Diary
of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 10, No. 22
By Krishna-kripa das
(November 2014, part two)
By Krishna-kripa das
(November 2014, part two)
New
York City and Florida
(Sent from San Juan, Puerto Rico, on December 26, 2014)
(Sent from San Juan, Puerto Rico, on December 26, 2014)
Where
I Went and What I Did
For
the second half of November, after four more days
of
chanting with the New York City
harinama
party,
I went to Florida for eleven days to attend the Festival of the Holy
Name and to chant at four universities, two football stadiums, and
the Gainesville Farmers Market. Only the two Sundays and Thanksgiving
Day did I not do harinama,
the
other eight I did.
It
was nice to see the beautiful deities Radha-Shyamasundar in Alachua,
who look gorgeous even in their simpler evening dress.
I
have a powerful quote from a letter by Srila Prabhupada, wonderful realizations on varnasrama by Bhakti Raghava Swami, wisdom from Rtadhvaja Swami, notes on a seminar on improving Vaishnava relationships by Kalakantha Prabhu of Gainesville Krishna House, and notes on classes in Alachua County, Florida, by Nanda Devi and Ranjit Prabhu, and in New York by Abhiram Prabhu and Rama Raya Prabhu.
I
would like to thank Namamrita Prabhu, who is a pilot with Airtran,
for the guest pass enabling me to fly to Florida for the Festival of
the Holy Name and several harinamas
and
college outreach opportunities in the second half of November. Thanks
to Mithuna Prabhu and another devotee from ISKCON Queens for their
kind donations. Thanks to Lovelesh and the JAX Krishnas and Sudevi
and the Bhakti Satsang of USF for their donations. Thanks to Badahari
Prabhu of Krishna House, Alex, Raju, Lovelesh, Amrita Keli, and Kalki
for driving me around in Florida, and Lovelesh, Amrita Keli, and
Sundari Gopi for letting me stay at their place in Jacksonville and
Sudhir for letting me stay at his place near Tampa. I am so dependent
on the mercy of the devotees!
Thanks
also to Courtney
for her pictures of us chanting at University of North Florida,
Dennis Sher of PhotoIsMyLife.com
for pictures of the evening kirtana
at
the house of Gaura Shakti Allin, and JR (Janaka Rsi) for the pictures
of the Gainesville harinama
on the street corner. Thanks to Jiva Photos – NRR for the photos of the Alachua Festival of the Holy
Name.
December 26 to 30: San Juan, Puerto Rico
December 31 to April 2015: Florida (Gainesville, Tallahassee, Jacksonville, and Tampa)
Itinerary
December 26 to 30: San Juan, Puerto Rico
December 31 to April 2015: Florida (Gainesville, Tallahassee, Jacksonville, and Tampa)
Chanting
at the University of North Florida
After
flying from New York, I chanted for four hours at the University of
North Florida in Jacksonville on a beautiful sunny day. Eight
devotees participated for some of the time! It was a pleasant change
for me from the New York subways. Thanks all who participated.
I
planned to take the Chinese bus from Jacksonville to New York City on
November 30, the Sunday evening of the Thanksgiving Weekend, but it
was full.
Thus I got to chant at the UNF campus again the next day,
and Amrita Keli, Dorian, Mallory, and Chad joined me. Both the day I
arrived from Florida and the day I returned to New York, we met
people on the campus who were very interested to learn of our Krishna
Club and its meetings. One lady came by both days and the second time
gave us a donation for the book she had received from us eleven days
before.
Chanting
at the University of South Florida
The
next day after flying to Jacksonville from New York for the programs
at the campus there, I took a bus to Tampa, where Raju Manthena and I
chanted for four hours at University of South Florida and at least
three new people came to the evening program as a result. The staff
let us chant right in front of the library door. Andrew, a brand new
person, learned the karatalas
in one sitting.
I used to chant just three hours at the universities but inspired by Rama Raya Dasa and Harinama NYC I increased to four the first two days in Florida!
Another student enjoyed talking with us.
I used to chant just three hours at the universities but inspired by Rama Raya Dasa and Harinama NYC I increased to four the first two days in Florida!
The
evening program at University of South Florida was well attended. That night attenders included an inter-faith group liking to experience and to learn about
different spiritual practices and who had lots of questions.
We
did a lively stand up kirtana
briefly
at the end of that program, and the student who enjoyed talking to us, a first-timer at the club meeting, brought his instrument to play along.
