Diary
of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 12, No. 14
By
Krishna-kripa das
(July 2016, part two)
(July 2016, part two)
Berlin
Harinamas, Czech Padayatra, Leipzig Harinamas, Berlin Ratha-yatra
(Sent from Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, on August
30, 2016)
Where I Went and What I Did
The day after chanting with my friends to the homebound Polish
Woodstock attendees at the Kostrzyn train station, I went to Berlin with
Chandrashekhara Acarya Prabhu, and we did harinama
with Gadadhara Priya Prabhu and Sara, who we had chanted Hare Krishna on the
Paris metro with years ago, as part of a program called Metro Yoga. I chanted
three more days in Berlin, advertising the upcoming Ratha-yatra, the first two
days with Gadadhara Priya Prabhu and Sara and the last alone, and then I took eleven
hours of trains across Poland and into Czech Republic to join the Czech
Padayatra for three days. The day I returned from Czech, I chanted about an
hour and a half in Berlin and then for about as long in Leipzig. Then Gadadhara
Priya Prabhu, Sara, and I chanted in Leipzig for two days, the second joined by
six Leipzig devotees after their midweek kirtana.
Then we returned to Berlin and Chandrashekhara Prabhu joined us again, and we
chanted Hare Krishna two more days to promote the Berlin Ratha-yatra. The
Berlin Ratha-yatra was in a new venue, Brandenburger Tor, which proved
successful, with lots of people, both Berliners and tourists seeing and taking
part. Then on the last day of the month of July, Chandrashekhara and I returned
to Poland, driven by two Ukrainian book distributors, for a few days on the
Polish Festival Tour.
I share notes on Srila Prabhupada’s lectures, a quote by
Krishna from Srimad-Bhagavatam, an
insight from Madhvacarya mentioned in a Bhagavatam
purport, verses from Rupa Goswami’s Padyavali, and quotes from writings by Bhaktivinoda Thakura and Srila Bhaktisiddhanta
Sarasvati. I also share excerpts from the writings of Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami.
I include as well notes on lectures by Bada Haridas Prabhu, Manidhara Prabhu,
and Sadaputa Prabhu.
I would like to thank Chandrashekhara Acarya Prabhu for
his very generous donation for my travels. Thanks also to Arjun Raja of the UK and
his friend who gave me the rest of their Polish money when they left Poland.
Thanks to the devotee on the Polish tour who gave me his British coins in
excess of the £10 which I converted to a £10 note for him. Thanks to the Czech Padayatra devotees for the opportunity to join their program and for their pictures of me on padayatra. Thanks to Sara for the video of the Swedish musicians chanting with us on Berlin harinama.
Itinerary
August 30: Edinburgh
August 31: Newcastle
September 1: Hull
September 2: Sheffield
September 3: York
September 4: Scarborough / Newcastle
September 5–12: Ireland
September 13–mid November: New York City Harinam (except
Philly RY)
Chanting in Berlin
I was happy to be chanting with Chandrashekhara Prabhu,
Gadadhara Priya Prabhu and Sara in Berlin and promoting the upcoming
Ratha-yatra.
We chanted at Alexanderplatz, a central location always
full of people. Sara was happy to find a few people interested in buying books.
The four of us had chanted in Paris on the metros a few years back. There
Gadadhara Priya Prabhu would play the harmonium and sing, Chandrashekhara
Acharya Prabhu would play the drum and speak to the passengers, I would play karatalas, and Sara would distribute prasadam. In Berlin we sang some of the
same tunes we had in Paris. Before chanting with Gadadhara Priya Prabhu in
Paris, I chanted with him on the plaza of the University of Florida in
Gainesville over ten years ago. It is great knowing people from all over the
world who like to do harinama.
The next day Gadadhara Priya Prabhu, Sara, and I chanted
at the Turkish Market. The most striking thing about the experience for me was
several vendors would chant some or all of the mantra along with us. I usually
consider that people who chant the mantra along with us have some interest, and
I offer them invitations, but the vendors were not at all interested in invitations.
