Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 16, No. 15
By Krishna Kripa Das
(August 2020, part one)
(August 2020, part one)
Orlando
(Sent from Tallahassee on August 21, 2020)
Where I Went and What I Did
I continued doing pujari work for three hours each morning at ISKCON Orlando, where I lived, and chanting Hare Krishna in an Orlando park for three hours later in the day. Four days I also did pujari work in the evening, so I had plenty of engagement in Orlando! Mostly I chanted alone in the park, but sometimes I was joined by Jeremiah or Seth or both, a couple times I was joined by Laura, and once by Gopal Govinda Shyama Prabhu and Avinash. During the first half of August, we celebrated Balarama Jayanti, Krishna Janmastami, and Srila Prabhupada’s Vyasa-puja, each with a small number of devotees who regularly do service at the temple. After the Vyasa-puja festival the devotees were so inspired, we had a party of twelve on harinama in Blanchard Park! The last Saturday we chanted at Lake Eola in downtown Orlando, which was much more crowded and a better spot than Blanchard Park, though half an hour away by car, and with Sri Govinda Bhasya Prabhu from Los Angeles joining us, we had a party of five devotees. Sunday, my final day in Orlando, we had six devotees chanting at Blanchard Park, which was a nice way to end my visit. In the winters, if we get more help in Tallahassee, I may go back to Orlando for some time and chant at University of Central Florida on the weekdays and Blanchard Park or Lake Eola on the weekends.
I share absolutely wonderful realizations from Srila Prabhupada’s lectures, conversations, and press conferences. I share many inspiring excerpts from the writing of Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami. I include amazing quotes from the Vedic literature revealing the divinity of Lord Caitanya and the great potency of chanting the Hare Krishna mantra which I found in Rajasekhara Prabhu’s latest book, Prabhupada in South India. I share a nice observation about sacrifice by Mahamsa Prabhu, also from that book. I share notes on a few of the Vyasa-puja offerings of Srila Prabhupada’s disciples which I read while proofreading Srila Prabhupada Tributes 2020. I share more notes on offerings here, as well as instructions for downloading the book: https://krishnamonk.blogspot.com/2020/08/nectar-from-srila-prabhupada-tributes.html
Thanks to Laura Costello for the video of me chanting Hare Krishna in Blanchard Park. Thanks to Avinash for lending us his phone to take the video of our Vyasa-puja harinama and most of our Lake Eola harinama. Thanks to Jeremiah for lending us his phone to take the video of the rest of that harinama. Thanks to Dvaipayana Prabhu for photos of our Janmastami and Vyasa-puja festivals. Thanks to all the Orlando devotees, led by Dvaipayana Prabhu, for their hospitality during my five-week stay in Orlando.
Itinerary
August 17–?: Tallahassee harinamas and Krishna Lunch at FSU service
November 27–28: Alachua Festival of the Holy Name
December 5: Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami Vyasa-puja
December 24: Albany
Chanting Hare Krishna in Orlando
The high point of my five-week visit to Orlando was the Vyasa-puja day harinama pictured above, which twelve devotees attended. We had not planned it ahead. I knew I was going to chant at the park anyway, and I decided if I went out immediately after the feast, it would be possible for others to also come. I was amazed by the response. Because I had to wake the deities that morning I had only slept two hours that night, and then I slept one hour after the morning program. I knew, however, if I took rest, everyone would go home, and I would have to chant myself, and thus I suggested we do harinama right after the feast, before people went home, and people were so inspired from the Janmastami and Vyasa-puja festivals that the idea was attractive to them.
Here Gopal Govinda Shyama Prabhu leads our party of twelve ISKCON Orlando devotees in chanting Hare Krishna at Blanchard Park on Vyasa-puja day after the feast (https://youtu.be/o2hZcuNdIPc):
Avinash chants Hare Krishna at Blanchard Park on Vyasa-puja day (https://youtu.be/7uDL1qgjDaY):
Gopal Govinda Shyama Prabhu chants Hare Krishna while two passersby listen and one dances with Ananta Dasi at Blanchard Park on Vyasa-puja day (https://youtu.be/sHxzI_sRNAU):
Ananta Dasi (in white) talked quite a bit with the young lady she danced with in the above video, and the lady, who had been walking her dog, stayed for half an hour or so, listening to the chanting and talking with Ananta. The big black guy, who was sitting on the ground, also listened for half an hour. I wanted to give him some literature, but I just had Spanish “On Chanting Hare Krishna” pamphlets and he did not speak Spanish. I asked the lady that Ananta was talking with if she spoke Spanish, and she did, so I traded her a Spanish pamphlet for an English one, so I could give it to the other person who was listening.
In addition to those two passersby who listened to our chanting, Seth talked to another nice young couple who were attracted by the chanting, and the lady bought a Bhagavad-gita from him. It was Seth’s birthday, and it was a nice birthday present from Krishna that he was able to sell a Gita that day, which was also the Vyasa-puja day of Srila Prabhupada.
It is absolutely wonderful that by Srila Prabhupada’s grace at least three new people were attracted by the chanting of Hare Krishna on that Vyasa-puja day harinama, and they all got some Krishna literature.
Seth was the most enthusiastic distributor of literature on my Orlando park harinamas. He noticed that after I had been chanting for a couple of weeks, interest in the literature increased, and he distributed in just forty-five minutes all ten copies of “On Chanting Hare Krishna” which I had brought out that day.
When Jaya-Radhika Shyama Devi Dasi posted her video of our Vyasa-puja harinama on Facebook, she commented: “Just the way Prabhupada started the movement – in a park under a tree.”
See our Facebook Live video of almost the entire Vyasa-puja harinama (https://youtu.be/Zy4vXLDOOC8):
Below are some other events from the first half of August in chronological order.
