Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 15, No. 19
By Krishna Kripa Das
(October 2019, part one)
New York City and Boston
(Sent from New York City on October 19, 2019)
Where I Went and What I Did
October
started off with a very successful harinama
in
Boston on its first day. The rest of the first half of the month I
remained with the Yuga Dharma Ashram harinama
party,
chanting Hare Krishna for six hours a day in New York City, except a
few days when I was sick and only did four or five hours. Our ashram
and harinama
were
visited by Kadamba Kanana Swami, a great blessing for us. Also
Krishna Kshetra Swami visited New York City and spoke at 26 Second
Avenue.
I
share an excerpt from a lecture by Srila Prabhupada. I share
a quote by Bhaktivinoda Thakura. I share
notes on classes at 26 Second Avenue by Chandra Shekhara and Krishna
Kshetra Swamis. I share notes on classes by Kadamba Kanana Swami at
the Bhakti Center and at the Yuga Dharma Ashram. I also share notes
on classes by
Rama Raya, Keshav Anand, and Mahotsaha Prabhus.
Thanks
to Nanda Gopal Prabhu of Hartford for his donation covering the cost
of my visit there to see Niranjana Swami later this month. Thanks to
Yamuna Bihari Prabhu for his very generous donation back in
September.
Thanks
to Kaliya Krishna Prabhu for his videos of Natabara Gauranga Prabhu
and Devarsi Narada Prabhu chanting in Penn Station subway station and for his photo of Roger Spottiswoode with Mahotsaha Prabhu.
Itinerary
October
1 – December:
NYC Yuga Dharma harinamas
November
1–3: Bhaktivedanta Institute cosmology conference in Gainesville,
Florida
January–April
2020: North Florida colleges, mostly Florida State University
After
visiting my relatives on Martha’s Vineyard, I decided to do
harinama in Boston instead returning to New York as I could
not get there in time for the New York harinama. The week
before I told my plan to Chatamayi Devi Dasi, a Boston devotee who
loves harinama, and I encouraged her to tell all the devotees
who might be inclined to come. We settled on 4:30–7:30 p.m.,
beginning on Newbury Street, a busy shopping street in Boston, and
ending at the Copley metro station. I was surprised beyond my
expectations since during the three hours 17 devotees participated.
Only two were temple residents, the others being part of the
congregation. One couple who sets up a book table during the weekly
Friday harinama in Boston attended with their book table. A
couple of college-aged girls came by and bought a Bhagavad-gita
and a Science of Self-Realization. We had plenty of “On
Chanting Hare Krishna” pamphlets and prasadam lollipops to
distribute, and the children even helped with the distribution. We
got a late start, which is never a surprise, but we did chant 3 hours
from 4:53 to 7:53 p.m. Eyni, who I knew from Newcastle, attended,
with her new initiated name, Ekalesvari Devi Dasi, along with her
husband, Aravind, and they each led the chanting at one point toward
the end. Many, many thanks to Chatamayi Devi Dasi and all the Boston
devotees who took the trouble to come out for harinama on a
Tuesday evening.
Chatamayi
Devi Dasi chants Hare Krishna outside Copley station in Boston on a
spontaneous Tuesday evening harinama
she organized (https://youtu.be/Th55mLeoCTM):
Ekalesvari
Devi Dasi chants Hare Krishna in Boston, accompanied by her husband,
Aravind, on harmonium (https://youtu.be/0DeqSMHa_yM):
Aravind
chants Hare Krishna accompanied by youthful Subhadra, who is enthusiastically learning harmonium (https://youtu.be/TM5MrwW7rYM):
Chanting
Hare Krishna in New York City
Some
people working on a film asked me if they could film us. I said yes,
and I gave them Natabara Gauranga Prabhu’s phone number.
Unfortunately, I was not there when they came the next week as I
left a little early being sick, but a most amazing thing happened.
A
famous director, Roger Spottiswoode, came by. Mahotsaha Prabhu
recalls the interaction:
“He’s
making an upcoming film called Either Side of Midnight. It’s
a multicultural film about New York City. He’s a really nice
gentleman who was speaking to Natabara Gauranga Prabhu for a while
about filming us along with the harinama party doing a stand
up kirtan. He wanted me to stand in front of the kirtan party and
when the main actor passed by I would stop him and ask him to chant
with us. The film story is about a Jewish man who’s on a journey to
meet up with his girlfriend who’s all the way across town. Along
the way he meets various people from different religions and
interacts with them. He came up to me before they started filming and
explained the whole process and what they were planning to do so I
just told him jokingly that we’ll do it if he takes some of our
books. I showed him a ‘Sapta’ [set of seven hardbound books] and
he said, ‘Ok, I’ll take it.’ He gave a very generous donation
for our participation in the film so I also added the Lilamrita
set.”
Kadamba
Kanana Swami chants Hare Krishna with the Yuga Dharma Ashram harinama
party in Union Square (https://youtu.be/5Ahx6vxSy4U):
Kadamba
Kanana Swami chants Hare Krishna with the Yuga Dharma Ashram harinama
party in Atlantic Ave. / Barclays Center subway station in Brooklyn
under the uptown 2 and 3 train (https://youtu.be/C8QeyosABNw):
Kadamba
Karana Swami led such a fired up kirtan that an MTA employee felt it
interfered with customers hearing the subway announcements, and he
engaged the police in restricting us.