Because the devotees chant their regularly, they knew the mantra and were
saying it as if teasing. Fortunately, the chanting is so powerful, even in that
consciousness, it frees the chanter from his bad karma as confirmed in Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.2.14: “One who
chants the holy name of the Lord is immediately freed from the reactions of
unlimited sins, even if he chants indirectly [to indicate something else],
jokingly, for musical entertainment, or even neglectfully. This is accepted by
all the learned scholars of the scriptures.” Once I understood the chanting
vendors were not candidates for invitations, I could appreciate their good
fortune in somehow or other uttering the holy names, and felt better about the
experience. The devotees are so much appreciated in Poland, where 80% or 90% of
the people take invitations, so I had to get accustomed to fact that it was not
to be like that in Berlin. If 20% would take invitations, that would be
amazing.
One time Gadadhara Priya Prabhu and I chanted in a park near his residence, and we met a lady who knew the whole Panca-tattva mantra from when she spent time with the devotees years ago.
Sara is from Italy and loves to cook, and thus I had pizza
more than usual when I visited Gadadhara Priya Prabhu and Sara in Berlin.
Czech Padayatra
I love the Czech Padayatra, but as it is a
little physically austere for me, staying in a different school gymnasium each
night, some with sparse facilities, I do not go for more than three or four
days. It has many nice elements, a beautiful cart, pulled by two large and
peaceful bulls, with beautiful Gaura-Nitai deities, and a full-sized Prabhupada
murti. The Czech devotees are good
cooks, and there is always plenty of prasadam.
Before breakfast, we would have our morning program.
After breakfast we would chant with the bulls and our cart for about three hours:
Then after lunch we would chant around the town where the evening festival was to be, this time without the cart.
This is from our after lunch harinama in Prerov, the first and the
biggest of the three towns I went to.
The evening cultural programs in the little
towns they visit include lots of kirtana.
There was also a drama, and of course, prasadam.
We had a couple Bharat Natyam dances.
There were a couple dancers, one who is a young
girl.
There was also a drama, and of course, prasadam.
The drama is based on the “Truth and Beauty”
story Srila Prabhupada told about the beautiful girl who arranged to extract
the essence of her beauty to enlighten a lusty suitor.
They do it in a very
humorous way, with Muni Priya Prabhu being the suitor, and his son, decked out
in a sari, being the beautiful girl.
One evening there was even a bullock
cart ride for kids.
Here a girl chooses Bhagavad-gita.
I would sing the response and dance during
the kirtanas.
In Prerov, twenty minutes after the program
started I counted about 65 people, but by 7:00 p.m., the middle of the two-hour
program, there were almost one hundred.
Besides three enthusiastic kids, one young
man and a woman a little older chanted the response to the kirtana very nicely at the first program I attended in Přerov.
Here is some video from that Přerov evening
program at
In the much smaller Čekyně we had only 14 guests.
In addition to those sisters, the devotees
said there was a whole family who was very attracted by our program in Čekyně.
In Tršice, we had twenty-three guests at the
beginning, despite the fact a little rain had begun to fall.
There one girl really loved to chant and
dance, although it was all completely new to her.
She befriended a younger devotee girl, and they would dance together.
At the end, that new girl was the only dancer
left.
Leipzig Harinamas
The place Gadadhara Priya Prabhu and Sara had
been staying in Berlin was rented out for a week, so they stayed in Leipzig at
the home of Narottama Prabhu, whose family was conveniently on vacation for
week. After three days on the Czech Padayatra, I joined them in Leipzig and we
did daily harinamas and passed out invitations for
the temple and the Leipzig Ratha-yatra.
We met one devotee family while chanting in
the city, and the father, Krishna Dasa, really got dancing, as you can see in
this video in which Sangita Devi Dasi, who has a powerful voice, is leading (https://youtu.be/h3RDS99Kack):
More Berlin Harinamas
When we returned to Berlin, Gadadhara Priya
Prabhu and Sara wanted to get their stuff situated and Chandrashekhara Prabhu
wanted to hear Vaiyasaki Prabhu sing, so I chanted by myself for an hour and a
half, and then Gadadhara Priya Prabhu and Sara joined me for another hour.
Four friends from Sweden liked Gadadhara
Priya Prabhu’s singing and asked if they could play with us. He agreed, and
they got out their instruments. They had a great time playing with us as you
can see in this video (https://youtu.be/35jbnhhbSlg)
We gave them mantra cards and an invitation
to Saturday’s Berlin Ratha-yatra. Sara gave one who was interested a Beyond Birth and Death.