Chanting
at the University of Florida Stadium
Devotees
from Alachua have been chanting outside the stadium for two hours
before the University of Florida home football games since before I
moved to Alachua in 1994.
Here
Kaliyaphani Prabhu, a Srila Prabhupada disciple originally from
England, led the chanting.
A
group of devotees ladies danced, with Nitai dd distributing Krishna:
Reservoir of Pleasure. Tulasirani
dd most perfectly wore the orange and blue of the Florida Gators.
One
aging fan smilingly said, “I was with you guys 45 years ago.”
Turns out he was in Gainesville when Prabhupada visited on July 29,
1971, and was friends with Amarendra and Gadi Prabhus of the
Gainesville Hare Krishna temple. Someone else, probably at least in
his late forties, came up and said, “I just want to thank you guys
for being here!”
Festival
of the Holy Name
For
several years devotees in Alachua have had a twenty-four kirtana
called
“Festival of the Holy Name” the Friday and Saturday after
Thanksgiving (the fourth Thursday in November). The devotees chant
twelve hours each day from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. One devotee was telling
me it is our best festival in Alachua, and I agree. Thus even when I
am in New York City, I come back for it. Madhava Prabhu, originally
from Mauritius, comes every year. This year and last Agnidev Prabhu
from Trinidad came. One year Niranjana Swami came. He was very
impressed with all the work the Hare Krishna devotee youth of Alachua
did to put on the event and told me he would come again just to
encourage them. Unfortunately it did not work out with his schedule
the last two years.
Beginning
the Saturday before, there are evening kirtanas
for
three hours or so at different devotees homes or at the temple each
night.
The
first one was Gaura Shakti Allin’s, and his place was packed full.
It was ecstatic. He
is dancing with upraised arms by the door.
His
beautiful Gaura Nitai deities made it extra special.
And
Madhava Naidoo sang.
Purushartha
Prabhu played the bass.
I
danced as did a number of others.
Ultimately I escaped to the kitchen in search of more room to dance.
The
other evening kirtanas
were
wonderful as was the Festival of the Holy Name itself.
Gaura-Nitai
and
Lord Jagannath, Lord Baladeva, and Lady Subhadra
It made me so happy to see so many friends, acquaintances, and people I did not even know all together singing Hare Krishna heart and soul.
Events
like this give the participants and onlookers a chance to experience
that the holy name is a transcendental sound beyond our material
experience and to increase their own commitment to chanting. Through
chanting of the divine names all material miseries can be vanquished
and all spiritual happiness can be attained. It is so nice. The
ultimate attainment from chanting is described in this beautiful
verse from Sri
Caitanya-caritamrita, Adi-lila
1.96: “The Absolute Truth is Sri Krishna, and loving devotion to
Sri Krishna exhibited in pure love is achieved through congregational
chanting of the holy name, which is the essence of all bliss.”
I
did not take many pictures and just one video. Friday, the first day,
the first kirtana
that
got a few people up dancing was lead by Mitra Sena Prabhu and lots of
his friends, mostly from North Carolina. It was really upbeat and
joyous (http://youtu.be/Y4MT1lr-APE):
On Saturday, when I returned from Tallahassee, Dhanya was singing so beautifully I had to listen until she finished even though I needed to use the bathroom after the journey and was also attracted by the dinner being served out.
Madhava always tries to get the audience to completely absorb themselves in the holy name, and I appreciate his emphasis on that.
The final evening, when Madhava Prabhu sang, the tent was packed full. With great difficulty I found a place to dance behind the people sitting in chairs.
On Saturday, when I returned from Tallahassee, Dhanya was singing so beautifully I had to listen until she finished even though I needed to use the bathroom after the journey and was also attracted by the dinner being served out.
Madhava always tries to get the audience to completely absorb themselves in the holy name, and I appreciate his emphasis on that.
The final evening, when Madhava Prabhu sang, the tent was packed full. With great difficulty I found a place to dance behind the people sitting in chairs.
I
personally want to thank all the Alachua youth and the New Raman Reti
devotees who put so much time, energy, and money into the festival,
and I hope it gets better and better every year.
Chanting
in Gainesville Across from the University
It was inspiring to me to see that seventeen devotees took a break from the Festival of the Holy Name to maintain the weekly harinama across from the University of Florida in Gainesville.
One
local joined in and danced with us.
