Travel Journal#13.19: New York City and Upstate New York

Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 13, No. 19

By Krishna-kripa das
(October 2017, part one)

New York City and Upstate New York

(Sent from New York City on November 26, 2017)

Where I Went and What I Did

Besides chanting Hare Krishna with the Yuga Dharma New York City harinama party every day, except the two days when I visited my family, I participated in a couple special events in the beginning of October:

Sri Gauracandra, a deity of Lord Caitanya was installed on the altar next to Radha-Muralidhara in The Bhakti Center, with Radhanath Swami coming to assist, and Janananda Goswami visited our morning program at The Bhakti Center and attended our harinama in Union Square.

Our October harinamas were special because when Karttika began, we invited passersby to offer candles to Krishna in His Damodara form.

I went to Upstate New York for two days, distributing prasadam at an international peace dance in New Paltz, at the Grafton Peace Pagoda, at the Friends Meeting in Albany, and at my sister’s house. I also had lunch with my diksa-guru, Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami, and did some service for him in Stuyvesant Falls.

I share notes on three Srila Prabhupada lectures and excerpts from Sri Ksetra: Vaikuntha on Earth, a soon-to-be-published book about Puri by Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura’s disciple, Sundarananda Vidyavinoda Prabhu, from Touchstone Media. I share notes on lectures by visiting sannyasis, Janananda Goswami and Radhanath Swami, and by Prabhupada disciple, Rukmini Devi Dasi. I also share notes on classes at The Bhakti Center by Brahma Muhurta Prabhu, the pujari for the deity installation, and Karuna Nimai, Ananda Bihari, Virabhadra Rama, and Mahotsaha Prabhus. I also share notes on a recorded discussion between Radhanath Swami and Cornel West which I listened to in Albany with some of my relatives, and some interesting points from the Grafon Peace Pagoda anniversary festival and the Friends Meeting.

Thanks to Janananda Goswami for his inspiring kirtans and lecture, and in addition, for reimbursing my travel expenses to and within Paris and changing my euros to dollars. Thanks to Bhakta Larry of Brooklyn for his kind donation. Thanks to Diana and Kate for photos of me on harinama in New York City.

Itinerary

November 11, 2017–January ?, 2018: Yuga Dharma New York City harinama party

except:

December 2, 2017: Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami Vyasa-puja in Stuyvesant Falls

December ?, 2017: possible visit to Hartford to see Niranjana Swami

December 24, 2017: Christmas Eve with my relatives in Albany

Chanting Hare Krishna in New York City

Early October was very warm this year, so mostly the Yuga Dharma New York City harinama party chanted outside at Union Square Park, only chanting in the subway stations on two or three especially wet or cold days.

I would spend most of my time at the book table during harinama.

For half and hour I would also lead the singing.

During the month of Karttika, the Yuga Dharma New York City harinama party gave subway riders an unlimited spiritual boost by encouraging them to offer lamps to Damodara [Krishna as a child]. “O Narada, no sin exists anywhere in the three worlds that will not be purified by offering a lamp to Lord Krishna during Karttika. A person who offers a lamp to Lord Krishna during Karttika attains the eternal spiritual world where there is no suffering.” (Karttika Mahatmya in Hari-bhakti-vilasa, verses 113–114). Thanks to Mahotsaha Prabhu for enthusiastically engaging people in this way (https://youtu.be/qt5wu34rQEA):

Here Rama Raya Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Union Square, and devotee ladies and a couple of guys who were passing by dance (https://youtu.be/fmHGf7NuJVY):

Rama Raya Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Union Square before his trip to India for Karttika (https://youtu.be/E9P_qWB4_4g):

Rama Raya Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Union Square, and many play the shakers (https://youtu.be/Cl5KZZ4QKRM):

Damodara Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Union Square, while at the back of our party a group of friends plays the shakers and chants, and in front of our party Rama Raya Prabhu and a father and daughter play the shakers and dance, a small boy tries to play the shakers, and a young man dances, making it a very lively kirtan and a great way to begin October (https://youtu.be/FRa3uIujQdQ)

Jaya Jagannatha Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in a very lively way at Union Square on three different occasions in the beginning of October 2017. The first time Janananda Goswami from England is joining us (https://youtu.be/nbbrBo7HN1M):

Rob, who regularly gives donations to our party and who appears in the previous kirtan video and the next one, wore a shirt with the Oscar Wilde quote, “Every saint had a past, and every sinner has a future” as he would smoke a cigarette and listen to the kirtan.