The policemen were good-natured,
saying that they personally liked the music, and they ate the cookies
we offered them, which usually policemen do not do. Fortunately, they allowed us to continue but without the amplifier.
Natabara
Gauranga Prabhu chants Hare Krishna to a Madhava tune
in Atlantic Ave. / Barclays Center subway station in Brooklyn
(https://youtu.be/oUgi5ycjPcc):
Natabara
Gauranga Prabhu chants Hare Krishna to a Madhava tune at Penn Station
subway station below the uptown A/C/E trains, and I
dance. Video by Kaliya Krishna Prabhu (https://youtu.be/eb8CJUpf5o0):
Devarsi
Narada Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in Penn Station subway station.
Video by Kaliya Krishna Prabhu (https://youtu.be/yVR-8t7-6oI):
Krishna
Prasad Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Jackson Heights / Roosevelt
Avenue subway station in Queens, and two guys play shakers and dance
as their friends watch and take pictures
(https://youtu.be/k1psU8B66JU):
A
man who buys seven books plays karatalas
as Devarsi Narada Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in Jackson Heights /
Roosevelt Avenue subway station in Queens
(https://youtu.be/0JXUzOW34yk):
Priya
Krishna Prabhu, who often joins the Yuga Dharma Ashram team on
Saturdays, making a nice lunch for them as well, chants Hare Krishna
in Times Square subway station (https://youtu.be/0A68_ODIrh4):
Natabara
Gauranga Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in Times Square subway station
and some devotees dance while others pack up for the evening a little
earlier than usual, being displaced by a musician
(https://youtu.be/YX-68L4m1qY):
Each
year in October, our Yuga Dharma Ashram harinama
party has to move 20 feet to the south to facilitate the building of
a sukkah,
a tabernacle, used in the Jewish week-long festival Sukkot.
The
devotees noticed after constructing the building this year, which was
bigger than ever, the Jews painted it orange.
Mahotsaha Dasa
Brahmachari had this brief conversation with them about that:
Mahotsaha:
I like that color.
Jewish
guy: Yeah. It matches you guys.
Mahotsaha:
Yeah.
Jewish
guy: Don’t worry. We are all on the same team.
Krishna
Prasad Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in Union Square, and Nadia dances.
Both Krishna Prasad and Nadia were formerly in Krishna House in
Gainesville, as was Kalki Prabhu, who is distributing books
(https://youtu.be/9c5ZuOf0Y9c):
Nadia
of Mexico, who lived at Krishna House in Gainesville during the
spring semester, chants Hare Krishna at Union Square, during a brief
visit to New York from her present residence in Guadalajara, Mexico
(https://youtu.be/y7Vpyy9vgmc):
Devarsi
Narada Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in Union Square and three ladies
play shakers and dance, the one on the right being the mother of the
one in the center (https://youtu.be/N9JSQ3QQQIA):
Priya
Krishna Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in Union Square with Yuga Dharma
Ashram devotees, who are visited by a congregational group from
ISKCON Hartford (https://youtu.be/wOfqbQz1pQQ):
Natabara
Gauranga Prabhu chants Hare Krishna to a Madhava tune at Union
Square, a passerby plays shakers, and several dance, including
some of the Hartford devotees
(https://youtu.be/LRmXAh3tV_s):
Murli
Krishna Prabhu, who used to chant Hare Krishna in public in New York
City with Aindra Prabhu in the 1980s, chants Hare Krishna at Union
Square with the Yuga Dharma Ashram harinama
party (https://youtu.be/RFptX0grEMY):
Natabara
Gauranga Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in Times Square, and a costumed
man dances (https://youtu.be/BuEJinLbLW8):
Natabara
Gauranga Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in Times Square, and three girls
chant the Hare Krishna mantra (https://youtu.be/bZhtskSCvhw):
Waking
up
sleeping
souls:
Kaliya Krishna Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in Union Square, and a
drunk man gradually revives and bows down
(https://youtu.be/7VgjVvPh_Dw):
Special
Photos
I
went to the doctor for my yearly physical one day and noticed above quote on his wall which I missed the previous year.
Yuga
Dharma Ashram devotees riding the subway to harinama.
What
do you do when you have lots of leftover bread and bread crumbs?
Make
bread upma!
Insights
Srila
Prabhupada:
From
a class on Srimad-Bhagavatam
1.8.18 in Mayapur on September 28, 1974:
“Krishna
is so kind. He’s personally teaching. That is perform yajna.
He’s personally chanting, dancing, Caitanya Mahaprabhu. . . .
Personally He’s teaching us, ‘Perform this yajna,
you rascal, and you’ll get everything. You’ll get everything.’
Now, where is the proof? The proof is Krishna consciousness movement.
We are simply chanting Hare Krishna maha-mantra
and spending crores
[tens
of millions] of
rupees. Simply.”
Srila
Bhaktivinoda Thakura:
From
Hari-nama-cintamani:
“The
chanting of Krishna’s name is the only meditation, the only
sacrifice, the only worship in this Kali age—the name is the means,
the name is the end.”
Candrasekhara
Swami:
Chandra
Shekhara Swami, who regularly speaks at 26 2nd Avenue in New York
City, chants Hare Krishna after a Saturday night Bhagavad-gita
class there (https://youtu.be/_ymy4Cu8zhA):
If
we have faith in something but we do not focus on it, then what kind
of faith is it?
