Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka,
Vol. 11, No. 2
By Krishna-kripa das
(January 2015, part two)
By Krishna-kripa das
(January 2015, part two)
Florida
(Sent from Gainesville, Florida, on February 5, 2015)
(Sent from Gainesville, Florida, on February 5, 2015)
Where I Went and What I Did
The second half of January I
remained in the Gainesville for the first week. That Monday, January
19, devotees from Gainesville and Alachua chanted in the Martin
Luther King Parade in Gainesville. The rest of the month I visited
Jacksonville, Tallahassee, and Tampa, especially to chant at the
campuses there and attend the programs we have for students at
University of North Florida, Florida State University, and University
of South Florida. I also chanted at Lake Ella while in Tallahassee
and in Ybor City, a night spot in Tampa on the last Friday of
January. The last day of the month devotees from Gainesville,
Alachua, and Tampa chanted at the Gasparilla Pirate Festival in
Tampa.
I share quotes and notes from
Srila Prabhupada’s books and lectures. I also include an excerpt
from a poem by Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami on the introduction of counter
beads in ISKCON. I share notes on classes by senior devotees in
Alachua and Gainesville such as Mother Akuti and Kalakantha Prabhu,
and the newer devotees at Krishna House. I also have some notes on a
Skype class by Prema Sindhu Prabhu which I heard while staying with
Vijay, a middle-aged Indian devotee, who is based in Tampa.
Thanks
to
Lovelesh and Nama Kirtan Prabhu for their kind donations. Thanks to
Vijay of Tampa for letting me stay at his place and for giving me
rides. Thanks to Krishna Kishor, generally known as Kishor, for
driving me around Tampa and joining me on harinama
and
college outreach.
Itinerary
February
4–5:
Gainesville
February 6–10: Tallahassee
February 11–13: Jacksonville
February 14: Gainesville
February 15: Ocala Rainbow
Region Gathering
February 16–17: Gainesville
February 18: Orlando
February 19: Tampa
February 20: Orlando
February
21: Jacksonville Monster Truck Rally Harinama
February 22–27: Gainesville
February 28 – March 3:
Tallahassee
March 4: Gainesville
March 5 – March 6:
Jacksonville
March 7 – April 8: Florida
(Gainesville, Alachua, Tallahassee, Jacksonville, Orlando and Tampa)
April 9–11: Washington, D.C.
April 12: Albany
April 13–15: New York City
April 16: Toronto
April 17–23: Ireland
April 24–25: London
April 26: Radhadesh
April 27: Amsterdam (King’s
Day)
Martin Luther King Parade
There was a greater Krishna
presence than ever at this year’s Martin Luther King Parade. A
larger group of devotees from Alachua joined us than usual, and they
bought a very powerful sound system so I think everyone in the parade
could hear Hare Krishna. We also had ten devotees from Gainesville,
more than ever before.
I parked the van in the middle
of the parade route as I did not think I had time to park it at the
end. As I approached the beginning of the parade, a young man on a
bicycle recognized me as a Hare Krishna, and asked if we were going
to be in the parade. He was happy to hear we were, and asked if he
could join us, and I said yes.
He happily rode his bike
alongside the chanting devotees for at least a third of the parade.
While we were getting ready to
start the march, an older Unitarian Universalist lady who spoke to
me, said a couple of times, “I like your religion.”
One young Afro-American lady enjoyed clapping to our music.
One young Afro-American lady enjoyed clapping to our music.
Here is a little video so you
can see what it was like (http://youtu.be/teRBFp32Gc0):
A
perennial problem in parades is keeping up with the people ahead of
us. I saw the gap widening between ourselves (the
last
group)
and the party ahead of us. I thought we should move faster and
tighten up the gap, but I really dislike telling people what to do.
So I decided to dance in front of our party and thus bridge the gap
myself. Some of the male devotees behind me also began dancing in a
similar way.
One University of Florida journalism student took many pictures of the dancing devotees, and Franco and I spoke to her briefly. She said she would submit the photos to the student newspaper, The Alligator. I told her that we understand that all living entities, plants, animals, and human beings, are children of God, and are equal on the spiritual plane. By the congregational glorification of God we can attain that plane of equality. I told her how I had talked to a couple Christian girls at the progressive dinner organized by the U.F. chaplains, and how they sang in the choirs of their churches and that when I explained our tradition teaches the congregational glorification of God is the most powerful spiritual practice, they said “That is what we like most about our church too.” She had never heard of the progressive dinner and thought it would be an interesting event to cover.
One University of Florida journalism student took many pictures of the dancing devotees, and Franco and I spoke to her briefly. She said she would submit the photos to the student newspaper, The Alligator. I told her that we understand that all living entities, plants, animals, and human beings, are children of God, and are equal on the spiritual plane. By the congregational glorification of God we can attain that plane of equality. I told her how I had talked to a couple Christian girls at the progressive dinner organized by the U.F. chaplains, and how they sang in the choirs of their churches and that when I explained our tradition teaches the congregational glorification of God is the most powerful spiritual practice, they said “That is what we like most about our church too.” She had never heard of the progressive dinner and thought it would be an interesting event to cover.
