Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka,
Vol. 10, No. 24
By Krishna-kripa das
(December 2014, part two)
By Krishna-kripa das
(December 2014, part two)
New York City, Albany, Puerto
Rico, Gainesville
(Sent from Gainesville, Florida, on January 13, 2015)
(Sent from Gainesville, Florida, on January 13, 2015)
Where I Went and What I Did
I
spent my last few days with the New York City Harinam party in mid
December, chanting six hours a day at different subway stations. On
December 21, I visited my family for one day in Albany and
distributed prasadam
at
the monthly potluck of the Friends Meeting (Quakers) I attended in my
youth. Then I flew from Albany to Puerto Rico via Orlando, where I
met my Vaishnava youth friend, Dhameshvar Mahaprabhu, who assisted me
in doing harinamas
before
and after the first ever Ratha-yatra in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, on
December 27. The day after the Ratha-yatra we attended a twelve-hour
kirtana
at
our temple in Gurabo, high in the hills overlooking San Juan. I
returned to Gainesville on the last day of the year to spend the last
two hours of the year chanting with my friends in the streets of that
city to give the New Years Eve partiers a spiritually auspicious New
Year.
I share an excerpt from a
letter Srila Prabhupada wrote to Tamal Krishna Goswami. I have some
notes on Tamal Krishna Goswami's memoirs which we were reading in the
Harinam Ashram in New York City. I have notes on a class by Radhanath
Swami at the Bhakti Center in New York City, and notes on a class by
Laksmi Nrsimha Prabhu at the Harinam Ashram On Christmas Eve,
Arisudana Prabhu, temple president of the ISKCON temple in Gurabo,
Puerto Rico, invited the visiting Prabhupada disciples, to tell
pastimes of Srila Prabhupada. Thus I have notes on the pastimes that
Laksmimani, Akuti, and Sankha Prabhus told. I also have notes from
classes by Adikarta Prabhu, who has been distributing Srila
Prabhupada's books since the 1970s. In additional, I have notes on a
class by Malati Devi the day before Ratha-yatra on the wonderful
story of how Lord Jagannath and His Ratha-yatra came to San Francisco
in 1967. There are words of appreciation by Puerto Rico GBC Virabahu
Prabhu for devotees who helped make the first ever Ratha-yatra in
Puerto Rico happen. I also share my recollections of all the new
adventures I had in 2014.
I
would like to profusely thank Namamrita Prabhu, a pilot for Airtran,
who donated two extra complimentary tickets he had left at the end of
the year so that Dhameshvar Mahaprabhu and I could go to Puerto Rico
to advertise and attend the first ever Ratha-yatra there. Because
round trip tickets are over $500 during the peak Christmas season, we
would not have been able to go otherwise. Thanks to Hladini for the
maha-prasadam
and
incense she brought back from India for the New York City Harinam
party and the tilaka
for
me. Thanks to Dhameshvar Mahaprabhu for additional photos of Puerto Rico. Thanks to Caitanya Jivan, Jaya Sita, and Bhakti Shakti Prabhus for their wonderful hospitality at their yoga center, Yoga Cultura Puerto Rico, in Rio Piedras.
New York City Harinam
I spent my final five days on
the New York City Harinam from December 16 to 20, 2014.
Two
days a week we chanted in the largest subway station in New York
City, 42 Street –
Times Square.
Ananta
Prabhu lead a lively kirtana,
getting
a couple of the ladies dancing, and a few people watching
(http://youtu.be/j-psFv4rbdg):
Bhagavatananda Prabhu, who
spent about a month with us, distributed invitations, pamphlets, and
books.
We
also chant at the 14th
Street –
Union Square subway station two days a week.
Here
Natabara Gauranga Prabhu sang a sweet kirtana,
and
one kid who regularly stops when he sees us, had a great time playing
the shakers and dancing (http://youtu.be/wjNSTIKrXzU):
Later
Ananta Prabhu lead some lively harinama
there
beneath Union Square, and people played shakers and moved with the
music (http://youtu.be/_3orXDQenMc):
We get the best response at Roosevelt Avenue – Jackson Heights, where we chant one or two days a week.
Here
Ananta Prabhu led a fired up kirtana
that
got a bunch of devotee ladies dancing, including an young Indian
lady, who was passing by
(http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLGerEnGdI0xJnHu4WdqqXMdMMCTj4BDRE):
On
some Fridays we chant in the Delancey Street subway station by the
uptown F
train.
Here
Rama Raya Prabhu, the truly fearless leader of the party, leads an
enthusiastic kirtana
getting
a bunch of devotees dancing and causing wonder among the passersby
(http://youtu.be/jsC0Zgd7tTM):
I have great respect for
devotees for the New York City Harinam party for their dedication to
chant six hours every day in New York City. It was a great
benediction to live with and work with people with such faith and
dedication to the holy name. It is nice to see they have their own
place in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, just about 35
minutes from Union Square by subway. I hope Krishna continues to send
serious people to join their party. I look forward to chanting with
them for a couple days in April on my way back to Ireland, the
gateway to the UK and Europe for me, and to rejoin them for three
months in the autumn.
My Visit to Albany
My
mother told me the day I chose to visit home before Christmas was the
day they have a potluck lunch at the Quaker Meeting I attended in my
youth, so I got up early so I could make a carrot coconut rice dish
for it before mangala-arati
as
I had a 7:00 a.m. bus to Albany.
I
also had some coconut burfi
I made the previous day and some doughnuts that my friend Kana, who
works at the Doughnut Plant, had obtained for me. Thus the Quakers
got a lot of prasadam.
One
lady at the Meeting named Crystal remembered that rice dish from my
previous visit and wanted the recipe. Another named Barbara, who I
met both in Albany and New York City, where she goes once a month for
training as an interfaith minister, interviewed me about why I became
a Hare Krishna devotee.
