Travel Journal#13.7: North Florida, NE USA, & Dublin
Diary
of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 13, No. 7
By Krishna-kripa das
(April 2017, part one)
North Florida, D.C., Albany, New York City, Dublin
(Sent from Newcastle upon Tyne on May 4, 2017)
Where
I Went and What I Did
The
first week of April I spent my last week in Tallahassee for the
spring, beginning with the Tallahassee Ratha-yatra and ending with
First Friday. In the middle of the week, I chanted at the campus of
Florida State University, and I taught mantra meditation (japa)
to a student who bought a Bhagavad-gita
from
me the previous year. After First Friday I attended the St. Augustine
Ratha-yatra festival, and the day after that I flew to Washington,
D.C., where I attended the Sunday feast at our Potomac temple and a
harinama
for
over three hours in Silver Spring, Maryland. The next day I chanted
with Sankarsana and Sivam Prabhus in front of the National History
Museum. I chanted there again the following day with Sankarsana and
Gurudas Prabhus,
and also
during lunch time, at a prasadam
distribution
event at George Washington
University, which is organized by Prabhupada disciple, Sankirtana
Yajña
Prabhu, once per semester. That afternoon I took a train to
Philadelphia and attended Haryasva Prabhu’s Tuesday evening Bhakti
Garden program, adding some talk about the holy names to the nice
kirtans of Mitra, Ananda-Murari, and Madhuri Pura Prabhus, and having
prasadam
with
my niece, Fern, and her husband, Oliver. The next day I visited my
family in Albany, making three instructional videos so my 92-year-old
year mother could more effectively use her computer, bringing them
doughnuts from the Doughnut Plant, and cooking spaghetti and kofta
balls for dinner. The next day I chanted in New York City’s Union
Square for four hours with the Yuga Dharma New York City party,
seeing many of my friends there, before my evening flight to Dublin,
Ireland, via London. I did harinama
in
Dublin for two days, the second one, on Saturday, for almost eight
hours, ending a very busy first half of April!
I
have very few lecture notes because in Tallahassee I gave lectures
myself or I else heard Prabhupada lectures while cooking or cleaning
and thus could not take notes. All my notes came from the classes I
heard in Potomac, our Washington, D.C. temple, which were by Srila
Prabhupada, from a recording, Garuda Prabhu, who spoke at the Sunday
Feast, and Braja Bihari Prabhu, who gave Srimad-Bhagavatam
class.
All of these classes were full of
beautiful insights. I
also share excerpts from the books and poems of Satsvarupa Dasa
Goswami, which I read daily as part of my proofreading service for
him. I share an amazing story from a friend,
who worried that japa would
impede his studies, but who by the grace of the Lord, came to realize
that japa would
make him succeed in his studies, far beyond his expectations.
I
would like to thank many generous souls for their kind donations
toward my expenses, Sivam Prabhu from Maryland, Haryasva Prabhu from
Philadelphia, Victor (my sister’s partner) from Albany, Sankarsana
Prabhu from Potomac, Adikarta
Prabhu from Alachua, Amrita Keli Devi Dasi from Jacksonville, and
Mahotsaha Prabhu from New York City. Thanks to John for the ride from
Tallahassee to St. Augustine and to Dhira Prabhu for the ride from
St. Augustine to Jacksonville. As the Beatles say, “I get by with a
little help from my friends.” Thanks to Gurudas Prabhu of Washington, D.C., for the photos of me distributing on harinama in Silver Spring. Thanks to
Steve Cameron for the photo of me at the Bhakti Garden. Thanks to
Diana Koushyk for the photos of me at Union Square.
Itinerary
May
1–4: Newcastle
May
5: Leeds
May
6: York
May
7: Scarborough and Newcastle
May
8–9: Newcastle
May
10: Sheffield
May
11–: France
June
20–21:
Stonehenge?
