men and women advanced in knowledge to join the Krishna
consciousness movement and sacrifice their lives for the great cause
of reviving the God consciousness of human society.”
Satsvarupa
Dasa Goswami:
from
Shack
Notes:
“Artists
of the world, especially skilled ones, please become devotees and
save yourselves. Then give the world pleasing, edifying work that
will live long after you are gone, work that will please the Supreme
Lord.”
Candrasekhara
Swami:
In
the Bible, there is mention of God’s hand, His voice, and His back
side. We are said to be created in the image of God. Yet forms are
limiting. How could God have a form? Therefore a famous
Jewish
philosopher, Moses
Maimonides,
concluded that idea that God has a form is allegory.
Krishna
is the Absolute Truth, but He lies through His teeth. He is all
blissful, yet he cries out of fear of His mother.
At
age 27, Krishna decides to move to Dvaraka to protect His associates.
Krishna
likes it when His superior devotees chastise Him, but that
superiority is based on love.
Some
perform austerities for years and cannot get a glimpse of Krishna,
but Yasoda is tying Him up.
Even
Yamaraja, the Lord of Death, is afraid of Krishna, but Krishna is
afraid of Mother Yasoda.
Because
everything is coming from Krishna, all contradictions are present
within Him. Krishna is the source of morality, but He is dancing with
the gopis
in
the dead of night.
When
we return to the spiritual world, we return to the position that we
left. It is like if you doze off in class, you wake up back where you
were.
Abhiram
Prabhu:
The
neophyte devotee cannot understand the nature of exalted holy places
like Sri Radha Kunda, but as we advance, we become purified from
envy, and we begin to appreciate them more and more.
When
we become humble we can chant the pure holy name and then begin to
appreciate the exalted pastimes of Radha-Krishna and the exalted
places of those pastimes.
We
actually see that people who go to Vrindavan and imagine themselves
to participating in Krishna’s pastimes, while their senses are
still raging, actually become mad.
Each
of the thousand names of Vishnu has a separate pastime of the Lord
associated with it.
Namabhasa
chanting, chanting in the clearing stage, does not have the power to
move others toward Krishna.
Thus Srila Prabhupada advised in his speech on the record album that
one should hear from the lips of a pure devotee.
Lord
Caitanya’s body could not contain the emotions He was feeling in
connection with Krishna.
You
can measure how free you are from envy by seeing how much spontaneous
reverence and appreciation you have for each and every devotee.
Each
person you see driving down the street in a limousine is doing so at
the expense of many others’
lives.
I was right next to Srila Prabhupada at the end of his stay in
this
world, when Brahmananda
asked him; “Will we be together in the spiritual world?”
Srila
Prabhupada
told the devotees; “When the
the residents of Vaikuntha [other planets in the spiritual world] fly
by Krishnaloka
in their flower
airplanes, they will say, ‘Oh,
look at
the nice guru and
his disciples.’”
Rama
Raya Prabhu:
When
we go on harinama
we
are in the same position as Arjuna and Hanuman and all the great
devotees. We just have to realize it.
The
acaryas
describe that Krishna’s queens in Dvaraka are concerned 50% for
Krishna’s pleasure and 50% for their own pleasure whereas the gopis
are
concerned 100% for Krishna’s pleasure.
By
being out there on
the streets and
witnessing the futility of the materialistic way of life around
us.
we should become more and more enthusiastic about the positive
alternative, the congregational chanting of the holy name
If
you just chant in the society of devotees, you may be adored by many
people, but if you chant in public, people will not care for you. If
you chant in public, you will be successful if the people see that
you have genuine love and compassion.
We
cannot give up lust and greed. We must become exceedingly lusty to
fulfill the desires of the Lord and greedy to increase this more and
more.
There
is a story of a fisher lady who found a beautiful black stone on the
beach. She needed a stone to weigh her fish, so she took it. Somehow
although her life of poverty had not changed, she felt happy and
attributed it to the stone. She knew half a verse from Gita
Govinda about
Radha and Krishna
and
she would sing it as she did her fishing business. One time a
brahmana
noticed
the stone in the fisher lady’s bucket, and recognized it to be a
salagram-sila,
a
stone that is a direct manifestation of Krishna Himself.