At the meetinghouse there was a poster with a quote about spiritual outreach by Quaker founder George Fox that seems to have significance beyond that particular tradition.
At the meetinghouse there was a poster with a quote about spiritual outreach by Quaker founder George Fox that seems to have significance beyond that particular tradition.
For
dinner, we made spinach and paneer with dal
and
capatis.
My
mother, my sister, Karen, my niece, Fern, my sister's boyfriend,
Victor, and I also cooperated together in the cooking, and everything
came out nice. I offered it all to a picture of Panca-tattva in
Mayapur I got back in April.
I
looked in the meditation room at the Albany Airport as I awaited my
flight to Orlando, on the way to Puerto Rico. I saw a book shelf and
thought, “They should have Bhagavad-gita
As It Is.”
When I looked closer, I noticed they did.
They had meditation cushions
and a natural scene to facilitate prayer and meditation, and I
chanted on my beads there for awhile.
Harinamas in San Juan
Before the Ratha-yatra Festival
The
very night we got to San Juan, Dhameshvar Mahaprabhu and I did
harinama
from
8:00 to 9:00 p.m. in Rio Piedras, near Jaya Sita dd's yoga center. We
did not meet many people, but almost everyone we met was willing to
take an invitation to Ratha-yatra.
On
harinama
in the Rio Piedras area the next day, one man asked me if I was in
New York. He had returned from there on Thursday and thought he
remembered seeing me. He probably did.
Bhaktin
Paula took us to Old San Juan the first time we went there on
harinama.
We
met an Indian family on vacation who joined us for some time, helping
to distribute invitations.
The next day we went to Old
San Juan via public transportation, and we found that we could play
our instruments and chant on the train and bus without being
restricted which is not true everywhere, even in other parts of
America.
The
third day full day was Christmas Day. Adikarta Prabhu wanted to
distribute books. Dhameshvar wanted to rehearse the play. Mother
Akuti did not want to go out with so few people on harinama.
Thus
at 4:00 p.m., realizing there was no one to come out with me, I
decided to go out by myself for three hours, playing the harmonium,
chanting Hare Krishna, and distributing invitations to the
Ratha-yatra. I would chant one mantra and then distribute invitations
to nearby people, and then chant another mantra and do the same.
After chanting in Old San Juan
for a couple hours, I chanted in the bus station as I waited for the
bus home. I offered everyone an invitation. One man asked me to sing
a song for him. I chanted one tune for him for a while, and he gave
me a dollar.
I
found a bus that went all the way to Rio Piedras, the region of San
Juan I was staying in, but when we got to the final stop, I could not
understand where I was in relation to where I was going. I explained
to the bus driver that I knew where the church and the train station
were but not the bus station, and after everyone got off the bus, the
bus driver kindly drove me within walking distance of the church and
explained how to get there, and thus I was able to get home.
First Ever Puerto Rico
Ratha-yatra
One
of the most visible and popular festivals celebrated by Hare Krishna
devotees, Ratha-yatra, came for the first time to Puerto Rico, on
December 27, 2014.
In this festival, the Krishna deity known as Lord Jagannath, rides through the streets of the city on a cart, accompanied by His brother, Baladev, and sister, Subhadra. Devotees pull the cart with ropes, chanting the name of the Lord with musical instruments and dancing in procession. The venue was Paseo de la Princesa in Old San Juan. The weather was ideal, sunny and warm.
In this festival, the Krishna deity known as Lord Jagannath, rides through the streets of the city on a cart, accompanied by His brother, Baladev, and sister, Subhadra. Devotees pull the cart with ropes, chanting the name of the Lord with musical instruments and dancing in procession. The venue was Paseo de la Princesa in Old San Juan. The weather was ideal, sunny and warm.
Bhaktisiddhanta
Sarasvati Thakura, when considering how to spread Krishna
consciousness to the Western countries thought that the worship of
Lord Jagannath, because of His nature as patita-pavana,
the
uplifter of those fallen away from spiritual Vedic culture, would be
appropriate to introduce. When Srila A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
Prabhupada brought this Hare Krishna movement to the West, Jagannath
was in fact the first deity to appear. The
day before the Puerto Rico Ratha-yatra, Malati Devi, disciple of
Srila Prabhupada, gave a wonderful class telling about the appearance
of Lord Jagannath and His Ratha-yatra festival in the Hare Krishna
movement in San Francisco in 1967.
Malati
told us that in March 1967, she was shopping at Cost Plus Imports in
San Francisco, and was attracted by some carved wooden figures that
were made in India. After all, Swamiji was from India and Hare
Krishna was from India, so that was only natural. She spontaneously
popped a blackish one in her bag. Later when Shyamasundara and
Mukunda showed the figure to Srila Prabhupada, he surprised them by
greeting the figure with joined palms in obeisance. He inquired about
the origins of the figure, and Malati explained. He asked if there
were more, and she said there was a white one and a yellow one. Srila
Prabhupada asked that she get them. He explained about Lord
Jagannath, who was a form of Krishna, Lord Baladev, His brother, and
Lady Subhadra, His sister, and expressed his desire that a devotee
carve a larger replicas of them for worship.
Malati explained, “Shyamasundar liked wood and worked with wood, but he had not carved anything before. Still when Srila Prabhupada wanted someone to carve a large Jagannath from wood, he immediately agreed to do it. We were able to do things beyond our normal scope by the mercy of Srila Prabhupada. Because Prabhupada told us the story about how the original Jagannath was carved from a log from the ocean, we decided to find a log from the ocean to carve Lord Jagannath. There was a salvage company that sold things found in the San Francisco Bay, so we went there. We told the guy in charge what we wanted, and he said to look around for it, and so we did. We found a large log, and were ready to go, but the guy in charge was no longer around, so we just left with it.