August
1–6: Polish Woodstock
August
8–16: Ottawa Vaishnava Sanga Retreat / Janmastami and Vyasa-puja
August
17–27:
North UK Ratha-yatra Tour
August
28–September
5: UK
and Ireland
September
5–November ?: New York City (ex. Sept. 19–23: Philadelphia)
November
?– December 1: Florida
December:
New York City
Tallahassee
Ratha-yatra
Several
devotees from Krishna House joined the party of Alachua youth which
Bhadra
Prabhu had arranged for the Tallahassee Ratha-yatra, which is the
Hare Krishna contribution to the Springtime Tallahassee parade. The
devotees chanted enthusiastically, although the synchronicity of the
dancers, especially the males, broke down in the course of time.
People along the route waved, smiled, and danced, and it was clear
the Hare Krishnas have a number of fans in the Florida state capital.
We always keep the chanting going well after the parade finished, a
testament to the spontaneous love of the devotees for chanting the
holy name. Some other groups of musicians were happy to see that and
showed it.
I
took some video before and after the parade, as I think it does
not look good
for a performer in a parade to be filming it.
Here
Abhimanyu Prabhu leads the chanting of Hare Krishna before the
Tallahassee Ratha-yatra, as
the cart is decorated by the Lord’s servants, and
devotee girls practice dancing in the background
(https://youtu.be/3nAsKF6Xy20):
Before
our procession started we had the opening ceremony with the breaking
of the coconuts.
With
most groups, the end of the parade means the end of the performance,
but that is when the Hare Krishnas are just getting warmed up. Here
Jagannath Kirtan Prabhu leads the youthful Alachua County devotees in
more lively chanting and dancing for the pleasure of Lord Jagannath
after the Springtime Tallahassee parade
(https://youtu.be/qy5fx38ECtg):
After
we took prasadam
at
our Tallahassee Hare Krishna temple, I suggested the devotees do a
ten-minute kirtan for their Gaura-Nitai deities, and almost everyone
enthusiastically participated. I think it went beyond ten minutes.
Amala Harinama Prabhu chanted wonderfully, and
a couple devotees started dancing by the end
(https://youtu.be/JCDKmcrBrYs):
Chanting
Hare Krishna in Tallahassee
I
chanted at Lake Ella on the weekend, including the day of the
Ratha-yatra, and on one weekday when I did not have permission on the
campus. One day it rained so I did not chant in public at all, but
the other days I chanted at Florida State University, this time in
the freedom of speech area, which does not need to be reserved and
where permission is not required. I recall having a nice talk with a
couple of female Mormon elders, who are more frequently seen these
days. I advertised a mantra meditation class, and one young man who
had bought Bhagavad-gita the
previous year came, and we chanted japa and
kirtan for ten minutes each. I inquired from him three weeks later,
and he said, “I haven’t
been regular with the practice, but I’ve
chanted a few times since you taught me. . . . I am actually looking
at finding spiritual communities near where my family lives, so help
with that would be very welcome.” It is nice to encounter people
with some level of spiritual interest.
Nama
Kirtan Prabhu decided not to serve prasadam at
First Friday, but I decided to go and chant because lots of people
get to hear the holy name, and some people actually like us there.
Several people interacted with us in a positive way, some giving
donations and taking books and prasadam laddus which
I had made for my sister’s birthday earlier in the week.
I
took this video toward the end of the evening, when it was much
quieter. Here Melanie, who has been attending the Hare Krishna temple
in Tallahassee for over 30 years and who is one of the few people who
is willing to chant in public in Tallahassee, chants Hare Krishna at
First Friday, while her son, John, plays the drum, and I play the
harmonium (https://youtu.be/cUDNl8FQgUk):
St.
Augustine Ratha-yatra Festival
Unfortunately
we
left Tallahassee
too late, and thus we missed the actual Ratha-yatra in St. Augustine.
I was thinking the harinama
on
St. George Street was at 10:30, and so when we arrived around 12:30,
I thought we would still catch most of the Ratha-yatra, but
unforunately the Ratha-yatra itself started at the unprecedentedly
early hour of 10:30. We did, however, catch the entire harinama
which
is in a much more crowded area than the Ratha-yatra and
better for interacting with the public.