Krishna Prasad Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Union Square, and a lady dances (https://youtu.be/1gCs8Dkd4cY):

Damodara Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in Jackson Heights, and Mahotsaha and Krishna Prasad Prabhus dance (https://youtu.be/a3yBDyLDZ88):

Michael Collins formerly lived in New York City and would regularly chant with the Yuga Dharma New York City harinama party. We were happy he and his wife, Madhava, joined us during a recent one-day visit to New York City (https://youtu.be/6C97M1synMQ):

Bhakta Josh chants Hare Krishna at Union Square, and Premananda Kirtan Prabhu, who plays trumpet on Indradyumna Swami’s festivals, accompanies him (https://youtu.be/63i5jLjxcu8):

They also played together the next day (https://youtu.be/2TmPTbMIsRs):

Kaliya Krishna Prabhu also chants Hare Krishna at Union Square, with Premananda Kirtan Prabhu accompaning him (https://youtu.be/ojOxioxfRlo)

Premananda Kirtan Prabhu also leads the Hare Krishna chant at Union Square (https://youtu.be/k3bW3my86QI):

Natabara Gauranga Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Times Square subway station, and a guy dances with a devotee (https://youtu.be/Gw4TBqc2Gxc):

Damodara Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Union Square, and a guy who comes by from time to time dances (https://youtu.be/ANuE6flF3IQ):

Krishna Prasad Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Union Square, and a couple plays shakers (https://youtu.be/XHMZzY60Nqk):

Krishna Prasad Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Times Square subway station, and Kate dances (https://youtu.be/XcSBveJo85M):

Natabara Gauranga Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Union Square, and two guys play shakers (https://youtu.be/kCA0j_ZUHTk):

Pavana Nitai Chandra Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Union Square, and a guy plays violin (https://youtu.be/74Ych_W0pAQ):

Kanai Krishna Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in Union Square, and a man delights in dancing (https://youtu.be/cfVkDFUunEU):

Kanai Krishna Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in Union Square, and a kid plays shakers and dances (https://youtu.be/tjh0iRX5Kuc):

Kanai Krishna Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in Union Square, and a lady dances (https://youtu.be/QtTrAZtjVLw):

Kanai Krishna Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Penn Station subway station (https://youtu.be/qBb3WhxZqtY):

Chanting Hare Krishna at The Bhakti Center

Janananda Goswami chanted Hare Krishna at The Bhakti Center morning program and got almost everyone to dance (https://youtu.be/fiPU5VjgvHs):

Visiting Upstate New York

My sister said she was going to be in New Paltz, half away between Albany and New York City, the evening before my proposed visit, with her partner, Victor, and they could give me a ride to Albany. In this way, I ended up attending the international peace dance in New Paltz with them on the way back to Albany. I found all but one of the songs they danced to, which were from different cultures, had God conscious lyrics. Afterward I distributed the organic hard candies we pass out on the New York City harinama to those attending, and I found at least a couple people asked if they were prasadam. I was surprised. I did not know that so many people involved in the international peace dances would be aware of what Krishna prasadam was.

It turned out the first day of my visit home was the anniversary of Grafton Peace Pagoda, which my mother was involved in since the beginning. 

It was started by the Japanese Buddhist group which chants “Na-Mu-Myo-Ho-Ren-Ge-Kyo” and prays for peace, and some monks performed a ceremony there. They had an interfaith section of the program, and many different people spoke. The organizer told my family, if they knew ahead of time I would be attending, I could be one of the interfaith speakers, so perhaps I will do that next year. The luncheon was potluck, and I made a quinoa-vegetable dish to share with the people there.