Krishna Kripa Das and Jeremiah chant Hare Krishna in Blanchard Park in Orlando (https://youtu.be/BefXCrlb2Qs):
As it rained almost all day due to a tropical storm, I decided to do a three-hour Hare Krishna kirtan at the ISKCON Orlando temple the first Sunday in August, the day before Balarama Purnima, instead of singing in the park. The ladies making the garlands sang the response some of the time, Dvaipayana Prabhu, the temple president led for part of the time, and Ananta Dasi, one of the garland makers, sang at the end, continuing the kirtan even beyond three hours (https://youtu.be/i9phBxgB5pc):
Here Krishna Kripa Das and Seth chant Hare Krishna in Blanchard Park in Orlando (https://youtu.be/D5X2P2cf8sA):
Krishna Kripa Das and Jeremiah chant Hare Krishna in Blanchard Park in Orlando (https://youtu.be/T6RIDVik4bE):
Laura Costello (above), a vegan activist who lived just two houses away from where Morgan Plummer of Krishna House grew up, took this video of me chanting Hare Krishna in Blanchard Park in Orlando (https://youtu.be/H43Y8iVenxw):
Laura chanted with me on a couple occasions, visited the temple twice, and accepted one of the vegan coconut sweets I made for Janmastami, which she liked. She also gave us flax seed bars that she had made herself, which I shared with Jeremiah.
Gopal Govinda Shyama Prabhu and his friend, Avinash, joined me in chanting Hare Krishna at Blanchard Park in Orlando (https://youtu.be/z0qGcy0EKBU):
Devotees decorated the altar beautifully on Janmastami,
and we had small Radha-Krishna deities present for the occasion.
Daily we dress the sacred Tulasi plant in a skirt,
but seeing her with a garland was rare and beautiful.
Here Gopal Govinda Shyama Prabhu chants a Hare Krishna tune and then encourages his friends to take the lead for one mantra each, at ISKCON Orlando on Janmastami (https://youtu.be/XQDh101fPtg):
Arjun Kheshav Singh, who studies in Dallas, chants Hare Krishna at ISKCON Orlando on Janmastami (https://youtu.be/2X-MuBIX8ak):
Keshava, son of Yagdesh Prabhu, chants Hare Krishna at ISKCON Orlando on Janmastami evening (https://youtu.be/uDMcx-NwjlY):
I think Keshava must have been a kirtan singer in his past life!
Yagdesh Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at ISKCON Orlando on Janmastami evening (https://youtu.be/WI0LIXWFZKE):
Ananta Dasi chants Hare Krishna at ISKCON Orlando on Janmastami evening (https://youtu.be/ju2yYQJIpus):
Devotees prepared all kinds of dishes for the Janmastami feast.
I made a vegan coconut sweet with quality ingredients which Jeremiah kindly purchased for me. Several people asked me for the recipe, so I shall include it here:
4 cups almond milk
⅝ cups coconut oil
2 cups coconut sugar
4–5 cups (10–12½ ounces) finely shredded dry unsweetened coconut
Boil almond milk, coconut oil, and coconut sugar together, stirring occasionally so it will not burn, unless the mixture is so thick that when put a drop of it in cold water, it retains its shape when you push it. Put in an 8"×8" pan and refrigerate. Cut into 64 squares. Offer to Krishna.
Devotees also decorated Srila Prabhupada wonderfully on Vyasa-puja day.
Gopal Govinda Shyama Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at ISKCON Orlando at Srila Prabhupada’s Vyasa-puja (https://youtu.be/J6pWP1RHfI8):
I made laddus for Srila Prabhupada’s Vyasa-puja day. Some people asked me for the recipe for those also, so I include it here:
¾ lb. (3 sticks) of butter
2½ cups besan (chick pea flour)
2½ cups powdered sugar (sifted if necessary to remove lumps)
Melt the butter over low heat, add the besan, and stir regularly so it does not burn. Cook until it is the color of the Srila Prabhupda murti. Take off the flame, and let it cool to room temperature. Stir in the powdered sugar a little at a time with a whisk until it is completely blended into the mixture. Put in an 8"×8" pan, covering ¾ of it, and refrigerate. Cut into 48 squares. Offer to Krishna.
Gopal Govinda Shyama Prabhu was enthusiastic to drive to Lake Eola in downtown Orlando to do harinama during the last Saturday of my visit there. Here he chants Hare Krishna at Lake Eola (https://youtu.be/ElV5zfzBVts):
Here is our Facebook Live video of the whole kirtan with the five devotees, led by Gopal Govinda Shyam Prabhu, Krishna Kripa Das, and Sri Govinda Bhasya Prabhu, chanting Hare Krishna at Lake Eola in downtown Orlando for over three hours that Saturday (https://youtu.be/s0MESrKnKRo):
The next day, Sri Govinda Bhasya Prabhu enthusiastically chanted Hare Krishna at Blanchard Park in Orlando, and Brittany and her daughter, Charlie, from Coco Beach, also participated (https://youtu.be/5tzmYybqG0s):
Jeremiah and Humberto, who regularly do temple service, also chanted with us in the park earlier that day.
Insights
Srila Prabhupada:
From a conversation with disciples at the Hyderabad farm on December 9, 1976:
“Hmm, taxation. So that is... You have created problem. When you transgress the laws of nature, this..., there is shortage of supply. And the government, on this plea they will tax to mitigate your miseries. Actually they will not be able to mitigate your miseries, but on the plea of your miseries they will levy taxes and divide amongst themselves. So this is another way of punishment. Because the government is your government, because you are rascal, so you elect some, another rascal. And they invent ways of rascaldom to mitigate your miseries. To avoid taxation means you become good man and you select your ruler, good men. Then there will be no taxation.”