We
often think that skeptics and atheists do not have faith, but they do
have faith. They just have faith in something else.
When
you get on an airplane you have faith. You have a lot of faith. You
have faith in the pilot, in the mechanics who checked out the plane,
and in the TSA authorities, that they did their job and no one with a
gun is on the plane.
The
whole world is a slosh of the three modes of material nature, both
within and without.
In
the mode of passion, we are always trying to get ahead, and our
happiness is tied to our success and failure.
We
already have faith but in material things, however, if we learn to
act in the mode of goodness, we will come to have faith in the
Supreme Lord.
By
engaging in devotional service, our faith is transmuted from faith in
material things to faith in the Supreme Lord.
We
may say we have faith in something, but what we give our money to,
what we give our time to, and what we do first, all these are
indications of what we actually have faith in.
The
more we realize that sense gratification will never actually satisfy
us the more we can take to devotional service.
Faith
has a bad rap in modern society because faith usually means blind
faith, and blind faith is never good.
We
know if you have faith in Krishna, you will come to see Krishna face
to face, either in this life or a future one.
There
is as much faith in science as there is in any other thing.
When
Srila Prabhupada described Krishna consciousness as a science of
self-realization he meant that it is structured, it is detailed, and
it delivers the result that is promised.
Krishna
Kshetra Swami:
Krishna
Kshetra Swami chants Hare Krishna at 26 Second Avenue after
his lecture on Bhagavad-gita
(https://youtu.be/PGFKk2g0itE):
Nothing
happens nowadays without being plugged in. Have you noticed that?
Nothing happens without being wired up.
In
Srila Prabhupada’s 1966 diary, he would daily record different
things:
1.
his expenses
2.
his income
3.
the selling of his books
4.
his
visits
with others
5.
his correspondence
He
would often say that someone said they would visit but they didn’t.
Thomas
Hopkins has deep appreciation of Srila Prabhupada, his movement, and
his books. The subject of his dissertation at Yale in 1962 was
Srimad-Bhagavatam.
He
would tell us, “Call me Tom.” He was amazed to visit 26 Second Avenue
and see on a table Srila Prabhupada’s Srimad-Bhagavatam.
At
that time there were only two translations of Srimad-Bhagavatam
in
America, and he was amazed to encounter a third.
This
discussion is taking place on a most unusual place for a
philosophical discussion to take place, on a battlefield just before
the battle.
Krishna
advises Arjuna to fight but leaves the choice up to Arjuna.
I
would say that Bhagavad-gita
18.58,
18.59, and 18.60 all fit together, making a single point.
Karma
has become a household word, especially in New York City. A lot of
our understanding
of what karma is, comes from this book, Bhagavad-gita.
Acts
have moral consequences.
Ethics
addresses
the question, what should I do?
Consequentialism
emphasizes concern for the consequences of one’s actions.
Deontological
ethics means acting out of duty, not knowing the consequences, and
thus the question is, what is my duty?
Then
there is virtue ethics, in which the understanding is that it is not
always possible to determine one’s duties, but if one acquires
virtues he will be able to understand the best way to act in a
certain situation.
In
the beginning of the Bhagavad-gita,
Arjuna
seems to be speaking out of consequentialism and virtue ethics, while
in the beginning of His
instructions, Krishna seems to be speaking as a deontologist
emphasizing duty. Later, however, Krishna brings in virtue, and it
could be said that virtue is emphasized above duty in the end.
The
Bhagavad-gita
is
very much about ethics.
In
one of Plato’s
dialogues the question is
asked,
is something good because it is God’s command or are things
intrinsically good?
I
would answer the dilemma by saying that it is not in God’s command
but in God’s preference where goodness is found. Because Krishna
in
the Gita
stresses
bhakti,
which means acting to please God, this is appropriate.
Hannah
Arendt, a 20th
century philosopher, talks about labor, work, and action. Labor is
getting a wage to survive. Work involves building a structure that
lasts. For her, action is activity performed in consultation with
others, that makes a difference in people’s lives.
What
greater necessity is there than to find the preference of the Lord
and act according to it.
Paraphrase
of an
excerpt
from a
Harmonist
article:
Those who do not wish to worship Lord Vishnu are immediately expelled
from the transcendental plane of His worship. They will find
congenial occupations on this mundane plane with a
body
and mind created by the deluding potency.
The
service of Krishna will be found to be enriching, unfolding, and
satisfying with ever new tastes.
Question
by a Prabhupada disciple: In this age it is not often clear what
exactly our nature is. How do we know how to engage our nature in
Krishna’s service if we do not know what our nature is?
Bir
Krishna Goswami once said, “If you can find an activity that you
can do ten, twelve, or fourteen hours a day and not get tired, that
is your nature.”
Sudras
we
tend to deprecate, but sudras
engage
in service, and service to the Lord is our perfection.
One
philosopher in the 20th
century distinguished the difference between “freedom from” and “freedom to.”
We
have the freedom to chant Hare Krishna and the freedom to serve Him.
Question
(by Nikki):
Is our purpose to align our will with the will of God?
Answer:
Yes.
