Diary
of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 15, No. 15
By
Krishna-kripa das
(August 2019, part one)
(August 2019, part one)
Pol’and’Rock,
Berlin, Lithuania
(Sent
from Warrington, UK, on August 31, 2019)
Where
I Went and What I Did
The
Pol’and’Rock festival, formerly known as the Polish Woodstock
festival, or officially, Przystanek Woodstock, was the first three
days of August this year, but Indradyumna Swami starts the programs
in his Krishna’s Village of Peace at that rock festival site two
days before. Thus for five days I was involved in harinamas,
Ratha-yatras,
and evening kirtans there, helping by distributing invitations,
encouraging people to chant, and telling especially interested people
about ways they can experience more Hare Krishna kirtan and
devotional association in
Poland. Next I went to nearby Berlin, not much more than an hour
away, where I did harinama
for
three days, before traveling to Vilnius, Lithuania, for the Vaishnava
Summer Festival in a rural area about 60 km from the city. I
especially went to that festival to see and hear from Niranjana
Swami, who invited me to live in the New York temple 40 years ago
this fall. After the festival, I did harinama
in
Kaunas, Lithuania, for two days, with an enthusiastic party of five
youthful devotees, before flying to Montreal, Canada, via Oslo,
Dublin, and Toronto, for a Vaishnava Sanga Festival, at a retreat
center two hours to the north, a journey of 26 hours.
I
share excerpts from a letter and class by Srila Prabhupada. I share
excerpts from the Free
Write Journal of
Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami. I share notes on classes at the Vaishnava
Summer Festival in Lithuania by Bhakti Caitanya Swami, Niranjana
Swami, Dhirasanta Swami, Guru Das Prabhu, Urmila Devi Dasi, Devaki
Devi Dasi, Adi
Rasa Prabhu and
Kalakantha Prabhu. I share notes from conversations with Radhika
Nagara and Kalakantha Prabhus.
Thanks
to Gaura Prabhu of Berlin for his kind donation. Thanks to Toby for
paying for my train travel within Berlin during my visit and
providing
food and lodging at his place and
also for letting me stay in his tent in Poland.
Thanks
to Jagadisvara Prabhu for bringing me to the Kaunas temple from the
festival and dropping me at Vilnius airport after my two-day visit.
Thanks to Natalia for the photo of her friends and me in front of the Ratha-yatra cart. Thanks to Olivia, who played the drum at Eberswalder Strasse, for the video of me on harinama in Berlin.
Thanks to Natalia for the photo of her friends and me in front of the Ratha-yatra cart. Thanks to Olivia, who played the drum at Eberswalder Strasse, for the video of me on harinama in Berlin.
Itinerary
August 31: Liverpool harinama
September 1: Liverpool Ratha-yatra
September 2–6: Newcastle area harinamas
September 7: York harinama and program
\September 8: Great North Run harinama (Newcastle-upon-Tyne)
September 9–11: Dublin harinamas
September 12–25: NYC Yuga Dharma harinamas
September 26–28: Philadelphia harinamas and Ratha-yatra
September 29–30: Martha’s Vineyard (visiting relatives)
October 1 – December: NYC Yuga Dharma harinamas
January–April 2020: North Florida colleges
Chanting
Hare Krishna at Pol’and’Rock Festival (Polish Woodstock)
Every
year for five days, Indradyumna Swami and his team who put on
spiritual festivals on Poland’s Baltic coast in the summer, come
and share Hare Krishna kirtan, Krishna prasadam,
and
other devotional opportunities with hundreds of thousands of people
attending a rock concert in Kostrzyn, Poland, near the German border.
I
have come for nineteen years, 2001 to 2019, being inspired to see so
many new people have a positive experience of Krishna kirtan and
wanting to be part of it.
I
will recall some nice experiences from this year.
An
Irish girl who has come for three or four years told me someone she
talked to who has come every since 2006 told her, “So many things
have changed since I started coming, but the Hare Krishna food is
always the same!”
One
girl remembered sitting in the questions and answers booth, back when
I used to play the role of answering questions, probably 2006 or so,
saying she could listen to me answer questions all afternoon.
She
sent me a photo that she took of me and her friends and our
Ratha-yatra cart, and wrote “Thank you for inspiration, so many
years back, but that was you that made me feel the benefit of
meditation! Namaste.”
I met people I had not seen for years like Radhanandini Devi Dasi, who I had not seen for five years, who was my translator for several years on the tour. For the first time in three years I saw Iza of Kostrzyn who met the devotees at their festival in Kolobrzeg on the coast, but began coming to our Krishna village at Woodstock and bringing all her friends each year. This year she brought a new friend from New Zealand.
I met people I had not seen for years like Radhanandini Devi Dasi, who I had not seen for five years, who was my translator for several years on the tour. For the first time in three years I saw Iza of Kostrzyn who met the devotees at their festival in Kolobrzeg on the coast, but began coming to our Krishna village at Woodstock and bringing all her friends each year. This year she brought a new friend from New Zealand.
Each
year Chaturatma Prabhu, who comes all the way from Alachua, Florida,
and has come for 16 years himself, says the people ask better
questions each year. His translator, Mandakini Devi Dasi, who I
remember from 2001, agrees.
Nadia-jivani Devi Dasi, a Vaishnava youth girl who manages the book booth,
says the interest in the books increases every year.
One
guy who remembers me from when the festival was in another town
called Zary, in 2002 or 2003, has his picture taken with me every
year.
Hare
Krishna devotees advertise their Krishna’s Village of Peace at the
mammoth rock festival, recently
renamed
Pol’and’Rock, by chanting for two hours around the site and
passing out invitations, and many festival goers happily join in
(https://youtu.be/-FqdoROFGww):
Devotee
ladies would invite people visiting our Krishna’s Village of Peace,
who were open to the adventure and happy for the opportunity, into
our Mantra Yoga tent for a Hare Krishna kirtan immersion experience
(https://youtu.be/MPX_gobQqq0):
We
would chant from 4 or 5 p.m. to sometimes as late as 2:30 a.m. in our
Mantra Yoga tent, and many new people happily chanted Hare Krishna
with us (https://youtu.be/6v_92KsfmK0):
Even
parents and their small children enjoyed the bliss of the Mantra Yoga
Hare Krishna kirtan experience.
Even
little girls would try to follow the dancing devotee ladies.
Here
Indradyumna Swami chants Hare Krishna in Mantra Yoga Tent at
Pol’and’Rock on day 1, and many chant and dance
(https://youtu.be/9BSuT5fnIIM):
We
did not permit people to enter our Mantra Yoga tent at the
Pol’and’Rock festival with their beer cans, so people would dance
to the sound of the chanting at the entrance
(https://youtu.be/tTXPIIAcZt8):
Here Sri Prahlada Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in Mantra Yoga Tent at Pol'and'Rock on Day 1, and many dance with joy (https://youtu.be/uDQKusXkjWg):
Madhava
Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in the Mantra Yoga Tent at Pol’and’Rock
on day 1 (https://youtu.be/oNS-Ze2UDRA):
Beginning
from the second day and going through the fifth day, we would have
Ratha-yatras each day beginning around 11 a.m. for about three hours.
Many of the festival goers participated by chanting, dancing, and
pulling the ropes of the chariot as you can see in the many videos.
Indradyumna
Swami chants Hare Krishna on the first Pol’and’Rock Ratha-yatra, and many chant and dance (https://youtu.be/CcEfbPVyHWM):
Syama
Rasa Prabhu chants Hare Krishna on the Pol’and’Rock Ratha-yatra
No. 1, and many chant and dance (https://youtu.be/X_JwdRE6MyU):
Chaturatma
Prabhu chants Hare Krishna on the Pol’and’Rock Ratha-yatra No. 1,
and many chant and dance (https://youtu.be/3EemepxWjzg):
Sri
Prahlada Prabhu chants Hare Krishna on the Pol’and’Rock
Ratha-yatra No. 1, and many chant and dance
(https://youtu.be/9PG0Xivf6wc):
Bhakta
Jake chants Hare Krishna in the Mantra Yoga Tent at Pol’and’Rock
on day 2 (https://youtu.be/1ILszhb9I0E):
Bada
Haridas Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in the Mantra Yoga Tent at
Pol’and’Rock on day 2, and many chant and dance in happiness
(https://youtu.be/EAcstzs2Lpo):
Sri
Prahlada Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in the Mantra Yoga Tent at
Pol’and’Rock festival on day 2, and many chant and dance in
happiness (https://youtu.be/8JMPfo3M2BI):
Madhava
Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in the Mantra Yoga Tent at Pol’and’Rock
on day 2, and many chant and dance (https://youtu.be/xwbtNpGu1lI):
Indradyumna
Swami chants Hare Krishna on the Pol’and’Rock Ratha-yatra No. 2,
and many chant and dance (https://youtu.be/6AzmTWLEhPI):
Arjuna
Krishna Prabhu chants Hare Krishna on the Pol’and’Rock
Ratha-yatra No. 2, and many chant and dance
(https://youtu.be/crfUAdPg1Co):
Syama
Rasa Prabhu chants Hare Krishna on the Pol’and’Rock Ratha-yatra
No. 2, and many chant and dance (https://youtu.be/PtbvxKWvMIc):
Syama
Rasa Prabhu chants Hare Krishna on the Pol’and’Rock Ratha-yatra
No. 2, many chant and dance, and two girls I talked to while walking
in the shade of the Ratha-yatra play shakers and one delights in
chanting (https://youtu.be/GayMeRVr2hw):
Indradyumna
Swami chants Hare Krishna in Mantra Yoga Tent at Pol’and’Rock on
day 3 (https://youtu.be/Y9FzZhnl9bs):
Bada
Haridas Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in the Mantra Yoga Tent at
Pol’and’Rock on day 3, and many chant and dance
(https://youtu.be/kymGnPDE7Ak):
B.