“To solve all these problems, therefore, there must be a class of men, brahmanas. Not a class; a section of people must become brahmanas. And all other sections should consult them and live as ksatriyas, vaisyas, sudras.”
From a note given to Tejiyas to translate to Telegu for a lecture in December 1976 at the Hyderabad farm:
“Everyone is thinking that to accept the existence of God is optional, but it is not optional, it is nature’s way. Either you go back home, back to Godhead or you stay and suffer in the cycle of birth and death and rot in this material world.”
From a lecture at the Hyderabad farm on the disappearance day of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura on December 10, 1976:
“So we got this information from His Divine Grace Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, and that knowledge is still going on. You are receiving through his servant. And in future the same knowledge will go to your students. This is called parampara system. Evam parampara prap... It is not that you have become a student, and you’ll remain student. No. One day you shall become also guru and make more students, more students, more. That is Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s mission, not that perpetually... Yes, one should remain perpetually a student, but he has to act as guru. That is the mission of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. It is not that because I am acting as guru, I am no longer student. No, I am still student. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu taught us this instruction that we shall always remain a foolish student before our Guru Maharaja. That is the Vedic culture. I may be very big man, but still, I should remain a foolish student to my guru. That is the qualification.”
“Why we are fallen? Because we have forgotten. Our relationship with Krishna is eternal. Unless it was eternal, how you Western peoples could be devotee of Krishna? Artificially you cannot be a devotee of Krishna. The relationship is there eternally. Nitya-siddha krishna-bhakti. By the process it is now awakened. Sravanadi-suddha-citte karaye udaya [Cc Madhya 22.107]. (Pure love for Krishna is eternally established in the hearts of the living entities. It is not something to be gained from another source. When the heart is purified by hearing and chanting, this love naturally awakens.). It is awakened. Love between young man and young woman, it is not artificial. It is there. But by certain circumstantially, environment, the love becomes manifest. Similarly, our love for Krishna, relationship with Krishna, is eternal. Jivera svarupa haya nitya krishna-dasa [Cc Madhya 20.108]. But we have to create such situation that eternal relation should be awakened. That is the art. That is wanted.”
“Toll tax. That we are paying because we have forgotten Krishna. Therefore now we have manufactured the nuclear weapon—Russia, America—and you will have to pay heavily. They are already paying heavily. The armament preparation is going on. More than fifty percent of the income of the state are now being spent for this arm..., heavily. Instead of other purposes, it is being spent for military strength, every state. So that heavy toll we are paying. And when there is war there is no limit how much we are spending for this devastation. So why? Because we have forgotten Krishna. This is a fact.”
“You are American today. So tomorrow, even within America if you become an American cow or American animal, nobody will care for you. Nobody will care for your politics. But this art they do not know. This science they do not know. They are under illusion. They are thinking that ‘I shall continue to remain American, so let me waste my time for American interest,’ so-called interest. There cannot be any interest.”
“So keep this parampara system. This Vyasa-puja is parampara system. Vyasa-puja means to accept this parampara system. Vyasa. Guru is the representative of Vyasadeva because he does not change anything. What Vyasa-puja... What Vyasadeva said, your guru also will say the same thing. Not that ‘So many hundreds of thousands of years have passed away; therefore I will give you a new formula.’ No. There is no new formula. The same Vyasa-puja, the same philosophy. Simply we have to accept it, then our life will be successful.”
From a class on Bhagavad-gita 7.6 at the Hyderabad farm on December 11, 1976:
“So qualitatively we are one. God is good, so in quality we are good; we are not bad. But why you have become bad? Because we are now differently dressed. Dehatma-buddhih. A dog is thinking, ‘I am dog,’ and a man is thinking, ‘I am man.’ A cat is thinking, ‘I am cat.’ He is neither cat, neither dog, neither human being. He is part and parcel of God. Aham brahmasmi [I am spirit]. This is self-realization: ‘I am not this body.’ Just like we are differently dressed. So I am not the dress. I am human being; you are human being.”
“Now we are acting according to the covering. When we shall not act according to the covering but according to our constitutional position, that is liberated platform. Krishna consciousness means when we understand that ‘We are part and parcel of Krishna. Therefore our duty is to serve Krishna,’ this is self-realization; this is liberation. When we are fully convinced about this fact that ‘We are all part and parcel of Krishna. Our only duty is to serve Krishna,’ then you are liberated.”
“So everything is Krishna’s. So therefore this body, I am claiming, ‘It is my body.’ It is not my body. It is Krishna’s. Krishna is giving you. Just like father gives the dress to the children. Actually the dress belongs to the father.”
From a conversation at the Hyderabad farm on December 16, 1976:
“If you actually want people to be happy, if you actually want world peaceful situation, you have to take Bhagavad-gita as it is. Otherwise all your attempts will be failure. Because even Mahatma Gandhi, such a great personality, he did not take Bhagavad-gita as it is; therefore he was also failure, what to speak of us.”
From a press conference at the Hyderabad farm on December 16, 1976:
“The light is here. Just like apart from all other sastras, if you take Bhagavad-gita, it is the very brilliant light. It is not that changing. Five thousand years ago Krishna said, what, that is still the same thing. Just like light. Millions of years ago, what was sun, the same sun is there. In the light there is no change. In the darkness there is change. If we do not accept the standard knowledge of Bhagavad-gita, then we shall continue to remain in darkness, and there will be no solution of the problems of life. This is our propaganda. Krishna consciousness movement means that we are asking everywhere, all over the world, ‘You come to this light and be happy.’ That's it.”
“Asrama means an attempt to give some light. That is the difference.”
“The full light you can get from the Supreme Person, Krishna.”