After the parade, as I walked
back to the van, a middle-aged Afro-American lady said, “You are
not going already, are you?”
All
the Gainesville devotees were very happy they attended the event,
even though we were half an hour late for lunch.
For one new girl named Mary (in the pants above), who works at Krishna Lunch, that harinama was her first, and she was glad she went. We shared out realizations in the van after the event.
For one new girl named Mary (in the pants above), who works at Krishna Lunch, that harinama was her first, and she was glad she went. We shared out realizations in the van after the event.
Dhameshvar Mahaprabhu (holding the drum above) said, “I
like to chant in public a lot more than I like to chant in private.
Because when you can get people to participate it is just that much
more fun and dynamic. It just opens up the energy more, rather than
it being a social thing.”
Syamala Kishori Dasi (wearing the purple sari above) said, “It
was fun when they were all dancing with us.”
Franco (in the yellow cadar above) said, “It being
Martin Luther King Day the people who would come us to ask up
questions I would tell, ‘God is seated in the body of everyone
whether they are black or white, so God consciousness means to be
respectful of all races because God does not discriminate with race.
God will reside in the body of black man, a white man, an Indian, an
Asian, a whatever. Racial equality goes hand in hand with God
consciousness. That is why we are here honoring Martin Luther King.’
I really liked to be able to connect with people in a meaningful way
and relate it back to Krishna consciousness. That was my favorite
part.”
The Alachua devotees stayed
and chanted for a half hour at the end of the parade. Krishna Keshava
Prabhu said that everyone appreciated our presence there. There was
no negativity.
Chanting at the Farmers
Market
We continued chanting at the
Farmers Market on Wednesdays.
One lady (on the left above) danced with us.
One lady (on the left above) danced with us.
Mother Caitanya is always
reaching out to others.
Evening Kirtan at Krishna
House
Chanting at the University
of North Florida
As we were unloading our
instruments and books to chant at the University of North Florida
campus in Jacksonville, a police lady asked if I was a Hare Krishna.
I said yes and asked how she knew about Hare Krishna. She explained
she grew up in the neighborhood of our Miami temple in the late
1970s, the property with a lot of fruit trees on it. She remembers
that the Krishnas had the same tropical fruits other people had, but
they had star fruit in addition. The devotees would give the the kids
food and be friendly toward them. The parents warned their children
to be cautious dealing with the devotees, but she saw the Hare
Krishnas were good people, and she credited her visits to the
devotees with making her more trusting of people of different
backgrounds, so much so that she married a Jamaican. She told us that
at University of North Florida one police officer who was a friend of
hers, was given the service of interfacing with the student clubs,
and she said she would give our invitation card to her. She further
said that new officer is trying to live without red meat and is
moving in the direction of being vegetarian.
A new lady named Laura, who
has only been coming to the nama-hatta programs
for a week, joined Amrita Keli and I chanting on the campus for two
hours. Dorian and Youssef, who plays the guitar, joined us midway.
Amrita took a picture of our
growing party with Laura’s camera.
Alex, Chad, and Matt also
joined us.
Matt, who has been coming to
the University of North Florida Krishna Club for over two years, went
to the Sacred Sounds event at that campus and liked a tune sung by
Kish of the Mayapuris so much he figured out how to play it on the
guitar. Matt sang the tune with four other attenders of Krishna Club
on the green (http://youtu.be/CvRsAW0zWSc):
I like that school so much
because the students are always willing to sing with us.
At the meeting, Laura sang a
tune from Mitra Sena’s CD that she learned how to play on the
guitar.
I was stressing in my lecture
how there is higher taste from devotional activities and on the
strength of that one can renounce material activities. I asked the
students if they had experiences showing performing devotional
activities had a positive effect on their lives.
One girl mentioned how she was
in track in school, and they had to run, but she was not in the mood.
Their instructor told her to do nine more laps. She decided to pray
to Jesus. She found she gained such strength she was passing some of
the other girls although previously she did not feel like running.
Mit told how he used to travel
an hour and a half each way from Jacksonville to the Alachua Hare
Krishna temple for the free feast on Sunday. His friends thought he
was crazy. One Sunday, as he was finishing his feast, one devotee
serving the drink was asking for volunteers to help clean up. Mit did
not want to do it so he said he had to go in 15 minutes. The devotee,
Kaliyaphani Prabhu, replied, “Whatever you can do will be
sufficient.” Mit realized he was tricked into doing 15 minutes of
service, thus he went to the kitchen. He kept his eye on the clock,
and but when fifteen minutes passed, he decided to stay just a few
minutes more. When he would finish the pots in the sink, the devotees
would bring more pots. He ended up staying two hours, and he
experienced great happiness from doing the service, which for him,
was completely unexpected.