B. Govinda Swami chants Hare Krishna in Mantra Yoga Tent at
Pol’and’Rock on day 3, and many chant and dance with great
enthusiasm (https://youtu.be/SfvDz8dYviQ):
Madhava
Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in the Mantra Yoga tent at Pol’and’Rock
on day 3, and many enthusiastically chant and dance
(https://youtu.be/xwu0XLMgUXE):
Indradyumna
Swami chants Hare Krishna on the Pol’and’Rock Ratha-yatra No. 3,
and many dance enthusiastically (https://youtu.be/7tLIO3Mr5qQ):
Syama
Rasa Prabhu chants Hare Krishna on the Pol’and’Rock Ratha-yatra
No. 3, and many dance (https://youtu.be/MyEO4SBCaAI):
Young
devotee lady chants Hare Krishna on the Pol’and’Rock Ratha-yatra
No. 3, and many dance enthusiastically
(https://youtu.be/VPyXhLTqbGQ):
Arjuna
Krishna Prabhu chants Hare Krishna on the Pol’and’Rock
Ratha-yatra No. 3, and many dance (https://youtu.be/o1SQDC6LsnI):
Bhakta
Jake chants Hare Krishna in the Mantra Yoga tent at Pol’and’Rock
on day 4, and many dance (https://youtu.be/S7pfwcjxY1k):
Hari
Kirtan Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in the Mantra Yoga tent at
Pol’and’Rock on day 4 and everyone dances
(https://youtu.be/uIi2ld6qltk):
Indradyumna
Swami chants Hare Krishna in the Mantra Yoga tent at Pol’and’Rock
on day 4, and many dance (https://youtu.be/fH1236xTyTE):
Bada
Haridas Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in the Mantra Yoga tent at
Pol’and’Rock on day 4, and many dance
(https://youtu.be/tQN8BczJqTU):
B.
B. Govinda Swami chants Hare Krishna in the Mantra Yoga tent at
Pol’and’Rock on day 4, inspiring many people to chant and dance
with great joy (https://youtu.be/98PXTMmRpWo):
Madhava
Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in the Mantra Yoga tent at Pol’and’Rock
on day 4, and many chant and dance (https://youtu.be/yo6xB3YAKNs):
Young
devotee lady chants Hare Krishna on the Pol’and’Rock Ratha-yatra
no. 4 (https://youtu.be/cS9Li031ikQ):
Small
girl chants Hare Krishna on the Pol’and’Rock Ratha-yatra no. 4.
(https://youtu.be/p4ISwlun5AA):
B.
B. Govinda Swami chants Hare Krishna on the Pol’and’Rock
Ratha-yatra no. 4 (https://youtu.be/sBTTtvDxcnQ):
Indradyumna
Swami chants Hare Krishna on the Pol’and’Rock Ratha-yatra no. 4,
and many dance with enthusiasm, one girl delighting in playing the
shakers I lent her (https://youtu.be/QInHiyrxAio):
The
Ratha-yatra ended early the final day of the festival, and after it
was over, I noticed a kirtan on our main stage. I went over and found
Bhakta Jake chanting Hare Krishna, a few listeners sitting in the
shade, and just one girl dancing. The girl seemed really into it so I
offered her some shakers to play (https://youtu.be/Duf5wdVV0FU):
It
turns out she has come to our Krishna village for a couple of years
and really likes it.
I had a card listing our temples and other programs in Poland which she was grateful to accept.
I had a card listing our temples and other programs in Poland which she was grateful to accept.
On
the final day of the Pol’and’Rock festival, Hari Kirtan Prabhu
led a very sweet kirtan that got Indradyumna and Candramauli Swamis
dancing along with a whole tent of devotees and guests
(https://youtu.be/odtGvsPLqz0):
Indradyumna
Swami chants Hare Krishna in Mantra Yoga Tent at Pol’and’Rock on
day 5, and many dance (https://youtu.be/2OS-wHIvtsw):
While
Indradyumna Swami chanted Hare Krishna in the Mantra Yoga tent,
devotees and guests also danced outside
(https://youtu.be/fWuJk3WdfXc):
Bada
Haridas Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in the Mantra Yoga tent at
Pol’and’Rock on day 5, and many dance
(https://youtu.be/tRxKGVyCjBc):
Sri
Prahlada Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in the Mantra Yoga Tent at
Pol’and’Rock on day 5, and many chant and dance
(https://youtu.be/bWnLvTfgVbM):
B.
B. Govinda Swami chants Hare Krishna in the Mantra Yoga Tent at
Pol’and’Rock on day 5, and many chant and dance
(https://youtu.be/-bIqsqNBROE):
Madhava
Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in the Mantra Yoga tent at Pol’and’Rock
on day 5, leading our final kirtan at that festival, and many chant
and dance with delight (https://youtu.be/KfcayoXzn-A):
Chanting
Hare Krishna in Berlin
Sadbhuja
Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Mauerpark in Berlin, where devotees
sing weekly from 2 to 5 p.m. on Sundays, with local devotees and a
couple from the Pol’and’Rock Woodstock festival
(https://youtu.be/O9mVezSUITA):
We
planned to chant in Mauerpark on Monday, but it was completely dead,
so we went to a nearby U-bahn station with a lot of traffic,
Eberswalder Strasse. Here Madhupati Prabhu, who
I know from the Polish Woodstock,
leads the chanting of Hare Krishna there
(https://youtu.be/USdrkLM9PZ8):
Next
Toby chanted Hare Krishna briefly until we were stopped by the police
because we had our amplifier too loud for the vendors along the
street (https://youtu.be/oUIUE17AXFI):
We
walked to Alexanderplatz, chanting the whole way, and we chanted
there until the end of our scheduled time, which was, due to Toby’s
enthusiasm, six hours from when we planned to begin, and 5:45 hours
from when we actually began.
The
next day, Toby, to his great credit, organized a harinama
from 8 to 11 a.m. at the Berlin Schönefeld airport before my flight
to Vilnius that afternoon for the Vaishnava Summer Festival in
Lithuania. We had never chanted at that airport, and we chose a spot
between the train station and the airport itself, hoping to avoid
security personnel. We did not have a donation box, a book display,
or an amplifier. We passed out invitations to the Berlin temple and
"On Chanting Hare Krishna" to people who seemed
appreciative, like the
tourists who danced with us
in one of the videos below,
and Madhupati Prabhu distributed books.