“So you take light from Krishna. And that is full light, and you'll be happy. That is our Krishna consciousness movement. Don't be satisfied with glimpse of light. Take full light. And that is open to everyone just like the sunshine is open to everyone. If you want to remain in the darkness, in the room, that is your business. But you come to the... You can come to the full sunlight. That you can do. Where is the difficulty? Krishna is open to everyone. He is speaking everything openly. There is no secret mantra. Everything is there.”
“Indian reporter (4): You see Him in three dimensions?
“Prabhupada: Unlimited dimension. Three dimension for you because You cannot see Him. Otherwise He is unlimited. That’s it. But you cannot see unlimited. That is His mercy, that He presents Himself before you in three dimension because you have no eyes to see Him in His unlimited dimension. That is not possible. So it is His mercy. But He is not limited with three dimensions.”
“Indian reporter (5): So anyone can come and live here.
“Prabhupada: Oh, yes.
“Indian reporter (5): Irrespective of religion...
“Prabhupada: Oh, yes. Actually that is happening. Somebody has come from Germany, somebody from [indistinct], somebody Australia, somebody...
“Indian reporter (6): And even if he doesn't subscribe the siksa [instruction] to which you want them to. Even those who don't subscribe to...
“Prabhupada: Then how he can live? If he does not live like us, then how he can live?
“Indian reporter (6): That is his question. Supposing he doesn’t subscribe, still will he be allowed to come and live?
“Prabhupada: No, no, if he lives, then he will subscribe. Sangat sañjayate kamah. If you associate with good men you become a good man. If you associate with drunkard, you become a drunkard. So we are giving the chance, ‘Associate with us and you’ll be devotee.’ That is becoming. So we are giving that chance: ‘Come and live with us.’
“Indian reporter (6): And what are the other point of stress in temples...?
“Mahamsa: Yes. To facilitate a harmonious Krishna conscious community we will have all facilities. There will be temples.
“Prabhupada: Let them come here, live peacefully, eat sumptuously, get all the other necessities of life and become Krishna conscious. This is our... And we have no discrimination, Hindu, Muslim, Christian. No. We have got many Christians, many Jews, many Hindus, many Muslims, many Africans. They are taking to Krishna consciousness.”
Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami:
From Journal and Poems (January–June, 1985):
“During a November 1966 lecture, Srila Prabhupada stressed that all human beings are imperfect, no matter how expert they pretend to be. In the midst of his lecture Prabhupada began to cough, and he paused to drink water. While the evening crowd watched him, Srila Prabhupada remarked, ‘See our imperfectness. We have got imperfectness! Talking something. So how we can become perfect?’ Then he began to cough again, and he continued to give his own case as an example: ‘So, we are under the stringent rules and regulations of the nature.’ Even while in the midst of an apparently uncontrollable coughing fit, Prabhupada proved himself liberated from the body, and he used his ‘imperfection’ to enlighten us.
“Prabhupada also used his coughing as part of his preaching during a morning lecture in December 1966. After several prolonged interruptions by severe coughing, Prabhupada remarked, ‘Just see how material entanglement, karma, this body. At any moment. At any moment you can be finished. You will not be finished, but your activities. Therefore we should be very careful, because we have to pull on with this body. Because unless you are perfect in understanding Krishna, there is no relief from this body.’ Prabhupada then went on to say how one could never be free of the material body, even by suicide. But it was another magical display of preaching dexterity. Although in the grips of a bad winter cough, Prabhupada delivered his transcendental lesson about material frailties.”
“The nondevotees need to have so much explained! Most have no knowledge of the soul and at best only speculate about it. If they are not openly atheistic and say God is dead, then they speculate about Him in a whimsical way. They are like silkworms trapped in their own cocoons. They are like persons bound up in ropes (and their leaders are no better off than they are). They are like he-elephants who have been lured to fall into a covered well by a she-elephant. They are like little animals praising a big animal. They are like logs drifting forever down a river. But sometimes, as if by chance, a log goes on the shore. Somehow or other a covered soul gets the association of a pure devotee and hears with some faith. Maybe it is due to a past life in which they accidentally performed some pious activity. Or it may just be the causeless mercy of the empowered devotee that brings about the auspicious meeting. But only by the grace of the pure devotee can one come out of the prison of illusion and ignorance.
“Srila Prabhupada pulled me out of that prison, as he did thousands of others. Like reverberating waves from his force, or like stars reflecting his original light, we are able to reach out to others and give them the message unchanged, the chanting and the hearing of the holy name.”
From The Wild Garden: Collected Writings 1990–1993:
“I am foolish. I write in hopes of getting beyond foolishness. It doesn’t matter that I am a fool; I write and connect with Krishna consciousness. Anyone can write, and if he lives a sadhaka’s life, he can give the most valuable thing.”
From Memory in the Service of Krishna:
“I began to resent the time I was spending at my job for eight hours a day. The other boys, who had no jobs, could see him [Srila Prabhupada] all day. They would sit around him in his clean, sunny apartment while he talked about Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So I filled out an official resignation form and gave it to my boss. My reason: ‘To study the teachings of the Bhagavad-gita with my guru.’ During my lunch hour, I ran to Prabhupada and the boys to tell them the good news.
‘Oh, why is that?’ said Prabhupada. ‘You are offering such nice service." He seemed disappointed.
“‘But I want to come daily and be part of the camp. I want to learn Krishna consciousness.’
“Prabhupada smiled and then told me a story. There was once a faithful wife who had an ugly husband with a morose disposition. One day his wife asked, ‘Why are you so morose? I do anything you want but still you feel morose. Why is that?’
“‘I wish to have sex with a certain prostitute,’ he admitted, ‘but she costs one thousand rupees just for one night, and I cannot afford her.’
