Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 16, No. 13
By Krishna Kripa Das
(July 2020, part one)
(July 2020, part one)
Tallahassee and Orlando
Where I Went and What I Did
I continued staying in our Tallahassee temple, chanting Hare Krishna for three hours each day on the porch with the other devotees involved with that project, until we ended our Krishna Lunch there on July 10 for an indefinite time. That day Ramiya Prabhu gave me a ride to Alachua, and from there, Janardana Prabhu gave me a ride the next morning to ISKCON Orlando. Thus I did not lose even a day of chanting due to the move!
In Orlando I am helping out with the deity worship and chanting Hare Krishna three hours a day at Blanchard Park from July 11 through the middle of the month, and beyond. I also began proofreading Srila Prabhupada Tributes, a book containing the offerings of over three hundred disciples of Srila Prabhupada, which I look forward to sharing some selections from in my next journal.
I share quotes from Srila Prabhupada’s books, lectures, and morning walks. I share excerpts of the writing of Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami. I share notes on a fascinating lecture by Akhandadhi Prabhu from the UK on Gita Daily. I share quotes by Rajasekara, Sravanananda, and Yasodanandana Prabhus from Prabhupada in South India. I also include notes on a class by Brajananda Prabhu speaking in Tallahassee. After my itinerary, near the beginning of this journal, I have a special section on Bhakti Charu Swami, with some links to a bhajan and a couple of lectures, and notes on some offerings by Prabhupada disciples, namely Rtadhjava Swami, and Guru Gauranga, Kalakantha, and Sesa Prabhus, speaking as part of a memorial service organized by Krishna House and Govardhana Dasi, speaking at the Newcastle UK Sunday program.
Thanks to Alexa Norris for the photo of me chanting at Blanchard Park.
Itinerary
July 11–August 16: Orlando harinamas at Jay Blanchard Park
August 17–?: Tallahassee harinamas
November 27–28: Alachua Festival of the Holy Name
December 5: Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami Vyasa-puja
December 24: Albany
Bhakti Charu Swami
It is big news in ISKCON that the well known, exemplary, and faithful disciple of Srila Prabhupada, Bhakti Charu Swami, left his body on July 4, the disappearance day of Sanatana Goswami and the first day of caturmasya. He was so well liked because of his Vaishnava qualities that his disappearance is perhaps more shocking than that of anyone since Srila Prabhupada himself disappeared in 1977. Here I will say a few things myself and then include my notes on a memorial service for Bhakti Charu Swami at Krishna House and notes on a class about him by his godsister, Govardhana Dasi, who I do harinama with in the North of England and Paris.
Srila Prabhupada was asked to describe his own guru, and Prabhupada said, “What can I say, he was a Vaikuntha man [a resident of the spiritual world]?” Bhakti Charu Swami seems to be in a similar category. He is someone you can only think of good things to say about.
Unfortunately, I did not have so much personal association with him. I do remember him for leading the sweetest mangala-arati kirtanas of anyone in Mayapur.
Bhakti Charu Swami did a joint parikrama of Navadvipa with my Guru Maharaja, Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami, during Karttika of 1994. His disciples gave me a three-tape set of his recordings at that time, and these included his singing the ninth verse of the “Gopi Gita,” a favorite of Lord Caitanya, which was so sweet that it stuck in my mind for all these years.
The verse reads:
tava kathamritam tapta-jivanam
kavibhir iditam kalmasapaham
sravana-mangalam srimad atatam
bhuvi grnanti ye bhuri-da janah
[The gopis said to Krishna:] “The nectar of Your words and the descriptions of Your activities are the life and soul of those suffering in this material world. These narrations, transmitted by learned sages, eradicate one’s sinful reactions and bestow good fortune upon whoever hears them. These narrations are broadcast all over the world and are filled with spiritual power. Certainly those who spread the message of Godhead are most munificent.” (SB 10.31.9)
In this recording, Bhakti Charu Swami starts with that most famous verse, and then returns to the beginning and chants the first four verses of the “Gopi Gita” [Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto 10, Chapter 31] (https://youtu.be/VzcTbKxUxNA):
This is a brief speech where Bhakti Charu Swami explains why he risked coming to America (https://youtu.be/OeYUVQnjBUY):
This is the last class Bhakti Charu Swami gave in which he tells many details about the last days of Srila Prabhupada’s life as he was serving him at that time (https://youtu.be/j43K42hcNyo):
Hearing so much glorification of Bhakti Charu Swami for the last few days by people having a personal relationship with him, I felt a little left out. The temple president of ISKCON Orlando, Dvaipayana Prabhu, told me a story that changed that.
Dvaipayana Prabhu was explaining to Bhakti Charu Swami just a few days before he disappeared that he was living in the temple so he could do the early morning deity service while his wife was living at home. Bhakti Charu Swami appreciated his desire to serve the deity, but considered that for husband and wife to live apart was a bad example for householders in general. He was so adamant about it that he told Dvaipayana that he would make some arrangement. Dvaipayana explained that Bhakti Charu Swami was a doer, and if he said he would make an arrangement, then he would make an arrangement. Just a few days later Bhakti Charu Swami left this world, and I came down here to do the early morning deity service. Thus I find myself, at least for three and a half weeks, unknowingly serving as the arrangement of Bhakti Charu Swami so that Dvaipayana Prabhu could live with his wife while Their Most Merciful Lordships Nitai Gaura Nataraj would continue to be served. Thus I see Bhakti Charu Swami is showing me mercy by expertly engaging me in his service even in his absence!