Here
Madhupati Prabhu leads the chanting of Hare Krishna, and I play the
drum (https://youtu.be/B-UnOw34kkY):
Then
I let another devotee play the drum as Madhupati continued chanting
(https://youtu.be/MQ7xCwcNHVQ):
Chanting
Hare Krishna at the Vaishnava Summer Festival in Lithuania
For
eight years (2005–2012) I went to Bhakti Sangama, the Ukraine
festival, but as I started spending more time in the UK and in New
York City in September, that became less convenient. I learned that I
could also meet up with my siksa-guru,
Niranjana
Swami, at the Lithuanian Vaishnava Summer Festival which was near the
time I was in Eastern Europe for the Polish Woodstock anyway, so I
have been doing that for several years. There they have kirtan every
night for three hours, beginning with Gaura Arati at 7:00 p.m. I
share some videos of those kirtans:
Adi
Rasa Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at the Vaishnava Summer Festival in
Lithuania on Tuesday night (https://youtu.be/MbvZTQmfK5U):
Adi
Rasa Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at the Vaishnava Summer Festival in
Lithuania on Wednesday night (https://youtu.be/zEoT9H-ABKk):
Niranjana
Swami chants Hare Krishna at the Vaishnava Summer Festival in
Lithuania on Thursday night (https://youtu.be/KUrcMzq8GrQ):
Adi
Rasa Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at the Vaishnava Summer Festival in
Lithuania on Thursday night (https://youtu.be/HGrACm5Dnq8):
Niranjana
Swami chants Hare Krishna at the Vaishnava Summer Festival in
Lithuania on Friday night (https://youtu.be/8ZRV6TgA3qI):
Niranjana
Swami chants Hare Krishna at the Vaishnava Summer Festival in
Lithuania on Saturday night (https://youtu.be/BdQ96NGzo_Q):
Bhakti
Caitanya Swami chants Hare Krishna and Niranjana Swami dances at the
Vaishnava Summer Festival on Saturday night
(https://youtu.be/YDh44-DvkzU):
In
addition to chanting kirtan, of course, we chanted japa
on
our beads. One day I noticed these two young sisters, dressed
identically, following in the footsteps of the adults, chanting japa
around
the sacred tulasi
plant.
Chanting
Hare Krishna in Kaunas
At
the Vaishnava Summer Festival in Lithuania, I mentioned to at least
three devotees from the Holy Name Monastery, situated between Vilnius
and Kaunas, that I was interested in doing harinama
after
the festival on Monday, before leaving Tuesday for Canada, but none
of them seemed very excited about the idea. However, two devotees
from Kaunas, Dwijamani Gaura and Jagadisvara Prabhus, who remembered
me from the past, were much more enthusiastic about my suggestion so
I decided to go there. They arranged for two three-hour harinamas,
one
on Sunday, the day the festival ended, and one the next day, and thus
they pleased me very much. We had six devotees each time, three male
and three female. I also gave an extra class Monday evening, and the
entire harinama
party
attended the Gaura Arati and class, except the devotee who kindly
cooked dinner for us. It is inspiring to encounter such enthusiasm in
the younger devotees, and makes us confident the mission will
continue on nicely after we leave this world.
Dwijamani
Gaura Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in Kaunas, on the second of the two
three-hour harinamas
the devotees arranged at my request (https://youtu.be/zTkgy1o3EG8):
Jagadisvara
Prabhu later wrote me that they are continuing with harinama
three
or four days a week since my visit.
Harinama Report
To see photos I took but did not use click on the link below:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/TH2khE8g3wtv6d1X6
Insights
Srila Prabhupada:
Letter
to Satsvarupa from Bhaktivedanta Manor on 8 August 1973:
“So
now Krishna has sent you a nice bus, and you also have a good field
for preaching. Chant, dance, distribute books and prasadam,
and everything will increase automatically.”
From
a class on Srimad-Bhagavatam
2.1.1 on Sept. 12, 1972, in Dallas:
“Our
human life is meant for reviving our love for God. This material life
means forgetfulness of God, because we are sons of God or we are part
and parcel of God. We belong to the same unit, God and the living
entities that is complete unit. Just like in family, the father, the
mother, the children, the servants and others, complete unit.
Similarly God and the living entities they are complete unit but when
we forget that unity, when we forget that I am also part and parcel
of God and his creation then that is called material. So human
civilization they have got some sort of religious principles that
means to know God, religious principles means to know God. Not only
to know but to love God. That is ultimate goal of life.”
Satsvarupa
Dasa Goswami:
From
“Srila Prabhupada Samadhi Diary” in Free Write Journal #50:
“As
I have previously mentioned, I wrote the Samadhi Diary after I
stopped going to see Narayana Maharaja. Even before the GBC ordered
that ISKCON devotees should not go see Narayana Maharaja, I figured
out that it wasn’t right, so I stopped going to see him on my own.
I wanted to purify myself and become an exclusive disciple of Srila
Prabhupada. The Samadhi Diary served me in this way. I wrote
in two places within the Krishna Balaram temple: in the actual
Samadhi Mandir before the murti of Srila Prabhupada, and in
Prabhupada’s residential room.”
From “Call to Action” in Free Write Journal #50:
“One
can’t help but be drawn into action when he reads and meditates on
Prabhupada’s purports. They are calls to action on many levels: ‘Surrender to Krishna,’ ‘Chant
Hare
Krishna,’ ‘Tell
everyone
you meet about Krishna.’
“If you want to keep your life unchanged, but you still want to read Prabhupada’s books, it will put you into conflict. He pricks the conscience, and yet he soothes the mind and spirit as he reminds us that we are not this body, and we don’t belong to the perishable and temporary world. Srila Prabhupada also reminds us of the easy process of chanting Hare Krishna and performing devotional service, by which we can transcend birth and death.
“Is it possible to read Prabhupada without responding to his call for action? What if one rationalizes his reading in such a way that he reads without changing his life? No, it’s not possible. Any attraction to his books will change a person’s consciousness in a favorable way. At least the reader will continue hearing the holy names of Krishna. And the fact that he likes to read means he is favorable to the pure devotee; and so Krishna will be favorable to him.
“But it’s natural that as we meditate on Srila Prabhupada’s preaching, we should desire to become a preacher too. He wants this of his followers. It’s also natural for each reader to try to adjust Prabhupada’s command to his own situation. Srila Prabhupada also advises this when he says that one should take up Krishna consciousness and preach ‘according to his capacity.’
“Prabhupada’s invitation to completely surrender to the will of Krishna will find us falling short somewhere or other. But we can follow the mahajanas described in the Srimad-Bhagavatam. Gradually we will find ourselves swept up by the flow of their devotional service. Therefore, let us not be afraid to read Srila Prabhupada’s books, even though we feel we’re not capable of fully responding. It is better in any case, to hear his message and be humbled by thoughts of pure devotional service. Even if one did nothing else but read Prabhupada’s books, that in itself would be a reply to the call for action.”
From “Calling Out to Lord Nrsimhadeva” in Free
Write Journal #51:
“Prabhupada
first introduced chanting to Lord Nrsimhadeva when he had a stroke in
1967 and was hospitalized in critical condition. He told all the
devotees in his temples to chant the Nrsimha prayer: namas
te narasimhaya prahladahlada-dayine hiranyakasipor vaksah
sila-tanka-nakhalaye
. . . The devotees stayed up all night and fervently chanted the
mantra. Prabhupada said their prayers saved him. A few years later,
someone threw a pipe bomb into the temple room in Los Angeles. A few
devotees were hurt with shrapnel. At that time, Prabhupada had the
complete Nrsimhadeva mantra printed out and distributed to the
devotees. He told them to chant it for protection in times of danger.
He also said the devotees should pray to Lord Nrsimha to drive out
their anarthas
(unwanted bad habits and thoughts) so that they could proceed in pure
consciousness.”
From
“When Did I Realize that Prabhupada Was the Pure Devotee I Must
Associate with, Not Someone in the Future, or Theoretically? How Long
Did It Take to Catch On How Rare and Advanced Prabhupada Was?” in
Free
Write Journal #51:
“Within
the first weeks and months of associating with Swamiji at 26 Second
Avenue in 1966, his small group of initiated devotees came to the
realization that he was a self-realized, pure devotee. We didn’t
know very much what that meant, but we held him in the highest
esteem, above all other swamis and religionists. It didn’t take so
long. Prabhupada taught that we must surrender to a pure
devotee-spiritual master, and we submissively concluded that he was
the one.”
Bhakti
Caitanya Swami:
Jiva
Goswami describes Brahman as Krishna minus His form and His
personality. Thus
in the Isopanishad
the
devotee prays to see Krishna through the glowing Brahman effulgence.
Paramatma
is Krishna with His form but minus His personality.
If
you like sleep, at the end of the creation, there is the opportunity.
[The living entities are sleeping within Maha-Vishnu for many,
many millions
of years.]
In
its original form, time assists in the pastimes of the Lord,
elongating or shortening as needed.
In
the material world, the effect of time is to destroy everything.
Our
bodies become stronger up until we are 25, 28, or maybe 30, but after
that it is all downhill, as we have personal experience of.
At
a certain point in Arjuna’s vision of Krishna’s universal form,
all he was conscious of was
the
kala
rupa aspect
of that form, the form of universal destruction. That was so
devastating to Arjuna, according to Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura,
that were he not an experienced ksatriya
accustomed to seeing death, he would have had a heart attack.
Talk
about controlling. Krishna controls each atom. Now that
is full control.