Chanting
at the Florida State University Stadium
Every
second year the Gainesville Florida Gators play the Florida State
University (FSU) Seminoles in Tallahassee, and devotees have been
chanting outside that stadium for two hours before that game for
several years. Now that event coincides with the second day of the
Festival of the Holy Name, but still nine devotees took an eight and
a half hour break from the festival to drive to Tallahassee and sing
at that event. All the devotees involved in our student center by FSU
were not there because of the holiday weekend, and Suresh, who has
been involved in assisting Hare Krishnas in Tallahassee for over 20
years, helped facilitate our party in many different ways, and we
were very grateful to him.
Nagaraja
Prabhu, editor of Back
to Godhead,
came on almost all the harinamas
for
many years. Then for some time, being absorbed in other commitments,
he did not come so much, but now I see him again almost every time, and we are happy to have him back.
One
lady wearing Gator colors played the karatalas
while she danced.
An
older Gator fan tried beating the drum.
One
Seminole fan danced with Krishna Keshava Prabhu in great delight for
quite some time, and his friends took pictures of them.
More
fans than usual from both sides took pleasure dancing and sometimes
even chanting with the devotees, and we felt it was worth the
sacrifice to drive up there.
You
can see how lively it was from these video clips
(http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLGerEnGdI0xLYqwl-xYn4_NiUd1ELebWw):
It
was great to take a break from winter for eleven days and chant with
my Florida friends.
For
photos I uploaded but did not include in this journal, click on the
link below:
Insights
Srila
Prabhupada:
from
a letter to Gargamuni on September 15, 1967:
“Take
sufficient rest and chant
Hare Krishna; so long as we have got this material body we have to
undergo these situations [diseases such as jaundice], if we increase
our love for Krishna we shall be able to get out of this maya.
People who therefore not exerting to improve Krishna Consciousness
are simply wasting their valuable time and human life. Their human
life is a chance to be out of the entanglements of material bodies.
We get material bodies according to our activities, doggish men get
the bodies of dogs in the next life, men in Krishna Consciousness get
bodies like Krishna, so developed consciousness of human life is to
concentrate of Krishna Consciousness so that we may be out of the
clutches of material entanglement. These truths should be preached
all over the world and those who are intelligent enough will take to
Krishna Consciousness very seriously.”
Bhakti
Raghava Swami:
The
five processes, sadhu-sanga
[the
association of devotees], nama-kirtana
[chanting
the holy name], bhagavata-sravana
[hearing
the Srimad-Bhagavatam],
mathura-vasa
[living
in the holy city of Mathura], and sri
murti sraddhaya sevana [serving
the deity with faith]
are especially important because they can give Krishna-prema [love of
God] very quickly.
Mathura
vasa
means we should live in spiritual communities.
There
are two sva-dharmas
[personal
duties], spiritual and material, and most people in society know of
neither.
Krishna
has created a social system, varnasrama.
We do not have to invent one. We just have to hear about it and
implement it.
Cow
that are protected protect the brahmanas
who
protect society.
We
cannot be Krishna conscious without being cow conscious. This is
important to understand even for devotees who live in the city.
There
is a surabhi
mantra
glorifying the cows of the spiritual world which are the origin of
all cows.
When
people used to travel, they would bring their cows. They could not
live without cows. If we find ourselves living without cows, we
should examine our life.
Not
only the vaisyas,
but
also the brahmanas
and
the ksatriyas
had
cows.
The
human society has the responsibility of offering the products of the
cow to the Lord for they cannot do it on their own.
Our
goal for 2016 is to adopt 50 villages in India.
Every
center and project should have a varnasrama
college.
comment
by lady devotee: I have been hearing Srila Prabhupada’s lectures
from 1976 and 1977 about a new phase of encouraging devotees to act
according to their own nature rather than creating a brahminical
society.
Prabhupada
spoke of four movements: sankirtana
movement
(harinama
and
books), establishing temples and deity worship, spiritual initiation
movement (connecting people with Krishna’s family through
initiation) [nama-hatta,
youth, and college preaching are in this category], classless society
movement [although we are one as Krishna devotees, we act as if in a
drama in a role in varnasrama
dharma].
We have focused on the first three but not the last which makes our
movement seem churchy or ecclesiastical.
When
the present prime minister of India was a leader in Gujarat he closed
the slaughterhouses and also restricted drinking and gambling, and it
is said that he told people if he became prime minister, he would do
the same in the entire country.
Cow
killing is not permitted in India by law, but people have gotten away
with it through loopholes.
After
one year in the house of Srivasa Thakura, Lord Caitanya took his
sankirtana
to
the streets. Then he sent the Goswamis to write books in Vrindavan.