“Prabhupada
said he would remain in San Francisco until Shyamasundar finished
carving Jagannath. So Shyamasundar decided he would carve very slowly
so Srila Prabhupada would stay with us longer.”
“When
Srila Prabhupada unexpectedly came by our apartment to inspect the
carving work, on the head of Subhadra was a pack of cigarettes.
Shyamasundar said with genuine feeling, ‘I am sorry about the
cigarettes.’ Srila Prabhupada said, ‘Yes, smoking is so hard to
give up, but don’t let such a small thing as a stick of tobacco
stand between you and your relationship with Krishna.’ With a flick
of his walking stick he knocked the cigarette pack off the head of
Subhadra. Then he gave Shyamasundar a practical strategy – to smoke
one less cigarette each day until he was finished, and so he did.
“Their
painting was the dress of the first Jagannath deities. Now we have
elaborate deity ceremonies last three or five days, but ours was very
simple. It must have pleased Lord Jagannath because He immediately
reciprocated with us. Janaki was crying in the kirtana,
and
I asked her what was wrong. She said, ‘He is here. He is really
here.’
“Srila
Prabhupada explained that now the Lord Jagannatha had come they
should observe the Ratha-yatra festival. The Skanda
Purana gives
a fixed date for Ratha-yatra, the second day of the bright fortnight
in the month of Ashada [June-July], and the first one in 1967 in San
Francisco was done on that day.”
Malati shared some of Srila
Prabhupada instructions about the festival:
“Srila
Prabhupada wanted profuse prasadam
distribution.
He said, ‘The cart is not different from Lord Jagannath. By
decorating the cart, we are decorating our heart.’ He also
explained, ‘Just looking at the cart is auspicious or touching the
rope, touching at the cart.’
“Seeing
Srila Prabhupada’s happiness hearing the report of our Ratha-yatra,
we were overjoyed and became convinced about the festival’s great
importance.”
Malati advised the devotees
participating in Puerto Rico, “During the Ratha-yatra, interact
with the public, smile at them, wave at them, and inspire them to
take part.”
Paseo de la Princesa was a
good place for the festival because it is part of a tourist section
of Old San Juan and tourists both from Puerto Rico and abroad stroll
through that area of the town.
The authorities gave us a less crowded time to pull Lord Jagannath on His chariot, but Bhadra Prabhu made up for it by doing a harinama, a street procession of congregational chanting of the Holy Names, through a larger area later, at a busier time. Fortunately we had just enough invitations still left to invite people to partake of the spiritual food and the stage show.
On
both processions
several
onlookers were enchanted by the singing and dancing of the devotees,
and began dancing themselves with great enthusiasm and it was
beautiful to see.
Many copies of the Spanish version of “On Chanting Hare Krishna” were distributed. We had a book table at our festival site that was practically always busy throughout the day.
Many copies of the Spanish version of “On Chanting Hare Krishna” were distributed. We had a book table at our festival site that was practically always busy throughout the day.
For
the stage show we had music, bharat-natyam
dances,
and a short play. Bhadra Prabhu invited devotees from Alachua who
perform at the Florida Ratha-yatras to come for that event. Bali and
Dhanya lead kirtana,
along
with some of the local Puerto Rican devotees. Students from Bhakti
Kalalayam Dance Academy came, along with their director, Anapayini
dasi, and they did bharat-natyam
dances
that depict pastimes of Krishna. For over an hour there was a final
kirtana
that
was very lively which Bhadra Prabhu and others led. Several people
danced in the crowd, and passersby were attracted to stop and watch.
The play was a rendition of
the ISKCON classic about the fool who polishes the bird cage without
tending to the bird inside till it reeks of death.
After the festival, Virabahu
Prabhu, the Governing Board Commissioner for Puerto Rico, thanked
everyone who took part in a very heartfelt way that was impressive to
me:
“It
is a very sweet moment to glorify devotees. We pray to the Lord to
bless everyone who took part in making this Ratha-yatra festival
happen. We want to thank everyone. Nothing is small if it is offered
to the Lord.
“I
am moved that you [visiting devotees] who have great love for the
holy name, Lord Jagannath, and these festivals, were inspired to come
here. You have made this festival.
“If
you ever had any doubts about miracles, now you can believe.
“Everyone
has made a sacrifice. Thank you making such a nice sacrifice.”
Virabahu Prabhu told the story
of how the festival came to Puerto Rico:
“The
story started with Caitanya Jivan being brought in by Jaya Sita. Jaya
Sita, although she met the devotees elsewhere, is from Puerto Rico.
Prabhupada wanted the locals to do the preaching. We have to thank
them for many more things than just Ratha-yatra. They encouraged a
bhaktin
to donate enough to pay the entire mortgage for the temple property
on Janmastami in 2011. And before, that Caitanya Jivan donated a
restaurant. I was very grateful and thanked him and asked, ‘Is
there anything I can do for you?’
Caitanya Jivan said, ‘Yes. I just want there to be Ratha-yatra in Puerto Rico.’”
Caitanya Jivan said, ‘Yes. I just want there to be Ratha-yatra in Puerto Rico.’”
Bhadra
Prabhu, spoke up, “You mentioned to my wife a couple of years ago
to do something with Ratha-yatra in Puerto Rico. I thought of
December because it is cold in the north. There are many tourists,
especially between Christmas and New Years. Thus I came in February
to meet with the devotees and discuss it. When I was in Alachua, Jaya
Sita would communicate with me three, four, or five times a day about
Ratha-yatra organization. Arisudana Prabhu, temple president of our
ISKCON temple in Puerto Rico, encouraged me saying, ‘I am glad you
are doing Ratha-yatra. If you did not do it I would not be happy.’