“The faithful wife said to her ugly husband, ‘Don’t worry, I shall arrange it.’ She immediately went to the prostitute’s house and began personally attending her by cleaning her room and performing other service. When the prostitute came home and noticed her activity she asked, ‘Why are you working here?’
“The woman said, ‘My husband desires to enjoy you, and I hope you will take my services as payment so that he might spend one night with you.’
“The prostitute laughed, ‘Don’t you realize that I cost over one thousand rupees a night? How can you ever raise that much money?’ So in addition to serving the prostitute, the wife turned to prostitution and eventually raised the required money. She told her husband, ‘All right, you can go to that prostitute now,’ and he gladly went.
“Prabhupada ended the story and said that people could criticize this wife as crazy and immoral, but nonetheless she was unquestionably faithful to her husband and tried her best to fulfill his desires. Prabhupada didn’t have to say more. I got the point: Although I did not think it was spiritually beneficial to work at the welfare office, he thought that by contributing the earnings from my job I was rendering the best possible service. So if that was what he required of me, I should do it and please Krishna. I was inspired by Prabhupada’s instructions in the form of this story. It was a wonderful way for him to tell me what he wanted, better than if he had said it in a bare sentence. His story convinced me to keep my job and be a ‘faithful wife’ at all costs.”
From My Relationship with Lord Krishna:
“Why do I seek You out? You are already in my heart. You are Krishna. You are in my self. I don’t mean that I have attained You, but my very self, that which is most precious and individual, is not apart from You. Srila Prabhupada said that I am a sample of God, a tiny spark of the whole. I seek to be joined with my Supreme Lord. That is my desire, even if I can’t express it properly.
“There is water all around. I think of death by drowning, death by being dashed against the rocks. Delicate bodies die. The sun is rising behind the mountain, and I see streaks and layers of blue clouds. The sun, like pure gold, is rising. This is Your universal form.
“I have my black thorn stick in case a seal comes up suddenly, or the rocks suddenly materialize into some threatening form. My body feels chilled. Let me not stay here where I don’t belong. I sought You and found You. Now I will go back to the house, walking and chanting the Hare Krishna mantra. I’ll find You as I enter the door of the house and chat with my friend. I’ll find You upstairs when I am alone again. I’ll find You when I bow before Prabhupada and offer him breakfast. I’ll find You all day, as the hours go by and I continue to write.”
From ISKCON in the 1970s: Diaries:
“Chant Hare Krishna as one who is lost and completely dependent on Krishna. That I have to remember—the reality of suffering and death. Countless living beings are now subject to great sufferings due to their karma. By spreading Krishna consciousness they can be relieved.”
From Wicklow Writings Sessions, Session #11:
“‘I’m sorry to hear your gerbils died…why don’t you try again to find some friends among devotees?’
“Some stay at a distance from him for fear they may appear in his writings, ‘I notice B. dasa was in maya at our gatherings.’
“‘Yeah, well we could do a job on you too, Gurudeva.’ Some do.
“Everyone’s entitled to say his bit.
“Sri Krishna Caitanya. I am not afraid. Or I will try not to be afraid.”
“So, write your own September song in ISKCON, traveling and reading. That’s all you’ve got to tell. You don’t have some other thing to offer. If people don’t want it, or if it doesn’t turn out to be artistic and literary, then I’m sorry. But I can’t take back my KC life and try to sell something else. I can’t compromise with Mayavadis and nondevotees. Write the way it is, a KC life. And you live that life, so you have a good story to tell.”
From Free Write Journal #104:
“I heard Sacinandana Swami talking about Krishna-karnamrta. He said when Bilvamangala made himself blind on the way to Vrindavan, all the strings on Cintamani’s vina broke where she was living in Hardwar. She wondered whether the breaking of the strings had something to do with Bilvamangala Thakura. She inquired about him and learned there was a blind babaji living in Vrindavan, and that people said Krishna came to him every day and delivered sweet rice. He was singing beautiful songs about Krishna of his own composition. Cintamani, who was Bilvamangala’s vartma-pradarsaka guru, wanted to see him. She traveled to Vrindavan and found him at Brahma-kunda. He was indeed blind, but he was happy singing songs of Krishna and Radha. She went up to him and spoke to him. She said she would like to receive a pot of sweet rice from Krishna just as he got one every day. Krishna appeared with two pots of sweet rice, and they shared it. Cintamani received saksad-darsana of Krishna in His eternal form, and Bilvamangala saw Radha and Krishna in his heart.”
From Journal and Poems, Volume Two (July–December 1985):
“WHAT CONFUSION! AND WHAT A MASTER!
“‘Swamiji,’ I asked, ‘I feel like I am many different persons, but how do I know which person I should be to please Krishna? If I have many different selves, which self would He like me to be?’ Looking at me and then replying before the room full of people, Srila Prabhupada said, ‘This boy Steve is very nice. He does typing for me, and sometimes he gives me donations. So you should all do like this.’
“From perverted, mirrored selves,
from New York City madness,
he pulls me out.
“Out of the jungle,
out of word jumble — a servant.
“After guru's praise,
a happy boy
sings in the storefront.”
“Ability to write is a sensitive thing, just like a fine-tuned instrument. The things to write about are always there, eternally existing — Krishna’s presence in the spiritual world, the material manifestation and all its particulars, and intimate relationships with Krishna—but the ability to suddenly speak and to speak well is not to be commanded. It is up to Krishna. So we say the dumb man can speak like a wonderful speaker. Everything is always there, full of meaning and potential poetry, but we remain sometimes dumb or sometimes too garrulous, but sometimes we are able to speak well in Krishna consciousness by the grace of the guru.