A man and his son visiting the
campus helped Amrita Keli bring in the prasadam, and
she gave them a plate of Krishna food, which was a very good pasta
with vegetables.
Dorian is always willing to
lead a second kirtana, and a
bunch of people stayed for that.
The
students at that program also like to talk among themselves after the
formal discussion and before and after the final kirtana,
so
it often goes late. Still it is auspicious that they value the
association of fellow spiritual aspirants.
Chanting at Florida State
University in Tallahassee
The
first day at FSU I only went out for two hours in an area protected
from the rain at the front of a building with classrooms in it. I met
a young lady who is graduating this year with an undergraduate degree
in religion and psychology. She
also studied yoga in Boulder, Colorado, during the summer break. I
told her that Bhagavad-gita
is
full of both religion and psychology, and she should definitely get
it. I quoted Bg. 2.62–63
and 6.5–7,
and she liked what she heard. She did not have money with her for the
book, but I told her where I would be on the campus next week also
said that the books are available at the lunch program. I talked to a
freshman lady majoring in biology who was vegetarian. She was very
excited to hear of the Krishna Lunch all you can eat vegetarian meal
for just $5. There were other students interested both in the
vegetarian lunch and the classes on mantra meditation, and I was very
happy I went out, despite the rain, to try to connect people with
Krishna.
The
second day on the campus two philosophy majors stopped by the Bhakti
Yoga Club table where I was chanting Hare Krishna. I think Krishna
must be sending people to me, otherwise what are the odds? Often days
go by without seeing a philosophy major. Another young man said “Hare
Krishna” as he walked by, and I asked him how he knew about Hare
Krishna, and he said his name was Cody and he got Bhagavad-gita
and
some small books from Damodar, now Dhamesvara Mahaprabhu.
He came that very evening to the meeting of the Bhakti Yoga Club on campus, and he came by my book table and talked with me every day I was in Tallahassee. One of the philosophy majors also came to the meeting of the Bhakti Yoga Club on campus. He wanted to buy the Bhagavad-gita, but he had no money with him. I encouraged him to get it at our Krishna Lunch or the next club meeting. In the interim, he could download Gitabase for his Android phone. One person stopped by the table and asked the price of the soft bound Gita, and I said we just needed a donation enough to cover the price of the book, and he asked if $10 was enough, and I said it was, and so he took. A couple girls walked passed my table, and one said she just found $1 on the ground and asked if I wanted it, so I said yes. I recall three girls who stopped by the table had been to our Tallahassee Krishna Lunch. Two said they loved it and the other said, “They have the best food!” I had some other nice conversations, and it was one of my best days on that campus. Perhaps it was because it was Advaita Acarya’s auspicious appearance day. Nama Kirtan Prabhu invited a girl from the Krishna Lunch to come for the club meeting and she came as well. Even though we found out just half an hour before the meeting our room was not booked for this week, we went to the building and found we could have our meeting in the yoga and meditation room of the same building. We put a sign about the new room where people looking for the original room would spot it, and we had a successful meeting with three people we invited that day. The lesson I learned from that is if you do not stop trying and you try to work with the other devotees, Krishna will reciprocate.
He came that very evening to the meeting of the Bhakti Yoga Club on campus, and he came by my book table and talked with me every day I was in Tallahassee. One of the philosophy majors also came to the meeting of the Bhakti Yoga Club on campus. He wanted to buy the Bhagavad-gita, but he had no money with him. I encouraged him to get it at our Krishna Lunch or the next club meeting. In the interim, he could download Gitabase for his Android phone. One person stopped by the table and asked the price of the soft bound Gita, and I said we just needed a donation enough to cover the price of the book, and he asked if $10 was enough, and I said it was, and so he took. A couple girls walked passed my table, and one said she just found $1 on the ground and asked if I wanted it, so I said yes. I recall three girls who stopped by the table had been to our Tallahassee Krishna Lunch. Two said they loved it and the other said, “They have the best food!” I had some other nice conversations, and it was one of my best days on that campus. Perhaps it was because it was Advaita Acarya’s auspicious appearance day. Nama Kirtan Prabhu invited a girl from the Krishna Lunch to come for the club meeting and she came as well. Even though we found out just half an hour before the meeting our room was not booked for this week, we went to the building and found we could have our meeting in the yoga and meditation room of the same building. We put a sign about the new room where people looking for the original room would spot it, and we had a successful meeting with three people we invited that day. The lesson I learned from that is if you do not stop trying and you try to work with the other devotees, Krishna will reciprocate.