Berlin Ratha-yatra
The devotees were given a better venue for
Berlin Ratha-yatra this year, Brandenburger Tor, a place frequented both by
locals and by tourists. Speaking to the crowd, Sacinandana Swami said that the
place is a place of unification in the history of Germany, and it is
appropriate that we have Ratha-yatra here because Lord Jagannatha desires to
bring us all together on the spiritual plane. He also told an amazing story
about a Muslim poet, whose poetry glorified the Lord for being within
everything and at the same time beyond everything. That poet wanted to see Lord
Jagannatha, but the priests would not allow him to because he was Muslim. To
show His displeasure Lord Jagannatha performed a miracle, adjusting the vision
of the priests so that everyone they saw entering and leaving His temple was
wearing those hats that the Muslims wear.
Devotees came from the Polish tour to
participate, including their leader, Indradyumna Swami, and kirtana leader, Bada Haridas Prabhu.
When Bada Haridas led the Ratha-yatra kirtana,
Indradyumna Swami and Sacinandana Swami danced (https://youtu.be/Cf2u603TCnM):
Vaiyasaki Prabhu, who was visiting Berlin for a few days, true to form, led a
very dynamic kirtana (https://youtu.be/lWdV02YXDVU):
The Harinama Ruci party encouraged devotees
to do harinama after the Berlin
Ratha-yatra. Sadbhuja Prabhu led a great kirtana.
Three guys from Holland, who danced with us during Ratha-yatra, joined us again
during the harinama (https://youtu.be/g1CSs6cQ8rk):
Sacinandana Swami, led kirtana during the stage show, including the lively final kirtana (https://youtu.be/_J91Lp7U0Jg):
It was Ekadasi, and the devotees had great
Ekadasi prasadam, including srikhand, which I had thirds of.
Sara saw at least one person we had invited
who came to the Ratha-yatra, and several days later on harinama, she met another lady who had come to Ratha-yatra and
bought books and was enjoying reading them.
I was happy to both promote and participate
in Berlin Ratha-yatra, and I hope I can again next year.
Funny Pictures
These pictures are all from Berlin:
These pictures are all from Berlin:
Often people sit on the sidewalk with a cup
and beg for money.
This couple had six cups, for donations for different
purposes!
I have always liked this comment below, which I see
as both protesting sectarian religion and reminding us of the unlimited greatness of God:
This quote from an ad for a meditation course reminds me of Krishna’s statement in Bhagavad-gita 5.24, “One whose happiness is within, who is active and rejoices within, and whose aim is inward is actually the perfect mystic. He is liberated in the Supreme, and ultimately he attains the Supreme”:
To see pictures I took but did not use, click on the link below:
https://goo.gl/photos/3uSZhmoPV6jHCy6e6
Insights
Srila Prabhupada:
From a class on Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.8.36 in Los Angeles on April 28, 1973:
Why do you pay the college fee? Simply to
hear from the learned professor. Similarly our process is simply hearing.
The Mayavadis also hear, but because they
falsely interpret, their hearing is spoiled. They are covering the real meaning.
That is all. They will never accept the real meaning.
Vishnu should be heard as He is.
From a class on Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.8.36 in Mayapur on October 16, 1974:
People are working hard, but they do not know
why they are working so hard.
We are also working hard, but we know if we
can please Krishna there is hope.
They do not know that without Krishna
consciousness no one can be happy. Thus our struggle is different. We are
working so that everyone can be happy.
Our process is to simply hearing. You do not
have to change your position.
The leader says “Hare Krishna,” and we repeat
“Hare Krishna.” We must do it seriously and continually. By this process we can
see Krishna, and we can thus end this business of working hard for no purpose.
When immediately you can see the lotus feet
of Krishna when you close your eyes, you can begin to meditate on the other
parts of His form.
From a class on Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.8.37 in Los Angeles on April 29, 1973:
We should not eat more or less than we need.
But better to eat less than more. No one dies from eating less, but people die
from eating more.
Those who have dedicated their bodies to
Krishna, should take care of them, just as we take care of the temple because
it is Krishna’s.
We should always consider without Krishna’s
protection we are unsafe. We should not think, “Now I have done my duty, I can
take rest.”
We cannot imitate Rupa Goswami, but at least
we should be very vigilant to chant our 16 rounds.
Because we cannot see spirit, Krishna has
kindly appeared in a manner in which we can see Him.
Without Krishna my life is useless. Without
Krishna I am in a dangerous position.