Also
long as we are not pure devotees, we are dealing with the three modes
of material nature, and as long as we dealing with the modes we need
to act in varnasrama.
We
need a foundational document on varnasrama
just
like we do on Prabhupada as founder-acarya,
before we proceed.
How
to get more involved with cows? We should make friends with people
who have cows.
Sudras
is
a controversial term. We should think of sudras
as
servants, and as Vaishnavas, we glorify service to the Lord and His
devotees.
comment:
By not consuming food that destroys the earth and offering the
deities natural produce, we indirectly support cow protection.
Rtadhvaja
Swami:
“Who
I am” is a big question because if I misidentify myself to be
something other than I am, then the activities I am performing may
not allow me to progress.
Arjuna
because of his identification with his bodily relations became
completely confused and surrendered to Krishna.
Our
tendency is to adjust spiritual truth to satisfy our material
desires.
Krishna
explained to Arjuna, “Whether you engage in this battle or not,
everyone will die.”
As
the sunlight contains heat and light, one would expect that its
source, the sun, must at the least have these qualities. In the same
way, we can expect that God, who is the source of our existence must
have qualities of individuality and personality which we find in
ourselves.
We
are like ants wandering across the universe, trying to figure it out.
Our
attachment to material desires causes us to lose our inquisitiveness
about spirit.
We
are not independent. We are like Jim Morrison said, “riders on the
storm.”
Because
of the flickering nature of the mind, we cannot attain steady
happiness until we attain the spiritual platform.
In
the material world our attraction to sense gratification is so strong
because it is a perversion of our strong attachment to Krishna,
krishna-prema.
Those
in the heavenly planets think our activities of enjoyment are foolish
and disgusting just as we think that about activities of the hogs
that happily eat stool.
The
real problem is life is not “she loves me, she loves me not” but
to conquer the conditions of birth and death.
Self
realization not sense gratification is the goal of life.
Abhiram
Prabhu:
Because
he is a pure devotee, there is nothing about the life of Prahlada
Maharaja that is only indirectly related to Krishna.
In
our conditioned state, our pure consciousness is altered by our
material coverings of ego so we cannot see things as they are.
Just
as when learning music one plays the music of great composers before
one begins to make his own compositions, devotees on the stage of
vaidhi-bhakti
(devotional
service in practice) offer the prayers of the great devotees before
composing their own prayers.
Lord
Nrsimha Himself in this verse (Srimad-Bhagavatam
7.10.14)
accepts Prahlada Maharaja as an acarya
to
be followed.
Kalakantha
Prabhu:
By
his mystic power, Durvasa Muni could understand that Ambarisa
Maharaja drank water before serving him breakfast but could he not
understand the king had been fasting and needed to break his fast?
For
many people, religion means being in constant fear of a dictator-like
God, and therefore they reject it.
When
there is no love, how can you think about another person all the
time?
In
the four key verses of Bhagavad-gita
10.8–11,
just half of the first verse deals with Krishna alone, and in the
rest the Lord talks about His devotees and their relationship with
Him.
If
we do not have the knowledge of how to connect with God, we are like
an orphaned child.
If
we show Krishna just a little bit of desire to connect with Him, He
will reciprocate in a dramatic way.
Why
do we not reach out to Krishna? Because are afraid Krishna will take
something away that we do not want to give up.
When
we tell Krishna in all sincerity that He is the most important person
in our life and we act like that, Krishna will provide whatever we
need.
By
understanding how we are incapable of dealing with the challenges in
our lives, and how Krishna is willing and capable to help, we can let
go of our material attachments.
Srila
Prabhupada once said, “All we are asking you to give up is your
miseries.”
Hearing
from devotees who have experience of Krishna’s reciprocation to
their surrender can give us the conviction we need to surrender
ourselves.
Srila
Prabhupada said that Krishna consciousness is all about training
others.
comment
by Babhru Prabhu: The real blessing of the guru is the knowledge he
gives to attain Krishna.
Bhakti
Tirtha Swami said to be careful about you how you deal with devotees
for they may be the people you die with.
We
do not have to try to be humble. We just have to try to please
Krishna.
The
origin of the word “relationship” is a Latin word meaning “carry
back,” implying give and take.
We
see this give and take in Bhagavad-gita
verses
10.8–11. The devotees worship Him with all their hearts, and He
gives them knowledge.
Remember:
The relationships between devotees are always more important than
points of philosophy or the task at hand.
Words
are hard to retract. They are like arrows.