While
in Tallahassee I attended a yoga program by Garuda Prabhu, who
teaches yoga postures along with an interfaith presentation of
spiritual wisdom. He had a full crowd. Several persons introduced
themselves as followers of Christ, so when I introduced myself I said
I was interested in singing devotional songs and universal wisdom
rather than stressing Hare Krishna. We did lots of stretching
postures. I am sure there are parts of my body the only get stretched
the three times a year I go to Garuda’s program. At the closing, we
were asked to share a verse or a realization. I contributed by
paraphrasing the verse saying that “One should always remember the
Supreme Lord and not forget Him at anytime. All other proscriptions
and prohibitions are servants of these two principles.” I was
thinking that the Christians would feel included by that. The next
person stressed forgiving others, later saying he responded in that
way to accommodate the persons who were not theistic. I had forgotten
that some of the people attending that event might not
be accepting of God.
I distributed halava
to
everyone who would accept it, which was almost everyone, and I gave
out a couple invitations to the FSU Krishna Lunch program.
The
next day one of the Christian girls who came to Garuda’s program
stopped by my book table. She said she had a good time. I praised
Garuda for his wisdom, gained from different traditions, and his
sincere desire to benefit others. I asked her about her interest in
Christianity. She explained the history of her developing faith in
Christ. In the course of talking with her I explained I liked the
teaching of Christ to love the Lord with body, mind, and soul, and to
love thy neighbor as thyself, but in the Bhagavad-gita
I
learned that in addition to human beings, the animals and plants, are
also are children of God and thus neighbors who are meant to be
loved. I mentioned how in the Bible, in the beginning in Genesis, the
diet given by the Lord for humans is vegetarian, and that the kingdom
of God, where the lion will lay down with the lamb, is a place of
nonviolence. I mentioned there are some people who say that Jesus was
a vegetarian, and in any case, I doubted he would be happy about the
millions of animals slaughter in Christian-owned slaughterhouses, a
point that she agreed with. At the end I gave her my card and asked
her to tell me of her continuing spiritual journey.
I
also encountered another person who had gotten Bhagavad-gita
from
Dhameshvar Mahaprabhu and who was also interested in our programs.
At the campus I encountered
two people who had seen me at Lake Ella, one coming to my table to
get the cookie she promised to get from me that weekend at the lake
but never did.
All together I got thirteen
names for the Bhakti Yoga Club mailing list. I was very happy to meet
a lot of interested students on the campus, and I look forward to
returning in February.
Chanting at Lake Ella
Just
as we just began chanting at Lake Ella in Tallahassee, an eccentric
old man came by, singing the nursery rhyme “Itsy Bitsy Spider”
and collecting donations for his presidential campaign. As he had a
purple “jesus is lord” sticker on his guitar, I doubted I could
get him to chant “Hare Krishna,” so I asked him if he knew the
Christian spiritual “Amazing Grace.” He smiled, and said, “Yes.
It is one of my favorite songs!” And so he played it on his guitar
and sang, and Nama Kirtan Prabhu played the mrdanga,
I played the karatalas,
and Carl, the didgeridoo. A young Afro-American couple took pictures,
and I stopped playing the karatalas
to take this video (http://youtu.be/cVdmTvcxCuI).
He
was very happy and felt that God had directed him to come to Lake
Ella that day, as he usually sings elsewhere. I felt victorious as I
got him to go from singing nursery rhymes to praising the Lord. You
never know what will happen on harinama.
The
next day I went out by myself. Hardly anyone stopped to talk, and I
distributed one cookie in the first two hours. During the last half
hour I met some interesting people. One was a double major in
psychology and criminal justice. He had a class on leadership in the
same building in which we serve lunch, and he was happy to learn of
the lunch program. The other amazing enough was a double major in
philosophy and criminal justice. He came to Lake Ella to meditate,
and he chose a place near me because he thought it would be good for
meditation. He had gotten Bhagavad-gita
As It Is at
a concert in Tampa on the Warp tour, and he also had Journey
of Self-Discovery. He
gave his email for our Bhakti-yoga Club mailing list and was happy to
hear of our Bhagavad-gita
class.
When I left I took my extra cookies to people seating nearby. Four
students relaxing on a blanket all took cookies and were happy to
learn of the vegetarian lunch program.
Almost all the students I
talked to had not heard of the vegetarian lunch program, and many
were happy to learn of it.
I was very happy I took the
trouble to go out, and I was happy Krishna sent me some nice people
in the end.
Chanting at University of
South Florida in Tampa
My
friend, Kishor, although often preoccupied with his used car
business, likes to share Krishna consciousness. He
kindly canceled his afternoon of appointments to pick me up at the
bus and chant with me and later Raju at the University of South
Florida in Tampa. We
chanted in front of the Marshall Student Center. Kishor proved
himself very enthusiastic in distributing invitations to our program.
One exchange student from England who got an invitation came to the
program and asked many relevant questions. One girl who is into
health sciences found out about the program on the internet while
searching for a program of self-improvement. She really applied
herself to the kirtana,
and
you could see she was so happy. I encouraged her by telling her, “The
more you apply yourself the more realizations you will get. It is
really unlimited.” Everyone who came to the program participated in
the kirtana, and
it was beautiful to see.