From a
conversation between His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada and some of his disciples at New Vrindaban, ISKCON’s farming village
in West Virginia, on June 24, 1976:
Srila
Prabhupada: But killing is sinful. You have no right to kill any creature –
even an ant – because you cannot give that creature back his life. So killing
is against the law of nature, the law of God. In the scriptures the Lord warns
us, “Killing is an infringement on nature’s law, My law. Killing innocent
creatures is the most sinful activity. If you use your human resourcefulness to
perform this most sinful activity, then you must suffer in your next life.”
Disciple: But we modern men don’t believe our slaughterhouses are sinful.
Srila
Prabhupada: These nonsensical statements – “We believe . . .” “We don’t believe
. . .” If you are breaking God’s most basic law – “Thou shalt not kill” – then
you are a rascal. So what difference does it make, what you believe or don’t
believe? You are, after all, a rascal. Anyway,
you are going to have a next life. Now, suppose that by your present actions,
in your next life you have to accept the form of a dog. Is that success? So you
must learn the real science: How, instead of becoming an associate of dogs, you
can become an associate of God. That is intelligence. That is success.
Krishna:
From Srimad-Bhagavatam
11.21.18:
“By refraining from a particular sinful or
materialistic activity, one becomes freed from its bondage. Such renunciation
is the basis of religious and auspicious life for human beings and drives away
all suffering, illusion and fear.”
Madhvacarya:
From Srimad-Bhagavatam
11.21.16 purport:
“Persons above the age of fourteen are
considered capable of distinguishing between good and bad and are thus
responsible for their pious and sinful activities.”
Rupa Goswami:
From Padyavali:
Verse 41:
Shri Krishna-katha-mahatmya
The Glory of the Description of Shri Krishna
“One who daily sings the glories of Yashoda’s
son, Krishna, which are cooling as sandalwood and camphor, is not troubled by
the days of Kali-yuga. For him at every step there is a torrential flood of the
sweetest nectar.”
—Shri Kaviratna
Verse 45
“May Lord Madhava’s pastimes, which bring a sense-pleasure stronger than that experienced by the hedonists, a liberation more real than that felt by the yogis in their hearts, and a bliss more intense than that tasted by the most experts drinkers of nectar, protect you.”
—Shri Shankara
Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura:
Verse 45
“May Lord Madhava’s pastimes, which bring a sense-pleasure stronger than that experienced by the hedonists, a liberation more real than that felt by the yogis in their hearts, and a bliss more intense than that tasted by the most experts drinkers of nectar, protect you.”
—Shri Shankara
Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura:
From Sri Govinda-virudavali 7:
“O Lord [Krishna], O killer of the Agha demon,
may we
find happiness in the deep ocean of Your
transcendental
pastimes, where the great waves
of Your
smiles and laughter rock the universes,
where the
center is always crowded with many
dolphins
of the surrendered souls, and where the
swans of
the great devotees drink to their full
satisfaction.”
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta
Sarasvati Thakura:
From Amrta-vani, Chapter: “Spiritual Life”:
One hundred generations forward and one hundred generations
backward of a family in which a maha-bhagavata
[topmost devotee] appears are
automatically
delivered. Fourteen generations forward and fourteen generations backward of a
family in which a madhyama-adhikari
[intermediate devotee] appears are automatically delivered. Three generations
forward and three generations backward of a family in which a kanistha-adhikari [neophyte devotee]
appears are delivered.”
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami:
From Begging
for the Nectar of the Holy Name:
“It is
a challenge. The spiritual master is the
eternal guide. We should never minimize
his place in our lives. What he has
already given us is enough for us to be eternally grateful. We can never think that we will ever be more
advanced than he is, more advanced than he was.
And we should not find fault with him.
Fault-finding is called kuti-nati,
and the worst kind of fault-finding is criticizing the guru. What is the worst form of sadhu-ninda but guru-aparadha?
“There are all kinds of guru-aparadha. A subtle
offense is to superficially praise Prabhupada while giving a speech about how
everyone should follow him, but to be dead underneath, to not read his books,
to not study his life, to not write about him, to not have an ongoing,
developing love. Dead ritual. The guru-disciple relationship needs constant
work. Part of that work is to sometimes
go through difficult stages, awkward stages, questioning stages, stages of
having to have the answers revealed to us over time. All questions will be answered, but sometimes
the asking of them is itself painful. We
have to do the necessary work, go through doubts, and come to resolutions.”