Krishna
says “Time I am, and I have come to destroy.” His destruction is
not just of the warriors on the battlefield at the time, but of
all
of us and at
all
times, even here in Lithuania. By the time we leave this festival,
time will have made some progress on us.
As
Supersoul, Krishna simply administers justice, without attachment.
For
Stephen Hawking to have had such intelligence required amazing good karma,
on the other hand, to have such a dysfunctional material body that was
hardly worth living in required amazing bad karma.
Sometimes
devotees wonder how if people experience suffering without knowing
the cause of it that they will learn not to misbehave, but as we can
see from the prison system, even when people do know the crimes for
which they are punished, they still commit the crimes again.
After
suffering a lot in material life, we sincerely inquire, “What is
going on here?”
In
Vrindavan, they put bells on the pots of butter so they would ring
and warn if someone was stealing the butter. Krishna, therefore,
asked the bells to remain silent. Then Krishna took a large chunk of
butter, and the bells remained silent. When he began eating the
butter, however, the bells began ringing. Krishna asked the bells why they did not keep their agreement. The bells replied that that they
were silent when He stole the butter, but when God eats, you have to
ring a bell.
Rupa
Goswami wrote 100,000 verses.
If
you do not read Sanatana Goswami’s Brhad-Bhagavatamrita,
10%
of your life is wasted.
Gopala
Bhatta Goswami wrote a nice piece about the boating pastimes of Radha
and Krishna.
Raghunatha
Bhatta Goswami assisted Rupa Goswami in the worship of Radha-Govinda.
Sanatana
Goswami was born in 1488, and Rupa Goswami was born in 1493. Because
of their great learning, the Muslim Nawab decided to employ them. He
offered a deal they could not refuse, either you work for me or I
kill you and your whole family. They were so expert in running the
government that the Nawab let them live as they wished. They based
themselves in Ramakeli, where they had a temple, and a Radha Kunda
and a Shyama Kunda.
Before
he met Lord Caitanya, Rupa Goswami wrote Hamsaduta,
a
conversation between Lalita and a swan she wished to carry a message
to
Krishna in Mathura, so he was already highly elevated in Krishna
consciousness.
Rupa
and Sanatana considered
themselves in the same category as meat eaters, not that they ate
meat, but because they were engaged in the service of meat eaters.
The
prison that they put Sanatana in is still in Ramakeli.
Lord
Caitanya instructed Rupa Goswami for ten days and Sanatana Goswami
for two months which explains why there is only one chapter on Lord
Caitanya’s instructions to Rupa Goswami and four or five chapters
on His instructions to Sanatana Goswami.
There
are four main bhajana
kutirs of
Sanatana Goswami in the Vrindavan area.
Once
at his bhajana
kutira at
Gokula, he saw ahead of him some boys playing some ball game, and he
noticed one was very dark in color, even bluish. After the game was
over, he decided to follow Him home and see where He was living. He
was living with some brahmana
named
Chobay in Mathura. Sanatana Goswami explained to Chobay that the boy
was not ordinary, and he should be put on an altar and worshiped, and
so they did and He was called Madana Mohana. That night He appeared
in a dream to Sanatana Goswami saying He was so bored, and that He
wanted to go on parikrama
with
him. He also appeared in a dream the same night to the brahmana
Chobay.
Sanatana Goswami said that Madana Mohana would be more comfortable
living with the brahmana
who
would cook Him all kinds of nice food that he could not possibly
provide on parikrama.
Madana
Mohana insisted that he wanted to join Sanatana. Sanatana said that
He would have to promise not to complain, and He did, and thus He
went with Sanatana Goswami. Once all Sanatana obtained by begging was
some chapati
flour,
and so he mixed it with Yamuna water, and formed dough balls called
bati,
which
he threw in a fire. The outside was blackened, but he offered the
cooked insides to Madana Mohana who accepted them but requested some
salt. Sanatana threatened to return Him to the brahmana
because
He complained.
If
you are fortunate, you can get some maha-prasadam
bati even
today at the Radha Madana-Mohan temple in Vrindavan.
If
you have not had the Bengali sweet chum-chum, you have wasted 10% of
your life.
When
Sanatana Goswami would enter Vrindavan the whole village would stop.
Even the animals would run forward to greet him.
They
would offer him prasadam,
items
they made especially for him.
He
would speak three or four hours and then have personal darsanas.
Everyone
would line up for personal darsanas.
He
would remember all their names and the particular details they
discussed at their last visit. They would spend the entire night like
this. Then they
would
have mangala-arati
and
then he would leave, and the entire village would go with him. He
would beg them to return to their village and take care of their
business. Sometimes they would, but sometimes they followed him to
the next village.
Jiva
Goswami was the disciple of Rupa Goswami and would remain always with
him. Sometimes Jiva would stand in such a way as to block the sun so
Rupa would not be inconvenienced while writing his many books.
Vallabha
came to visit. Vallabha would suggest adjustments to Rupa Goswami’s
work, and Jiva Goswami would reject every single adjustment and
explain how Rupa Goswami’s original words were superior in a very
cutting way. That was very hard for Vallabha to hear, so much so that
when Rupa Goswami invited him for lunch, he said that follower of
yours
is so heavy, I will not stay for lunch. Rupa Goswami was upset that
his guest was treated in such a way by Jiva that he became upset and
left. Rupa Goswami decided that such unmannerly behavior by Jiva
Goswami was not befitting a resident of Vrindavan,
and that he should leave and return to Navadvipa until he improved in
character. Jiva was so heart-broken that his attempts to defend his
guru and the truth were not accepted, he decided to fast until death.
While he was doing that, Sanatana Goswami came by, and he found Jiva
in that condition and learned from him what happened. Sanatana
Goswami went to Rupa Goswami, and reminded him of Lord Caitanya’s
instruction to them: nama-kirtana
bhagavata-sravana jiva-daya. He
added that there is one particular jiva
that
you should show your mercy to. Rupa Goswami understood and brought
Jiva Goswami back into his association.
Let
not ill feelings toward you arise in a devotee’s heart for it will
be an impediment to your advancement. Give Vaishnavas your very life
so they will forgive your offense. Never find fault Vaishnavas, and
always glorify them.
In
Siberia they have a saying that in Siberia for nine months it is cold
and for three months it is very cold. In Vrindavan for nine months it
is hot and for three months it is very hot. Raghunatha Goswami would
chant all day, oblivious to the heat. Once some tigers came as
Sanatana could see from across the kunda,
and
then Krishna appeared to protect him. Sanatana Goswami came all the
way around the kunda
to
tell him what happened, and he implored Raghunatha Dasa Goswami to
build a hut so as not to take service from Krishna. He agreed but did
absolutely nothing. Later during a hot day. Radharani appeared and
used her own sari to shield Raghunath from the sun while She Herself
was perspiring profusely. Again Sanatana Goswami explained to
Raghunatha Dasa what happened and implored him to build a hut so as
not to take service from Radharani, and so he did.
Niranjana
Swami:
I
like “Parama Koruna.” [In his translation of it] Srila Prabhupada
explains Krishna consciousness very simply. One must simply chant
Hare Krishna with faith and without a motive of sense gratification.
The
holy name of Krishna is always transcendentally sweet but one in
ignorance experiences it as bitter.
The
sun is always bright, but the presence of clouds keeps us from
experiencing its brightness.
By
chanting as Locan Dasa Thakura describes, we will get Lord Caitanya’s
full mercy.
The
previous acaryas
make
it easier for us by giving us their example. By meditating on how
they crossed the ocean of material existence, though meeting serious
difficulties, we get strength.
Lord
Caitanya came to teach by His example.
The
easy path becomes difficult because of the obstacles. One way the
acaryas
make
it easier for us is to enumerate obstacles.
The
problem is that people think anarthas,
which
have no value, actually have value.
Bhaktivinoda
Thakura says hrdayam
durbalyam, weakness
of heart, has four manifestations:
1.
attachment to things that are not connected to Krishna.
2. deceitfulness or fault-finding
3.
envy of other living entities
4.
seeking prestige
Although
everything is connected to Krishna, when we do not consider its
connection to Krishna, but instead, how we can use it for our sense
gratification that is a weakness of heart.
Besides
weakness of heart, there are three other obstacles, material desire, illusion about spiritual knowledge, and aparadha.
Q:
What is the difference between the easy path and watering things
down?
A:
Watering things down is leaving the easy path altogether.
We
cannot give up sense gratification all of a sudden, but we can chant
without desiring sense gratification. We chant for service. We chant
to please the Lord.
Chanting
the names of the Lord for any reason other than to attain devotional
service is an obstacle.