The attention of many tourists and locals was attracted by the
blissfully chanting devotees as you can see in this video and
a few took great pleasure in dancing with the devotees
(https://youtu.be/sAbw82PbUes):
I
recall three young ladies, who worked in some kind of fast food
place, who took pictures of the devotees and watched the harinama
for
a long time. I wished I had local events to invite them to. Later I
learned there is a devotee who has a Sunday feast program in
St. Augustine,
and some
people had invitations for it.
Chanting
Hare Krishna Near and in Washington, D.C.
My
friend and godbrother, Sankarsana Prabhu, invited me to sing with him
at the mall in Washington, D.C., and I promised to come to
Washington for
three days whenever I travel between Florida and New York City. I arrived just in time for the Potomac Sunday feast and to hear Gauravani Prabhu lead kirtan (https://youtu.be/PeyqK8fw4Zo):
For
three hours each Saturday and Sunday night, an enthusiastic group of
devotees of various ages, races, and nationalities, mostly attenders
at our Potomac temple, chant Hare Krishna at a busy street corner in
a shopping district of Silver Spring, Maryland, and they
distribute
prasadam,
books, and free "On Chanting Hare Krishna" pamphlets as
well
(https://youtu.be/tQVH6p-r5qk):
At Silver Spring I danced and distributed “On Chanting Hare Krishna” as usual.
At the mall in Washington, D.C., Sankarsana Prabhu has an incredible setup with a generator, amplifier, mixer, three microphones, a synthesizer, two large speakers, a book table, and free pamphlets and lollipops, and he plays the synthesizer and chants Hare Krishna there whenever he gets a chance. He is very devoted and has a sweet voice that is pleasant to listen to.
Sivam
Prabhu, who I did harinama
with when he lived in Tallahassee and who spent time with Aindra
Prabhu in Vrindavan and was inspired by him, joined Sankarsana Prabhu
and I chanting in front of the National History
Museum the first day. April is a great time in
Washington,
with the blooming cherry blossoms and many school groups visiting
from all over the country (https://youtu.be/MElk8mgmxpM):
Once
each semester, Prabhupada disciple, Sankirtan Yajña
Prabhu, cooks and distributes a free lunch of Krishna prasadamat
different campuses such as here at George Washington
University. On this occasion, I joined Sankarsana and Gurudas Prabhus
in chanting Hare Krishna for the students
(https://youtu.be/Bbkhaj8priA):
Devotees
talk to interested students.
Students
sign up for their email list.
Students
receive packets of literature and meditation
(japa) beads.
We
continued singing while devotees packed up.
After
chanting in front of the George Washington University library, during the
lunch serveout, our kirtan party
continued in front of the National History Museum
(https://youtu.be/LHiskmGgQ1w):
Chanting
Hare Krishna at the Bhakti Garden in Philadelphia
Mitra,
Murari-Krishna, and Madhuri Pura Prabhus, who are traveling around
the USA doing kirtan at different venues chanted Hare Krishna at
Haryasva Prabhu’s Bhakti Garden in Philadelphia
(https://youtu.be/c7kU4HTvUog):
me>
After
the kirtan I spoke about the holy name, focusing on three important
verses:
nama
cintamanih krishnas
caitanya-rasa-vigrahah
purnah suddho
nitya-mukto
’bhinnatvan nama-naminoh
"The
holy name of Krishna is transcendentally blissful. It bestows all
spiritual benedictions, for it is Krishna Himself, the reservoir of
all pleasure. Krishna’s name is complete, and it is the form of all
transcendental mellows. It is not a material name under any
condition, and it is no less powerful than Krishna Himself. Since
Krishna’s name is not contaminated by the material qualities, there
is no question of its being involved with maya [illusion].
Krishna’s name is always liberated and spiritual; it is never
conditioned by the laws of material nature. This is because the name
of Krishna and Krishna Himself are identical.” (Padma Purana)
And
then there is a nice verse by Srila Rupa Gosvami quoted in Sri
Caitanya-caritamrta, Antya-lila 1.99:
no jane janita kiyadbhir amrtaih krishneti
varna-dvayi
“I
do not know how much nectar the two syllables ‘Krish-na’ have
produced. When the holy name of Krishna is chanted, it appears to
dance within the mouth. We then desire many, many mouths. When that
name enters the holes of the ears, we desire many millions of ears.