I
would say the Bhagavad-gita
is
circling around the issue. Maybe Krishna is making it clear to Arjuna
that he really should act to His direction. He also may understand
that Arjuna has already decided to act according to His direction,
but He may be speaking for others who have not decided to act as
Krishna directs.
I
see the Chinese ying-yang symbol, which indicates each arises from
the other, is related to the Gita
verse
14.10: “Sometimes the mode of goodness becomes prominent, defeating
the modes of passion and ignorance, O son of Bharata. Sometimes the
mode of passion defeats goodness and ignorance, and at other times
ignorance defeats goodness and passion. In this way there is always
competition for supremacy.”
Our
tendency to be judgmental of ourselves can spread to being
judgmental of others which can become
dangerous Vaishnava aparadha.
Raja-vidya,
“the
king of knowledge,”
can
also be translated as “knowledge for kings.”
Yes,
you can say that Krishna is kicking down our sand castles.
Kadamba
Kanana Swami:
From
a lecture on the first day of Karttika and the anniversary of the
installation of Sri Gauracandra at the Bhakti Center:
Karttika
is month when we can capture Krishna, and we can get spiritual mercy.
When
we travel, we have to leave so many things behind, but when Krishna
comes from the spiritual world to this material world, He brings
everything with Him.
Who
could understand the exalted love of God in Vrindavan? Although
Krishna brought His
pastimes from the spiritual world to the earthly Vrindavan, He kept
them
covered so only
a
very
few could
understand them.
Rukmini
told Krishna, “There
is one thing you cannot understand.”
Krishna
was doubtful.
Rukmini
explained, “You
cannot understand the love that Your devotee feels for You.”
Krishna
realized that was true, and thus He decided to come as a devotee, and
not just any devotee, but the best devotee, Radharani. The blackish
Krishna appeared
in the color of the
golden
Radharani, Gaurangi.
According
Caitanya
Bhagavata, when
Lord Caitanya returned to Jagannatha Puri, it was the time of the
snana-yatra
of
Lord Jagannatha. Lots of water was poured on the Jagannatha Deity,
but the
most
amazing thing
was
that
that
water
was insignificant in comparison to the tears of ecstasy shooting out
of the eyes of Lord Caitanya.
Nanda
Prabhu said, “We feed
this boy the cream of the cream and yet still He
goes and steals from others’
houses.”
Yashoda
personally churned the yogurt wanting to make sure Krishna had the
very best.
The
month when Krishna speaks Bhagavad-gita
is
Marga-sirsa and
is
known as the month of Krishna, and the month of Damodara
is known as the month of Radharani.
Lord
Caitanya is giving the greatest spiritual benefit to the most fallen.
So we are in the right place. We can argue that New York City is the
capital of maya.
Any
secret sinful desire you can fulfill in New York. It is significant
that Lord Gauracandra appeared here in New York on the first day of
Karttika, a month of special benefit.
I
am attracted to the more
positive vows like reciting verses or prayers or reading.
When
love in this world is formalized by marriage it becomes mixed with
obligations.
Radha
cannot never take Krishna for granted. She always has to conquer
Krishna again. Lord Caitanya teaches like that. We also can never
take Krishna for granted. We also have to always conquer Krishna.
Lord
Caitanya was so absorbed in complete dedication when He
finally attained Vrindavan and the river Yamuna, He
dove into
the river and did not feel the need to come out. His servant had to
pull Him out or He would have drowned.
By
the mercy of Lord Caitanya, we can all experience spiritual ecstasy
that is beyond religion.
From
a morning class at the Yuga Dharma Ashram:
Kadamba
Kanana Swami chants Hare Krishna at the Yuga Dharma Ashram in New
York City before his morning class (https://youtu.be/TvTuPp29e1c):
Anna-maya
deals
staying alive. Prana-maya
involves
enjoying life, interacting with the energies of the Lord. Mana-maya
is
the level of mental speculation.
It
amazing that all these philosophers grasp something of the truth.
Plato and Socrates explain that what we see in this world is a
reflection of an ideal world. Dante understood there are levels of
heaven and beyond a paradise with a rose surrounded by its petals,
and on top a bright effulgence one could not see beyond.
In
the more advanced stages of mana-maya
one
begins to focus on Brahman.
According
the Srimad-Bhagavatam,
those
who are self-satisfied are not completely and permanently situated in
self-satisfaction until they encounter Krishna.
At
vijnana-maya
we
absorb our mind in Krishna as recommended in Bhagavad-gita,
Chapter
7, “Now hear, O son of Pritha, how by practicing yoga in full
consciousness of Me, with mind attached to Me, you can know Me in
full, free from doubt.” (Bg.
7.1)
Ananda-maya
is
complete happiness derived from actual experience of Krishna, and
there is no question of doing anything else.
When
ruci
begins
to develop, laulyam
[greed]
arises.
Samutkantha
[complete
eagerness] is
an advanced stage of laulyam.
Initial
faith is like a point of light in a room of the darkness of maya.
At
nistha,
there
is some distance from maya.
That
is the minimum requirement for a sannyasi.
The
senses are still attracted, but one does not desire to gratify them.
At nistha,
madhyama begins,
thus one in anartha-nivritti
is
still a kanistha.
At
ruci,
maya is
described
to be 3/4 to the horizon of the consciousness.
At
asakti
there
is attachment according to the five rasas.