We did 1,500 plates of prasadam.”
Some devotees were doubtful
that it was practical to do Ratha-yatra in Puerto Rico in 2014, but
Bhadra Prabhu pointed out that whenever they encountered an obstacle,
that Krishna had always shown a way to overcome it and so they should
be optimistic. Emanuel, one of the devotees who believed it possible,
had a dream of Srila Prabhupada walking down Paseo de la Princesa,
expectantly surveying the site and smiling.
I was impressed to see how Jaya Sita, who I had known for her competence as a cellist and yoga instructor, in Gainesville, Philadelphia, and Mexico, and for her faith in her guru, Hridayananda Goswami, had really developed into a festival organizer. Krishna describes a yogi to be one who is always equipoised in the face of all dualities, and she really seemed to be in that spirit, dealing with all the issues arising the day of the festival and those leading up to it. Caitanya Jivan Prabhu played a humble role behind the scenes, with plenty of energy, always ready to do whatever was needed to make it happen. Bhadra Prabhu, who is the leader of a team of devotees who do eight Ratha-yatras in Florida, contributed his great experience and a lot of time, and he engaged many devotees in doing the needful to make it happen. Damodar Krishna Prabhu left his family in Alachua for several weeks to work on the Ratha-yatra cart.
It
was beautiful that different senior devotees came there to help to
make it a successful festival, Virabahu Prabhu, Adikarta Prabhu,
Sankha Prabhu, Malati Devi, Laksmimani Devi, and Akuti Devi. Sankha
Prabhu missed the Ratha-yatra because he was cooking the whole time.
It was a worthy sacrifice as none of the preparations, rice,
chickpeas, sabji,
or
halava,
ran out during the over five hours prasadam
was
served.
I
was involved with doing harinama
and
distributing invitations before the festival. One morning Adikarta
Prabhu, Dhamesvar Das, Leo, and I did harinama
in the Rio Piedras area of San Juan for almost two hours. I was
impressed that at least 95% of the people took Ratha-yatra
invitations, far beyond what I experience anywhere, except with
Indradyumna Swami’s festivals in Poland. Later we went to Old San
Juan and found although the Puerto Ricans continued taking many
invitations, the mainland American tourists were very reluctant. Only
those from India were very interested. When we returned
the next day via public transportation, Mother Akuti was impressed
with the positive attitude of the people on both the train and the
bus, who would tap to our music or even try to follow the words. The
day before the Ratha-yatra, as Keshava Prabhu, Abhayananda Prabhu and
I were taking the bus to Old San Juan, the city bus driver asked us
to sing, and we sang the whole rest of the way! In most places, bus
drivers are among the people who tell you to stop singing, but in
Puerto Rico the people are so friendly, the bus drivers invite you to
sing! When our harinama
party
encountered Adikarta Prabhu distributing books, he stopped and joined
our kirtana
party.
Being invited by proprietors or customers, we chanted in a jewelry
shop, a clothes shop, and a bar, and we also chanted with a street
musician. You can see in this video our party chanting on the bus, in
the shops, and with the street musician
(http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLGerEnGdI0xJbi8eRhvMhb54CZGvTJaFk):
All the devotees on the party
were so enthusiastic to invite people to the festival, we would stop
playing our instruments or singing to hand out the invitations to
anyone who looked a little interested. Adikarta would even pass out
the invitations when he was leading the chanting, and other devotees
had to take over for him temporarily. I was so happy to see
everyone’s enthusiasm to invite people to the Ratha-yatra!
Virabahu
Prabhu advised the devotees about the Ratha-yatra deities: “You can
consider the new Jagannath, Baladeva, and Subhadra deities to be
installed by the enthusiastic kirtana
and
participation in yesterday’s Ratha-yatra festival. Srila Prabhupada
wrote in his Srimad-Bhagavatam
6.3.25 purport, ‘Recently,
when we established a large Krishna-Balarama temple in Vrindavan, we
were obliged to have Vedic ceremonies enacted by brahmanas
because the inhabitants of Vrindavan, especially the
smarta-brahmanas,
would not accept Europeans and Americans as bona fide brahmanas.
Thus we had to engage brahmanas
to perform costly yajñas.
In spite of these yajñas,
the members of our Society performed sankirtana
loudly with mridangas,
and I considered the sankirtana
more important than the Vedic ritualistic ceremonies.’
The next time a householder says that his deities are not installed,
I will say, ‘Did you chant Hare Krishna before them?’”
The
day after Ratha-yatra devotees had a twelve-hour kirtana
in
their temple in Puerto Rico, in a town called Gurabo, about 40
minutes outside San Juan on a mountain over looking the city and the
ocean. Different devotees led for a half-hour or an hour. In
particular, Dhanya’s kirtana
was
so lively it got everyone up dancing at one point. If you have
Facebook, you can see it in this video at the link below:
Although
many of us were wiped out from the Ratha-yatra, it was a good idea to
do the sustained kirtana.
It is always good to give people the chance to experience the higher
taste the comes from being absorbed in the congregational chanting of
the holy name of the Lord. Lord Caitanya has said it is the nectar
for which we are always anxious. Krishnadas Kaviraja Goswami says,
“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.” (Sri
Caitanya-caritamrita, Adi
1.96)
I was happy to go to the first
ever Puerto Rico Ratha-yatra. I think Srila Prabhupada, who induced
his father to do Ratha-yatra in their neighborhood, as a
five-year-old child, feels some special joy to see the festival of
his beloved Lord Jagannath come to another city. I went to the first
Ratha-yatra in Brno, Czech Republic, in 2007, in Wroclaw, Poland, in
2009, in Fredrikstad, Norway, in 2011, in Passau, Germany, in 2012,
and in Sheffield, England, in 2014, and I feel fortunate that by my
friend Jaya Sita’s invitation and my friend Namamrita’s
complimentary air tickets, my friend Dhameshvar Mahaprabhu and I
could advertise and attend the first ever Puerto Rican Ratha-yatra.