***
I again state the importance
of the relationship
with the spiritual master.
We should always
be on guard
against guru-aparadha.
There are subtle forms of it.
The relationship requires
constant work.
We have to go through awkward stages.
Sometimes we have to wait for the answers
to our questions. We need to do the work
and we will come to the resolution.
Badahari Das Prabhu:
When I joined the Hare Krishna movement I
felt joy from the freedom of abandoning my previous identity and accepting the
position of a devotee. Then I noticed in time I created a whole new false ego
of myself as “a devotee.”
Once a devotee told me, “I am a brahmana. I don’t do dishes.” Yet Lord
Caitanya said, “I am not brahmana. I
am not a sudra, etc.”
By continuing in devotional service, we will
find as Lord Kapila says, that devotional service dissolves our subtle body, of
mind, intelligence, and false ego. This does not mean we do not have a mind or
intelligence, but rather we do not have the materially covered mind and
intelligence, only the mind and intelligence of the pure soul, the eternal
servant of Krishna.
It takes a lot of work to become fully
self-realized, but even a little advancement on this path gives great satisfaction.
It is our practical experience that by
chanting Hare Krishna we experience a greater pleasure than any material
pleasure.
Manidhara Prabhu:
It is the blessing of the 1960s and 1970s
that people were doubting everything.
Srila Prabhupada challenged and debated with
his disciples. He did not like them to accept things blindly.
When asked about to what say to Christians,
Srila Prabhupada would make the point that they are not following the Bible.
The Bible says ‘thou shall not kill’ but the Christians are killing so many
animals.
We have answers for all questions in Krishna
consciousness.
In Sweden, schools would visit the temple
because they have a conception that people should be informed about everything.
So we would sometimes have three schools a day. I would always ask them for
questions. It was a challenge for them because they are not taught to inquire.
When people understand that we are not
escapists but are providing a viable alternative, they will take it seriously.
I was talking to a lady who was suffering
very much. I said to her, “Suppose you are not your body?” She was happy just
to consider that. We cannot eliminate suffering but we can understand the
reason for suffering, and we can elevate our consciousness so we can tolerate
the suffering.
Srila Prabhupada told a paralyzed person that
his condition was a blessing as another person may be in illusion thinking he
can enjoy, but being paralyzed he could very soon understand this is an illusion.
Every second must be used in Krishna
consciousness.
People say that I have to do this and that,
and I have no time to hear about Krishna. But whatever our situation, we can
try to always increase our hearing.
Srila Prabhupada said we do not need temples.
We must simply create a situation for people to hear and chant of Krishna.
Taking care of cows is hard work, but it also
provides facility to remember Krishna.
We have hard work in Krishna consciousness,
but it is work that benefits. We are not working to produce useless products.
In Germany the philosophy is that you have to
work. Why? To eat. And why to eat? So you can work.
They took people from the villages to work in
the city so they could make money to go to the villages for vacation.
We go from village to village and chant Hare
Krishna on padayatra. What do we do
for vacation? This is our vacation.
In Slovenia devotees would use motorbikes to
go to remote regions of the country. People would buy whole sets of books
because they were so impressed people came to visit them. That developed into padayatra. On the padayatra, people would use bicycles to visit remotely located
people, and they were so happy to encounter the devotees again.
Padayatra gets devotees together. That is an important
part of it.
One devotee said I did 15 years of book
distribution and 25 years of management. What can I do now? You could do padayatra. Even on wheelchairs, you
could do padayatra.
The spirit of this movement is: “I got
something. I should give it to others.”
We know people are not interested in
philosophy. On padayatra, they see
the oxen and chanting and the dancing. We give people a visual presentation,
and they wonder, “What is this?”
We should not be old devotees who are sour.
This means something is wrong. We are identifying with our body. Srila
Prabhupada was the most old and the most poor, but he was the most ecstatic.
We have to accept Krishna consciousness as it
is and share it with others.
As the Bhagavad-gita
says this process is “su-sukham”
(very joyful). If it is not that way for us, then we are doing something wrong.
One devotee told me that after being Srila
Prabhupada’s servant for three months, he slept for three weeks.
Srila Prabhupada once said, “Don’t ask if I
am sick. I am always sick.”
Srila Prabhupada was so transcendental, he
extracted his own tooth once in a airplane.