For
the second kirtana,
one
new innovation was giving people the option of either standing up and
dancing or sitting down and meditating on the sound.
About
three people sat down and the rest danced. I think it was good that
people had the choice to take the kirtana
as
a dance or a meditation according to their natural inclination. Raju
was happy that everyone who came to the program accepted his friend
request on Facebook.
The
next day I chanted alone on in front of the library where we had
signed up for a table. After our scheduled time for the table ended,
I chanted on the lawn in front of the library. As it was Ekadasi, a
day extra devotional activities are recommended, I
decided to chant until my ride came in 4⅓
hours. I had only 5 hours sleep, so after 2½ hours, I was wondering
how I would continue. I decided to pray to Lord Caitanya. After
that more people
came by and stopped to talk, some quite interested, and one who
bought a book. One girl in particular was very attracted to hear the
chanting of the Hare Krishna
mantra and wondered what it was all about. I got several names for
the mailing list and passed out invitation to the club. In the end I
lost track of the time and was surprised when Vijay came to get me.
At
one point a Christian came by, who was glorifying Christ for curing
the sick and bringing the dead back to life. I mentioned that Lord
Caitanya, who appeared in Bengal in the late 1400s, also cured the
sick and brought the dead back to life. In fact, in one case the dead
child who was revived spoke to the gathered family members about how
he had taken birth in that family according to his karma, and now by
the arrangement of the Lord it was time to leave that situation.
My
ride came at that time, and I gave the Christian my card offering to
document what I said about Lord Caitanya, if he desired. The
Christians are so proud of Lord Jesus Christ but they do not know in
the Vedic literature many powerful incarnations and representatives
of God are described with the abilities of curing the sick, raising
the dead, freeing people of sins, and awakening love of God.
Chanting in Ybor City
I
was grateful to Kishor that he organized a harinama
on
Ekadasi evening in the
section of Ybor
City with
an active night life.
Four devotees chanted almost two hours, distributed some Krishna:
Reservoir of Pleasures, and
encountered
people happy to see Hare Krishnas. Some older ladies surprised me by
dancing to our music. I wondered if they
remembered Hare Krishnas from the 1970s.
We had a couple interesting
encounters.
One
young lady was happy to see us and said she used to attend the
Krishna Lunch at the University of Florida. I explained we were going
to chant at the
Gasparilla
Pirate
Festival the
next day, and I asked if she were going. She replied, “No, it is
too degraded.” That really struck me and caught me off guard. Here
the Hare Krishna devotees, who have much higher standards of
renunciation than the people in general, were going to an event a
former UF student felt was to degraded. I said to explain our
attendance
at that degraded venue, “We are just going there because there are
so many people to share the chanting with.”
Three
ladies at a table were so talkative with one devotee, the rest of
stayed there and chanted while he talked. One of the ladies was from
Wheeling, West Virginia, and had visited Srila Prabhupada’s Palace
of Gold, which is a tourist attraction. She had a very positive
experience there.
Gasparilla Harinama
The last Saturday in January
is the day of the Gasparilla Pirate Parade at Tampa Bay which is
attended by 300,000 people each year.
Devotees from Gainesville,
Alachua, and Tampa chanted before and during the parade this year on
January 31. Everyone was in a partying mood and many danced with us.
We met people who recognized us from Gainesville and Jacksonville.
Some people who knew us from
the Krishna Lunch took pleasure in dancing with us, and I gave them
invitations to our Krishna House program which they happily received.
As you can see in the video
below, there were three young Afro-American ladies who took great
pleasure in dancing with the devotee ladies for some time. Afterwards
the devotees gave them “On Chanting Hare Krishna.” I gave them
oatmeal cookies and invitations to our Bhakti Yoga Club programs at
their school. They were happy to receive all the gifts.
Gasparilla video
(http://youtu.be/xch5zVhDUkM):
One
lady delighted in the playing the whompers (large karatalas)
with the devotees.
Abhimanyu Prabhu really got
into dancing.
Guru Vagmi Prabhu distributed pamphlets as usual.
You could see people were
really happy to encounter the devotees.
At least three devotees dressed as
pirates:
One lady, who danced with the
devotees at Gasparilla, sported a shirt with “GOOD KARMA” printed
on it. Of course, it is more than just good karma to dance with the
Hare Krishnas. It is transcendental karma.
You can see she really got
into it.
Chelsea and Autumn of Krishna House led our procession by dancing on the way back.
Some people who passed us
would also dance.
It
was awesome see the number of people advancing spiritually by hearing
the holy name and dancing in the kirtana.
Abhimanyu
Prabhu commented that it was appropriate that the Gasparilla harinama
was
on the appearance of Lord Varaha, the boar incarnation, who raised
the earth from the dark depths of the ocean, as at Gasparilla, the
Lord in the form of His holy name was saving the people of
the earth from
the depths of ignorance.