This
year I got to go early and do harinama
and
distribute invitations to the Ratha-yatras in Sheffield, London,
Manchester, Dublin, Philadelphia, and Puerto Rico. Just the single
day I spent promoting Dublin or the two days I spent in Philadelphia
I felt was too short, so I went on six harinamas
in
five days in Puerto Rico. My realization is that the devotees put so
much time and energy to organize festival programs to benefit the
people in general, it is good if we become enthusiastic to promote
them. On Indradyumna Swami’s Festival of India tour in Poland, for
each festival site, he has three harinamas
with
fifty or sixty devotees, and each time in three hours, his eight
distributors pass out seven thousand invitations, and nightly several
thousand people attend his festivals. Such a commitment to
advertising Ratha-yatras in ISKCON would really boost our
popularization of Lord Krishna and His message of divine love.
Bhadra
Prabhu hopes to make Ratha-yatra in Puerto Rico between Christmas and
New Years a yearly event. For information on this coming year’s
Ratha-yatra in Puerto Rico and those in North and Central Florida,
check out his web site: www.festivalofchariots.org.
Harinamas in San Juan After
the Ratha-yatra Festival
After
the whole Ratha-yatra festival, we helped clean up for half an hour,
and then did harinama
to
the taxi stand.
One lady wanted to have her
picture taken with us.
Finding
too few taxis, we took a bus, and Adikarta Prabhu led kirtana
on the bus, all the way to the train station. And then we chanted on
the train all the way to Rio Piedras.
I
had a feeling it would be difficult to get devotees to chant with me
in Gainesville over the winter break, as well as to find populated
places to chant, so I stayed in Puerto Rico until my ticket expired
on December 31. I was glad I did because we got six devotees to chant
together on harinama
on
December 29 in Rio Piedras and on December 30 in Old San Juan.
Krishna Keshava, Abhayananda,
Atavi Krishna, Dhameshvar, and Sita Wolf chanted with me for about
three hours in a busy shopping area on the streets of Rio Piedras
near where Jaya Sita has her yoga center.
Sita, though not famous among the Hare Krishna kids as a kirtana leader, had a pleasing and loud voice and sang well.
One boy danced to our music.
Sita, though not famous among the Hare Krishna kids as a kirtana leader, had a pleasing and loud voice and sang well.
Many people were happy to
see us, like this street vendor.
One man, speaking to passers by his shop with a microphone, let us sing Hare Krishna into his microphone for as long as we wanted to, something that does not happen very often at all. Krishna Keshava started off.
Then Sita chanted into the mic.
The devotees chanted and
danced in a circle in the middle of the street, where people were
sitting on benches.
Bhakti
Shakti dd, wearing green, who cooks for Jaya Sita's yoga center,
joined us in the kirtana.
She
is well known as a experienced vegetarian cook in Santa Domingo,
where she got to cook for visiting guests like Bill Clinton and the
Prince of Spain. We were all satisfied with her cooking, especially
the pizza on the final day.
One woman played her tambourine with us.
Several people gave us donations although we had no donation box.
In that market Krishna Keshava bought coconuts to drink for everyone in our party, and we continued chanting as we drank the coconuts.
After the others had left, as Dhameshvar, Sita, and I chanted back to the yoga center, Billy, on the left of the above picture, came up and asked me, "Are you from Gainesville?" Turns out Billy grew up in Gainesville but now summers in NYC and winters in Puerto Rico. He also said he saw me in Union Square in the fall! He eats at the Bhakti Cafe and attends kirtanas at the Bhakti Center, and wondered if we had prasadam and kirtana in Puerto Rico! I gave him the details. Thanks to Sita for the picture.
The final day we returned to
Old San Juan.
This time we went to another
tourist attraction, El Morro Fort (officially Castillo de San Felipe
del Morro). Thanks to Jaya Sita for the picture.
The Trip Home to
Gainesville
As
we were flying standby, we decided to try for the early morning
flight, which had four or five free seats the last time I checked.
Turns out there when we arrived there were only two free seats and we
were number seven and eight on the waiting list. Thus we did not make
that flight and had to wait almost seven and a half hours for the
next flight. As it was Ekadasi and I just wanted to chant extra japa
of
Hare Krishna on my beads and Dhameshvar Mahaprabhu just had to do
some studying, because we could do both in the airport, we just
stayed at the gate until the next flight. While waiting we also
booked a Megabus for the evening from Orlando to Gainesville as we
missed the Greyhound we previously booked.
When
we got to Orlando, we still had to wait four and a half hours for the
Megabus, but because the Orlando Airport has free wireless internet,
we spent most of the time there.
New Years Eve Harinama in
Gainesville
We
arrived just before 10 p.m. in Gainesville, just in time for me to go
on the New Years Eve Harinama which we had scheduled for 9:30 p.m.
Krishna Keshava Prabhu kindly brought prasadam
for
me because all I had was tomato juice and peanuts on the airplane,
and I was starving.
I
was so happy we had thirteen devotees altogether. Some years I could
only convince two or three people to come out on harinama
on
New Years Eve. This year I told Krishna Keshava Prabhu to organize it
as I was out of town, and I asked Mother Mukhya, the temple president
of Alachua, to advertise it, so we were much more successful.
Often
passersby are too shy to participate in singing or dancing with us
but on days like New Years Eve, and also Halloween, there is such a
mood of celebration, many more people interact with the party, and
knowingly or unknowingly get the benefit of serving the Lord by
participating in His sankirtana
movement,
the congregational chanting of the holy name of the Lord.