And when the holy name dances in the courtyard of the heart, it
conquers the activities of the mind, and therefore all the senses
become inert.”
etavan
eva loke ’smin
pumsam
dharmah
parah
smrtah
bhakti-yogo
bhagavati
tan-nama-grahanadibhih
“Devotional
service, beginning with the chanting of the holy name of the Lord, is
the ultimate religious principle for the living entity in human
society.” (SB
6.3.22)
My
niece, Fern, has been a vegetarian since birth, and because she has
been living in Philadelphia during college and after graduation, I
have invited her to Govinda’s Restaurant for prasadam.
This
time I invited her and her husband, Oliver, to the dinner at the end
of the Bhakti Garden program. They liked it, and they enjoyed talking
to Ananda-Murari Prabhu, who is from Denver, as she is planning to
get her masters degree at the Colorado School of Mines near there. He
promised to show her the
Govinda’s
Restaurant there when she relocates.
A
Visit Hometo
Albany
My
family likes the Doughnut Plant doughnuts. The original Doughnut
Plant is in Chinatown, and after arriving on the Chinese bus from
Philadelphia, I had 8 minutes before the Chinese bus to Albany. I
decided to stash
my bags, except for my computer, in the Chinese bus station and run
to the Doughnut Plant and get some doughnuts for my relatives. I
arrived back at the Chinese bus station just two minutes late, and
the Chinese bus lady was telling the bus driver to go
and he was beginning to pull
out, when she saw me, who
had
previous inquired from her about the Albany bus, running
toward her.
Thus by Krishna’s grace I got the doughnuts and caught the bus. I
have a tendency to gamble like this, and because I usually win, I
keep doing it.
I
decided to make instructional videos for my 92-year-old mother to
print documents, print selected text from
an email,
and scan documents as it is difficult for her to remember when I show
her things, even if she takes notes on them.
Then
I made spaghetti and koftas
for
my sister, as spaghetti is a favorite of hers and her birthday was
the previous week.
It
was nice to get together briefly before my summer in Europe, and
there is always the thought in the back of my mind, that perhaps it
is the last time I will see some of them. I recall when I last saw
Sadaputa Prabhu in June 2007, I did not understand I would never see
him again, as he left his body before I returned to Florida the end
of September 2008.
Chanting
Hare Krishna with the Yuga Dharma New York City Party
I
plan to spend several hours with my old friends on the New York City
harinama
on
the day I flight to Europe each year.
Bhakta
Kane, Natabara Gauranga, Martanda, and Kailya Krishna Prabhus led the
chanting of Hare Krishna on the Yuga Dharma New York City harinama
at Union Square Park (https://youtu.be/C50cmtZoVPA):
After
the kirtan I spoke about the holy name, focusing on three important
verses:
nama cintamanih krishnas caitanya-rasa-vigrahah purnah suddho nitya-mukto ’bhinnatvan nama-naminoh
“The
holy name of Krishna is transcendentally blissful. It bestows all
spiritual benedictions, for it is Krishna Himself, the reservoir of
all pleasure. Krishna’s name is complete, and it is the form of all
transcendental mellows. It is not a material name under any
condition, and it is no less powerful than Krishna Himself. Since
Krishna’s name is not contaminated by the material qualities, there
is no question of its being involved with maya [illusion].
Krishna’s name is always liberated and spiritual; it is never
conditioned by the laws of material nature. This is because the name
of Krishna and Krishna Himself are identical.” (Padma Purana)
And
then there is a nice verse by Srila Rupa Gosvami quoted in Sri
Caitanya-caritamrta, Antya-lila 1.99:
tunde tandavini ratim vitanute tundavali-labdhaye karna-kroda-kadambini ghatayate karnarbudebhyah sprham cetah-prangana-sangini vijayate sarvendriyanam krtim no jane janita kiyadbhir amrtaih krishneti varna-dvayi
“I
do not know how much nectar the two syllables ‘Krish-na’ have
produced. When the holy name of Krishna is chanted, it appears to
dance within the mouth. We then desire many, many mouths. When that
name enters the holes of the ears, we desire many millions of ears.