Tampa devotees provided plenty
of spiritual food for all the devotees after the parade, and we were
very, very, grateful.
Insights
Srila Prabhupada:
from
the Preface of The Nectar
of Instruction:
“In
all spiritual affairs, one’s first duty is to control his mind and
senses. Unless one controls his mind and senses, one cannot make any
advancement in spiritual life. 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.”
Knowledge means to understand
the original source of everything.
“When
your anarthas
[unwanted desires] will be finished and you will see every living
entity as part and parcel of Krishna, that is called real Brahman
realization. Part and parcel of Krishna –
every
one of us. So we shall not only engage ourself as part and parcel of
Krishna in His service, but also we shall try to engage others
because they are also part and parcel of Krishna. Why should we
eliminate them? That is Vaisnavism. That is Krishna consciousness.
And that is Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s mission.”
Although we are riding in this
motor car, we do not think it is essential. Those who are captured by
this materialistic civilization are thinking it is essential.
Don’t forget Krishna simply
for the matter of material advancement.
from
a lecture on Srimad-Bhagavatam
1.7.7
on April 24, 1975, in Vrindavan, India:
“The
dog cannot question that ‘Why I have got this dog’s body, and my
master has got the human body?’”
“So
Caitanya Mahaprabhu has prescribed a very easy method to become
pious. That is the chanting of Hare Krishna maha-mantra.”
Our
heart disease of lusty desires can be cured simply by chanting and
hearing the Hare Krishna maha-mantra.
We are opening centers all
over the world to give people the chance to hear about Krishna.
Pure consciousness is to
understand I am very intimately connected with Krishna.
Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami:
from “Poem for January 26”:
“I
remember when I
first received my big
red beads and chanted
on them, I felt an
incompleteness in not
knowing how many rounds
I had chanted.
I confided
this to Swamiji, and he
advised me to buy small
counter-beads and tie
them on a string to
my bead bag. For every
round I should
move one counter-bead
separate from the rest.
This was especially useful on Ekadasi
when I chanted sixty-four rounds.
I was perhaps the first
disciple to inquire about
the counter-beads.
It gives a ‘muscle’
and a sense of accomplishment
to know how many
rounds we have chanted
rather than just ‘chanting them to the air.’
And it prevents us from
stopping prematurely.”
first received my big
red beads and chanted
on them, I felt an
incompleteness in not
knowing how many rounds
I had chanted.
I confided
this to Swamiji, and he
advised me to buy small
counter-beads and tie
them on a string to
my bead bag. For every
round I should
move one counter-bead
separate from the rest.
This was especially useful on Ekadasi
when I chanted sixty-four rounds.
I was perhaps the first
disciple to inquire about
the counter-beads.
It gives a ‘muscle’
and a sense of accomplishment
to know how many
rounds we have chanted
rather than just ‘chanting them to the air.’
And it prevents us from
stopping prematurely.”
Mother Akuti:
Time is the most valuable
thing, precious to all. It is subtle but has a profound effect.
Srila Prabhupada would often
say, “Time and tide wait for no man.”
Men talk of killing time while
time quietly kills them.
Time makes a fool of us
because each life we always think that we will be successful in
satisfying our desires, but yet again we die unfulfilled.
Death can be an embrace by
Krishna for one who reaches out to Him.
Srila Prabhupada emphasized
the chanting so much, especially in the beginning, and then he gave
us deity worship.
If we think at each moment,
“Would Srila Prabhupada be pleased with what I am doing at this
moment?” then we will not waste time.
Faith, conviction, and
enthusiasm are essential.
I visited my 93-year-old
mother who is suffering because she fell out of bed. She just wants
to sleep so she will not suffer because she does not have anything
else to occupy her mind. I told her I can tell you thousands of
things about God, but there was no interest.
Lord Caitanya would have
kirtanas that would go on all
night. When he talked with Ramananda Raya, they stayed up all night
talking about Krishna.
Not only do we waste our time
physically but we can waste our time mentally.
Bhaktivinoda Thakura advises
in his poem “The Jiva Soul”:
“Forget
the past that sleeps, ne’er of
The future dream at all
But act in times that are with
thee
And progress thee shall call.
. . .
Let
never matter push thee down –
O stand heroic man!”
We
have to take shelter of Krishna. By serving we develop our love. Fear
exists when there is a gap in our devotional service, so we have to
try to eliminate all the gaps.
Kalakantha Prabhu:
I have heard thousands of
Prabhupada lectures, and still every once in a while I hear something
I have not heard before.
Prabhupada
said Srimad-Bhagavatam
10.14.8 should be the
motto for every devotee: “My
dear Lord, one who earnestly waits for You to bestow Your causeless
mercy upon him, all the while patiently suffering the reactions of
his past misdeeds and offering You respectful obeisances with his
heart, words and body, is surely eligible for liberation, for it has
become his rightful claim.”