You
can see passersby in the video below were attracted to celebrate with
the Hare Krishna devotees in Gainesville
(http://youtu.be/5nv4mghcbdU):
Recalling New Adventures in
2014
Every
year has some special new adventures for me, and I like to recall
them at year's end. The day after Gaura Purnima in 2014, I did
harinama
with
Abhiram Prabhu in Bagru, Rajasthan, with the deities and sound system
riding on camel driven carts. I did harinama
all
the way around Govardhan Hill for the first time with two friends
from Ireland. I went to the first ever Ratha-yatra in Sheffield,
England, and San Juan, Puerto Rico in 2014. In fact, I did harinama
in
Puerto Rico for the first time as well. I went to our Scottish
temple, Karuna Bhavan, and did harinama
in
Glasgow, the city nearby, both for the first time, and also attended
a kirtana
program
in Findhorn in the north of Scotland. Our harinama
at
the Green Festival in Newcastle, attracted participation by devotees
from Scarborough and Leeds, and one of my Newcastle friends joined in
our harinama
in
York. We also did harinama
in
a new city, Chester, England, for the first time, and also did an
evening program there as well. These were so good we did both a
second time this year too. It is nice to see the devotees in The
North of England cooperating together to do more harinama.
I
was denied entry into the UK on August 25, the first time any country
had denied me entry. I went couchsurfing in Lille, France, for the
first time and ended up staying one night with a young Indian man,
who had attended our temple in Hyderabad and who had gone to our
Janmastami festival at Radhadesh the previous week, and a young lady
from France, who had danced in our Mantra Yoga tent at the Polish
Woodstock festival. I chanted in the Brussels Central Station for the
first time. In Brooklyn we chanted in the Atlantic Avenue –
Barclay's Center subway station for the first time. In San Juan, a
bus driver told our harinama
party
to sing on the bus for the first time.
I went to the Brooklyn Doughnut Plant for the first time to get prasadam doughnuts for my relatives. I flew out of the Islip MacArthur airport for the first time in order to get to Jacksonville in time to chant at the campus. I took the Chinese bus from Jacksonville, Florida, to New York City for the first time, to save Krishna's money, and lived to tell about it. I got a Smartphone for the first time from my friend Dorian, and it is great having all Prabhupada's main books in the palm of your hand. I made coconut burfi with saffron, cardamom, and rose water for the first time. I have a computer with the Linux operating system for the first time, thanks to Jiva Goswami Prabhu, and it is a pleasant change from Windows.
To see the photos I took but did not include in this journal, click on the link below:
https://picasaweb.google.com/103872792410945983719/TravelJournal1024?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCLWc0a2Xp5fKzwE&feat=directlink
I went to the Brooklyn Doughnut Plant for the first time to get prasadam doughnuts for my relatives. I flew out of the Islip MacArthur airport for the first time in order to get to Jacksonville in time to chant at the campus. I took the Chinese bus from Jacksonville, Florida, to New York City for the first time, to save Krishna's money, and lived to tell about it. I got a Smartphone for the first time from my friend Dorian, and it is great having all Prabhupada's main books in the palm of your hand. I made coconut burfi with saffron, cardamom, and rose water for the first time. I have a computer with the Linux operating system for the first time, thanks to Jiva Goswami Prabhu, and it is a pleasant change from Windows.
To see the photos I took but did not include in this journal, click on the link below:
https://picasaweb.google.com/103872792410945983719/TravelJournal1024?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCLWc0a2Xp5fKzwE&feat=directlink
Insights
Srila Prabhupada:
from a letter to Tamal Krishna
Goswami written in Bombay on November 21, 1974:
“Yes,
train up the brahmanas
very carefully. Many Indians and foreigners criticize us how we can
create brahmanas.
They are under the impression that brahmanas
are born like horses and asses are born. According to Bhagavad-gita
brahmanas
are according to guna
and karma. So the training of brahmanas
should be so nice that people will be forced to accept them as
brahmanas
by guna,
quality,
and karma, action.”
Tamal Krishna Goswami:
Srila
Prabhupada told us that if we give up sense gratification and
dedicate our life to serving Lord Caitanya, He will take us back to
Godhead at the end of our life.
Book distribution is the most
powerful service to make spiritual advancement because it forces one
to take full shelter of guru and Krishna.
Radhanath Swami:
Kunti says that aspiring for
wealth, parentage, beauty, and education blocks our spiritual
progress, but if these assets are engaged in service to God, they
become blessings.
In the Bible it is said it is
easier for a rich man to get into heaven that to put a camel through
the eye of a needle. If the rich man uses his assets in God's
service, then God who is full of inconceivable power will help him
put the camel through the eye of the needle, and then the impossible
becomes possible.
Advice to businessmen: Earn
with integrity; spend with compassion.
I was with Srila Prabhupada in
Vrindavan and just about six people were in his room. Someone asked
him, “Are you guru of the whole world?”
Srila Prabhupada replied, with tears in his eyes, “No, I am servant of everyone.”
Srila Prabhupada replied, with tears in his eyes, “No, I am servant of everyone.”
Hearing that, I thought within
myself, “He is guru of the whole world!”
Compassion gives ecstasy to
the soul. Sense gratification cannot.
Laksmi Nrsimha Prabhu:
You
get lots of realization from book distribution, even if you do not do
so well at it. You notice that you do not do so well, and so you pray
to Krishna, and then someone asks, “Do you have any
Bhagavad-gitas?”
Even from the mundane point of
view, if people see you do not really want to be there, they will not
get into it. But if we are smiling and looking at the people, they
will respond.
We
are Caitanya Mahaprabhu's instruments, and we should let Him play us
through our chanting and dancing. People will be attracted because
they are experiencing dissatisfaction in life.