Dvaipayana Prabhu was explaining to Bhakti Charu Swami just a few days before he disappeared that he was living in the temple so he could do the early morning deity service while his wife was living at home. Bhakti Charu Swami appreciated his desire to serve the deity, but considered that for husband and wife to live apart was a bad example for householders in general. He was so adamant about it that he told Dvaipayana that he would make some arrangement. Dvaipayana explained that Bhakti Charu Swami was a doer, and if he said he would make an arrangement, then he would make an arrangement. Just a few days later Bhakti Charu Swami left this world, and I came down here to do the early morning deity service. Thus I find myself, at least for three and a half weeks, unknowingly serving as the arrangement of Bhakti Charu Swami so that Dvaipayana Prabhu could live with his wife while Their Most Merciful Lordships Nitai Gaura Nataraj would continue to be served. Thus I see Bhakti Charu Swami is showing me mercy by expertly engaging me in his service even in his absence!
Notes on a Krishna House Online Memorial Service for Bhakti Charu Swami
Rtadhvaja Swami:
When Bhakti Charu Swami visited the boys ashram he said he liked pizza. I ordered some pizzas from Jaya Sri, Hansarupa’s wife, and all these pizzas started showing up. He said, “Isn’t there a girls ashram here?”
I said, “Yes,” and I phoned them up, and Laksmimoni and a van of girls came, and we all had pizza. He asked how much it all cost, and he paid the full price for it. Thus he became a hero in our ashram.
He was able to be himself wherever it was, and what he was was something special.
Guru Gauranga Prabhu:
He was not a taker of seva [service] but a giver of care.
The last time I experienced a tidal wave like this was when Srila Prabhupada passed away.
Kalakantha Prabhu:
When disciples wondered how Prabhupada was initiating so quickly this Bhakta Kishor, a very new man, Srila Prabhupada responded, “I can see purity. You cannot.”
Especially at the GBC meetings, it was so evident that Bhakti Charu Swami was measured, thoughtful, calm, encouraging, and devoted to Srila Prabhupada.
He was jovial and pleased to see people.
Visiting his project in Deland, I saw his sincere desire to help ISKCON in the West.
Bhakti Charu Swami speaks nicely in a video about his position supporting female diksa gurus.
Sesa Prabhu:
He wanted to be relevant to people.
Notes on Govardhana Dasi’s Class on Bhakti Charu Swami at ISKCON Newcastle
We should not have faith in Krishna just because He has fulfilled some desire of ours [such as our desire that our guru be cured].
Bhakti Charu Swami was ultimately Srila Prabhupada conscious. There is no other place he could go than where Srila Prabhupada is.
Kripamoya Prabhu said that Srila Prabhupada’s Godbrother B. R. Sridhar Maharaja asked Bhakti Charu Swami to take over his Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math when he left this world, but Bhakti Charu Swami politely declined because of his dedication to Srila Prabhupada.
Bhakti Charu Swami very much pushed the statement of Srila Prabhupada that his disciples’ love for him would be shown by their cooperation to spread his mission.
Vaisesika Prabhu says the grief one feels when a person leaves is actually a glorification of that person.
Radhanath Swami said of Bhakti Charu Swami that Srila Prabhupada called him and that no one can keep the two of them apart.
Bhaktivedanta Manor has a nice video of people speaking for several hours about Bhakti Charu Swami.
Chanting Hare Krishna in Tallahassee
I share some highlights of our last ten days of harinama in Tallahassee.
Here Brajananda Prabhu leads all of seven of us in chanting Hare Krishna at Tallahassee Krishna Lunch the day before Dharmaraja Prabhu, our cook, who is standing and playing gong, returned to San Diego. At first only four devotees are in the kirtan, and then three more join (https://youtu.be/oq0XRR_ESzE):
Lexi, who recently completed her degree in nursing and who was president of the Buddhist Student Association at Florida State University, chants Hare Krishna enthusiastically (https://youtu.be/jnrN-aNOr78):
Kumari Sakhi Devi Dasi chants Hare Krishna on the last day of Tallahassee Krishna Lunch for the summer, and six devotees participate (https://youtu.be/3jPfghmgAFE):
Joey, a Tallahassee local, plays the guitar and chants Hare Krishna on the last day of Krishna Lunch (https://youtu.be/-dDXSUxt6RI):
In addition to myself, Linda, Kumari Sakhi Devi Dasi, Joey, Chris, and Daniel each took turns in leading our final kirtan at Krishna Lunch in Tallahassee (https://youtu.be/ilel1Q9UlsA):
Here Kumari Sakhi Devi Dasi and I lead the Hare Krishna chant on the final day of Tallahassee Krishna Lunch, and two daughters of Camilo, our neighbor from Haiti who thrice played instruments with us, dance next to his apartment building, which you can see behind Linda, our server (https://youtu.be/-XXPKCYOsWk):
Later I gave Camilo and his kids carob coconut burfi prasadam I made as a goodbye gift for my friends.