At
bhava,
maya becomes
like a shadow. There is a trace that something is not right which is
caused by
reactions to
Vaishnava aparadha.
At
prema,
maya is
absent.
Kavi-karnapura
says in Kali-yuga a brahmacari
is
a man who could not get it together.
A
shadow reflection, a spiritual emotion, is something, but it does not
mean you have attained raganuga-bhakti.
When
we are given the association of a sadhu, we should take advantage of
his association.
Srila
Prabhupada said himself that
his
chanting under that tree in Tompkins Square Park
marked
the beginning of his movement.
Kevala
ananda-kanda
is
prema.
Bhava
and
prema
are
agreed by
authorities to
be uttama.
Some
would also include ruci
and
asakti
in
uttama
because
the focus is on Krishna.
At
anartha-nivirtti
sometimes
maya
is
on top of you. You have throw maya
off.
Rama
Raya Prabhu:
The
holy name has the power to destroy all maya’s
weapons.
Keshav
Anand
Prabhu:
Why
does Lord Caitanya offer so many explanations of the atmarama
verse? According to Narottama Das Thakura He wanted to show that the
life of the devotee is centered around the Bhagavatam.
Madhvacarya
explained every Vedic verse has eight meanings and that every verse
of Mahabharata
has
one thousand meanings.
Madhvacarya
returned to Badarikasrama after he left his body.
One
of the meanings for atma
is
Radhika because She is the soul of Krishna, and thus Krishna can be
called atmarama
because
He takes pleasure in Radhika.
A
devotee is not satisfied until he sees Krishna face to face. He does
not demand this because he is in the position of a servant.
We
need to know the symptoms of advancement in devotional service.
Why
is Lord Caitanya most merciful? Because He gave a science of
spirituality? No other acaryas
did
that. He defined love of God.
Love is characterized by a soft heart which is devoid of offenses, extreme possessiveness, and condensed emotions, which are so intense that the devotee wishes to forget God, but is unable to do so.
The
gopis
tell
Krishna that unless they attain His presence in their opinion He has
not really bestowed His mercy on them.
Kurushetra,
in the opinion of Bhaktivinoda Thakura, is the best place to perform
sadhana.
Comment
by Rama Raya Prabhu: There is more to it. To relieve Radhika from the
extreme distress She feels there is the greatest service and gives
the greatest reward.
Most
acaryas
agree
that the Bhagavad-gita
verse
that most completely defines God is “I am the goal, the sustainer,
the master, the witness, the abode, the refuge and the most dear
friend. I am the creation and the annihilation, the basis of
everything, the resting place and the eternal seed.” (Bhagavad-gita
9.18)
The
verse sarvan
dharman parityaja can
best be understood by one who follows dharma.
When
bad qualities touch Krishna, they become good.
Sanatana
Goswami writes Brhad-bhagavatamrita
to
show that the Lord’s pastimes of opulence in Mathura and Dvaraka
support His pastimes of sweetness, and to thus defeat sahajiyism.
Jayadeva
Goswami was completely liberated from his body. Some dacoits captured
Jayadeva Goswami and cut off his hands and feet and threw him into
a well. Jayadeva Goswami continued chanting the glories of the Lord.
He was thankful to the Lord that his hands and feet, which he felt he
had engaged for sinful purposes, were removed. He felt grateful to be
in the well because he was not able to see the disgusting material
world. A king found him in the well and rescued him. He inquired who
put him in that condition, promising to punish the offender.
Jayadeva Goswami said he himself was the offender as it was his
karma.
The
liberated soul is attracted to God and out of attraction he
spontaneously chants. The aspiring devotee chants hoping to attain
some attraction to God.
Sankaracarya
created a concept not found in the Vedas and then interpreted the
Vedas in terms of that concept.
Lotus
eyes means eyes like the unopened lotus in the horizontal position.
The
tamasic puranas
are
meant to confuse people.
Padma
Purana has
two parts, Purva
Khanda and
Uttara
Khanda, but
the Purva
Khanda has
so much illusion in it.
The
Saivites say that both Shiva and Vishnu are God. In the Shiva
Purana, Vishnu
says that for Kali-yuga He will take the back seat and Shiva can be
God.
Madhusudana
Sarasvati, who lived during Lord Caitanya’s time, created Vaishnava
Mayavada, which Bhaktivinoda Thakura considers worse than simple
Mayavada.
Madhvacarya
defeated Mayavada more completely than Ramanujacarya and thus Lord
Caitanya chose to appear in his sampradaya.
There
is a verse that Mayavadis go to hell, and those who do not criticize
the Mayavadis go to a deeper hell.
The
scriptures are not taking the Mayavadis to the spiritual world but to
hell because of their offensive commentaries.
Without
meditating on the qualities of Krishna you will not become pure even
if you read the scriptures.
The
four types of people who never surrender to Krishna are listed in
terms of increasing knowledge.
Ramanujacarya
debated with a Mayavadi. After fourteen days he prayed to Raghunatha.
Raghunatha told him, “Do not debate with him today. Rather just
talk about the glorious lives of the Alvars.” Ramanujacarya did
that, and the Mayavadi had a change of heart.
Bhaktinivoda
Thakura makes that point that at raganuga
one’s
spontaneous devotional service is more important than the scriptures
but not that the scriptures are dispensed
with altogether as the sahajiya
do.