The
faith not to give up the path is required.
We
should think, “I have firm faith that anyone, even one as fallen as
I am, can be purified by this process of chanting Hare Krishna, and
therefore, I will never give it up.”
I
like chanting bhajanas.
Sometimes
I chant bhajanas,
and
I talk about them. If I do that, I chant very few bhajanas.
Atma-niksepa
means full self-surrender and is one of the six items of surrender.
We
may not realize it, but by encouraging children to think they are the
center of attention, we are encouraging them to forget Krishna, as
Bhaktivinoda Thakura describes in the song about his life.
Narottama
Dasa Thakura in “Gaura Pahu” laments his failure to appreciate
that sankirtana
movement
of Caitanya Mahaprabhu and considers it better he had not lived.
The
previous acaryas
have
given us a wealth of knowledge about the uselessness of the
materialistic way of life.
Bhaktivinoda
Thakura says if a householder uses his body for chanting the holy
name of Krishna then his endeavor for maintaining that body is as
good as chanting the holy name of Krishna. In other words, everything
else we do should be to support our chanting of the holy name.
Although
parts of Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s songs are depressing accounts of
materialistic life, he ends with hope.
Bhaktivinoda
Thakura says showing compassion to fallen souls by preaching the holy
name is the essence of religion.
As
an emperor can conquer many kings, Krishna’s supreme quality of
bhakta-vatsala
conquers
all His
other qualities. Understanding this can resolve all apparent
contradictions within Him.
Krishna
is not controlled by the devotee but by the love of the devotee.
Without
sincere devotional service, everything else is a show.
He
likes to be controlled by the love of His devotee. He likes to
reciprocate that love. He becomes very attached to unflinching love
of His pure devotee.
What
is the value of knowledge, austerity or sacrifice if it does not
awaken our love for Krishna?
Srila
Prabhupada often would tell the story of Prime Minister Gladstone
being visited by an ambassador. The ambassador, after waiting an hour
to see the Prime Minister, peeked in and saw his grandson riding him
like a horse. Srila Prabhupada would tell this story to show how
Krishna is more concerned with intimate relationships with devotees
than more reverential relationships.
Krishna
does not like to always be God. He prefers to play with His friends.
Krishna
does whatever He likes. Do not be envious of that.
If
Krishna is the supreme enjoyer, then it must be that I am meant for
Krishna’s enjoyment.
His
pastime of being chastised by Mother Yashoda reveals the truth about
Krishna that He enjoys being controlled by love.
Once
Yashoda caught Krishna with His hand in a pot of butter. He explained
that His bangles were burning His wrist, and He had to cool it with
the butter.
When
the gopis
would
complain that Krishna was stealing their
butter, He would protest that in reality they were stealing His
butter.
In
the beginning Krishna was pretending to be afraid, but as Yashoda
came closer with the stick, He became really afraid.
The
love of the devotee is so powerful that Krishna forgets that He is
God.
There
is so much love in the heart of the devotee that Krishna enjoys being
trapped by it.
In
one lecture, Srila Prabhupada said we should not think that Krishna
is our order supplier, we should be Krishna’s order supplier.
Visvanatha
Cakravarti Thakura explains that originally Yashoda had difficulty
tying up Krishna because he had a desire to play with His friends and
did not want to be tied up. When He saw the bhakta-nistha
of
Yashoda, He became compassionate upon her due to His own kripa-sakti.
I
was asked once, “How can I become free from everyone else’s
control?” The person was thinking that was the greatest goal, to be
independent. But Krishna Himself enjoys being controlled by His
devotee.
The
catalyst to awaken our own love for God is to hear about the pure
love of the devotees of the Lord.
Comment
by Guru Das Prabhu:
There
is more background on the story of Gladstone that makes it even
better. He was Prime Minister during Queen Victoria’s reign. He was
in competition with another minister, Disraeli, who was more a people
person and more spontaneous while Gladstone was more by the book. One
year Gladstone would be prime minister and the next year Disraeli,
and there was a competition between them. Disraeli was a joker, and
he boasted he could make a joke about any subject. Gladstone
challenged him to make a joke about Queen Victoria. He replied
humorously, “Queen Victoria is not a subject.”
Comment
by Bhakti Caitanya Swami:
Once
Radharani was decorating Herself to be seen by Krishna. She was
almost ready but had one eye only decorated with ointment. Then
Krishna came. She panicked and said, “Niranjana! Niranjana!
[meaning “No
ointment! No
ointment!”]” And Krishna decorated her other eye.
Dhirasanta
Swami:
In
our japa
seminar,
we are speaking of attraction, attention, absorption, attachment, and
affection.
We
know attachment from our attachment to the pastime of taking
Krishna’s prasadam.
One
day we will be so attached to Krishna’s names and pastimes. We have
some attachment, but we have to increase that.
The
more we chant the more we will want to chant.
If
you still eat food prepared by nondevotees, you are not fully
attached to prasadam.
Guru
Das Prabhu:
In
the 1960s we had free love and free drugs. Why would we follow a
swami who told us to give up free love and free drugs? Prabhupada
explained, “I have given you something substantial in the Vedic
culture.”
Srila
Prabhupada would write the mantras on the chalkboard and teach us.
One
shop had a deity of Kartamasi, Krishna, the little captain. I would
go there every day and ask the staff to give them to us. They got
tired of me asking, and said you can have Him for $35. I went out
into the street and appealed to different people for money, by
saying things like “My
father is in jail.” or
“My
son is in jail.” In this way, I raised the money, and we brought
Krishna to the temple after taking Him for a walk in the park.
Shyamasundara
Prabhu built an altar before, although we did not have a deity. Now
on the altar had
we
a totem pole, a
painting
of Jesus (which Srila Prabhupada allowed), and Kartamasi Krishna.
Govinda
Dasi’s father protested, “What does my daughter have to have an
Injun name?”
Srila
Prabhupada expertly replied, “If she is happy, why do you object?”
Srila
Prabhupada explained to me, “If you are teaching, do not give them
more than they can take at a time. Otherwise they will not be able
assimilate it. It is like feeding people too much so that they get
indigestion.”
If
I wanted to be close to Srila Prabhupada. I would just bring the tape
recorder. Srila Prabhupada would see and motion me forward. Sometimes
there was no tape in the tape recorder.
Srila
Prabhupada made Yamuna a
GBC
(Governing
Body Commissioner),
but she did not want to do it.
I
was reading Bhagavad-gita
in
the park, and Yamuna came up and proposed marriage to me in the most
unromantic way possible, “Harsarani said if we are living together,
we have to get married.” We asked Srila Prabhupada. He said we had
to get initiated first. We said when. He said, “Tomorrow.” He did
not want my flickering mind to have time to dissuade me. After
initiation, we asked when to get married. Again he said, “Tomorrow.”
We
thought of different ideas to get Srila Prabhupada immigration
status. One girl wanted to marry Srila Prabhupada, and we seriously
considered it for that reason. He declined saying, “I am a swami.”
Dayananda and Nandarani wanted to adopt Srila Prabhupada. Srila
Prabhupada said, “They will ask, ‘Why such an old child?’”
The
devotees in New York City wanted Srila Prabhupada to come back there,
so I told Shyamasundara to carve Jagannatha very
slowly.
Someone
came up with the bright idea to take Lord Jagannatha to the park.
Srila Prabhupada asked where Jagannatha was, and when I told him, he
began running to the park, and I ran with him. Srila Prabhupada
explained that Lord Jagannatha only comes out of the temple once a
year, but as long as we are here we might as well stay for some time.
The
Vaishnava principle is dasanudas
[becoming
the servant of the servant].
If
I can see your success, I am happy.
We
built this movement like a family on the basis of love and trust, but
Srila Prabhupada was here as the acarya
and
the perfect example.
Srila
Prabhupada said of Krishna
book, “Krishna was on my shoulder showing me how to write it.”
One
thing I learned in India is to put one shoe on one side of the temple
and the other shoe on the other side of the temple. Once,
being
in a rush to join Srila Prabhupada, I came to him without my shoes.
He asked where my shoes were. I said, “When I am with you, I do not
feel any pain.” Srila Prabhupada was not pleased, and he explained:
“There is enough austerity in the world that you do not have to put
any on unnecessarily.”
Jayananda
Thakura worked on the Ratha-yatra. He was a good example. He was a
friend to everyone. I went shopping with him. The vendors would greet
him, “Hi Jim! Here, take this,” and give him something from their
shops.