On that final day, I announced to the Facebook viewers of our live kirtanas: “We are suspending our Krishna Lunch and temple programs in Tallahassee for now since we cannot serve lunch at the campus for the forseeable future, and we thus cannot maintain this place. I want to thank you all for your likes, loves, and cares, and for your supportive comments. Special thanks to Sudevi Dasi for the fans. I would like to thank my devotional singers Brajananda Das, Kumari Sakhi Devi Dasi, Linda, Chris, Daniel, Dharmaraja Das, and Krsna Tone (Arjuna Abhimanyu Das) who all resided here, and our guests, Jorge, Lexi, Michael, Camilo, Daniel, [Joey] and Freddy, who sometimes joined us, for sharing their devotion. I plan to continue my three-hour daily kirtan program in my next venue, Orlando, very soon. All glories to the Sri Krishna nama-sankirtana!”
Different people made supportive comments including:
Lilananda Dasa, disciple of Srila Prabhupada, from Alachua:
“Thank you for everyone’s service in Tallahassee.”
Maralee Mrgaksi Ash, disciple of Srila Prabhupada and performer: “❤️🙏❤️”
Lexi, former president of the FSU Buddhist Student Association and helper at Krishna Lunch:
“It [Krishna Lunch] was doing so well! I feel honored to be a part of it and to have been able to experience it at all. It is very unfortunate.”
Yamaraja Das of Alachua:
“Very sorry to hear about this you and all the devotees did a wonderful job Krishna has more Arrangements for you.🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏💖💖💖.”
Jayasri Radha Devi Dasi of South Florida:
“Hare Krishna..Very sorry to hear that you have to end it for now. I hope someday soon again! Thank you all for your efforts! Krishna will bless you all for that! Nitai Gauranga Hari bol! Jaya Srila Prabhupada!”
Mantra Murti:
“Thank you for your service. Haribol.”
Sudevi Dasi of Tampa:
“This is sad, I pray that by Krishna’s arrangement a program like this in Tallahassee will resume. I got attached to watching you Prabhus every day. Hopefully international travel will open and be safer so you can show us all the wonderful devotees all over the world. I know that you remain undisturbed in your service of daily Harinam wherever you are and will be. Glories to sankirtan movement! Glories to Srila Prabhupada.🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏My obeisances to each of you out there.”
John H. Oleksy of Alachua [now moving to Tallahassee to repair our building!]:
“You are such a stalant warrior of Lord Chaitanya.”
Krishna Priya:
“Thank you for your dedicated seva [service].”
Melonie Kaye Gibbens:
“Hare Krishna❤️”
Helen Kellett of Sheffield:
“Haribol 🙏 All glories to all the devotees 🙏 Thank you so much for sharing your daily kirtana 🙏”
Bhismadeva Dasa of Gainesville:
“All glories to the assembled devotees! ☺️🙌”
Keli Vrndavan Devi Dasi of London, who shared almost every kirtan on Facebook:
“Oh no.. no more lunch and Kirtan daily????”
Here are our statistics for our last ten days of harinama in Tallahassee:
In previous months an average of one hundred or so people would view
the kirtan for each day, but this month it was 229!
Thank you for supporting our attempts to keep daily public chanting of Hare Krishna alive in ISKCON for the pleasure of Srila Prabhupada.
Chanting Hare Krishna in Orlando
I was very happy to learn that there is a park called Blanchard Park within walking distance of the temple, and that Dvaipayana Prabhu, the temple president, was happy to have me chant Hare Krishna there. Although leaders in many other temples consider it too risky to go out to parks, because I play at least 20 feet (6 meters) away from passersby, and I wear a mask while walking to and from the park, it does not seem like a serious risk to me. I also take four different medicines to boost my immune system. I chant at the park three hours each day. The first day I encountered a thunderstorm in the middle of my walk there, which was certainly a disruption, so I was careful to check the weather every day after that. Every second day or so someone would interact with me in some positive way, and I encountered no negativity. The heat, the bugs, the lawn mowers and weed eaters, and occasional blasting radios or music devices were sometimes a nuisance, but otherwise the park was a peaceful place to chant Hare Krishna and wave to the passersby. People would come to the park to ride bikes, to jog, to skateboard, to rollerblade, to play tennis, and to go fishing, and if fortunate, they would hear the holy name and become free from a lot of bad karma and get a seed of devotion to the Lord planted in their hearts.
One young guy, who came to the park to work out, was intrigued by my instrument, mistaking it for an accordion as many people do. I explained that it was a harmonium. I told him the song was a mantra that had the power to transform your consciousness. He was a sound engineer at Valencia College, and out of curiosity he recorded half a mantra on his device, and he accepted On Chanting Hare Krishna and a card for ISKCON Orlando.