It is not that the devotee is exempt from suffering, but his
suffering is for a purpose while the suffering of a materialistic is
simply a distraction from his enjoyment.
Sridhar Swami explains that
just as one receives an inheritance if he simply remains alive, one
will receive the Lord’s mercy simply by remaining alive in
devotional service. The difference is that remaining alive in
spiritual life is a very active thing while remaining physically
alive is relatively passive.
If we even just follow Srila
Prabhupada’s instructions experimentally we begin to experience the
six results mentioned by Rupa Goswami:
(1) Pure devotional service
brings immediate relief from all kinds of material distress. (2) Pure
devotional service is the beginning of all auspiciousness.
(3) Pure devotional service
automatically puts one in transcendental pleasure.
(4) Pure devotional service is
rarely achieved.
(5) Those in pure devotional
service deride even the conception of liberation.
(6) Pure devotional service is
the only means to attract Krishna.
The voluntary suffering that
we endure helps us to suffer less when we encounter the involuntary
sufferings of life.
As I age, I see my facilities
diminishing. When you are young, you think that won’t happen. That
is part of being young. You may theoretically understand, but you do
not really believe it.
In revealing our mind to
Krishna we must not have a too inflated or deflated opinion of
ourself but rather be honest with ourselves.
We must keep ourselves in a
position where we are eligible for Krishna’s mercy.
Comment
by Syamala
Kishori Dasi:
The prayers of Bhaktivinoda Thakura in Saranagati
are how he speaks about himself when he is speaking to Krishna. When
he speaking to others he does not speak of himself in the same way.
My
godbrother, Hasyagrami Prabhu, who was on the Radha Damodar party and
who played in the Murari Band, recently on his first trip to India,
left his body in Mayapur after a heart attack on a motorcycle within
our compound there. He was in charge of maintenance for the buses.
The fuel pump broke on one, but because the bus was obsolete, despite
much endeavor he found it impossible to find the part anywhere. It
was Radhastami, and decided to observe the half-day fast,
but stored some maha-prasadam
in
his locker to break the fast midday. When he returned to his locker
at noon, he found a new fuel pump crushing the plate of
maha-prasadam, and
no one could ever explain how it got there.
In this present materialistic
society, it is said if you want your children to pay attention to you
when you are old, make sure you have money.
Getting older as devotees, we
practically experience what the Bhagavatam says,
that sense gratification does not make us happy.
Comment by Caitanya: In
Eastern societies we see that when parents encourage children in
spiritual life, the children are more likely to take care of them
when they are old.
Comment by Franco: I am very
happy to sit in on these classes as I am seeing the impermanence of
the things I was formerly taking shelter of.
Comment
by Dennis: The Bhagavatam
is a user guide for the
material world.
Comment by Tulasirani Devi
Dasi: The philosophy makes sense but when we get in a difficulty we
can realize the truth. When I got in a car accident, by Krishna’s
grace, I was very clear. I was thinking, “We got in a car accident.
My friend is dying. I have to help her remember Krishna.”
Previously in the car, I was dozing off, putting off chanting Hare
Krishna on my beads, but with the accident, by Krishna’s grace
everything became in focus.
In New Zealand at a university
in Victoria the devotees have a Krishna Food program serving 200 or
300 people a day. Their price was half that of the competition, and
thus all the other food vendors shut down.
Devamrita Swami has a seminar
called “How to Crack a Western City” describing his successful
yoga loft programs in New Zealand.
The
mood of Krishna House is that is alright to mistakes. God will not
strike you down if you make mistakes. We want everyone to have a
chance to give a class, cook an offering, lead a kirtana,
etc.
B. B.
Govinda Maharaja says regarding kirtana,
“I
dig a groove until everyone falls into it.”
comment by Brahmatirtha
Prabhu: B. B. Govinda Swami’s father was Elvis Presley’s manager.
Response by Kalakantha Prabhu:
Elvis would sometimes take B. B. Govinda Swami to the circus as a
kid.
Yoga
really means to connect with a person, Krishna, but until one comes
to the point of bhakti
there
is selfishness.
Jnana,
the
path of knowledge, is a way of approaching God without being
committed to the relationship.
The beautiful thing about
Krishna consciousness that there is both knowledge and emotion.
The danger of the mode of
goodness is that one becomes attached to a happy life in this world
and does not endeavor to attain the spiritual world.
Bhakti
is the love of the soul for its creator.
Comment by Ananda Seva Prabhu:
Although the Lord’s Prayer does submit a list of requests to be
fulfilled by God, the beginning is just glorification of God: “Our
Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy
will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
Prema Sindhu Prabhu:
Radhanath Swami made a couple
important points in a lecture. One was that as Sugriva was later able
to use the knowledge of different places, which he learned while
running from Vali, to engage in Rama’s service, we should use the
skills we have acquired in life in the Lord’s service. Another
point was that just as Sita rejected countless proposals by Ravana to
marry her, we have to reject so many materialistic proposals and
remain faithful to the Lord.
