Paris
(Sent from New Mayapur, France, on August 21, 2021)
Where I Went and What I Did
Through the middle of August, I continued living at ISKCON Paris in Sarcelles, chanting Hare Krishna for three hours each day, mostly in Paris. Tuesdays I would chant at a local train station, Garges Sarcelles, for part of the time. I would also cook breakfast one day a week, do the 4 p.m. fruit offering and arati two days a week, and spend a day helping clean up the temple. I would also attend the Sunday morning class and Wednesday evening kirtan programs at Yoga Lyrique in downtown Paris. August was special in that we chanted along a canal across from a yoga center for the first time, and two yoga teachers came by who were friends of the devotees, and they became regular attenders on harinama, coming out once a week after that. Thus we found for Lord Caitanya a new spot to sing His divine names and some new singers to join His sankirtana.
I share notes on Srila Prabhupada’s lectures on Srimad-Bhagavatam and quotes from his books, primarily The Nectar of Devotion. I share excerpts from the writing of Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami. I share quotes from Vrindavan Das Thakura’s Caitanya-Bhagavata and from Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura’s commentary on it. I share notes on classes in Sarcelles by Gaudamandala Prabhu and Sita Thakurani and Manisirani Devi Dasis. I also share notes on classes in Paris by Aksayananda and Rohininandana Prabhus.
Itinerary
July 12–August 18: Paris harinamas
August 18–22: Balarama festival at New Mayapur, France
August 23: flight from Paris to Tallahassee
August 24–September 14: Tallahassee harinamas and college outreach
September 16–17: Orlando harinamas and college outreach
September 18: Clearwater Ratha-yatra
September 19: Lake Eola harinama and ISKCON Orlando Sunday Feast
September 20–22: Tampa harinamas and college outreach
September 23–24: Philadelphia harinamas
September 25: Philadelphia Ratha-yatra
September 26–January 3, 2022: NYC Harinam
January 5‒April: Tallahassee harinamas and college outreach
Chanting Hare Krishna in Paris
Because Janananda Goswami and Chandra both considered the Canal Saint-Martin to be a place frequented by alternative people, I decided to chant across the canal from Jivan Mukti yoga studio, and Ian, who remembered me from Union Square, stopped by on his way to teach yoga, praising our choice of sankirtana spots.
Ian, who lived in New York City for sixteen years and taught yoga at the Bhakti Center, said he was hoping that sometime there would be sankirtana there along the canal by the yoga studio, and he was happy to see me and Chandra, who he also knew, chanting there.
Next Amanda, another yogi, who Chandra and Marat both knew and who sings kirtan at yoga studios, sang the response nicely (https://youtu.be/r9MNfiZVloE) as Chandra led the chanting of Hare Krishna:
Then she led kirtan for her first time ever on a harinama (https://youtu.be/1jiiZdxpwfs):
Later a local musician jammed with us on the karatalas (https://youtu.be/KUzahZiWbDY):
After his yoga class, Ian returned and sang with me and Marat for ten minutes until our three-hour session was complete. I was inspired and decided to chant there by the canal at least once a week.
Ten days later while we were chanting by the canal, in the course of the three hours four people sat down nearby to listen to us, some playing the shakers and even trying the mantra, and Ian and Larissa, who is a devotee from Munich, came by as well.
Here Marat chants Hare Krishna, and a passersby plays the shakers as his female companion films this kirtan along Canal Saint-Martin in Paris (https://youtu.be/P3qtAhHxm3k):
Chandrashekhara Acharya Prabhu chants Hare Krishna along the canal (https://youtu.be/5_m2bM3RwzA and https://youtu.be/8ThjJY_pNtU):
Ian chants Hare Krishna (https://youtu.be/DdVxeAOBaaA):
One time while chanting at the canal, I met a young man who was attracted by our chanting presentation and who liked to make videos about ‘original people’, and he wondered if I or one of my friends would like to be interviewed. I said I was going out of town soon, but that I would mention it to a friend. I told Chandra, but perhaps you would be interested as well. His web site is: http://videaste.eu/.
Patita Pavana Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in the Indian Quarter of Paris (https://youtu.be/d8wzWTuSVdI):
Rohininandana Prabhu also chants Hare Krishna there (https://youtu.be/OjY9sbKIilo):
Patita Pavana Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Anvers in Paris, below the famous cathedral Sacré-Cœur (https://youtu.be/OmcKSAdVsRA):
Rohininandana Prabhu chants Hare Krishna there also (https://youtu.be/3wK2_Ct6s9E):
Another day during the end of July, we chanted at the base of the funicular at Sacré-Cœur. Janananda Goswami’s assistant, João, who plays the drum and sings nicely, assisted me. Many people, especially kids, played the shakers and danced with us. One lady was attracted, and I encouraged João to give her a Yoga Lyrique card. She actually came to Yoga Lyrique that very night, and she enjoyed the kirtan program. It turns out she was visiting Paris from Salzburg, Austria.