He was outraged to see
the salagram-sila
in a fish bucket and requested the fisher lady to give it to him.
Because of the happiness the sila
gave her, the lady refused to part with the salagram.
Finally the brahmana
offered
a sum of money she could not refuse and took the salagram.
The Lord appeared in dream and told the brahmana
he
was attracted by the lady’s chanting of Gita
Govinda and
wanted him to return Him
to her. He did not comply and the next night the Lord appeared in
another dream and threatened to kill the brahmana
and
his family.
Without
the mercy of Lord Nityananda one cannot break free from one’s
material life and attain Krishna.
How
is it that we took birth in all different places and circumstances?
So Lord Caitanya’s sankirtana
movement
can be distributed all over the world.
The
act of preaching automatically puts one in the spiritual energy. To
become a messenger of light one has to be in the light oneself.
We
should pray that nothing in the material world appears to us to be a
cause of enjoyment.
Q:
How can we keep our enthusiasm to share Krishna consciousness when a
particular person we are dealing with is completely obnoxious?
A:
Go on to the next person. If we are completely convinced ourselves,
we will always be optimistic because there are
many
people to attempt to give
Krishna’s mercy to.
That is our business as long as we are in this world.
On
the material plane, attachment leads to aversion and aversion leads
to attachment.
Krishna
is the owner of everything. He is the ultimate real estate broker.
As
a devotee advances he realize how foolish it is to aspire for wealth,
fame, and association with the opposite sex and to
miss
out on enjoying our wonderful relationship with Krishna and His
eternal associates in the spiritual world.
The
devotee aspires to serve the Lord life after life in this world
because out of humility he does not feel qualified to enter the
kingdom of God.
Our
service does not end until every living entity, at least in the human
form, attains love of God.
At
the book table, we can tell people, “Learn how to become free from
the miseries of material existence by reading Bhagavad-gita.”
It
is said that if you perform your sadhana
[spiritual
practice] during an eclipse, it
becomes
sadhya
[spiritual
perfection].
comments
by Laksmi Nrsimha Prabhu:
When
we look at our situation objectively we are very fortunate. By the
grace of Srila Prabhupada, we have Radha and Krishna, service to
Their
holy names, Vraja dhama,
Srimad-Bhagavatam, the
association of devotees, prasadam.
We
do not deserve these gifts but we have them, and we have the chance
to share them with others.
Even
a fallen devotee is better association that a moralist, because he
can remind people of Krishna.
One
Prabhupada disciple became a devotee by reading a Bhagavad-gita
someone
left in the bathroom while looking for something to read on the
toilet.
By
giving out Srila Prabhupada’s books, we are giving people good
fortune.
In
the Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s list of anarthas
represented
by different demons, pride is most common.
One
Christian saint said if you eliminate lust, greed, etc., pride will
expand to fill the vacancy.
Karuna
Sindhu Prabhu:
When
Prahlada is speaking about serving the Lord without asking a material
benediction, he is preaching to the demigods.
The
Lord loves his devotees so much He does not want them to leave His
presence without getting a benediction from Him. Thus Prahlada
Maharaja asks to be free from material desires and that his father
might delivered.
We
can understand that if we are considering the Lord our order
supplier, we are going backwards.
Srila
Prabhupada said that when we are catering to the desires of the
servant, we are no longer a real master.
comment
by Atma-nivedana Prabhu:
In
the 1990s, one devotee was sent to Boston to fire-up the book
distribution and unexpectedly our temple became the number one small
temple in book distribution.
-----
“prema-dhana
vina vyartha daridra jivana
‘dāsa’ kari’ vetana more deha prema-dhana”
‘dāsa’ kari’ vetana more deha prema-dhana”
[Lord
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu prayed to Krishna:] “Without love of
Godhead, My life is useless. Therefore I pray that You accept Me as
Your servant and give Me the salary of ecstatic love of God.” (Sri
Caitanya-caritamrita, Antya
20.37)