You
can support service with knowledge but not replace service with
knowledge.
Bilvamangala
Thakura’s guru told him that his realization exceeded his own, and
that he should go to Vrindavan.
Comment
by Rama Raya Prabhu: Bhaktivinoda Thakura says if you rejoice in the
pastimes of Krishna’s killing the demons you conquer that anartha
the
demon represents.
In
the final song of Saranagati
by
Bhaktivinoda
Thakura, which Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura used to often quote,
first your svarupa
[original
spiritual form] is revealed and then Krishna’s rupa
[form]
is revealed.
Why
does Krishna reveal one’s svarupa
first?
Because Krishna does not interact anyone who is not fully pure.
The
Vedas
do
not talk much about maya.
It
is assumed. The Puranas
mention
maya.
In
the Vedas
everything
is done by Krishna.
Rama
came to make dharma strong. Krishna wanted to show that God is above
dharma.
Comment
by Mahotsaha Prabhu: Krishna gives us a spiritual body when we cannot
stretch our material body to do all we want to do for Krishna.
Krishna
gives His devotees spiritual bodies to fulfill their spiritual
desires.
In
management people say, “Think globally act locally.” One of the
Goswamis said, “Keep your mind on the moon.”
Bhaktisiddhanta
Sarasvati Thakura said to try to serve Krishna 25 out of 24 hours a day.
Visvanatha
Cakravarti Thakura said that even a moment of sleep is a waste of time.
We
think that between ourselves and Krishna is illusion, but
actually we ourselves are between ourselves and Krishna.
Out
of love you try to cover the faults of your beloved, and out of envy
you reveal the faults of the object of your envy.
To
be attracted to both the material and the spiritual is blaspheme of
God because it equates the disgusting material realm with the
pristine spiritual nature of God and His world.
In
svabhavo
’dhyatmam
ucyate
[Bg. 8.3] in svabhava, sva
means svarupa
and bhava
means emotions.
If
you think Krishna is there with you, the same external negative
situation may be present but you will not be afraid. Srila Prabhupada
had this faith and could give it to others.
If
you separate yourself from Krishna you will immediately experience
fear, but if you connect with Krishna you will immediately experience
fearlessness. All the divine qualities begin with fearlessness as
mentioned in Bhagavad-gita
16.1–3.
Even
demons were thinking of Krishna, but they were not thinking of
serving Krishna.
Service
of Krishna is higher than Krishna.
Radha
is higher than Krishna from the point of view of rasas.
The
aim of life is love of God not God.
Lord
Caitanya defines faith in Krishna as having faith that by Krishna
bhakti
you will attain all success.
To
believe in God is not sufficient to be a theist. You have to believe
in the scriptures.
For
nondevotees perfection is to be free from maya
but
when a devotee attains perfection, maya
helps
him to think of Krishna.
Prema-vivarta
is
when all of nature helps the devotee remember God.
Maya
gives
us tests to make us stronger.
A
devotee can see how Krishna is working through maya.
The
opulent lifestyle of Pundarika Vidyanidhi was because in humility he
did not want people to glorify him as a great devotee.
Bhaktisiddhanta
Sarasvati Thakura said that Krishna made Bhaktivinoda Thakura appear
as an ordinary person so that ordinary people get the courage that
they could also attain perfection in Krishna bhakti.
This
world is complete, even in its giving us perplexities.
The
scripture says anyone who can sit in peace for three minutes is a
mahatma.
You
can approach a guru if:
1.
You realize you are
in
difficulty.
2.
You realize you cannot solve the difficulty.
If
you get a taste for higher problems, you lose the taste for lower
problems.
If
you worry about birth, death, old age, and disease, then you will not
worry about the small problems.
Kali
approaches Vishnu and asks for tips to create confusion. Vishnu asked
Kali his idea. Kali said, “I plan to hide all knowledge, and then
not having knowledge people will fight.”
Vishnu
said, “No, reveal all knowledge and because the people cannot
discriminate they will fight over what is most important.”
Srila
Prabhupada said a devotee should know everything about something and
something about everything.
Ramanuja
had 60,000 sannyasi
disciples.
A
book can give you knowledge, but the spiritual master can give you
the most appropriate knowledge for you.
The
main problem is if you keep thinking there is no problem.
Cows
and elephants have a sense of family, but cats and dogs do not. Thus
humans with unregulated lives are compared in the scripture to cats
and dogs.
Garuda
Purana says
that people who do not use their
lives to reconnect with God become animals in
their next life.
They lose their voices because of not glorifying God and their hands
because of not serving God. Instead of walking in pride, they are
forced to bend down.
God
has designed this world with problems, and he supplies solutions for
the problems to
those who approach Him.
Being
overly attached keeps us from seeing the reality.
Asanga
sastrena
is usually explained as meaning “by the weapon of detachment,” but a
can
be said to refer to Krishna because He
said, “Of
letters
I
am
the letter ‘A.’” Thus
another meaning is “by
the weapon of attachment to Krishna.”
From
a series of classes on brahmacarya
training
and leadership:
1.
Health
Radha
Govinda Swami, when he got a stroke, came to realize that he made a
mistake in not taking care of his health for many years. When he
returned from the hospital, he immediately encouraged his followers
to take of their
health.
Srila
Prabhupada advises a regulated life to maintain health.