The next day I went to the Albany Friends Meeting with my mother to encourage her in her spiritual practice. I chanted several rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra in my mind during the silent meeting. I shared about my experience visiting the Quaker pilgrimage site, Pendle Hill, this summer with my Hare Krishna chanting party. I mentioned that is said that Quaker founder, George Fox, felt reluctance to climb the steep hill, though prompted by the Lord from within, but he persevered and got some revelation at the top about where he could preach and people would hear his message, and that we can learn from that to follow inner promptings in the face of external difficulties. I distributed prasadam after the meeting.

After meeting, I borrowed my mother’s car to visit my diksa-guru, Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami, in Stuyvesant Falls, 45 minutes away. I read to him during lunch, accompanied him on his walk, and helped his servant, Baladeva Vidyabhusana Prabhu, by downloading word processing software for his computer and typing in some documents to assist in taking care of our guru’s health.

That evening my mother and Victor, my sister’s partner, watched the YouTube video of Radhanath Swami talking with Cornel West at Princeton.

The next day for breakfast I made pancakes with blueberry sauce for my sister Karen, Victor, my Mom, and Gwen, Matt, and their daughter, Vianne, who were also visiting from New York City, and I returned to New York City in time for our harinama.

So all-in-all there were many opportunities to share Krishna’s mercy in the form of prasadam during my weekend in Upstate New York.

Funny Photo

Besides the photo of Rob I mentioned earlier, I had another photo with a humorous aspect. At Union Square, there are people who spend all day playing chess. Generally, playing chess is not something recommended for those in the renounced order of life, so I was surprised to see this saffron-clad swami, non-ISKCON thank God, so engaged at Union Square:

Insights

Srila Prabhupada:

From a lecture on Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.6.4 on June 20, 1976 in Detroit:

This is the essential instruction of all Vedic instructions: Endeavor for economic gain is a waste of time. One should endeavor to go back home back to Godhead, to attain the abode of Lord Vishnu.

So many empires in the West existed for endeavoring for economic gain, like the British Empire.

Although everyone endeavors for economic gain, some people live in palatial buildings and others in slums.

Before I came to the USA I imagined there would be no poor man, but I see there are so many poor people here.

Everyone is under the three modes of material nature, and thus everywhere all over the world you see different divisions of society. You cannot change this.

If you endeavor economically but forget the endeavor to go back to Godhead, you are simply wasting your time.

Even the big, big scientists do not know the difference between the spiritual and material body.

If one does not know about the soul, he is no better than an animal, and so we are living in an animal civilization.

The atom bomb we are proud of is just a manifestation of the defending propensity which we share with the animals.

We think our wives, our children, our government, etc., will give us protection from death, but that is not possible.

We get a body in our next life according to our mentality, and if we act as an animal, we will get an animal body in the next life.

Only if we act for Vishnu can we become free from our karmic bondage.

We are flattering so many people to get some benefit, but Lord Shiva says why don’t you flatter Lord Vishnu.

This human form of life is the only chance to awaken our dormant love for God.

Although in other Puranas there are material activities, in the Bhagavatam there are strictly spiritual activities.

The Krishna consciousness movement is to spread this knowledge of the Vedas and Puranas to benefit society spiritually.

Now there are no first class men (brahmanas) in this world with all good qualities. We are trying to create such a class. I request you to all act nicely so the people will appreciate and begin to follow.

In the West, even students in class are smoking cigarettes.

Try to become a devotee of Mukunda and make your life successful.

From a class on Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.10.4 in London on November 25, 1973:

Dharma is to be situated in one’s position. It is not a kind of faith.

Devotees also have kama or lust, but their desires are different. They desire the necessities of life.

Because of his piety, during the reign of Maharaja Yudhisthira, nature supplied all necessities in abundance.

Meat is not eaten by the human beings. It is eaten by the tigers and the dog.