“When the ears that have been hearing Krishna’s message turn to the sounds of nature, and when the eyes absorbed in reading Srimad-Bhagavatam look up at the trees and the birds, or when the tongue that has been chanting and hearing Hare Krishna turns to other speech—only then does Krishna conscious vision of nature (sastra-caksuh) spring forth. After hearing the select messages from the eternal world, then we can see through our purified senses Krishna in everything, and rejoice in His greatness, even in the smallest things.”
From Japa Reform Notebook:
“So while you are chanting, you don’t have to get to something else or go somewhere else or wait for ‘it’ to happen, but you just have to realize that this is actually Krishna. Then, as you realize Krishna more, you get more into the chanting. You realize that the chanting is simply to chant Krishna’s name, and you want to do it more and more.
“Of course, in a sense it is true that the chanting leads to a breakthrough and to higher understanding, but to higher understanding of the same thing—that Krishna is His name, that Krishna is actually His name. And then you realize it more—that actually Krishna is His name. Sometimes we gain a little understanding of it. We say, ‘You know, I’ve been chanting. I am understanding that actually the name is Krishna.’ Or we may be reading and then understand, ‘Oh, actually the name is Krishna. Krishna is His name, Krishna is so wonderful, and Krishna is appearing in His name.’ Improving chanting means realizing this more and more. Just like with the Deity— Krishna is standing on the altar, so we keep going and seeing Krishna. The best way to take His darsana is to get more and more realization that Krishna is actually here. Not that you have to see a light coming from the Deity or see Him move, but He has come in this form. He’s exactly Krishna in this brass form. He’s not brass, He’s Krishna—but exactly as He is. The name is like this. The name is actually Krishna. Not that by chanting—then something else. But the sound vibration is Krishna. It's just a matter of becoming submissive or receptive. Prabhupada uses the phrase ‘aural reception.’ We produce this sound, and we hear it; this is yoga. Therefore, it’s such a simple process. We can make all advancement.”
“The beads of wood pass through his fingers; japa begins for the tiny jiva, pacing and calling out to Krishna in pre-dawn solitude.
“It cleans the heart of the dust accumulated from many lifetimes; it extinguishes the fire of repeated birth and death. It is not so easy. But even the shadow-name offered by a shadow devotee, even the first step, counts a million times better than anything else.
“He has the beads properly in his hands and the name on his lips. He walks, but he tires. But if he sits, he sleeps. They say even the beginner is engaged in love of God, just as an unripe mango is a mango even though not like the ripened mango.
“. . . . Just the utterance will save him, as it saved Ajamila. He pours out so many names, all imperfect from the chanter, like poorly-manufactured products from a defective assembly line—and yet each name retains its perfection.
“. . . Guides of the holy name, please grant the extra spark of mercy to the slow chanters of Your holy names! Ah, but You have already done this! Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu has gone to unlimited lengths to deliver us by this easiest and sublime method. It is up to us. Now if we refuse! No, it is unspeakable. We must accept—we will not remain so fallen.
“The Vaisnava poet declares that he must have been cursed by Yamaraja and therefore he has no taste for devotional practices. Yet it is also true that Srila Prabhupada has come and rescued us from our own distaste for bhakti. By his chanting and dancing we are attracted, and by his order we go on patiently, placing the maha-mantra on our heads and aspiring to serve Him.”
From Imperfection Purity Will Come About:
“The next song is everyone’s favorite, ‘suddha-bhakata-carana-renu.’ I remember reading it in a small collection of unpublished translations passed among the devotees. It struck me more than the other passages. It opened a window for me to understand bliss. It is such an open acknowledgment of the joy Bhaktivinoda Thakura feels in devotional service. It can be true for us too.
“‘My mind always begs for the opportunity to hear the music of the mrdanga.’ (Srila Prabhupada said, ‘When I hear a mrdanga played in Germany, I become ecstatic’—the joy of the world preacher.) ‘Upon hearing the kirtana ordained by Lord Caitanya, my heart dances in ecstasy.’ (Saranagati 6.3.4)
“‘I feel the greatest joy when I see the Deity forms of Radha and Krishna. When I honor the Lord’s prasada, I conquer over worldly illusions. Miracles take place by the simple execution of bhakti practices in the heart of the pure devotee. Especially this one—‘Goloka Vrindavan appears in my home whenever I see the worship and service of Lord Hari taking place there.’ On reading these lines, we want to tell each other, ‘Look what can happen!’
“When I first read the next line, it was translated like this: ‘When I take the caranamrta which flows from the Deities, I see it as the Ganges coming directly from the lotus feet of Krishna.’
“It depends on your purity, but all these things are possible and potent within the seva. Everyone can meditate like this. We simply have to look at our everyday occurrences with faith. Have faith in the activities that are favorable to pure devotional service. They are designed to provoke ecstasy. Tulasi devi pleases Krishna, so if you serve her, why will you not see how she pleases Him? When you honor sak, one of Lord Caitanya’s favorite vegetable preparations, you can consider your life worthwhile.
“Do what is favorable.”
From My Dear Lord Krishna:
“I want to be a priest. I want to inquire more about You and know more about You. I want to have a sweet relationship with You, more than a relationship of awe and reverence. I want to keep advancing in my relationship with You and not be stagnant. I want to go on a date with You and converse and have fun with You. I want to be very grave about my relationship with You, very serious. I want to celebrate with You. I want to sit with You and honor the remnants of Your food. I want to feel the sensation that You’re paying attention to me only, the way You do when You’re having lunch with the cowherd boys and each one thinks You’re looking at him only. I want You to trust me to carry a message from You to the gopis. I want to take part in tollgate pastimes with You and block the gopis from going past without paying You a toll. I want to hear the witty talk that You engage with them when You defeat them and when they sometimes defeat You.