No matter what tribulations
one experiences, one should not give up the shelter of the Krishna
and His holy name.
Mahapurna,
one of the gurus of Ramanujacarya, was ostracized because, although a
brahmana, he
performed a funeral ceremony for a sudra.
Ramanujacarya
asked him why he did something that would so disrupt his life in such
a way. He explained he was just following the mahajanas,
the
great souls. That sudra
had
very nicely served his guru, Yamunacarya. Even once that sudra
accepted
a disease that Yamunacarya had, so that Yamunacarya would be freed
from it. When the sudra
was
asked why he did not pursue treatment for that disease, and he said
because he considered it the maha-prasadam
of
his guru. Mahapurna explained he was following Lord Rama who
performed the funeral ceremony for Jatayu, a bird who had rendered
service to Him. So we must be like Mahapurna, following
the great souls
and being willing to tolerate adverse public opinion.
We
must be strict with ourselves and lenient with others. Usually we are
lenient with ourselves and strict with others.
Mother Caitanya:
I
see at the Wellness Center people making material adjustment after
material adjustment to their terminally diseased condition. The
doctor advises them to take shelter of a high power. We are so
fortunate because every day we practice to take shelter of Krishna.
When devotees die they are free from anxiety compared to the people
in general. I bought some prasadam
chili
there, and there was not a bean left. They said the next time we have
a party, we want you cater it. Because my mom is well enough to leave
there soon, I gave pocket Gitas
to
everyone there.
Gopala Prabhu:
One sannyasi said the meaning
of “Krishna protects one” is “Krishna does what is best for the
person.”
Syamala Kishori Dasi:
I was going to the beach or
someplace fun with my sister, and I got in a car accident and got a
broken leg. It changed my summer. I had to take shelter of Krishna in
a way that I never did before.
Recently I had a health
crisis. I was not able to focus on Krishna and worried how I would at
the time of death. Kalakantha Prabhu said, “The wonderful mercy of
Krishna is that He arranges that everything is taken away at the time
of death and Krishna is the only opportunity for shelter.”
Ananda Seva Prabhu:
We only have one child at
ISKCON Gainesville, but if we can protect one child by doing
background checks, it is worth it.
Hanan Prabhu:
Tolstoy has a story of two men
going on pilgrimage to Jerusalem. One leaves to get water but gets
entangled in taking care of sick people at the place he went to get
water and never reaches Jerusalem. His partner continues on his
journey and reaches Jerusalem. He think he sees his friend in
Jerusalem but cannot approach him. He returns home and sees his
friend still taking care of the sick people. He says I saw you in
Jerusalem, but he says I never made it to Jerusalem. Tolstoy asks the
reader, “Which man really went to Jerusalem?”
Comment by Franco: I am happy
for the bad things that happened to me this year because they
facilitated me moving into Krishna House.
Comment by Autumn: I went to
New Vrindavan and had a nice taste from living in there.
Comment
by Haripriya: My connection to kirtana
has
really deepened last year, and I am thankful because it makes life
worthwhile.
A
sadhu
in Varsana annoyed at Muslims from Mathura killing cows that the poor
Vrajavasis could not maintain started a goshala.
The devotee who was working for him asked
how big it should be. The sadhu
said if you do not take anything for yourself, you will be able to
take care of any number of cows. Now they have 25,000 cows, and the
person running it does not even take a cup of milk for himself.
One poor ‘sadhu’ in
Vrindavan threatened to curse me if I did not give him a donation. We
settled on that I would buy him a Sprite.
Vaishnava Dasa (from New
Vrindavan):
At the Farmers Market, just as
we were about to set up to sing, one vendor said to us, “You really
aren’t that good.” We did not respond to that, and twenty minutes
later he came up and apologized to everyone in the party for his
unkind words.
Greyhound bus driver:
Smoking is not permitted on
the bus, even in the bathroom. And if you do smoke, you should stop.
-----
As in the U.S.A, January 26,
2015, was the appearance day of Sri Advaita Acarya, I offer following
verse in His glorification. Each of the first three lines tells some
truth about Him, and in the final line, the author, Krishnadas
Kaviraja, takes shelter of Him. Last year I gave a class on this
verse and encouraged all my students to memorize it and many of them
did.
advaitam harinadvaitad
acaryam bhakti-shamsanat
bhaktavataram isham tam
advaitacaryam ashraye
“[1]
Because He is nondifferent from Hari, the Supreme Lord, He is called
Advaita, [2] and because He propagates the cult of devotion, He is
called Acarya. [3] He is the Lord and the incarnation of the Lord’s
devotee. [4] Therefore I take shelter of Him [Advaita Acarya].”
(Sri
Caitanya-caritamrita,
Adi 1.13)