From a class on Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.10.4 in Mayapur on June 19, 1973:

Krishna is so kind. We have to remember Krishna at the time of death, and on the Battlefield of Kuruksetra, everyone was dying seeing Krishna. What is the question of their liberation? They were all liberated.

Pariksit Maharaja tried to restrict the activities of the mischievous Kali to places where sinful activities were going on, but there were no such places because of the King’s good government, thus Kali being inconvenienced, in order to restrict the King, influenced a brahmana boy to curse him to die.

Sundarananda Vidyavinoda Prabhu:

From Sri Ksetra:Vaikuntha on Earth:

“Srimad Bhaktivinoda discussed various scriptures and literatures, visited different places of pastimes within Sri Navadvipa Dhama and discovered the birthplace of Sri Gaura by the mercy, extraordinary sight, feelings and inspiration of Jagannathadasa Babaji Maharaja, and established the Deities of Sri Gaura-Vishnupriya in Sri Mayapura on the full moon day in the month of Phalguna in 1300 Bengali Era (21 March 1894). Just like the appearance day of Sriman Mahaprabhu, on that Purnima day in the month of Phalguna, a lunar eclipse occurred and all the auspicious stars and planets met together.”

“It was Thakura Bhaktivinoda’s intense desire to preach all over the world the unique contribution of Sri Caitanyadeva, who is the deliverer of Kali-yuga. He has written, ‘It is not that Sriman Mahaprabhu incarnated with His associates just to deliver a few human beings of India. But His main purpose was to deliver all living entities of all countries of the world by preaching the eternal religion.’

“He has said, ‘Prithivi paryanta yata ache desa—grama / sarvatra sañcara haiveka mora nama—whatever religious systems are there in the world, in the matured stage they will all turn into one nama—sankirtana-dharma; this seems a definite fact. Alas! When will that day come when the fortunate people of England, France, Russia, Prussia, and America will inundate their respective countries with the waves of harinama kirtana while chanting the holy name of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and taking flags, mridangas, kartalas, etc., in their hands! When will that day come when the pure spiritual love of God will be the only religion for all living entities and as rivers flow and merge in the ocean, all insignificant dharmas of the world will merge into the limitless Vaishnava dharma.’ (Sajjana Tosani, Part IV, page 41)”

“The Ratha-yatra festival took place that year six months after the appearance of the child [Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura]. That year, Sri Jagannathadeva seated on the chariot out of His own will and remained stationary for three days in front of Thakura Bhaktivinoda’s residence. During that time, under the leadership of Bhaktivinoda Thakura, harinama sankirtana was performed for three days in front of Sri Jagannathadeva. During one of these days, the six-month-old child, in his mother’s arms, went in front of Sri Jagannathadeva and touched the Lord’s lotus feet by spreading his hands and was blessed by a flower garland from Sri Jagannatha’s neck. Srimad Bhaktivinoda Thakura performed the child’s grain eating ceremony with mahaprasada.”

“Thereafter, he [Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura] set out to visit the holy places of South India marked by the footprints of Sri Gaura on 23 February 1905. After returning, he lived at Sri Gaura’s birthplace at Sridhama Mayapura and, following in the footsteps of Haridasa Thakura, he observed a vow of chanting one billion holy names of the Lord by unfailingly chanting three lakhs of the holy name daily. He built a bhajana house at Candrasekhara’s house in Sri Mayapura and, considering it the bank of Radhakunda, he continuously performed bhajana there.”

“He [Srila Gaura Kisora Babaji Maharaja] said, ‘By chanting the holy name of one’s worshipable Lord constantly by the mercy and service to the great souls, one attains the platform of raga and when one relishes the chanting of the holy name with attachment and a favorable mood, then the holy name will Himself reveal as forms, qualities, associates, and pastimes. One cannot remember the Lord’s pastimes artificially; one cannot obtain a siddha deha or spiritual body simply by imagination or reading books.’”