The Vedas actually describe
how the Lord is everything. Krishna expands as Ksirodakasayi Vishnu
and is situated in everyone's heart.
According to the degree of our
purification we can see Krishna more and more.
Destiny
is the language of God. One who is advanced see that everything is
happening by the will of God. Things are happening for
us not to
us.
One psychologist says, “All
suffering occurs because of resistance to what is.”
Bhakti
is a yoga system and must be practiced with strictness.
A few words from a pure
devotee can determine our life's mission. Srila Prabhupada was able
to speak in that way.
If a person can say a few
words that inspires a country they are glorified, what to speak of a
worldwide revolution of consciousness that challenges every kind of
sense gratification. Unless we make a commitment to participate in
his mission, we will not be able to understand. We must contact as
many conditioned souls as possible and give them the opportunity.
Laksmimani dd:
There
was a program in Buffalo toward the end of 1968 where different
“spiritual” leaders were asked to speak, Timothy Leary, Ram Das,
people from a group of people called the Hog Farm, that advocated
unrestrained sense gratification, and His Divine Grace A. C.
Bhaktivedanta Swami. Timothy Leary and Ram Das were preaching that
drugs were the way to spiritual realization. Srila Prabhupada was
outstandingly different. He was genuine and there, over the next
couple of years, 35 people became devotees as a result of hearing
from Srila Prabhupada. These included Prahladananda Swami, Trivikrama
Swami, Kusakratha Prabhu, etc.
I
was always impressed by his conviction about the importance of
worshiping Krishna. His compassionate desire to give Krishna to
everyone and his sense of urgency, that we had no time to waste, were
his most striking qualities.
In 1970, just three weeks
after I became a devotee, we traveled to go to Ratha-yatra.
Comment
by Akuti: That was the festival where Srila Prabhupada lay flat
before the Jagannath cart, and then got up and starting dancing. That
year, we walked six miles and ended in a auditorium, with ten
thousand people. Srila Prabhupada was so happy to see all the people.
He told them to dance and when they get tired to take prasadam.
My son was born while Srila
Prabhupada was on that cart. Because my husband, Jagadisa, was a GBC,
the devotees gave Prabhupada a note telling Srila Prabhupada about
it. Prabhupada named him Nirmala Chandra.
Once
Srila Prabhupada walked by the kitchen when a team of ladies were
rolling chapatis.
He
told us that any of the ladies who were not wearing neck beads should
leave. He told us we should put at least one strand of neck beads of
those in the kitchen.
Once Srila Prabhupada asked
us, “Is there anyone not chanting 16 rounds?” No one responded,
and he repeated the question. They he said, “Is there anyone
lying?” Finally some devotees raised their hands. Srila Prabhupada
said, “It is not a difficult thing. One hour in the morning and one
hour in the evening and you can chant 16 rounds. Somehow or other you
must chant 16 rounds.”
I was in Mayapur in 1974, and
the devotees were cooking outside under a tent. It came to Srila
Prabhupada's attention that another lady and I were pregnant, and he
had a devotee make sure the two of us got hot milk every night.
Srila Prabhupada's sister
would never visit Srila Prabhupada alone, even if the room was full
of people. One day she took me into Srila Prabhupada's room. Srila
Prabhupada was explaining how in the Vedic society you could
understand a persons role in society by how they were dressed. He
gave some examples, and then he said but we try to dress simply. One
lady asked, “Does that mean if our husband buys us expensive saris
we cannot wear them.”
Prabhupada
replied, “You can wear them but only when your husband is present.
Otherwise who are you trying to attract? Krishna is not attracted by
expensive saris.”
We
have to give people engagement so they feel they have a place in
Krishna consciousness.
Srila Prabhupada was not
locked into a particular paradigm. Therefore he was able successfully
spread Krishna consciousness in the Western world.
Akuti dd:
I was often in the kitchen
when Srila Prabhupada was visiting the temple. The poor person who
carried Prabhupada's plate was always harassed by everyone who wanted
to grab Srila Prabhupada's remnants, even his salt or pepper.
Once I bowed down to Srila
Prabhupada, and I noticed I was right next to his feet. I was a new
devotee, but I knew I was not supposed to touch men. I decided to
just lightly touch his slippers, and I am glad I did as it was my
only chance.
We must control our anger or
it will work its way to our tongue, and we will commit offenses in
our speech.
There is a game where you take
an ordinary material word and then have people use the word in
connection with Krishna.
Sankha Prabhu:
In
1974 they asked me to make samosas
for Srila Prabhupada. I made 34 large samosas
and sent them to Srila Prabhupada. Three days later I asked
Brahmananda if Srila Prabhupada liked them. He said they never made
it to him. A few days later one Indian devotee was cooking a special
feast and he made very small dainty diamond samosas.
Srila Prabhupada came in the kitchen and saw the samosas,
and
asked,
“Did you make these samosas?
I said, “No, Srila Prabhupada.” He replied, “You do not how to
make samosas!
You only know how to make footballs!”
Palika
was Prabhupada's cook, but she was sick, so she sent me to buy fruit
for Srila Prabhupada. I bought all kinds of fruit, then I saw an
orange vendor. I tasted an orange, and it was so good. I bought a
huge bag. Later on a morning walk, in the middle of a conversation,
he suddenly said, “Who has bought all these oranges?” As a proud
brahmacari
I
run up to him, and said, “I did.” He said, “These oranges are
tenth class just like you!”
Adikarta
Prabhu:
On
his last visit to London, although Srila Prabhupada was very
emaciated and hardly said anything, you could see he very much
appreciated the kirtanas
the
devotees had instead of Bhagavatam
class.
He also liked the new Balaram drums that the devotees had made. Tamal
Krishna Goswami once glorified different events in Srila Prabhupada's
life in his presence, and Prabhupada, in his feeble condition,
pointed out that he got a date wrong.