“I want to see You confront a great demon and not be afraid and witness You kill and deliver him. I want to be a student in Your class where You are teaching as Nimai Pandit and be able to keep up with the lesson, which is all about Krishna. I’d like to see You frighten demons like Aristasura (the bull demon) and Bakasura (the duck demon) and see them be very scared of You.
“I’d like to see You in nature—really see You in a flower, like the lilac on a spring day (‘of seasons, I am flower-bearing spring’), in an isolated stretch of beach with mild breakers, in a big oak tree, in a pansy.
“I’d like to see You in my heart as two-armed Krishna and in my small Radha-Govinda murti in saksad darsana.
“I want to feel very humble and unworthy before You, yet maintain ‘hope against hope.’ I want to glimpse Your personal beauty and feel proud that You are my Lord. I want to feel Your protection against dangers. I want to enjoy laughter with You and feel secure in Your company. I want to feel conviction in the various verses in Bhagavad-gita where You are speaking directly to me, like, ‘Declare it boldly, My devotee will never perish,’ and ‘He who worships Me and bows down to Me will come to Me,’ and ‘He who thinks of Me at the time of death will come to Me,’ and ‘He who knows the nature of My appearance and activities will not upon leaving the body come back to this world but will come to Me.’
“I want You to accept me as Your devotee and as a bona fide disciple of Srila Prabhupada. I want to please You with loving service. I specifically want to chant the Hare Krishna mantra with love. There are many other things I wish to achieve in my relationship with You, and I will mention them at another time. I want to go on petitioning You and praising You always.”
From Wicklow Writing Sessions, Session #13:
“He [Krishna] is the first and the last letter in the alphabet and every one in between. He does that through His all-pervading energies. So, you cannot be apart from Him. There is no non-Krishna atmosphere. But there is a place of antagonistic people who are disobeying Krishna. Even that is allowed by Him, and He punishes them through His material nature. If a pure devotee goes to such a place, he will see Krishna living there in various ways and he will try in a humble effort to do Krishna’s work. But sometimes it seems there is nothing you can do, the asuras have such control. Thousands of people are so averse to Krishna. Yes, it is like that sometimes.”
Rajasekhara Prabhu:
From Prabhupada in South India:
“In the Mundaka Upanisad, the Lord Himself declares, ‘I am the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Being summoned by the incarnation of Maha-Vishnu, Advaita Acarya, I will descend from Goloka-Dhama and appear on the earth planet during the first sandhya of Kali-yuga—in Navadvipa on the banks of the Ganges. I will appear in the form of a brahmana with a large golden complexioned body measuring four hands, endowed with the thirty-two signs of a maha-purusa, and bearing the title Misra. Then, decorated with all of the auspicious qualities of a maha-bhagavata, endowed with renunciation, devoid of worldly desires, and learned in the science of pure devotional service, I will accept sannyasa, as a devotee relishing the mellows of ecstatic love for Krishna.’”
“In the Brahmanda Purana, Romaharsana Suta offers the following prayer to Srila Vyasadeva, ‘O master, O mighty one! Please glorify the Hari-nama mantra situated in transcendence, the cause of all perfection! The embodied soul who accepts this mantra will become filled with transcendence and by accepting it, even a drunkard will attain all perfections. I will recite this mantra to you, for you are a swan-like maha-bhagavata. “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.” These sixteen names can destroy the sins of the three worlds, and nothing higher than them is to be found in all the Vedas.’
“The Agni Purana resonates, ‘Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare: Whoever chants this mantra, even neglectfully, will attain the supreme goal of life. Of this there is no doubt.’
“The Padma Purana says, ‘Any Vaishnava who chants this mantra consisting of thirty-two syllables and sixteen names will attain the abode of Radha and Krishna.’
“Also in the same Padma Purana there is the following statement on the congregational chanting of the maha-mantra, ‘Anyone who dances in front of Sri Hari and loudly chants the Hari-nama maha-mantra will destroy all witches of sin. Just as the water of sacred rivers like the Ganga purifies the universe, similarly those who circumambulate Sri Hari and loudly perform nama sankirtana of the sixteen-word maha-mantra with sweet voices and while clapping the hands, purify the entire universe.’
“The Ananta-samhita of the Pañcaratra-agama deliberates further, ‘Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare’ This sixteen-name, thirty-two syllable mantra is the maha-mantra in the age of Kali, by which all living beings can be delivered. One should never abandon chanting this maha-mantra and take to other so-called purificatory processes which are practiced by rascals, or engage in chanting other metrical compositions of the name of Krishna that are against the pure conclusions of the scriptures, or are filled with rasabhasa. About this divine spiritual maha-mantra, which delivers one from material existence, the original guru, Lord Brahma, has said, “The srutis have declared this mantra to be the best means of deliverance in the age of Kali.” Having heard this from Brahma, the sons and disciples of Brahma, beginning with Narada, all accepted the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, and having meditated on it, attained perfection.’”
Gopisa Prabhu:
From his Vyasa-puja offering in Srila Prabhupada Tributes 2020:
“Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu broke open the storehouse of love of Godhead, you gathered up its contents, packed it up in a trunk and carried it around the world, freely giving it away to any and all, no matter the qualification or lack thereof.”
Sukhavaha Devi Dasi:
From her Vyasa-puja offering in Srila Prabhupada Tributes 2020:
“Dearest father, master, and guide,
Bowing to you, in prayer I confide,
Though I, most certainly, unqualified,
Even still, your mercy was not denied.
“How gracious are you!
“Though outwardly you were tested and tried.
Your guru’s order in your heart fortified.
With faith, you accepted Krishna’s free ride,
Though in the belly of that ship, you almost died.
“How committed are you!
“With no viable, visible support from outside,
Your compassionate love spread far and wide
Whatever you needed, Krishna supplied.
Showing the power of prayer from inside.
“How devotional are you!
“Though I, a fool, so full of pride.