“Hearing of the name, form, qualities, and pastimes of the Lord and His devotees is called sravana. The practice of sadhana-bhakti depends on hearing the holy name. It begins with sravana, which purifies the heart of the devotee. This hearing process purifies the heart and gives liberation from the filthiness of sense gratification. In this way, by hearing transcendental sound about the form of Krishna, gradually the complete form of the Lord awakens within the heart. Then gradually the qualities of the Lord arise within the heart. As His qualities fully manifest themselves, the different specific aspects of His service and pastimes gradually awaken. In this way, the holy name gradually reveals the Lord’s form, qualities, and pastimes in all their splendor and beauty and in all their different branches.”

“Bhaktivinoda Thakura writes, ‘The holy name is the bud of the flower of divine love, the abode of devotion’s wonderful mellows. Such is the power that He manifests, that although He displays His power only slightly, He reveals His own divine form and qualities, steals my heart and takes it to Krishna. Being fully manifest, the holy name of Krishna takes me to Vraja and reveals to me His own love dalliance. He gives to me my own divine, eternal body, keeps me near Krishna and completely destroys this mortal frame of mine.’”

“One day, as Advaita Acarya came to Mahaprabhu after taking darsana of Jagannathadeva, Mahaprabhu inquired from Advaita Acarya and understood that after seeing the lotus face of Sri Jagannathadeva, the Acarya had circumambulated the Lord five or six times.

“To this, Mahaprabhu said in a joking way, ‘Acarya, you are defeated, because as long as you were at the backside of the Deity while circumambulating, You were bereft of seeing the Lord’s lotus face. However, as long as I take darsana of Jagannatha, My eyes remain fixed on His lotuslike face all the time.’

“Sri Advaita Acarya accepted defeat from Sriman Mahaprabhu and said that only Sri Gaurahari knows the confidential meaning of this topic.”

Janananda Goswami:

People are so degraded they think degradation to be normal, and if you try to live or promote a pure life you may be condemned.

As long as we think ourselves to be enjoyers, we will be attracted to illicit sex.

When I got married in 1980, the registrar said, “Have a nice day.” As I left the office, I saw the divorce office across the corridor. Marriage is not taken too seriously these days.

Arjuna expresses concern in the beginning of the Bhagavad-gita that the women would be degraded due to illicit sex as a result of being unprotected if their husbands died in the battle.

The Bhagavatam reminds us that life is meant for self-realization and not sense enjoyment.

It is not just sex, but any type of action motivated by sense enjoyment causes degradation.

Srila Prabhupada noted that in Paris even old men in their eighties still go to strip clubs. As a result of their life, they have not learned anything.

There is a process by which we can become free of our material tendencies.

As children do not like to be regulated, although it is better for them, the people in general do not like to be restricted from sense enjoyment.

The Vedic culture was meant to regulate people so they could give up their addiction to sense gratification.

Lord Caitanya appeared at the request of Advaita Acarya and Haridas Thakura who were upset by the degradation of society, and He appeared and gave the medicine of the holy name, which is meant for everyone.

Other things are like blowing on a boil whereas the holy name purifies our consciousness.

The holy name of the Lord can give us shelter from the temptation for sense enjoyment.

Comment by Adi Purusa: One of the Hells Angels admitted he stole a book. I asked him which one, and he said, “The Joy of No Sex.”

One teacher refused to teach the course on “Safe Sex” and took the Board of Education to court. She won. She felt the students should also be given the option of no sex.

You do not feel like having illicit sex after a fired-up kirtan. You might after a rock concert, but kirtan is so purifying.

When I joined the Hare Krishnas in 1969, my parents wanted to send me to a psychologist for becoming vegetarian, it was so unheard of.

George Harrison chanted Hare Krishna, John Lennon chanted Hare Krishna, and Ringo Starr chanted Hare Krishna. One girl who was a model came to our temple in London wanting a new Bhagavad-gita because her old one wore out. A devotee asked her how she became connected to Hare Krishna, and she said Ringo Starr was her boyfriend at one point, and he would answer the phone “Hare Krishna.” She inquired from him about Hare Krishna, and he gave her some contact information and she followed up on it.