Eating:
1.
Ayurveda teaches all diseases come from the stomach, so if you keep
your digestion strong, you will not get diseases.
2.
America has mostly chronic and noninfectious diseases, but India
has mostly infectious diseases.
3.
Ayurveda
advises
exercise for increasing the
fire
of digestion, balancing the doshas
and
pranas
and making the mind peaceful.
4.
Just ten minutes of exercises can have a
greatly
positive effect.
5.
Ayurveda
teaches exercise can free one
from
toxins.
6.
Some chili, ginger, or pepper helps to keep digestion in order.
7.
Walking is necessary, but most brahmacaris
get
enough in the course of their service.
8.
Food is the best medicine. You do not need
to
eat all the items just because they
are there. Choose what is best for your body.
9.
If you are very tired, do not eat. Take rest first because digestion
requires a lot of energy, and that
will make you more tired.
10.
When eating, facing north and east is better than south and west.
11.
Wash your feet before and after eating.
12.
Wash your
mouth ten times after eating.
13.
Best to eat sitting on the floor.
14.
Never sleep immediately after eating. Always wait at least 30 minutes
for digestion to take place. Not only Ayurveda
but
the dharma-sastras,
Puranas, and
Bible say that.
15.
Never take water after eating. Hot
drinks or hot water is OK.
16.
Raw items should be taken before cooked items.
17.
Ayurvedic medicines should be taken with hot water.
18.
Do not eat curd at night.
19.
Curd should be taken with sugar, dal,
or
pickle, never alone.
20.
Ayurveda
recommends
only four vegetable oils, coconut, sesame, peanut, or mustard. Never
olive oil.
21.
Food that is cooked in oil rather than ghee is preserved longer.
22.
Never put salt in milk.
23.
Banana shake is there in Ayurveda.
24.
Brahmacaris
should
eat
less
carrot, sweet potatoes, eggplant, and heavy pulses.
25.
Ayurveda
does
not recommend eating only raw vegetables. If you do, you will get old
age diseases early, like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases.
26.
Take as little water as possible.
27.
Ayurveda
says
never listen to your mind, listen to your body.
28.
Eat tasty but simple food. Use taste to make your body healthy.
29.
Eat when hungry.
30.
It is better to eat cold food when you are hungry than to eat hot
food when you are not hungry.
31.
If weakness accompanies our hunger, then it is true hunger.
32.
Never overeat. Ayurveda
recommends
eating until just a little hunger is left, not until we are completely
full.
33.
Do not eat from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. because the food will not be
digested with proper assimilation.
34.
Taking fruits with salt or chat masala is best.
35.
Excess is bad and too little is
bad.
Sleep:
1.
Sleep is a waste of time.
2.
Never sleep facing north. Sleep facing east for spirituality, facing
south for health, or facing west for economic development.
3.
Do not sleep more than 48 minutes at a time during the
daytime.
4.
Do not ever sleep between 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
5.
Wash feet before sleeping.
6.
Do not sleep on your belly.
7.
Conquer sleep by not sleeping.
8.
Many diseases are caused by not enough sleep so you cannot
artificially reduce it.
Job
of the Bible is mentioned by the name Yakub in the Puranas
but
more details are given.
2.
Chanting
[I
missed this session because of attending a class by Krishna Kshetra
Swami.]
3.
Service
You
cannot be a leader without being a servant, and if you serve nicely,
you will become a leader.
Service
is not just following but following in a way that is pleasing to the
person you are serving.
Originally
Ravana was very confident, thinking Rama was merely a man and He just
had a few monkeys, but when he saw Hanuman, just a single monkey,
demonstrated such power, he became scared. Rama was very pleased with
Hanuman’s additional activities in Lanka, although He only asked
him to find Sita.
It
is good to find some special service you can do to contribute to the
mission.
Responsibility
is to make sure your assigned task is completed despite the
difficulties involved.
Srila
Prabhupada says to use your intelligence fully and then depend on
Krishna.
After
seeing the facilities for storing his books at the BBT in LA, Srila
Prabhupada asked, “Where is the fire extinguisher?” That the
devotees had forgotten.
When
you are
doing
service, do not expect any help. Radharani does Her service to
Krishna like that. If someone does help, then you will feel
gratitude. If you realize you need help, plan ahead for it.
Two
problems in management: perfectionism and assumption
Sometimes
one person is assuming one thing and another person is assuming
another thing, but there is really no problem.
If
we eliminate assumption, we can eliminate unnecessary talking.
Manu-samhita
says
if you cannot do a service you should say no, not that you have to
say yes to all services.
Only
sudras
say
no immediately. Brahmanas
consider
how they can do something.
Even
if you are the most intelligent, if you do not speak nicely, no one
will listen to you.
If
you have a problem, always discuss.
Confucius
says it is not about being right or wrong according to your idea but
to please the person you are serving.
Most
people are not team players. There is a rule of team playing. If
there is a leader, you can discuss, but whatever the leader decides,
you do. If you are not willing to do that, then start your own
project and
be
the
leader yourself.
You
will be always enthusiastic to serve if you always think about how
much Krishna is doing for you.
Always
have friends, otherwise you cannot make it.
Be
busy, look busy, feel busy. That is the life of the servant.
We
cannot sustain our service without nicely chanting the holy names,
mostly in the morning.