The next day a student stopped by who had been meditating elsewhere in the park. He said it had not gone well. He had encountered some mental negativity. Then he saw me playing music and decided to stop and listen. I explained the mantra I was chanting was so powerful it can free one from negative emotions like lust, greed, and anger. In the hundreds of thousands of verses of India’s revealed literature this mantra is mentioned as destroying all the anomalies of this age, which is just what we need. He accepted Krishna, the Reservoir of Pleasure, On Chanting Hare Krishna, the invitation card for ISKCON Orlando, and my email address, and he offered a donation. Although he does music for fun, he is an English literature major, and as he knew of Henry David Thoreau, I read to him Thoreau’s amazing quote about Bhagavad-gita, which I had memorized: “In the morning I bathe my intellect in the stupendous and cosmogonal philosophy of the Bhagavad-gita in comparison with which our modern world and its literature seem puny and trivial.” He was impressed to hear it, he wrote me later in the day about buying Bhagavad-gita and finding the Aindra kirtans which I had told him about. I hope to keep in touch with him and share more of Srila Prabhupada’s gifts.
The following day a young man came with a group of about fifteen kids to engage them in some sports in the park. They set their belongings on the picnic table closest to mine and played nearby. Some of the kids were attracted by the kirtan, including a couple of girls, who said it was beautiful, when I walked past them on my way home.
Insights
Srila Prabhupada:
From a class on Srimad-Bhagavatam 5.5.2 in Hyderabad on April 12, 1975:
“Heart is cleansed means you understand that you are not this material body. That is cleansing of heart. Everything is going on on this misunderstanding that ‘I am this body.’ ‘I am Indian,’ ‘I am American,’ ‘I am this,’ ‘I am that.’ This is the grossest type of misunderstanding. So that becomes clear. Then you stand on your own position, brahma-bhutah prasannatma na socati na kanksati [Bg. 18.54].”
“So if you follow the instruction and if we chant, even though we do not understand in the beginning what is the effect of chanting Hare Krishna mantra, but it will show its effect if you go on chanting. Just like I began this movement in America. I did not ask them anything; I simply invited them, ‘Please come and chant with me.’ And just see the result. It is practical. I never bribed them, nor I showed any magic. I simply asked them, ‘Chant Hare Krishna.’ And see the result. It is practical.”
“Absolute surrender means anyabhilasita-sunyam [Brs. 1.1.11]. I am surrendering to Krishna to get this benefit—that is conditional surrender. I surrender to Krishna without any motive—that is absolute, anyabhilasita-sunyam, jñana-karmady anavritam, anukulyena krishnanu, silanam bhaktir uttama [Brs. 1.1.11]. No motive. That is required. If I think that I shall get some benefit—that is business. That is not bhakti. That is taught by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Aslisya va pada-ratam pinastu mam, marma-hatam karoty va adarsanan, yatha tatha va vidadhatu lampato, mat-prana-nathas tu sa eva naparah [Cc. Antya 20.47]. ‘You can treat me like anything. You can make me brokenhearted by Your absence. Still You are my Lord.’ That is unconditional surrender.”
“We are at the present moment conditioned, so many conditions. So mukti means to live without condition.”
“So those who are su-medhasah means with good brain substance, they perform yajnair sankirtanair by sankirtana yajna, Hare Krishna. Just see the effect of Hare Krishna mantra. This yajna being performed all over the world, how quickly they are capturing Krishna consciousness. Just see the effect practically. Therefore those who are intelligent, having good brain substance, they should perform yajna sankirtana . . . , and worship Lord Caitanya. Sri-krishna-caitanya prabhu-nityananda, sri-advaita gadadhara srivasadi-gaura-bhakta-vrinda.”
“Question: Do you ever feel Krishna’s presence, or see Him?
Prabhupada: Yes, you can feel also. Premañjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena santah sadaiva hridayesu vilokayanti [Bs. 5.38]. This is the formula of seeing Krishna: premañjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena santah sadaiva hridayesu vilokayanti yam syamasundaram acintya-guna-svarupam govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami [Bs. 5.38] If you have developed your love of Krishna, then you’ll see Him twenty-four hours. Just like you, if you love somebody, you’ll always think of him. That is natural. So the first qualification is whether you have developed that love for Krishna. Then you’ll see twenty-four hours.”
“So if any person has understood the science of Krishna and wants to keep friendship with Him, relationship with Him, friendly way… You can keep your relationship with Krishna in so many ways. You can keep your friendship with Krishna; you can love Krishna as your master or as your son or as your lover. Krishna is ready. There are twelve kinds of rasas, mellows, to establish relationship with Krishna out of faith. Five rasas are principal, mukhara: santa, dasya, sakhya, vatsalya, madhurya. And seven rasas are indirect. . . . Krishna has got all the rasas, but the indirect rasas cannot be enjoyed in the spiritual world.”
From a lecture on Bhagavad-gita 3.27 in Madras on January 1, 1976:
“Indian (5): Swamiji, what is the color of Krishna? It is blue or black? Not according to sastra [scripture], but your experience.
Prabhupada: So if you kindly advance in Krishna consciousness, then you will understand. (applause and laughter)”
“Indian (6): What is the main purpose of meditation?
Prabhupada: What is that? Meditation? Dhyanavasthita-tad-gatena manasa pasyanti yam yoginah [SB 12.13.1]. This is meditation, that by meditation that they try to find out Krishna within your heart because Krishna is situated everyone’s heart. Isvarah sarva-bhutanam hrd-dese arjuna tisthati [Bg. 18.61]. So that is dhyana [meditation]—find out. In the sastra we understand, ‘Krishna is within my heart.’ And if you meditate, try to find out Krishna, then, if you are fortunate, you’ll be able to see Him. This is meditation.”