In England, for some time they would play the Hare Krishna mantra during intervals in the middle of the football (soccer) matches. That was the first time I heard it. Next was in the musical Hair.

I had read all the popular spiritual books of the time, Autobiography of a Yogi, Be Here Now, Mahabharata, Ramayana, Vedanta-sutra, and other versions of Bhagavad-gita, but none seemed to give a practical direction that I could follow.

As soon as I read Back to Godhead, I began chanting Hare Krishna. My friend jokingly suggested I chant fish and chips instead.

Srila Prabhupada said, “This chanting comes from the depths of the soul.”

From chanting we can see beyond duality and see the unity.

Seeing we are all the same spiritual quality, we feel a sense of unity.

This mantra is practically enhanced by the crazy atmosphere of New York City. Other things might improve us slightly materially, but this mantra can provide a complete solution.

This is not another thing to bring us a little peace but rather to help us transcend the whole material world.

Q: Were you searching for the good or for the truth?

A: Both. The truth and the good are the same thing. The more we appreciate Krishna, the Supreme Truth, we can appreciate everything.

Radhanath Swami:

One Gaura Krishna Prabhu of Chowpatty arranged for the fund raising, carving, and shipping of the deity of Gauracandra we are installing today. Soon after that he died in plane crash in the Himalayas in the sacred place of Muktinatha. The deity sat here for years. I am satisfied today that Gaura Krishna’s endeavor is complete.

To awaken the natural love we have in the heart for the one Supreme Being is the goal of all religion.

Krishna is the supreme object of love, and Radha is the supreme lover. The Supreme Absolute Truth is manifest as the supreme lover and the supreme beloved.

Krishna is embodiment of all love and exchanges of love.

As Lord Caitanya, Krishna comes to taste the sweetness of the love of His supreme devotee. He also taught people how to awaken their love of God.

Lord Caitanya’s gift is available to anyone who will sincerely accept it.

The only true value of humanity is integrity and compassion.

Advaita Acarya could see all the exploitation and the terrorism to come in the future, and thus prayed for Lord Caitanya’s advent.

Everyone loved Lord Caitanya as a child. They did not know He was Krishna. They just loved Him. When He would cry, they tried to pacify Him in many ways, but He would just cry louder. Finally in desperation they would chant the name of the Lord, and then He would stop and look at them with the most beautiful smile.

Lord Caitanya as a child found a puppy which he loved to play with. When he was busy, His mother told the puppy to leave and go to his home. Because that puppy had Lord Caitanya’s association, in the town the puppy stood on his hind legs and chanted the holy name and manifested symptoms of love of God. Seeing the puppy chant the holy name and dance, others also began to chant and dance. Then the puppy lay down and left its body and attained the spiritual world.

Jagai and Madhai were so evil that for sport they would lock people’s doors and set their houses on fire and watch them burn.

When we realize our love of God, we come to love others who are also part of God.

The soul has the power to experience limitless and endless love in relationship with God and to recognize that potency in souls other than himself.

Through association with lovers of God, chanting the holy names of God, and hearing about the glories of God, this love develops.

To access the mercy of the holy name, we have to strive to live in harmony with our nature, which is to serve.

It is the unselfish service attitude that inspires the all-attractive Lord to reveal Himself.

If we desire to be an instrument of the Lord’s compassion and chant the holy name in that spirit, we will be successful.

Prabhupada came from East to the West, but he also came from West Bengal to the East Village and he circled the world many times to spread love of God.

Krishna steps aside from his position of God to love us and to be loved by us. Lord Caitanya reveals this truth about Him.

We must simply try to appreciate Lord Caitanya’s message, no matter what our background is.

Lord Caitanya, who has come to reveal the love of Radha-Murlidhara to the world, has come to appear in our temple.