Once
on Lord Caitanya’s appearance day, Srila Prabhupada informed us
about the day, and he
gave
us a manuscript of Teachings
of Lord Caitanya. He
told us to stay in the temple, and chant japa
and
read the whole day. Jayananda and Jivananda Prabhu suggested after
some time to go outside. I protested because
of what Srila Prabhupada had said.
But they said that Lord Caitanya in the heart told them to go out. I
went along with them. We took instruments, and sang in the street in
front of Srila Prabhupada’s apartment. Srila
Prabhupada was very happy to see us, and he confirmed that it was
because of inspiration from Lord Caitanya that we were chanting Hare
Krishna in the streets.
I
was once
on
a plane with only
a curtain
between the
cockpit
and the rest of the plane. Someone had a goat on board, and someone
else had chickens. We were talking about how maya
was
everywhere. Even there were a goat
and hens on the plane. Then someone threw up in the aisle.
Prabhupada
would say a devotee is jolly and makes jokes.
We
happened to pass through the Cairo airport the day after Nasser, the
leader was assassinated. Giriraja was having an ecstatic kirtan on
the airfield while the whole city was in mourning. I saw some
soldiers approaching the devotees with bayonets in their hands. I
rushed out between the soldiers and devotees and told the
soldiers
that the devotees
were singing the glories of President Nasser. The soldiers then
guarded the devotees, instead of attacking them.
Srila
Prabhupada is the perfect wonderful acarya.
We
can learn from him to this day.
I
started a caring project for devotees. We were donated an entire
hospital in Vrindavan.
We
are all on the same boat, but if we are rowing in opposite
directions, we will not make progress.
Krishna
says in the “Venu Gita”, “My sweetness is tasted by the
devotees according to the nature and strength of their love.”
The
material world has a way of building up heroes and then tearing them
down.
Srila
Prabhupada prayed to Krishna on the Jaladuta, do with me whatever you
want.
Thank
Krishna that you are more intelligent and are receiving these sun
rays.
I
would always look through the books and see how Srila Prabhupada was
presenting Krishna consciousness to the modern world.
On
the “Top of the Pops” they were going to have some gyrating
dancing girls perform when we played. As the temple president I
explained to the producer that these dancing girls were incompatible
with our spiritual message. He said they were on contract, and they
had to perform. So we began packing up the equipment to leave, and I
could see the producer was upset. I asked for some cloth, and Yamuna
dressed up the dancing girls as if in saris. I taught them the swami
step, and the girls were very happy that they did not have to do that
other dance.
If
you are feeling very unqualified and you are thinking that you cannot
do anything, just remember that Krishna accepts the smallest offering
done in sincerity.
I
saw Srila Prabhupada as soft as a lamb and as fiery
as a lion.
I
have 119 letters from Srila Prabhupada.
I
do not travel as much as before, but I am happy to be here again
because you inspire me with your youthful enthusiasm because it
reminds me of my early days as a devotee.
Srila
Prabhupada did not encourage us in too much renunciation. He
encouraged service.
Your
relationship with Krishna is unique, and I can encourage you
in
it, but you have to do it yourself.
When
Srila Prabhupada asked me to be the president of the Krishna Balaram
temple in Vrindavan, I said that Shyamasundara is a better builder.
Srila Prabhupada replied, “Krishna will help you.”
Sridhara
Maharaja was a most dear godbrother of Srila Prabhupada. I saw them
together many times, and they had a very special relationship.
Parivrajakacarya Swami is helping me with The Vedic Care Charitable
Trust. He is a disciple of Sridhara Maharaja. If you have sectarian
thoughts then kick them out of your mind. Otherwise we might as well
be karmis not
Vaishnavas.
I
asked Srila Prabhupada if he did sports. He replied, “Yes, I was
captain of the debating team.” He would debate one side and win,
and then he would debate the other side and win too.
We
sent all kinds of things to the Beatles, but Peter Asher threw
everything we sent into the rubbish bin because The Beatles were
inundated with all kinds of appeals from all kinds of people.
Once
Prabhupada was informed that some hippies were fighting, and people
asked him to make peace. Srila Prabhupada was ready to go. But by
then the fighting had stopped.
Once
a couple musicians from the Grateful Dead, a couple of Hells Angels,
and a couple of their women came to London along with their
motorcycles. The Hells Angels were ready to beat up the Beatles
because that was their relationship with people. When John looked
into the room and saw the Hells Angels in the crowd, being
streetwise, he declined to enter. Ringo Starr, who was simple in a
good way, followed him.
Paul looked in, and decided he was not going in there. George looked
in and saw
Shyamasundara way in back, and he walked right up to him, saying, “I
have been looking for you guys.”
George
said he and John had chanted Hare Krishna for three days once they
liked it so much.
Ringo
Starr asked me
if
he
could come back as a
cat
in his
next life. I said yes but asked why. He said he liked cats.
Billy
Preston played the electric organ. Mukunda the drum, and me
karatalas.
We
had a primitive tape of Brahma-samhita,
and
we played it for George and told him we wanted to record an album on
the Apple label.
Although
there were only four of us, we recorded the chorus on top of
ourselves several times so it sounded like 32 people.
Linda
McCartney went to my high school. It was in Scarsdale, a very rich
place. I told told her we were in school together, and she said that
no one in Scarsdale would ever become a monk. Krishna owns Scarsdale
too.
When
Srila Prabhupada heard our Govinda recording he cried, and thus we
play it in the temples.
Both “Hare Krishna” and “Govinda” made the top ten on the charts.
Our “Hare Krishna” single was the fastest selling single of The Beatles.
In
England, the Indians loved us, the young people loved us, members of
parliament loved, and George loved us.
There
is a love song called “Something” that Frank Sinatra said was
best love song ever that George originally wrote as a love song to
Krishna.
George
was doubtful whether he should come out with “My Sweet Lord”
because it was so devotional and mentioned Krishna. One musician,
Phil Spector,
told him it was too good to not come out with it, and so he did.
Because Phil liked George so much he said, “I could not help liking
the Krishnas with their robes and everything.”
A
Mayavadi was insisting the thread and the blanket were the same. I
said, “OK, you can sleep with the thread, and I will sleep with the
blanket.” It was very cold and after ten minutes, he came begging
for his blanket. I told him I would give him his blanket back if he
bowed down to my guru.
Yamuna
asked if she could cook for Srila Prabhupada in the kitchen on the
train but they told her, “No.”
She
said, “I will jump off the train then.”
Malati
screamed, “No!”
And
they gave in and let her, and she brought prasadam
to Srila
Prabhupada
in the first class compartment.
When
a rich man on the train offered to help us get a temple in Delhi,
Srila Prabhupada told me to get off the train in Delhi and start a
temple, while he and the others continued their journey. It was like
the mother bird pushing the small one out of the nest.
Urmila
Devi Dasi:
Sex
desire is something that exists in the spiritual world.
“In
the material world, if one is sexually inclined and enjoys sex life,
he enjoys something temporary. His enjoyment vanishes after a few
minutes. However, in the spiritual world the same enjoyment may be
there, but it never vanishes. It is continuously enjoyed. In the
spiritual world such sex pleasure appears to the enjoyer to be more
and more relishable with each new feature. In the material world,
however, sex enjoyment becomes distasteful after a few minutes only,
and it is never permanent. Because Krishna appears very much sexually
inclined, He is called the new Cupid in the spiritual world. There is
no material inebriety in such desire, however.”
“The
desire for enjoyment is present both in Krishna and in His parts and
parcels, the living entities.” (Cc. Madhya 8.138, purport)
“The
living entities—moving and nonmoving—are part and parcel of
Krishna; therefore “ originally have the same kind of lusty desire
as His.” (Cc. Madhya 8.139, purport)
If
we try to kill sexuality, one of three things will
happen:
1.
we become angry
2.
we become hard-hearted
3.
we
fall down
Srila
Prabhupada explains that not only hladini-sakti
does
give
pleasure to Krishna but that hladini-sakti
gives
pleasure to and nourishes the
devotees.
The
devotee enjoys by uniting Radha and Krishna, Sita and Rama, or Laksmi
and Narayana.
When
a devote chants Hare Krishna, Krishna and His internal potency are
dancing on the tongue of the devotee. (Bg. 12.8, purport).
The
material mentality is to steal Radha, Sita, or Laksmi for our
enjoyment, and the spiritual mentality is to bring Radha, Sita, or
Laksmi to the Lord for His enjoyment.
What
to do to transform lust into love?
1.
Turn our desires to Krishna.
2.
Think of Krishna with some attachment.
3.
Get an authentic and deep experience of Krishna consciousness.
Ashrams
use sacrifice to engage remaining lust.