You open my eyes, exposing I have lied,
To myself mostly, though I cannot hide
Your clear words at my closed heart pried.
“How transparent are you!
“Never giving up, though you openly cried,
You persevered, your faith did abide.
Spreading the holy name worldwide
With Guru and Krishna ever by your side.
“How resolute are you!
“Your life epitomized what your words implied.
Pure and simple, by your message I was tied.
You showed us how Krishna would always provide.
By your inspiration, we gratefully complied.
“How supportive are you!
“You asked us to cooperate instead of collide;
To curb our tongue, our senses subside;
To diligently chant, devotion applied;
Bringing back the mind whenever it would slide.
“How attentive are you!
“Smiling and nodding as we meagerly tried
Encouraging us when we got fried
Without you, dear father, to hell I would glide
Your life is a tribute, love exemplified.
“How caring are you!
“You showed us that maya never gratified
Instead ever binds us, our soul defied.
Through service we learn to be satisfied
As our connection to you becomes solidified.
“How available are you!
“Not looking for quick fixes from the outside,
I pray that I find my soul buried inside;
That my tiny love becomes intensified
As you actively continue to be my guide.
“How grateful am I!”
Vidyananda Prabhu:
[Note: Vidyananda Prabhu just passed away on August 17, 2020.]
From his Vyasa-puja offering in Srila Prabhupada Tributes 2020:
“Mostly, I just remember that Prabhupada saved me and he continues to save me every day.”
Dayanidhi Prabhu:
From his Vyasa-puja offering in Srila Prabhupada Tributes 2020:
“Srila Prabhupada, thanks to you, our old age is becoming the best age. l feel younger and younger, because you give me strength, day after day, and because of you l feel I’m entering in the eternal life.”
Madhavi-Devi Dasi:
From her Vyasa-puja offering in Srila Prabhupada Tributes 2020:
“My only wish is that you be pleased to engage me in the service of your mission to bring Satya-yuga to this dark Age of Kali, as you describe in Srimad-Bhagavatam. Your glories will shine above all the turmoil and warring when all of us fulfill our duties to you, and the holy names are being sung on every street corner, and every bookshelf displays your glorious, unmatched, original books. I only live for doing my small part.”
Mahamsa Prabhu:
From Prabhupada in South India:
“One thing he said which always struck me is he never lost vision on book distribution. . . . One side of him was always stuck in book distribution. What he said about the New Naimisaranya [the farm outside Hyderabad], he said, ‘You have so much land. You don’t need so much land to feed the thousand people. But you must grow wheat or rice or whatever you grow, one area must be used. You sell the produce and make profit and with the profit, you must buy paper.’ He says, ‘With the profit, you must buy paper and store the paper very nicely because in the future paper will cost a lot and then our printing of books will become costly. It would be difficult to print books at a reasonable rate for easy distribution.’ His vision on book distribution never wavered. . . . Even on Naimisaranya farm, he focused on book distribution.”
“Prabhupada said, ‘Chant the holy name.’ That yajña is called sankirtana-yajña. It is a yajña, just like we do fire sacrifice, we do some mantras, we do some tapasya, we do some sacrifice. This is called yajña, it’s a sacrifice. Sankirtana is a yajña. It’s not just to sing and dance. That’s a side effect. The happiness is a side effect, but it’s a yajña. One must do it to please the Lord and then the demigods are pleased, they will give rain.”
Krishna Kripa Das:
From his unfinished Vyasa-puja offering to Srila Prabhupada:
“Today we glorify you as a representative of Srila Vyasadeva, and what an amazing representative of Srila Vyasadeva you are!
“Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.7.6) states, ‘The material miseries of the living entity, which are superfluous to him, can be directly mitigated by the linking process of devotional service. But the mass of people do not know this, and therefore the learned Vyasadeva compiled this Vedic literature, which is in relation to the Supreme Truth.’ You took this Vedic literature, Srimad-Bhagavatam, and translated it into English, elaborately explaining it, and you spoke on it in many countries all over the world. You convinced your followers to translate into their local languages and to distribute millions of copies of it. Thus you made the ultimate literary contribution of Srila Vyasadeva available all of the world thus directly mitigating the miseries of the people. How this happens is described in the next verse. ‘Simply by giving aural reception to this Vedic literature, the feeling for loving devotional service to Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, sprouts up at once to extinguish the fire of lamentation, illusion and fearfulness.’ (Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.7.7)
“You are also the ultimate representative of Lord Caitanya, the Supreme Lord Himself, who predicted that chanting of His holy name would be preached in every town and village. You took the chanting outside of India to dozens of countries all of the world.”
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Srila Prabhupada spoke a lot about sacrifice in Hyderabad, as Mahamsa Prabhu mentions above. There are two famous verses in Bhagavad-gita Chapter 3, and the first, verse 9, deals with how sacrifice to the Supreme Lord must be performed, otherwise our work binds us to this material world which is full of miseries. Verse 10 goes on explain that the Lord blessed humanity with sacrifices which would allow them to prosper in this world and ultimately to transcend this world and attain the spiritual realm. In the purport to that verse, Srila Prabhupada explains that the congregational chanting of the holy names of the Supreme Lord is the only sacrifice that is recommended in this age. Thus while I am performing the congregational chanting for three hours in public every day, from time to time I remember that I am performing the recommended sacrifice.
yajñarthat karmano ’nyatra
loko ’yam karma-bandhanah
tad-artham karma kaunteya
mukta-sangah samacara
“Work done as a sacrifice for Vishnu [the Supreme Lord of all creatures] has to be performed; otherwise work causes bondage in this material world. Therefore, O son of Kunti, perform your prescribed duties for His satisfaction, and in that way you will always remain free from bondage.” (Bhagavad-gita 3.9)