Let us pray to put bhakti in the center, to move toward the light, no matter how much darkness may be present. Let us celebrate by having kirtan.

Lord Caitanya would bow down at the feet of even sinful people who chant the holy name.

From a conversation with Cornel West:

Brooker T. Washington, an emancipated slave, said: “I will not give anyone the chance to cause me to degrade himself by hating him.”

Care is the symptom of love.

We act not to gain anything material but to express the love of God within us through every thought, word, and deed.

Just as we realize we must eat and sleep to achieve success in life. Similarly we have to understand we must have a regular spiritual practice.

Rukmini Devi Dasi:

We pray today to Lord Caitanya, “Appear today and bless New York City with Your moonlike face.”

In the yoga community many people know the “Hanuman Chalisa,” but we should make Lord Caitanya famous.

Lord Caitanya wanted to make Radharani’s love famous all over the world. Lord Caitanya left His family for the call of Krishna just as Radha left Her family in pursuit of Krishna.

I accept Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

The supreme abode is Vrndavana.

The greatest worshipers of Krishna are the gopis.

The Srimad-Bhagavatam is the spotless Purana.

These truths were all given by Lord Caitanya.

This creed is given in Caitanya-manjusa.

Real recitation of the Bhagavatam is like that of Gadadhara Pandit, to smudge the ink with your tears.

Because of the deep samskaras from his youth, Ajamila appreciated the name Narayana and gave his son that name.

I have a relative in Florida who does not know what to do with her time so she has face lifts.

Srila Prabhupada cried seeing the old men wasting the ends of their lives playing golf.

Srila Prabhupada initiated many young men into sannyasa. Many were unqualified, and they fell down. Now some devotees who have difficulty with brahmacarya choose to get married before taking sannyasa.

Radhanath Swami once said, “Real varnasrama means that everyone’s contribution must be honored.”

The deity is saksat [directly] Krishna Himself. So we can pray to the deity for His mercy.

Comment by Adi Purusa Prabhu: The Goswamis were dear to both the sober and ruffians. So we should be like that. It is easy to the preach to the gentle people, but we have to reach out to everyone.

At the stock exchange, someone asked Radhanath Swami, “What does it feel like to talk in the presence so many millionaires?”

Radhanath Swami replied, “I guess they consider me harmless.”

Time flies whether you are having fun or not.

Young people are enthusiastic but sometimes fanatical, while older people are wise but tend to be cynical. Thus it is best to use the positive qualities of both. I see we do that at The Bhakti Center.

We can become moonlike by basking in the moonlight of the great devotees.

Brahma Muhurta Prabhu [pujari for installation of The Bhakti Center Gauracandra]:

The deity is fully installed at the first darsana when you see the deity and the deity sees you.

Before the installation, you handed the deity to us to perform the installation and now we hand Him back to you for you to serve.

Now the deity is your responsibility to take care of the rest of your lives.

Karuna Nimai Prabhu:

Ajamila was saved simply because he began the practice of bhakti.

If by interacting with the devotees we feel inspired in devotional service to Krishna that is what is meant by association.

Like Narada served the bhaktivedantas, Tapan Misra’s son, Raghunatha, served Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, and thus attained perfection.

Ananda Bihari Prabhu:

We do not have to worry about how to give up sinful activities. We just need to become enthusiastic about performing devotional service to Krishna.

Ajamila was eighty-eight years old and still had a small child. This is amazing to me. I am thirty-two, and I find over ninety percent of my energy is used in raising a single child.

Because of his past devotional service, Ajamila was able call out the name of the Lord at the end of life.

If we like to judge people for their sinful activities we can get bodies like the disfigured Yamadutas who assist Yamaraja. But if we like to appreciate whatever acts of devotion people are doing, we can become like the messengers of Lord Vishnu.

Comments by Doyal Gauranga Prabhu:

There are two or three cases of KGB agents in Russia who originally were spying on the Hare Krishna movement but because of living with the devotees and following the devotee lifestyle they ended up becoming devotees.