From a Morning Walk in Nellore on January 6, 1975:
“Prabhupada: Then the same example: If the finger thinks that it is separate from the body, that is ignorance, because the finger is required by the body to serve the body. So if he thinks, ‘No, I’ll not serve you because I am different’, that is ignorance. That is ignorance. That is going on. These Mayavadis, they refuse to serve God. That is ignorance. If they are part and parcel of God or one with God, how you can refuse to serve? That is ignorant. Here the finger is my part and parcel of the body. It cannot refuse to serve. I say; immediately it comes. So if the finger thinks that ‘I am one. Why shall I serve the whole body?’ that is ignorance. Cetana. Cetana means activity. So if I am one with God, then my activities should be simultaneously with God. That is oneness. I don’t disagree. God says, ‘You do it.’ I disagree. God says, ‘You surrender unto Me,’ but I refuse. That is ignorance. If I am actually one with God, just I am asking, ‘You do this’—you do immediately. But if you do not do it, that is ignorance. Gurur avajña. Then he becomes aparadhi. Similarly, oneness means no disagreement. That is oneness, cetana. Cetana means I can disagree or agree. Two things are there. That is cetana. So cetana, cetanas cetananam. So when God says that ‘You do it’, you must do it. That is agreement. That is oneness. If you refuse, that is ignorance. How can you refuse? Suppose you.... Take the whole family, and the head of the families asks somebody to do something. If he refuses, then that is rebellious condition. In the state the citizen must agree with the government. Cetana. Cetana means he has got both the things. If he likes, he can agree; if he likes, he does not agree.”
“Mahamsa: [break] ...om tad vishnoh paramam padam. That claims Vishnu as the Supreme, but where does it say that Vishnu..., I mean Krishna, is the source of Vishnu from the srutis?
Prabhupada: Brahma said, isvarah paramah krishnah [Bs. 5.1].
Acyutananda: Brahma-samhita is sruti.
Prabhupada: Yes. Brahma spoke sruti, Vedas, so whatever he speaks is sruti. It is therefore called samhita. Samhita means Vedas, sruti. As soon as it is called samhita, that is Vedas.”
From a class on Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.8.43 in Los Angeles on May 5, 1973:
“Now, why one person should be worshiped by so many persons? Because the one person provides so many person. Eko yo bahunam vidadhati kaman [Katha Upanisad 2.2.13]. God is also person. He’s one; we are many. God is worshiped because He provides everyone. He gives food, maintenance. All the necessities of life, God is supplying. Therefore He should be worshiped.”
“The king’s duty is to see as representative of Krishna, as representative of God. Otherwise . . . what right he has got to take so much honor from the citizens? He has no right. And because the kings – formerly every country there were kings, monarchy – they violated, they rebelled against God, they became themselves God, that ‘I have got so much property, kingdom. I am God. I am the Lord of all I survey.’ So when they usurped the power of God, the all monarchies in the world is now finished. Because they did not act as representative of God. They thought their personal property the kingdom. No. That is not actually fact. Fact is everything belongs to God. Isavasyam idam sarvam [Isopanisad mantra 1].”
From a class on Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.16.19 in Honolulu on January 15, 1974:
“Just like if there is some epidemic, disease, and if you take vaccine, it is supposed that you are freed from the contamination. So this vaccine of chanting Hare Krishna maha-mantra will keep you fit without any contamination of this Age of Kali. And that is happening. All over the world people are chanting Hare Krishna maha-mantra. And practically we see, those who are chanting, they’re becoming free from the contamination. If you follow the rules and regulation, very simple thing, and chant Hare Krishna maha-mantra—that is our only request—then, in spite of this contaminated Age of Kali, you’ll be saved.”
From a class in Mayapur on 20 June 1973:
“This is the law of nature. If you become disobedient to God, then prakrti, or nature, will give you trouble in so many ways. And as soon as you become submissive, surrender to Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, there will be no more natural disturbances.”
From Krishna: The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Chapter 89:
“Those who are actually eager to be liberated from material entanglement would do well to accept at once the conclusion given by Sri Sukadeva Gosvami. In the beginning of Srimad-Bhagavatam, which is spoken by Sukadeva Gosvami, it is said that hearing Srimad-Bhagavatam is extremely conducive to liberation. The same fact is now confirmed by Suta Gosvami: if anyone who is traveling aimlessly within this material world cares to hear the nectarean words spoken by Sukadeva Gosvami, certainly he will come to the right conclusion, which is that simply by discharging devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead one will be able to stop the fatigue of perpetually migrating from one material body to another. In other words, one who becomes fixed in loving devotional service to Vishnu will certainly be able to get relief from this journey of material life, and the process is very simple: one has to give aural reception to the sweet words spoken by Sukadeva Gosvami in the form of Srimad-Bhagavatam.”
“Any opulent position a person may have within this material world is due to Krishna’s mercy. One should therefore always be in Krishna consciousness, in complete gratefulness to Lord Krishna, because whatever one may possess is all bestowed by Him.”