The
renunciates see the whole world as family. They study as a sacrifice,
meditation, and missionary activities as sacrifice to engage and
purify the remaining sex desire.
“Who
is following the, strictly the regulative principle, even in sex
life, he can see Krishna.” (Prabhupada)
“This
reciprocation of service and love between husband and wife is the
ideal of a householder’s life.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam
3.23.1,
purport)
Man
is attracted women, and women demand responsibility and sacrifice.
In
household life, living peacefully with spouse, bringing up children,
and earning wealth for benefit of family and society are sacrifices
that engage and purify the remaining sex desire.
I
have an analogy:
A
healthy arm is compared to one experiencing pure spiritual pleasure.
Bhakti
is compared to the cast supporting the recovering of the broken arm
which is analogous to one affected by lust.
The
ashram is compared to a pain killer that eases recovery.
It
is of two kinds: householder and renounced. One allergic to one may
take the other.
When
people see apparent contradictions they become doubtful about God.
Just
a little understanding of Krishna can free us from material life.
Srila
Prabhupada said that even an ordinary person you do not know you
cannot ask about his intimate relationship with his wife.
Krishna
is apparently working but actually He is just playing, either as a
cowherd boy, or as a head of state.
There
is research indicating that when you are really absorbed in your job
you enter into a trance-like state.
Krishna
wants people to be responsible. Thus he engages in activities to set
a good example, otherwise people would become irresponsible.
We
are like cells of the universal body of the Lord. As we want the
cells of our body to be nicely situated, Krishna wants us all to be
in a happy condition. Thus He incarnates in various species.
We
should speak kindly to each other, even if we disagree.
There
is no mediation between Radharani’s and Candravali’s party. They
have different opinions.
When
one has love for Krishna, His mysterious features simply increase
that love.
By
understanding more about Krishna, we increase our love for Him, and
by increasing our love for Him, we increase our understanding of Him.
Comment
by Bhakti Caitanya Swami:
I
heard a class by Srila Prabhupada in which he was talking about how
Krishna takes care of His devotees. He concluded by saying: “Just
try to understand Krishna!”
The
next day I was listening to another class by Srila Prabhupada where
he was talking about the universal form. He concluded by saying: “Don’t try to understand Krishna.”
Additional
quotes for Mother Urmila, which may relevant to her presentation:
“The
ultimate result of devotional service is to develop genuine love for
the Supreme Personality. Love is a word which is often used in
relation with man and woman. And love is the only word that can be
properly used to indicate the relation between Lord Krishna and the
living entities. The living entities are mentioned as prakrti
in the Bhagavad-gita,
and in Sanskrit prakrti
is a feminine object. The Lord is always described as the
parama-purusa,
or the supreme male personality. Thus the affection between the Lord
and the living entities is something like that between the male and
the female. Therefore the term love of Godhead is quite appropriate.”
(SB 1.7.7, purport)
“There
are many instances in the history of the world of a great conqueror’s
being captivated by the charms of a Cleopatra. One has to study the
captivating potency of woman, and man’s attraction for that
potency. From what source was this generated? According to
Vedanta-sutra,
we can understand that everything is generated from the Supreme
Personality of Godhead. It is enunciated there, janmady
asya yatah
[SB 1.1.1]. This means that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, or
the Supreme Person, Brahman, the Absolute Truth, is the source from
whom everything emanates. The captivating power of woman, and man’s
susceptibility to such attraction, must also exist in the Supreme
Personality of Godhead in the spiritual world and must be represented
in the transcendental pastimes of the Lord.
“The
Lord is the Supreme Person, the supreme male. As a common male wants
to be attracted by a female, that propensity similarly exists in the
Supreme Personality of Godhead. He also wants to be attracted by the
beautiful features of a woman. Now the question is, if He wants to be
captivated by such womanly attraction, would He be attracted by any
material woman? It is not possible. Even persons who are in this
material existence can give up womanly attraction if they are
attracted by the Supreme Brahman. Such was the case with Haridasa
Thakura. A beautiful prostitute tried to attract him in the dead of
night, but since he was situated in devotional service, in
transcendental love of Godhead, Haridasa Thakura was not captivated.
Rather, he turned the prostitute into a great devotee by his
transcendental association. This material attraction, therefore,
certainly cannot attract the Supreme Lord. When He wants to be
attracted by a woman, He has to create such a woman from His own
energy. That woman is Radharani. It is explained by the Gosvamis that
Radharani is the manifestation of the pleasure potency of the Supreme
Personality of Godhead. When the Supreme Lord wants to derive
transcendental pleasure, He has to create a woman from His internal
potency. Thus the tendency to be attracted by womanly beauty is
natural because it exists in the spiritual world. In the material
world it is reflected pervertedly, and therefore there are so many
inebrieties.
“Instead
of being attracted by material beauty, if one is accustomed to be
attracted by the beauty of Radharani and Krishna, then the statement
of Bhagavad-gita,
param drstva
nivartate
[Bg. 9.59], holds true. When one is attracted by the transcendental
beauty of Radha and Krishna, he is no longer attracted by material
feminine beauty. That is the special significance of Radha-Krishna
worship. That is testified to by Yamunacarya. He says, ‘Since I
have become attracted by the beauty of Radha and Krishna, when there
is attraction for a woman or a memory of sex life with a woman, I at
once spit on it, and my face turns in disgust.’ When we are
attracted by Madana-mohana and the beauty of Krishna and His
consorts, then the shackles of conditioned life, namely the beauty of
a material woman, cannot attract us.” (SB 3.31.39, purport)
“The
basic principle of the living condition is that we have a general
propensity to love someone. No one can live without loving someone
else. This propensity is present in every living being. Even an
animal like a tiger has this loving propensity at least in a dormant
stage, and it is certainly present in the human beings. The missing
point, however, is where to repose our love so that everyone can
become happy. At the present moment the human society teaches one to
love his country or family or his personal self, but there is no
information where to repose the loving propensity so that everyone
can become happy. That missing point is Krishna, and The
Nectar of Devotion
teaches us how to stimulate our original love for Krishna and how to
be situated in that position where we can enjoy our blissful life.
“In
the primary stage a child loves his parents, then his brothers and
sisters, and as he daily grows up he begins to love his family,
society, community, country, nation, or even the whole human society.
But the loving propensity is not satisfied even by loving all human
society; that loving propensity remains imperfectly fulfilled until
we know who is the supreme beloved. Our love can be fully satisfied
only when it is reposed in Krishna. This theme is the sum and
substance of The
Nectar of Devotion,
which teaches us how to love Krishna in five different transcendental
mellows.” (The
Nectar of Devotion,
Preface)
“In
the Padma
Purana
there is a statement of submission in feeling by devotees praying to
the Lord: ‘My Lord, I know that young girls have natural affection
for young boys, and that young boys have natural affection for young
girls. I am praying at Your lotus feet that my mind may become
attracted unto You in the same spontaneous way.’ The example is
very appropriate. When a young boy or girl sees a member of the
opposite sex there is a natural attraction, without the need for any
introduction. Without any training there is a natural attraction due
to the sex impulse. This is a material example, but the devotee is
praying that he may develop a similar spontaneous attachment for the
Supreme Lord, free from any desire for profit and without any other
cause. This natural attraction for the Lord is the perfectional stage
of self-realization.” (The
Nectar of Devotion,
Chapter 9)
Some
people think that spiritual life means going to Mayapur and studying
bhakti-sastri
and
everything else is maya.
Some
people think renunciation means to be hard-hearted.
Some
people deny their emotional needs and those of others in the name of
spiritual service.
Bhaktivinoda
Thakura
says that we also have emotional and social needs.
Seeing
Krishna as separate from the world is a cause of the above
misconceptions.
The
world is not maya
but seeing it as separate from Krishna is maya.
We
want to see that Krishna is everywhere and in everything.
We
often identify ourselves as a son or daughter, and
then we have to agree with our parents. But will that always happen?
No. That can result in disappointment or anger
toward those we are trying to please.
Thus
we have to change our identity.
Our
identities in this world are covers so we can do our real business as
a servant of Krishna.
Bhaktivinoda
Thakura
saw his home and family members as Krishna’s property.
Lord
Caitanya said to the sons of Bhavananda Raya, “Whether you are
involved in material activities or become completely renounced, you
five brothers are all My eternal servants, birth after birth.” (Cc.
Antya 9.141)
Srila
Prabhupada from a letter to Jayapataka Swami on December 19, 1972:
1.
Everything is part of Krishna’s plan. Whatever is meant to be I am
doing.
2.
Let me do it with my full attention to every detail.