4.
Leadership
The
leader should be expert to see how people fit and engage them
accordingly. If in some cases he cannot do that. He should share his
vision with them, so they feel inspired to help. He should give
seminars. The leader should also give the people some
time to pursue their
own things.
If
education is the basis, management becomes simple because people will
understand what they are doing.
The
goal of leadership is to make new leaders, not to lead your whole
life.
If
you want to learn management, learn from Paramatma.
He
just witnessing and sanctioning.
The
temple president of Houston summarized his realizations from twenty
years of management: Don’t manage people. Manage
for people.
A
successful leader creates services. Srila Prabhupada created services
for people, and thus so much expansion was there. In the Gaudiya
Math, they did not create services for people and thus there was no
expansion.
The
golden rule of management is to think that everything will go out of
control, and thus one must prepare oneself for the worst, and in this
way you will always
be
ready.
Never
forget to honor the smallest of services.
Comment
by me: Srila Prabhupada excelled in always appreciating the smallest
service.
One
person who managed for fifty years told me what he learned: We always
honor the people who do big things but if we also honor even the
smallest thing, then we will excel.
The
peacocks, busy with their dancing, had nothing to offer Krishna. Thus
Krishna took the feathers they left and put them in His
hair as an offering.
In
the West we just say “thank you,” but in the Vedic culture one
shows gratitude through action.
If
something is serious, do not call a meeting. Make it as informal a
discussion
as possible. Otherwise it will escalate.
If
you are a leader, make yourself accessible.
Things
leaders can do to avoid making themselves inaccessible:
Never
shout.
Never
sit in a closed room.
Lord
Rama would try to arrange the minimum punishment for a crime so the
offenders
would see that Rama was trying work for their benefit and that would increase
their faith in Him as the king.
Watch
your sadhana
as
a leader and make sure it does not
diminish.
Everyone
should know what everyone is doing.
Everyone
should have a notice board with their responsibilities listed to
remind themselves and others.
As
a leader, from a practical perspective, talking and listening are the
most important things.
A
leader must sometimes participate in what the others are doing.
Be
very clear and open with financial issues. Appoint someone to handle
them
for you.
Do
not change your decision again and again. Only change a decision for
the benefit of everyone and explain to everyone why.
5.
Balance
Keep
a balance in service, sadhana,
and health.
Mahotsaha
Prabhu:
Although
a new bhakta
may
not see that there is anything to be done in the temple, the temple
commander can think of many engagements for him. Although the
Mayavadis cannot imagine it, in the spiritual world there are
innumerable services the devotees can render to the Lord.
Krishna
is not attracted by the beauty of any women in this material world
for He is only attracted to the spiritual.
Krishna
makes Himself available to humanity through the words of His pure
devotees.
By
following what the great souls say, we can realize what the great
souls realize.
The
pastimes of Krishna are triumphantly victorious in all spheres, in
politics, in war, in romance.
Book
distribution did not just start with Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati
Thakura. When Sukadeva Goswami was speaking to Maharaja Pariksit he
was distributing a Bhagavatam
set.
When Suta Goswami was speaking to the sixty thousand sages at
Naimisaranya, he was distributing sixty thousand Bhagavatam
sets.
There
was one disciple of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura
who
was impressed with the learning of many of his learned sannyasi
disciples
like Bon Maharaja and decided to learn Sanskrit to realize the
subtleties of the scriptures. Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati advised him
to learn from the gardener, a young boy named Rama Dasa, who was
illiterate. The disciple was confused by this, and Rama Dasa was even
more confused. Because it was the order of Bhaktisiddhanta, the
disciple inquired from Rama Dasa about his realizations. Rama Dasa
said when I see these fruits and flowers offered to the Lord and used
for the pleasure of the devotees, I feel great satisfaction. The
disciple went back to his guru and asked him to explain.
Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati explained although Rama Dasa is illiterate,
he takes every opportunity to hear from from his guru, and he listens
with rapt attention, and thus he knows the import of all the
scriptures.
-----
We
tend to enter into relationships with people hoping that they will
reciprocate our love. In this age, we are often disappointed. We can
take heart from this verse of Bhagavad-gita
that
there exists at least one person who will infallibly reciprocate our
love and that is the Supreme Lord. Of course, to experience the
greatest reciprocation, one must completely surrender. That sounds a
bit scary, but actually it makes a lot of sense. We value our free
choice, but we have to admit we sometimes make mistakes because of
imperfect knowledge. To use our free will to follow the advice of
someone who is omniscience and benevolent, therefore, is actually
quite reasonable. To completely surrender to
Krishna requires
great faith, but we can begin by surrendering a little and
experiencing Krishna’s reciprocation with that little surrender.
Then with increased faith, we can surrender a little more and
experience a little more reciprocation. Thus we can gradually
increase our faith step by step, and that faith will not be blind but
based on our factual experience. In
this way someday we can come to the point where we completely give
ourselves to Krishna, and Krishna completely gives Himself to us.
Then we will achieve the supreme satisfaction.
ye
yatha mam prapadyante
tams
tathaiva bhajamy aham
mama
vartmanuvartante
manusyah
partha sarvasah
“As
all surrender unto Me, I reward them accordingly. Everyone follows My
path in all respects, O son of Pritha.” (Bhagavad-gita
4.11)