And when the holy name dances in the courtyard of the heart, it
conquers the activities of the mind, and therefore all the senses
become inert.”
etavan eva loke ’smin pumsam
dharmah
parah
smrtah
bhakti-yogo bhagavati
tan-nama-grahanadibhih
“Devotional
service, beginning with the chanting of the holy name of the Lord, is
the ultimate religious principle for the living entity in human
society.” (SB
6.3.22)
My
niece, Fern, has been a vegetarian since birth, and because she has
been living in Philadelphia during college and after graduation, I
have invited her to Govinda’s Restaurant for prasadam.
This
time I invited her and her husband, Oliver, to the dinner at the end
of the Bhakti Garden program. They liked it, and they enjoyed talking
to Ananda-Murari Prabhu, who is from Denver, as she is planning to
get her masters degree at the Colorado School of Mines near there. He
promised to show her the
Govinda’s
Restaurant there when she relocates.
A
Visit Hometo
Albany
My
family likes the Doughnut Plant doughnuts. The original Doughnut
Plant is in Chinatown, and after arriving on the Chinese bus from
Philadelphia, I had 8 minutes before the Chinese bus to Albany. I
decided to stash
my bags, except for my computer, in the Chinese bus station and run
to the Doughnut Plant and get some doughnuts for my relatives. I
arrived back at the Chinese bus station just two minutes late, and
the Chinese bus lady was telling the bus driver to go
and he was beginning to pull
out, when she saw me, who
had
previous inquired from her about the Albany bus, running
toward her.
Thus by Krishna’s grace I got the doughnuts and caught the bus. I
have a tendency to gamble like this, and because I usually win, I
keep doing it.
I
decided to make instructional videos for my 92-year-old mother to
print documents, to print selected text from
an email,
and to scan documents as it is difficult for her to remember when I show
her things, even if she takes notes on them.
Then
I made spaghetti and koftasfor
my sister, as spaghetti is a favorite of hers and her birthday was
the previous week.
It
was nice to get together briefly before my summer in Europe, and
there is always the thought in the back of my mind, that perhaps it
is the last time I will see some of them. I recall when I last saw
Sadaputa Prabhu in June 2007, I did not understand I would never see
him again, as he left his body before I returned to Florida the end
of September 2008.
Chanting
Hare Krishna with the Yuga Dharma New York City Party
I
plan to spend several hours with my old friends on the New York City
harinama
on
the day I flight to Europe each year.
Bhakta
Kane, Natabara Gauranga, Martanda, and Kailya Krishna Prabhus led the
chanting of Hare Krishna on the Yuga Dharma New York City harinama
at Union Square Park (https://youtu.be/C50cmtZoVPA):
It
was great to see so many of my friends during my day in New York.
Book
distributor, Mahotsaha Prabhu, was especially happy to see me.
I
would distribute invitations and free literature as well as dance as usual.
One
Chinese NYU student was interviewing the harinama
devotees
about how they came to Krishna consciousness. She interviewed me as
well. While talking, she explained that she was attracted by the
chanting, and that she found it to be relaxing and energizing at the
same time. That was striking to me as 81-year-old clinical
psychologist, who has been coming regularly
to listen and chant along for
three years, said exactly the same thing. I thought about it, and I
concluded
that the
realization
made perfect sense as the chanting frees one from the material
energy, thus relaxing one, while at the same time it connects one
to the spiritual energy, thus energizing one in
a spiritual direction.
Chanting
Hare Krishna on the Streets of Dublin
On
Easter Saturday we chanted over 7½ hours in Dublin. Bhagavati, Manu,
and Karunesvari Prabhus led kirtan. Alekananda assisted greatly. One
Indian passing by played the whompers, and an Italian guy, who liked
the music, played the shakers on two occasions
(https://youtu.be/_ius3fgb9Ak):
We
must give a special thanks to Bhagavati Dasi of Belfast, leading the
chanting at the beginning of the video, who traveled two hours each
way to attend the harinama, and
who stayed for six hours, taking but a brief break for lunch.