From Krishna: The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Chapter 90:
“Some devotees of the Lord who want to love the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the mellow of conjugal love are elevated to the position of becoming wives of Krishna, and Krishna keeps them always attached to Him by His kind behavior. Krishna’s behavior with His wives – His movements, His talking with them, His smiling, His embracing and similar other activities, which are just like those of a loving husband – kept them always very much attached to Him. That is the highest perfection of life. If someone remains always attached to Krishna, it is to be understood that he is liberated, and his life is successful. With any devotee who loves Krishna with his heart and soul, Krishna reciprocates in such a way that the devotee cannot but remain attached to Him. The reciprocal dealings of Krishna and His devotees are so attractive that a devotee cannot think of any subject matter other than Krishna.”
From a class on Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.1.1–5 in Boston on December 22, 1969:
“This puranam, this old history of the world... This is also history. Just like this incidence, Pariksit Maharaja was cursed by a brahmana; he was the king, emperor of the world, and how he met his death, these things are described in this history. Is it not? So this is also history. But it is not ordinary history, not history, chronological history, as we generally mean, but it is a history of the most important men in the world. Just like Pariksit Maharaja. He is the most important, at least one of the most important kings in the world. His history of death and life is historical fact.”
Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami:
From Wicklow Writing Sessions, Session #6:
“SP says the method of attaining Vaikuntha is very simple. It’s Hare Krishna. He wanted us to increase the number of Hare Krishna people. That was his desire. He saw it increased in his lifetime and wanted it more and more. The potential was there and yet it was not as big as he wanted it to be. He enjoyed the fabulous growth of ISKCON but also saw it rejected by the masses. He got a handful and couldn’t go further, it seemed. Just a few hundred or a few thousand. He was greedy for Krishna. To have any start in the West is hardly imaginable. But when he saw the masses were not taking it, he saw that he had a small movement of interested persons. And it wasn’t as popular as other movements. And he also began to see that some devotees took to it and then later gave it up.”
“I can’t think of something jolly and personal and artistic and KC enough to say, therefore I don’t speak at all. No, it’s better to speak even if it’s halting, not so deep, it’s at least a reaching out. So, do it. Yes, I’ll do it.”
From Free Write Journal #99:
“Sacinandana Swami spoke at length about Krishna-karnamrta by Bilvamangala Thakura. Lord Caitanya found these two most valuable books, Krishna-karnamrta and Brahma-samhita, on His southern tour of India. He had them copied and brought back to Jagannatha Puri to be distributed to the devotees there. Maharaja told some new facts about Bilvamangala’s life. When Cintamani spoke the fateful words to Bilvamangala—that if he had as much attachment to Krishna as he had to her body, he would be a great devotee of the Lord—these words awakened and transformed him (as well as Cintamani!). He started out for Vrindavan. He wanted to distribute prasadam to the poor sadhus living there. On the journey he came upon a procession where a young girl who had just died was being carried. He followed that procession and watched them bury her. (The custom was young children were not cremated but buried.) This young princess was covered with costly decorations. Bilvamangala waited until night and then he dug up the burial spot in order to take the jewels. While he was doing so, a voice called out to him: “What are you doing? Leave me alone!” Apparently the girl wasn’t dead yet, and he became frightened. She gave him some assurance and said that at her house, at the foot of the bed, there were buried two golden bricks, and he could have them for his feeding the sadhus. Bilvamangala went to the king and told him about this, and the king discovered the gold bricks and turned them over to Bilvamangala Thakura. He held a feast for the sadhus of Vrindavan, but so many people came that he ran out of bhoga. So he went back to the burial spot and again dug it up to get the princess’s jewelry. Again she cried out, “What are you doing! Leave me alone! You are so greedy to feed the sadhus. You must be punished!” She told him he would have to be reborn, but in a good family of aristocrats or transcendentalists. And in his future birth he would meet up again with Cintamani. So it came to pass. But the two were so transformed that they were not interested in each other for sense gratification. Cintamani played the vina and sang songs to Krishna, and Bilvamangala accompanied her playing a mrdanga. All night they sang songs glorifying Krishna, and they tasted a bliss far beyond what they had known when they romantically enjoyed one another in sense gratification. In the morning, Cintamani set out for Haridvara, and Bilvamangala went off to search for Vrindavan.”
From Japa Transformations:
“Chanting Hare Krishna,
counting up the rounds
is not the highest standard,
but it’s good you
haven’t given up.
“Chanting Hare Krishna is the
merciful sacrifice.
“You get credit for your effort,
you get comfort for your try.
“We were reading Radha-krpa-kataksa-stava-raja, and I noticed that I wasn’t paying attention to the meaning or mood of it. Then I thought how my japa is the same way, but it is possible to think of the meaning. This is the difficulty in japa. It also occurred to me that no one can do this for me. We are each entirely alone in the applications of our minds to hearing the holy names. If we think we can allow someone else to do it for us, we are mistaken. Sri Krishna doesn’t want to do our chanting for us. He wants us to chant. Our guru also wants us to chant; not that he chants for us or that we think an obedient disciple is mindless, a robot operating under his guru’s will. ‘It is easy to be neglectful. No one will notice. I can satisfy the devotees by making an appearance, sitting with them, fingering my beads and enunciating the names. They see me and hear my chanting, but they don’t know what I’m thinking while I chant. I want to start noticing. Thanks anyway, but I have to accept my neophyte talk and guide others too. When you accept priesthood, you don’t give it up later. When you sincerely accept the responsibility of guiding others, you don’t give up on that. But I do want to stop the charade, be as honest as possible—that truthfulness will be one of the important qualities I will impart to others.’”