A body is like a time bomb. It is just a
matter of time before it will explode.
We have a padayatra
calendar with photos of people enjoying our festivals. We should not lose
this spirit.
We may not consider ourselves preachers, but
our lifestyle is itself preaching.
My former artist friends were so shocked that
I became a devotee that they began chanting Hare Krishna.
In Germany our opponents would have different
mantras, “Get a job.” And we would come up with responses, “But I am working.”
We can practice Krishna consciousness in
different situations. Our only obstacle is ourselves.
As devotees we have to be introspective and
be situated properly. If we are not situated properly, if other things are
there, we still will not be satisfied.
Sometimes we are so absorbed in this body, we
are not aware of how to best operate this body.
As a youth I was so conscious of death that I
had very few friends because no one wanted to talk about it. When I met the
devotees, they would talk about death, which I appreciated. Although they
talked of death, they were happy. Thus I was very curious.
Vedic culture means to be satisfied with what
you have. Village life in the West was closer to Vedic culture. People had
problems, but they were local problems. Previously people in general did not
travel. Only the sannyasis and the brahmacaris traveled. Now we have global
problems. In my own life, I experienced as I moved from the city to the village,
my mind became more peaceful.
Sometimes people challenge the widespread
distribution of Bhagavad-gita because
Krishna says it is not for nondevotees, but we should not question Srila
Prabhupada’s order.
Srila Prabhupada was proud that people could
no longer identify his disciples as Americans.
Things seem to be miracles to us, but they are
not miracles to Krishna.
There are three types of people. Innocent
people have nothing against Krishna consciousness. They simply have not heard.
Then there are others who are spontaneously inimical. We tried to hide by
wearing wigs, but people could identify us anyway. The German police advised
people to capture Hare Krishnas. They could be identified by their bright
countenance.
Krishna promises to preserve what we have and
supply what we lack. What insurance company can promise that?
We have to engage our body, mind, and words
in Krishna’s service.
Srila Prabhupada did not want us to tell new
people about Krishna’s pastimes. We should simply explain how the soul is
different than the body and about reincarnation.
It is Krishna’s mercy we do not remember all
our frustration in previous lives. We would commit suicide as children
otherwise. We take birth as optimistic babies.
We should give Bhagavad-gita only as far they can understand.
Once Srila Prabhupada said to a reporter, “We
will not discuss God [a surprise for the reporter]. We will only talk about how
we are not the body.”
Krishna spoke Bhagavad-gita on the battlefield to Arjuna, a professional soldier,
while he spoke Uddhava-gita to
Uddhava, a brahmana in the forest.
Sometimes people ask who forbade us to engage
in intoxication, but no one forbade us. I can go into a pub and drink anytime I
want, but I do not want to.
If we explain the combination of man and
women is simply meant for insemination, the women understand it but the men don’t.
They are many problems caused by illicit sex,
like AIDS, fear, lamentation, but how many problems are caused by celibacy?
Still because people are lusty they cannot give up the habit.
After the revolution, there was propaganda
against vegetarianism but not now.
When discussing vegetarianism, I offer to a
meat-eater, “Here is a knife. Chase after an animal. Kill it. Take out the intestines.”
But they would never do it.
In my town, there was riot, but the people
would not have rioted unless they were intoxicated.
People worry how they will live without meat,
but I never saw devotees dying of starvation. More likely there is the opposite
problem.
We should never stop giving Krishna
consciousness to others, in any circumstances, following Srila Prabhupada’s
example.
We do not have to worry about renunciation.
By nature’s way, as we age, we naturally become more renounced. We just have to
be determined not to become more foolish.
The worries of old age and death are minimized
for the devotee who has given up trying to enjoy the material world.
For the materialists to do the equivalent of padayatra would be very difficult. The
people are not fully trained, they come and go, they have primitive facilities,
etc.
If someone asks how do you organize ISKCON,
the actual answer is no one knows. Krishna is in the heart of everyone, and He
is the main manager. Krishna inspires people in the heart. If we were
completely in Krishna consciousness, our activities would be completely
harmonized.
I was too sick to distribute books, and Bhakti
Bhusana Swami invited me to travel with him. We would go door-to-door, open the
door, and say, “We are here,” and we would come in and present Bhagavad-gita. People were shocked. Our
tour ended in Berlin, where we had a hundred and twenty guests at the Sunday
feast. There was just Maharaja, me, and two brahmacaris.