3.
Let me become absorbed in such service never mind what it is. Let all
other consideration be forgotten.
[This
is like the Buddhist practice of mindfulness.]
4.
Only my desire to do the thing best for Krishna’s alone pleasure be
my motive.
Pleasing
Krishna is easy because He is pleased by our effort and our intention
while people in this world are looking for results.
“To
one in Krishna consciousness, everything seems happily situated.”
(Krishna,
Chapter
20)
How
do we know what is Krishna’s desire? That we act as He describes in
Bg. 12.13–20.
How
do we know if Krishna is pleased? If we are following guru, sadhu,
and sastra. If
we find ourselves blessed with knowledge, purity, authenticity, and
happiness, which we directly experience.
Devaki
Devi Dasi:
Our
envy often manifests in competition with equals. It is easy to be the
humble servant of someone much greater than us, but in relationship
with those equally
matched, we often try to show our supremacy or else minimize the
other person.
Lust
is the root cause of envy, our desire to enjoy independently from
Krishna.
If
we have respect for others, we will not use them for our
sense
gratification.
I
feel that we lost so many devotees because of lack of mentorship. A
diksa-guru
we
see once a year is not sufficient to correct us.
If
we avoid correction or we get offended by correction then we are not
taking shelter.
With
the help of a mentor, we can catch ourselves doing the wrong thing,
and that is progress because before we did not even recognize we were
doing the wrong thing.
Six steps leading toward improvement:
Six steps leading toward improvement:
1.
hear about the problem (in this case envy).
2.
desire to become free from it.
3.
being introspective and honest.
4.
we catch ourselves doing the wrong thing.
5.
we cry out to Krishna for help.
6.
we catch ourselves doing the right thing.
I
see we all have a little Hiranyakasipu, the epitome of false ego, in
our heart, and we have to invite Lord Nrsimhadeva to perform this
heart surgery.
Gaura
Govinda Swami
said ISKCON is a crying school where we learn to cry out to Krishna.
If
we cry out to Krishna, He will free us from this tendency to be
envious. The trouble is we are willing to let Him remove some things
but not others, which we still have faith will
bear some juicy fruit in the future.
We
realize that Krishna is helping us.
When
we agree to do the internal work we make progress and we receive
purification.
At
death all that counts is our relationship with Krishna, not the
number of our Facebook friends or the likes of our photos.
There
is a throne in our heart, and who is sitting on it? Our fat, envious
false ego. We must dethrone him and enthrone Krishna.
The
householder ashram provides much opportunity for this internal work.
Our high divorce rate indicates that we are not doing this internal
work.
I
call the grhastha
ashram
the battlefield of false egos.
Any
situation where we have to cooperate in service can help us defeat
the false ego.
Q:
How much can the envy of others hurt us?
A:
We do not want to think “everyone here is envious I cannot
associate with anyone” but we should be cautious to avoid people
who stir up envy in us. We should consider humbly “I am not
advanced enough to associate with that person” and remain
respectful from a distance.
If
we are spiritually strong if someone is envious of us, we can still
have an attitude of wanting to benefit them spiritually. If we are
not so strong, we can cry out to Krishna for help. Usually the people
who are
envious suffer the most, so we can feel compassion for them.
Prabhupada
likened ISKCON to a hospital. That a hospital has many diseased
patients does not mean it is bad hospital. In a hospital so many
things go on. Maybe someone is vomiting blood in the hallway, but we
do not take it personally.
Q:
How can we present our achievements without presenting ourselves as
superior and inciting competition?
A:
If we give all credit to our guru and Krishna. That means we must
also be introspective. If we having a burning desire to talk
about ourselves then that is bad sign.
Q:
How do we
please
the devotees without the desire to be popular?
A:
If we have the desire to be popular then that is an impurity because
we should just be satisfied to serve the devotees without any
recognition. We have to be aware of this.
In
devotional life we can completely miss the target and instead of
reducing the false ego, we can increase it to the maximum, for so
much facility for that exists if that is
what
we are desiring.
Without
introspection, honesty, and having a mentor it is difficult to make
progress.
Adi
Rasa Prabhu:
In
Mahabharata
two
ladies are famous as devotees of Krishna: Kunti and Draupadi.
Gandhari
was famous as a chaste lady, but she gave more importance to dharma
than to Krishna.
Bhaktivinoda
Thakura
says bhakti
includes
rules which awaken devotion to Krishna’s lotus feet to benefit the
soul and the rules of varnasrama
to
benefit the body.
Only
rare people, like Vasudeva Datta, are able to perform bhakti
to the exclusion of any activities to benefit the body.
In
Bhagavad-gita
18.66
Krishna says to abandon all dharmas, but Arjuna kept his ksatriya
dharma
in his service to Krishna. This indicates that Krishna wants us to
follow varnasrama
as
part of our bhakti.
We
should take exactly what we need to maintain our body, not more or
less.
The
main problem is that people do not get married to serve but for their
own enjoyment.
Bhaktivinoda
Thakura
says the soul is moral, pure, well-wishing, truthful, and loving.
Bhaktivinoda
Thakura
lists five levels of consciousness:
1.
immoral materialists
2.
moral materialists
3.
moral religious
4. engaged in vaidhi
bhakti
[devotional
service to God in practice]
5. engaged in raganuga-sadhana
bhakti
[devotional
service to God in spontaneous love]
Bhaktivinoda
Thakura
does not consider there may be immoral religious people because they
should not exist.
Bhaktivinoda
Thakura
defines morality as including:
1.
forgivingness
2.
thankfulness
3.
truthfulness
4.
honesty
5.
not stealing
6.
not accepting that which one does not need
7.
compassion
8.
respecting scriptures
9.
thoughtfulness
10.
worshiping the Lord
11.
doing one’s duties
12.
visiting holy places
These
qualities of a moral person will help devotees in their relationships
with each other and those in society.
Bhaktivinoda
Thakura
describes moral principles before bhakti
because
they will help do our sadhu
sanga
without offenses.
Honesty
is to act truthfully.
Radhika
Nagara Prabhu:
From
a conversation:
Keshava
Bharati Maharaja said that at their
Govardhan
ashram
all
their financial problems were solved once they began taking care of
cows.
Kalakantha
Prabhu [cow protection]:
In
1976 in ISKCON we had 14 cow protection programs. Now we have 99
programs. We have an app to keep track of them.
Srila
Prabhupada had a vision of temples with associated restaurants and
farms.
Srila
Prabhupada writing to Yasomatinandana Prabhu from Vrindaban on
November 28, 1976:
“Where
there is agriculture there must be cows. That is our mission: Cow
protection and agriculture and if there is excess, trade. This is a
no-profit scheme. For the agriculture we want to produce our own food
and we want to keep cows for our own milk. The whole idea is that we
are ISKCON, a community to be independent from outside help. This
farm project is especially for the devotees to grow their own food.
Cotton also, to make their own clothes. And keeping cows for milk and
fatty products.
“Our
mission is to protect our devotees from unnecessary heavy work to
save time for advancing in Krishna consciousness. This is our
mission.”
What
do we do?
Establish
training programs.
Get
support for cow protection programs.
Conferences.
One
writer, Allan
Savory,
says, “When you graze the cows together, the cow hooves, the cow
dung, and cow urine prepare the land so you do not need a tractor.”
One
lady, who was a vegan, was impressed seeing the devotees taking care
of the cows, is now head cowherd on our farm project.
One
man grows pumpkins and melons in Siberia using cow dung. How is this?
He understood that cow dung warms the soil, so he gets another month
and a half of growing season using it.
From
GBC
resolution from March 2019:
“By
Janmastami 2022 all ISKCON centers should develop a plan whereby all
milk and milk products – butter, ghee, yogurt, etc. – offered to
the the deities are procured from protected cows.
“The
centers may approach the International Ministry for Cow Protection
for assistance.”
From
a conversation:
At
Vrindavan, they had so many many financial, personnel and management
problems, but when they repaired the gosala [cow barn] these
disappeared and so many donors appeared.
-----
At
Pol’and’Rock many tens of thousands of people hear the chanting
of the Hare Krishna mantra, and some of them even chant the response.
The great spiritual result of even unconsciously chanting the holy
name is revealed in this verse of Srimad-Bhagavatam:
apannah
samsrtim ghoram
yan
nama visvaso grnan
tatah
sadyo vimucyeta
yat
bibheti svayam bhayam
“Living
beings who are entangled in the complicated meshes of birth and death
can be freed immediately even by unconsciously chanting the holy name
of Krishna which is feared by fear personified.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam
1.1.14)