From One Hundred Prabhupada Poems:
“I said some people speak against milk
purchased from stores. They say it’s supporting
cow slaughter. But Prabhupada took it.
He wanted people to drink milk and then
when they were convinced it was good
they’d stop killing cows.
He said, ‘Take her blood as milk, but don’t kill her.’”
“ISKCON has to get itself together first
before we can hope to unite the world.”
From Wicklow Writing Sessions, Session #7:
“O Krishna, I do want to say that whatever You want me to do, wherever You send me, will be for my further purification.”
“We say, ‘Oh well, at least I didn’t desert the ranks but stayed.’”
From Free Write Journal #100:
“You ask me is it hard for me to chant my sixteen rounds now. You ask what awaits you if you live up to 80? I am 80½, and I have no problem in chanting my daily quota. I try to avoid the ten offenses. I may be chanting on the clearing stage. But I have not attained suddha-sattva or pure chanting in bhava—that still eludes me. I go on chanting with hope and enthusiasm, waiting for the day when I will fully taste the nectar of the Holy Name.
“You should not worry that you will be unable to chant sixteen rounds if you grow to an old age. Rest assured, you’ll still be able to chant even as you grow aged. The chanting is such a simple method, and if you have been practicing steadily for years it will not be hard to keep up, even if you grow old. Prabhupada has given us a liberal concession to chant only sixteen rounds, and anyone can do it if they try.
“The only thing that may hold you back is if you still chant while committing the ten offenses. So try your best to chant offenselessly while you are still able to chant in a healthy condition.”
From Japa Reform Notebook:
“There are ten offenses in chanting Hare Krishna. They involve not only the time when we sit down to chant japa, but our whole devotional life. . . .By the time you sit down to chant, it’s already determined by your service attitude—you’ve either already committed the offenses, or you haven’t. Both the offenseless chanting and the following are interdependent.”
“At that time, when nothing can be grabbed onto and you have to leave your own mind’s thought, then you must be able to CHANT HARE KRISHNA. If then instead you try to grab hold of that which no longer can save you, if you cry out to that which you are leaving, then that action becomes karma, and again you come back to the material world and play at being familiar and comfortable and ambitious and living, as if it were permanent. So I want to do all my duties and have normal consciousness, yes, but I want to become attached to this chanting, chanting deeply attached to the holy name.
“Do your duty but maintain an aloofness from whatever is not lasting. Attachment to chanting and hearing is the essence of Krishna conscious work in the Krishna consciousness movement. Don’t shirk the nitty-gritty work of ISKCON, and don’t become caught up in temporary anxiety or pleasure. The art is of being on the mark—Krishna conscious. The chanting and hearing is essence. Even when dealing with a practical problem, Srila Prabhupada was seeing it and soon speaking of it in absolute terms. Chanting especially promotes this: leave everything aside and chant the holy name. Then we can take up even our most demanding preaching duties in this world with vigor and endurance.”
From The Wild Garden: Collected Writings 1990–1993:
“But I have to be aware of what others are doing before I tell them to do something else. Therefore all I said was, ‘Add sravanam-kirtanam. Who will not be attracted to the narrations of uttama-sloka except one who is a butcher, or one who is killing his own self?’ Someone has to remind us to read. That’s my job.”
From Wicklow Writing Sessions, Session #8:
“Hare Krishna comes straight from Krishnaloka but with chanting I do have a connection, and optimism that the holy name is always doing wonders in mouth and life when I chant early in the morning. ‘O holy name!’ You hope it is effective in others’ lives and in your life, it is the cornerstone of the day.”
“Srila Prabhupada speaks of Gandhiji, who dedicated his life to his country and one of his countrymen shot him. But if you serve Krishna, He will never be ungrateful. He is grateful for whatever you do, and it never suffers loss or diminution. Please have faith in the character of these dealings.”
“I’m the servant of the servant of the servant a thousand times removed. We swim in the current of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. We are swimming in the current of the Lord.”
“I used to be many things but now it has been thirty years that I have been Your devotee in this lifetime. I am blessed by him who came to allow us to serve him. I don’t want my relationship with him to become fossilized or to be just something by habit or stiff tradition. It is love fresh and daily renewed. You have to fight for it.”
Akhandadhi Prabhu:
From a talk on Gita Daily on July 7, 2020:
David Morehouse, who had been employed by the CIA, led us in a workshop on remote viewing at my retreat center in Wales. As a result of his work he was amazed that we have a process that reveals that consciousness is beyond the limitations of the body, and here it is used by the military for spying, instead of revealing to humanity important knowledge about the nature of consciousness.
I do not think the number of real physicalists is really that large. They are prominent. But I think at least 70% of people in general have inklings there is something beyond physical reality.
I think we can show logically that consciousness is non-neural. With all the research in neurology, you cannot point to anything that proves consciousness arises from the neurons.
Panpsychism has unexpectedly become popular in recent years in consciousness studies.