There is a case in Chowpatty of one murderer who joined the temple to kill a devotee who was a lawyer. He had to follow him for seven days and in the course of doing that he become so purified he became a devotee.

Comments by Adi Purusa Prabhu:

Over the years, all kinds of people who could not fit in anywhere else came to New Vrindaban, and because they were engaged in devotional service, despite their backgrounds, which were in some cases criminal, many of them became very nice devotees.

There is Hells Angel guy who lives near me who would smash bottles on the sidewalk next to me and throw half-eaten turkey sandwiches at me, but who now helps me load furniture and says, “I do not know why I like you, Adi. I don’t like anyone.”

Virabhadra Rama Prabhu:

The opulence of the deity worship is not just the nice clothes but the extent that the congregation is involved in the worship.

The response of the Yamadutas is full of logic and reason based on the revealed scriptures and analysis of Ajamila’s sinful life, and their arguments are convincing, but they forgot one important point, and when we hear the Vishnuduta’s superior arguments we are convinced of their point of view.

We have to analyze where maya is entering into our life and close those doors.

My brother and I went to visit our father just a few weeks before he left his body. He felt guilty about leaving our mother, and he distanced himself for years. He gave up practicing Krishna consciousness and was practicing Christianity. When we left to visit him so many devotees gave us so much devotional paraphernalia, including a garland offered to his guru, Tamal Krishna Goswami. When we saw him, we saw he had got beyond his guilt and resumed his devotional practices like chanting japa. It was amazing to see how Krishna consciousness he became in the three days we were there.

If we see someone with bad qualities, we should think, “I had bad qualities, and I got the mercy.”

Mahotsaha Prabhu:

The material nature seems nice in the beginning, but it always degrades.

Krishna gives people the faith to maintain material attachments because they want to so much, and he fulfills everyone’s desire.

One speaker said, “Most people in Kali-yuga are going to hell, but some are going to heaven. Unfortunately they are devotees.”

When people tell me they are OK, I say, “You will not be for long. Take this book.”

On book distribution often people tell me, “I never usually walk this way, but for some reason I came this way today.” Krishna directs the wandering of all living entities.

Akincana Krishna Das Babaji told B. B. Govinda Swami, “No other acarya in history has distributed love of Krishna so widely as your gurudeva.”

The theme of the Damodara pastime is that God is conquered by love.

Cornel West:

From a conversation with Radhanath Swami:

Tenderness is what love feels like in private.

I do try to take quite seriously the endless quest for unarmed truth, understanding that the condition of truth is allow suffering to speak. . . . I do not think of being true unless I embody a sensitivity to the pains and hurts of others.

The conclusion of an Aristotelian syllogism is action.

There is no Christ or Christianity without our Judaic heritage.

Secular people take their deeper values from those with a spiritual foundation.

It was against the law for blacks to worship God without white supervision.

It does not make sense to love your enemy if you have no connection to a higher power.

People mistakenly think that success is to become well adjusted to injustice.

Quoted at the Grafton Peace Pagoda:

Justice is what love looks like in public.

Hindu lady at the Grafton Peace Pagoda:

Mahesh is the god of destruction but not the destroyer. He is like the environmental God, cleaning up. No one wanted to deal with the poison churned up from the ocean, but Mahesh cleaned it up.

Dot Richards from the Albany Quaker Meeting:

The Quaker movie, Friendly Persuasion, has one line when a Quaker asked about whether he should join the guard to oppose Confederate forces that may attack his home, and a non-Quaker friend replied, “I do hope that someday a better way is found to solve conflict.”

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How important is it to always remember the Supreme Lord? This favorite verse of mine gives an indication:

hanis tan mahac chidram

sa mohah sa ca vibhramah

yan-muhurtam ksanam vapi

vasudevam na cintayet

“If even for a moment remembrance of Vasudeva, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is missed, that is the greatest loss, that is the greatest illusion, and that is the greatest anomaly.” (Vishnu Purana, quoted in purport to Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.9.36)