In
the midst of a conversation, where the devotees were praising Srila
Prabhupada for a past brave act, Srila Prabhupada told the devotees,
“I am still very brave. How could I go to New York without any
money?”
Once
Srila Prabhupada was praying to Krishna, and devotees asked him what
he was praying for, and he said he was praying to be protected from
maya
[illusion].
The insulation for the devotee
is to be constantly hearing about Krishna.
The Smithsonian Institute had to formally apologize for destroying the bones of some humans found to be 8 to 10 feet high.
Prabhupada
wanted us to get up early, 1½ to 2 hours before sunrise. That is why
you see all the older devotees get up early and go to mangala-arati
in
Alachua,
except
for Sita [who is in her early twenties]. I tell Sita, “Why don't
you invite your friends?”
Comment by Sita: I don't have
any friends anymore. You guys are my friends.
If
you can sit in one place and chant your japa,
that
is best.
Book distribution is a
humbling experience because people reject you. But it is very sweet
taste, if you can tolerate the austerity.
A disciple desiring Srila
Prabhupada stay in India offered him the best mangoes hoping to
convincing to remain. Srila Prabhupada replied, “Preaching in the
snows of Russia is sweeter than any mango.”
About a year ago, Bill Clinton
embraced one devotee who was distributing books, and said, “Hare
Krishna.”
One
lady I met on book distribution said she was a Hindu and knew about
Krishna and knew Bhagavad-gita.
I
asked her what chapter two was about, and she did not know.
Ultimately, she ended up buying a book and giving a donation.
Q
(by Sita): You say it is important to chant japa,
and
it is important to do book distribution. How are we to understand
what is more important?
comment
by Sita: So japa
is
like eating, everybody has to eat.
Doing
book distribution is not a sign of advancement. There could be cooks
or pujaris
who are more advanced. Occasionally someone who has done book
distribution for 15 years suddenly leaves.
Malati Devi:
We
served 100 people a day prasadam
in
San Francisco, but we did not ask for money. We would ask stores for
leftover produce. We would trade in soda bottles we collected for
food at the supermarket. And we would also go into the supermarket
and just fill up a bag with food and walk out. And there was a
convenience store across the street which would get deliveries every
morning. Every day, while the delivery man was in the store, I would
take two pounds of butter from the back of the truck. Once Srila
Prabhupada saw me getting it. He asked me about it, and when I
explained I was taking butter from the truck, Srila Prabhupada said,
“Krishna was also a butter thief.” I understood after he said
that, that we cannot imitate Krishna, and so I stopped doing it.
Srila
Prabhupada explained to me that Lord Jagannath should have His own
plate, one that has not been used by others, one that was silver,
with a goblet and two small bowls, and that from then on everything
prepared should be offered to Him, and the curtains should be closed
while He ate.
We
chanted the first line of Prabhupada pranama
mantra
because that was all we had, and the Panca-tattva mantra, and “namo
brahmanya devaya . . . ”
Some hippies thought we closed
the curtains to put drugs in the food. That was their explanation for
the good feeling they felt from eating it. We explained that we
closed the curtains because God likes to eat in private.
We would tell people to come
to the temple and see God. They would come and we would show them
Lord Jagannath. Some would accept and others would wonder, “What is
going on here?”
There
is a little YouTube clip of this first Ratha-yatra in San Francisco
(http://youtu.be/tRV6lOie5Nk?t=4m27s)
[at 04:27 minutes into the video]:
Srila
Prabhupada wanted profuse prasadam
distribution
at the Ratha-yatra. I decided to make capatis.
I
realized I needed more help. I enlisted anyone who walked by. We did
not have enough rolling pins. So I had people find empty wine
bottles, rinse them out, fill them with water, and use them as
rolling pins. Because we made them the day before, and we did not
have enough money for butter, they were quite dry. Still we had such
faith in prasadam,
we
would tell people it was spiritual food and they would eat it
completely, without throwing any away.
To
decorate the cart, went to the park and picked all the flowers. Even
though the policemen later became aware that the park was stripped of
flowers and that those flowers were decorating our cart, they did not
say anything.
Although the cart is small,
when the Lord is on board, it seems great.
In Puri the cart of Lord
Jagannath has a name which means “tumultuous blissful sound.” It
has 16 wheels with 45-foot canopy. Balarama's cart has a name meaning
“significantly powerful rhythm.” Subhadra's cart has a name
meaning “destroyer of pride.” Jagannath is 5 feet and 7 inches,
Balaram is 5 feet and 5 inches, and Subhadra is just under 5 feet.
Virabahu Prabhu:
The holy name is sweetest,
most auspicious, and the deliver of all.
Srila
Prabhupada's aura is “Do more!” You can see this from that fact
his appearance day is the day after Janmastami. After staying up to
midnight, and then having an arati
and
a feast, we have do another festival the next day as if nothing
happened the day before.
Vaisesika Prabhu:
We should always consider that
Krishna knows what we need better than we do.
Rama Raya Prabhu:
The real neglected deity is
the holy name.
-----
This
beautiful verse reminds us how
unforgettable the experience of Krishna-bhakti is:
unforgettable the experience of Krishna-bhakti is:
na vai jano jatu
kathancanavrajen
mukunda-sevy anyavad anga
samsritim
smaran
mukundanghry-upaguhanam punar
vihatum icchen na
rasa-graho janah
[Narada
Muni said:] “My dear Vyasa, even though a devotee of Lord Krishna
sometimes falls down somehow or other, he certainly does not undergo
material existence like others [fruitive workers, etc.] because a
person who has once relished the taste of the lotus feet of the Lord
can do nothing but remember that ecstasy again and again.”
(Srimad-Bhagavatam
1.5.19)