Why is it a problem for a scientist that research on the nature of consciousness might lead to conclusions supporting ideas of the soul and God?
Humility and awe in presence of what I am learning are important in consciousness studies.
It is difficult for people in neurology to reveal their personal ideas that consciousness may be nonphysical.
Science is a great methodology for gathering information about the material world, and it is fine when that is all it does. It has put a boundary around what it can explore, which is fine. The problem is when scientists make pronouncements about what is outside that boundary instead of simply remaining silent.
The problem is physicalism as a belief system.
Persons whose beliefs are not founded on reason, whether religious or physicalist, do not respond well when their faith is challenged.
There is plenty of evidence that thought precedes brain activity rather than vice versa.
Many people have the understanding that there is an absolute source of everything. The question is “is the source sentient or inert?” My studies show me that consciousness is not a product of matter, so I conclude that the source must be sentient.
Rajasekhara Prabhu:
From Prabhupada in South India:
“Srila Jiva Gosvami, whom the followers of Lord Chaitanya consider the foremost of all Vedic philosophers, emphasizes this in his Tattva-sandarbha (17.4), where he quotes the Skanda Purana (Prabhasakhanda 2.93): ‘O brahmanas, one who is fully conversant with the four Vedas, the six Vedangas, and the Upanisads, but who has not also studied the Itihasas or the Puranas, is not actually learned in Vedic knowledge.’ The superiority of the Puranas and Itihasas is described in the following passage from the Narada Purana, where Lord Shiva is quoted as saying, ‘O beautiful Parvati, I consider the Puranas and Itihasas superior to the Vedas, for whatever truths are present in the Vedas are also explained in these ancient works. Of this there is no doubt.’”
Sravanananda Prabhu:
Quoted in Prabhupada in South India:
“We had at one time conducted a program at the famous Parthasarathi temple in Madras. Some of our devotees often made comments about the Deity of Krishna in that temple having a mustache. So our devotees asked some local people at the Parthasarathi temple, ‘Why the mustache?’
They said, ‘Krishna is Parthasarathi. In the Battle of Kurukshetra, He is a ksatriya and most ksatriyas have mustaches.”
So when Prabhupada was here, devotees asked him about that and Prabhupada commented by touching his lip very gently and said, “Nava-yauvanam. Krishna never is beyond the age of a young boy that has just some light hair on his lip like…”
And the devotee said, ‘Peach fuzz.’
And Prabhupada said, ‘Yes. He has no mustache.’
So that was a very nice intimate time with Prabhupada where he’s telling us exactly about Krishna’s true appearance.”
Yasodananda Prabhu:
Quoted in Prabhupada in South India:
“This is a very important point because so many times Srila Prabhupada would be asked about social welfare, feeding the poor, establishing mundane schools, mundane feeding programs and Prabhupada would always come back to this point of engaging people in devotional service so that they would not have to come back and suffer again. This is a very significant part of his preaching.”
“In 1976, in the months leading up to Janmastami, there was hardly any rain and the drought was pretty severe. On the very night when we started the Vedic ceremonies for the opening of the temple, the drought broke. There was some very heavy rain, and the drought was finished. Many of the newspapers, they also recognized Srila Prabhupada’s potency and potency of Krishna consciousness movement. There were two or three droughts in Andhra Pradesh. There was one in ’72 and another one in ’74 or ’75, and one in ’76 when we opened the temple at Janmastami time. On all of these occasions Prabhupada credited the end of the drought to the sankirtana movement and the activities of the Krishna consciousness, the chanting, the preaching, and the distribution of books. Prabhupada would often quote that, ‘This is the result of the sankirtana movement.’ Even some local newspapers and people agreed that this drought had ended because of the influence and the potency of the Krishna consciousness movement.”
Brajananda Prabhu:
During his exile, Yudhisthira spent most of his time with the sages in the forest hearing about Krishna because that was his nature. He did not want to the rule the kingdom. He only did it because Krishna wanted him to.
Krishna starts things, and Krishna stops things. He creates whole universes and then destroys them.
Whenever Pundarika would come here [to do repair work on the temple], he would say, “Vishnu even destroys His own temples!”
We can control how we react to change. We can choose to take shelter of Krishna.
Krishna is willing to give us all benedictions. We just have to be ready to receive them.
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The guru of Lord Caitanya, Isvara Puri, happy to see his disciple had attained the goal of life, love of Godhead, by chanting the holy name of the Lord, spoke this verse of instruction to Lord Caitanya, advising Him to continue chanting the holy name and dancing in the association of devotees and to advise others about the value of chanting the holy name. The revealed literature of India known as the Vedas recommends the congregational chanting of the holy name of the Lord as the best method for achieving spiritual success in this age, and this verse is another needed reminder from one so great in knowledge that the Supreme Lord chose to become his disciple:
naca, gao, bhakta-sange kara sankirtana
krishna-nama upadesi’ tara’ sarva-jana
“‘My dear child, continue dancing, chanting and performing sankirtana [chanting of the holy name in assembly] in association with devotees. Furthermore, go out and preach the value of chanting Krishna-nama [the holy name of Krishna], for by this process You will be able to deliver all fallen souls.’” (Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Adi-lila 7.92)