Karunesvari,
who is singing beautifully at the end of the video, lives near the
island, but she distributes prasadam
in
Dublin on the weekends. Her vehicle has awesome pictures of Vrindavan
on it:
One
of the nice things about visiting Dublin is eating at our Govinda’s
restaurant. On Fridays they have this awesome shepherd’s pie which I
remember from the previous year. It was so good I just had to take a
picture of it:
To
see other photos I did not include in this journal, click on the link
below:
According
to Vedanta-sutra
there
is one source of everything.
Complete
means you go on spending as much as you like, and it remains
complete.
They
say, “In
God we trust.” They do not know God, how can they trust?
We
should become brahmama,
learn
for ourselves, and teach others what is God.
Why
should I trust this man if I do not know this man?
Lord
Caitanya taught we are simultaneously one and different from God. The
rascals simply take that “I am one with God” but do not take “I
am different from God.”
You
cannot see the sky, you cannot see the mind, and yet you think you
can see God. Just see how foolish they are!
You
cannot see the mind and the intelligence, so how can you expect to
see the soul which is more subtle.
You
cannot find out about God by speculation, thus you have to approach
an authority.
Human
life is needed to understand God. The animals cannot do it. This life
should be fully ultilized to understand God.
“Not
to become Krsna conscious is animalism.”
We
should come to the understanding that our material life is always
troublesome.
Ford
could not take a single cent with him when he was dying.
Comment
by Kiran: Although Srila Prabhupada spoke so strongly, he
consistently spoke with so much compassion.
Satsvarupa
dasa Goswami:
From
his daily poem to Radha Govinda:
“All
the Deities are glowing
because
They are arca-avatars,
non-different
from the original forms
in
the spiritual world. As They
are
glowing, They make me glow.
This
is what happens
in
darsana.”
From
Soul
Eyes:
“Come
with us and chant.
It’s
easy, and the beach
is
a good place to do it.
The
sky is high, and the
people
can hear us, the
boy
with the sand pail,
the
bare-chested man on a
bike,
the older woman jogging—
let
them hear harinama.
You
do a great service
when
you chant to others.
When
it’s just for yourself,
it’s
also good, but not
as
good. Chanting at the beach
today,
we kept it to ourselves
because
we’re shy. I don’t know why.
Someday
we will have to
do
it for everyone
to
hear. Krishna will come near.
To
hear is the dharma
and
blessing
on
the world, so don’t
be
miserly with the
touchstone.”
Garuda
Prabhu:
Often
when yoga is there in the verse, Srila Prabhupada puts devotional
service in the translation. Some object to this. As far as I am
concerned he has every right to. This is because Srila Prabhupada
knows goal of yoga is bhakti.
As
I scholar, I cannot do that.
Houston
Smith, who liked many of my books, said the mystics are the impatient
ones. They do not want to wait until
the end of life.
Union
implies two. That means uniting the individual soul with the Supreme
Soul.
Patanjali’s
Yoga
Sutras are
the Bible of yoga. In them, there are innumerable references to
bhakti,
more
than I imagined.
In
four or five places Patanjali speaks of isvara-pranidhana.
That
word has three parts:
pra
- moving
ni
- deeply
dhana
- into
the core of our being
Isvara
to
be means the divine center of all reality. It is Bhagavan and Brahman
with us in between.
Yama
– ethical
disciplines
Niyama
– essential
practices
Isvara-pranidhana
is
an essential practice.
Patanjali
says samadhi
siddhi isvara-pranidhanat. Isvara-pranidhana is
the perfection of the perfection. Thus isvara-pranidhana
is
the beginning and the end.
In
the Gita
Krishna
teaches self-realization and then self-abandonment. We nourish
ourselves so we can get ourselves out of the way.
At
raganuga
every
act is part of your service.
Patanjali
does not identify isvara
but
advises one must seek out isvara.
The
word ista-devata
comes
from the Yoga
Sutras.
Krishna
is beautiful, delightful, and playful.
Nirvikalpa
samadhi is
complete absorption in Krishna.
Bhakti
yoga is
entering Krishna’s
world, the big picture. Our little pictures are sometimes distressing
but not the big picture.
Srila
Prabhupada calls yoga “devotional service” because it is the
union of the individual self and the Supreme Self.