We would alternate between lecture and prasadam
till 4 a.m. During the year we were there, thirteen new people became
devotees due to Bhakti Bhusana Swami’s expert preaching.
Krishna consciousness is never static. If we
do not endeavor, we will go backward. It starts by preaching to yourself to get
up in the morning.
I lived in a temple where the temple
president removed the hot water tap. This is external. We have to understand
the meaning of our austerities. If we have warm feet and we can distribute more
books, then it is better.
Even if people are crazy we do not hold that
against them, because if they remain engaged in the practice seriously, they
will ultimately attain perfection.
I was given the craziest people on my book
distribution party. They would get in fights in the van, and I would alternate
speeding and breaking to get them to stop.
One devotee was so crazy they told me to take
him and not bring him back. He could not even chant the Hare Krishna properly.
He had the good quality of being willing to hear. By distributing the books, he
came to the point of being almost normal on the streets, and he could
eventually chant the mantra properly.
Srila Prabhupada stressed that purity and
simplicity were our qualifications.
The devotee has nothing to lose. He has lost
everything already. We just have Krishna to give. Simple people can understand.
If someone begins the practice of Krishna
consciousness, that is really quite high. We prepare the people for that point.
That is also preaching.
People see we are not acting in the standard
way, and they begin to ask questions of their own accord.
It is good we were not blackmailed in the
media in Czech as we experienced in Germany.
We give people a practical alternative way to
live.
Srila Prabhupada was happy seeing the next
generation coming because with each succeeding generation, Krishna
consciousness is more natural.
In Moravia, the devotees bought a pub and
turned it into a temple. This is happening and will happen more and more.
When the switch is turned off on our
technology, we will still have the cart and cows.
We have good cooks here in Czech. Srila
Prabhupada liked to encourage local talent.
At the last visit to Bhaktivedanta Manor, it
was guru puja, and Srila Prabhupada
raised his hands indicating to speed up the kirtana,
and in seconds it became most ecstatic.
Srila Prabhupada did not criticize the
conditioning of his students but engaged them for their purification.
Our German book distribution party was number
one, and we were told Srila Prabhupada wanted to see us. We had two groups the
Nrsimha group, who was very heavy, and the Govinda group, who was more
peaceful.
Sadaputa Prabhu:
From “Vedic
Cosmology Seminar 3” in Philadelphia on July 3, 1986:
The statement here
is that all of these universes are within the transcendental body of the
Supreme Lord. But then the statement is
also made that the transcendental form of the Supreme Lord is contained within
every atom within each of these universes.
So the idea of an atom is there in the Vedic literature. And the word for an atom is paramanu. Actually that’s from parama and anu. Anu
means something small and paramanu
means the very smallest possible thing.
It is stated that the Supreme Lord is present in His fullness within
every atom. Now if you think about that, you can see that if you take a given
atom, like the one I have here, then Krishna must be fully present within that
atom; that means all the universes, including this universe and that atom, are
within Krishna. Then within Krishna that atom must be there, and within that is
Krishna, and then within that there are all the universes again, and also that
atom is there, and so you can go on like that.
The main point to
make here is that, first of all, this is not possible if you require all forms
to exist within three-dimensional space.
“. . . quantum mechanics
has introduced infinite-dimensional space to define atoms. To describe, say, a
carbon atom in quantum mechanics, you need at least 18 dimensions; and to
describe two carbon atoms you need at least 36 dimensions. So even modern physics has gone beyond the
idea of everything having a position in three-dimensional space. Actually in modern physics the idea now is
that everything is existing in an inconceivable infinite-dimensional space and
what we perceive are projections, so to speak, into three dimensions. That’s actually the situation in modern
physics, and it’s all expressed in a very abstract way.”
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mahambhodhes tire kanaka-rucire nila-sikhare
vasan prasadantah sahaja-balabhadrena balina
subhadra-madhya-sthah sakala-sura-sevavasara-do
jagannathah svami nayana-patha-gami bhavatu me
“On the shore of the great ocean, within a
large palace atop the brilliant, golden Nilacala Hill, Lord Jagannatha resides
with His powerful brother Balabhadra and His sister Subhadra, who sits between
Them. May that Jagannatha Svami, who bestows the opportunity for devotional
service upon all godly souls, be the object of my vision.” (“Jagannathasktam”,
verse 3)