Four
stages of learning:
unconscious
incompetence
conscious
incompetence
conscious
competence
unconscious
competence
comment
by Dhamesvara Mahaprabhu: I think we can discriminate without saying
inferior or superior.
Srila
Prabhupada said, “Are you here to serve or disturb?”
Intimacy
grows in time. When Srila Prabhupada left this world, I was just a
devotee for a few years, and I did not cry. But when Tamal Krishna
Goswami, who was a friend for many years, left suddenly, I cried for
many days.
If
you criticize someone, the laws of nature will not allow you to stay
with that person. Pick who you want to criticize, and you will not
hang out with him.
Peter
Burwash as a young tennis professional, gave $1000 to a temple
president who took it and left. When he met Srila Prabhupada and
asked him about it, Srila Prabhupada said, “Do not blame the agent
of your karma.” Peter Burwash made that understanding a pillar of
his life.
“Nobody
should criticize anyone. Because everyone is engaged in the service
of the Lord, according to one’s capacity, and the thing is, Krishna
wants to see how much one is sincere in rendering Him service.”
(Srila Prabhupada, from a letter to Tamala Krishna written on August
19, 1968)
comment
by Tulasirani Devi: Sivarama Swami said being bitten by a poisonous
snake can end our body but offending a Vaishnava can harm our
spiritual life for many births.
If
we are offended, it is good to resolve it.
When
you hear a devotee criticized. . . .
Say
something positive about the person being criticized or leave.
Don’t
gang up on the person being criticized and especially do not repeat
what you heard (except in extreme cases, and then only to appropriate
persons).
Three
ways to appreciate Vaishnava:
Talk
about Krishna’s names, pastimes, service, etc., with them.
Serve
them.
Find
the good in them.
- The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it.
- Show respect for others’ opinions. Never tell someone they’re wrong.
- If you are wrong, admit it quickly and emphatically.
- Begin in a friendly way, and admit it quickly.
Do
not condemn, criticize, or complain.
If
we are thinking that we want to have better relationships with
devotees, Krishna will see that and reciprocate.
comment
by Babhru Prabhu: Avoid knee jerk reactions.
It
never good to be angry at a devotee. Only if it is controlled and one
is an acknowledged trainer, can one use anger with a devotee.
I
once addressed my godsister, “Mother Yamuna.” Yamuna replied,
“Yes, Father Kalakantha.”
When
we start revealing our minds to persons of another gender, we cross
the line of appropriate behavior, except in the case of a
guru-disciple relationship.
We
can respect all Vaishnavas, but we must choose who to reveal our mind
to and who to respect from a distance.
If
a grhastha
asrama
is not financially independent then it is not a
grhastha asrama.
It
takes a lot of endeavor to find the right partner for a Krishna
conscious marriage. [The three devotees present who had the
experience of a broken marriage all agreed it was the worst
experience of their lives.]
If
you enter into a marriage thinking I am going to serve this person in
this way, this way, and this way, then it works.
In
the grhastha
asrama, one
advantage is that you naturally develop a service attitude for
others.
Nanda
Devi:
Upon
hearing the verse “Every learned man knows very well that
attachment for the material is the greatest entanglement of the
spirit soul. But that same attachment, when applied to the
self-realized devotees, opens the door of liberation.”
[Srimad-Bhagavatam
3.25.20], one can immediately understand there are not many learned
men.
Sometimes
we disparage liberation, but when seen in the right way, liberation
is good.
Be
good association so you emanate Krishna consciousness, and also take
good association.
One
who understands that Krishna is the goal of life and is attempting to
reach Him is a sadhu
[saint].
Ranjit
Prabhu:
You
could say that Arjuna had proven himself to be in the top of his
class in society yet he was unfulfilled before the speaking of
Bhagavad-gita.
Krishna
reveals his imperfection.
Rama
Raya Prabhu:
After
book distribution one day a friend and I recited all the phala
srutis [benedictions
given to one who hears the pastimes in Sri
Caitanya-caritamrita],
and it was a very profound experience.
-----
yatha
yathatma parimrijyate ’sau
mat-puṇya-gatha-sravanabhidhanaih
tatha
tatha pasyati vastu suksmam
caksur
yathaivañjana-samprayuktam
“When
a diseased eye is treated with medicinal ointment it gradually
recovers its power to see. Similarly, as a conscious living entity
cleanses himself of material contamination by hearing and chanting
the pious narrations of My glories, he gains his ability to see Me,
the Absolute Truth in my subtle spiritual form.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam
11.14.26)