Bhagavan-kripa,
the
mercy of the Lord,is
there in the Yoga
Sutras, but
people do not know it.
In
my book, my thesis is that the Yoga Sutras do not make any sense if
we do not understand Krishna bhakti.
Yale
was started by disgruntled Harvard professors.
Krishna
embraces us as much as we want to be embraced.
Krishna
does not force, coerce, and manipulate souls to love Him. He waits
for an eternity for souls.
We
have one great kirtaniya
here.
Not you, Gauravani, Srila
Prabhupada!
The
more love we have for Krishna the more desperate we are when we are
separated from Him.
Braja
Bihara Prabhu:
Jnana-yoga
and
bhakti-yoga
parallel
each other for a certain distance, and then they diverge. They both
involve understanding the soul, understanding that the material world is a miserable
place, understanding that material desire as a cause of bondage, etc.
With
the impersonal feature of the Lord there is no opportunity to get
mercy, so the jnanis
are
at a disadvantage.
There
are different meanings to jnana
as
there are different meanings to the word knowledge in English.
Krishna explains that one with knowledge of His appearance and
activities does not return to this world. This knowledge is related
to bhakti.
One
acarya
says
that those in distress and those in need of money have to come to the
level of inquisitiveness to continue making progress.
In
Vrindavan, you have mayavadis
who
quote Sanatana Goswami but consider that nirguna-brahman
[the
Lord without qualities] is
superior to saguna-brahman
[the
Lord with qualities].
In
almost all other processes you have to put down the material before
picking up the spiritual, but in bhakti,
by
picking up the spiritual, you put down the material. This is because
of the higher taste, param
drstva nivartate.
The
service attitude is our svarupa.
Bhaktisiddhanta
Sarasvati Thakura said the siddha-pranali
mantra [the
mantra for attaining our eternal relationship with Krishna] is
trnad api suncena [one
should be more humble than a blade of grass and more tolerant than a
tree].
An
anonymous friend:
“As
you mentioned you sometimes share
my experience as a Masters student at UF [of doing two hours of
harinama
each week] as an inspiration to potential harinama
chanters, I feel moved to tell you about a similar subsequent
experience. The first year of law school in America is notorious as
an eminently challenging and disconcerting experience. Indeed, many
books have been written on the subject, and I purchased one myself
before starting in Fall 2010. After reading it, I decided I would
need to reduce my number of japa
rounds temporarily, as how else would I make it? Not only was I
starting law school, I also had my first baby scheduled to be born a
month before first semester final exams! When I approached Krishna in
my mind to explain my decision and set the parameters, I immediately
felt a response, even before I began my presentation: ‘No,
you will not halve your quota of rounds. You will double it!’
I was aghast. But the instruction
left
such a strong impression on me, I surrendered and resolved to follow
it. Anyway, long story short, three years later, I ended up
graduating number one in my class. The clear moral of the story for
me is that if you take care of Krishna’s business, He’ll take
care of yours.”
-----
In this age, especially, we are always desirous of attaining success as soon as possible. We want to know the shortest distance or the fastest route. We want same day shipping. Is there a short cut to attaining love of God, Krishna prema? These verses give us a hint:
sadhu-sanga,
nama-kirtana, bhagavata-sravana
mathura-vasa,
sri-murtira sraddhaya sevana
sakala-sadhana-srestha
ei pañca anga
krishna-prema
janmaya ei pancera alpa sanga
duruhadbhuta-virye
’smin
sraddha
dure ’stu pañcake
yatra
sv-alpo ’pi sambandhah
sad-dhiyam
bhava-janmane
“One
should associate with devotees, chant the holy name of the Lord, hear
Srimad-Bhagavatam,
reside
at Mathura and worship the Deity with faith and veneration. These
five limbs of devotional service are the best of all. Even a slight
performance of these five awakens love for Krishna. . . . ‘The
power of these five principles is very wonderful and difficult to
understand. Even without faith in them, a person who is offenseless
can awaken his dormant love of Krishna simply by being a little
connected with them.’” (Sri
Caitanya-caritamrita,
Madhya 22.128–129, 133) The final verse is quoted from
Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu
(1.2.238).