Rebecca chants Hare Krishna at Yoga Lyrique (https://youtu.be/keZ61ih5LwY):
Before leaving ISKCON Paris, I thought I should show what a typical Sunday feast kirtan is there in Sarcelles. Here Mukunda Rama Candra Prabhu chants Hare Krishna during Sunday Gaura Arati, which is largely attended by Bengalis, Bangladeshis, and Punjabis (https://youtu.be/z1SYtPe_c6U):
Srila Prabhupada:
From a lecture on Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.9.16 in Mayapur on February 23, 1976:
“But when He’s pleased, He says, He calls you, ‘Please come and surrender unto Me.’ Therefore we must expect, ‘When the master will call me?’ Don’t try to see God, but act in such a way that God will call you, ‘Please come here.’ That is wanted. That is bhakti. . . . You be qualified, and He’ll see you. He’ll call you, ‘Yes, come back. Come back home, back to home, back to Godhead.’ Be qualified.”
“Prahlada Maharaja was not afraid of Nrsimha-murti, but he is very much afraid of this material existence. It is really very, very fearful. People do not know the seriousness of material existence, and they continue and waste their, the chance, human being. Human form of life is a chance to rectify, but they do not care. Therefore the Krishna consciousness movement is so important. Everyone, door to door, a devotee has to go and teach them that ‘You are leading a very, very irresponsible life. Be responsible to your consciousness and be a devotee of Krishna. That will save you.’”
From a lecture on Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.9.17 in Mayapur on February 24, 1976:
“Suppose one thinks, ‘Now I shall become Krishna conscious. This ordinary material consciousness is so disturbing. Let me become Krishna conscious.’ So maya will say, ‘What you will do with this? Better remain in material consciousness.’ This is called praksepatmika-shakti. Therefore sometimes some man comes in our society; after staying for days, he goes away. This is praksepata, thrown away. Unless he’s very sincere, he cannot stay with us; he’ll be thrown away.”
“So this is the right prayer, that unless you engage yourself in the service of Krishna, you’ll never get peace. This is a fact. We can discover so many plans and remedial measures, and that will not help us. Only solution is to surrender to Krishna.”
From The Nectar of Devotion, Chapter 25:
“A person who is freed from the false egotism of material existence, or an advanced mystic, is eligible to enter into the kingdom of God, known as Vaikuntha. Such a mystic becomes so joyful by constant execution of the regulative principles of devotional service that he thereby achieves the special favor of the Supreme Lord.”
“Anyone who becomes exhilarated by hearing of the pastimes of Lord Krishna when He was present on this earth with His associates is to be understood as nitya-siddha, eternally perfect.”
From a class on Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.9.19 in Mayapur on February 26, 1976:
“So you can say that ‘Does it mean that God is partial? He take only care of the devotees and not others?’ He takes care of everyone, but everyone is not fortunate to take shelter of Krishna. When He says, sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam, He does not say to His devotees only. He says to everyone. But everyone is not fortunate to take shelter of Krishna. Unfortunate. Samo ’ham sarva-bhutesu. He’s not partial. Samo ’ham sarva-bhutesu ne me dvesyo ’sti na priyah [Bg. 9.29]. Nobody is enemy or friend of Krishna. Everyone is His son. Aham bija-pradah pita [Bg. 14.4]. Just like the father teaches every son to become good, but there are unfortunate sons who do not take care of the father and remains to be unfortunate. So it is not Krishna’s partiality; it is our misfortune that we do not take care of the instruction of Krishna and suffer in this material world. This is the position. These rascals, they inquire, ‘Why, if Krishna is so good, why He has put me into this position?’ The rascal does not know that Krishna wants you all to be happy, and He has given the instruction how to become happy. But we are unfortunate. We do not take Krishna’s instruction, and suffer.”
“We are married, undoubtedly, husband and wife, but unless we are competent to give protection to my children – no more death – we should not beget children. This is real contraceptive.”
From a class on Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.9.20 in Mayapur on February 27, 1976:
“That is the difference between person and imperson. There are philosophers who think that the Absolute Truth is person, and there are other philosophers, they think the Absolute Truth is imperson. But we followers of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, we accept both. He is person and imperson also at the same time, simultaneously. Acintya-bhedabheda-tattva.”
From a class on Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.9.23 in Mayapur on March 1, 1976:
“Therefore bhakti means when one is convinced that ‘Anything of this material world cannot make me happy.’ . . . That conviction is the beginning of pure devotion. Anyabhilasita-sunyam [Brs. 1.1.11]. You have to make zero everything material. That can be possible as we advance in Krishna consciousness.”
“Simply by bhakti one can understand. And as soon as one understands Krishna, then viraktir anyatra syat [SB 11.2.42]. Then you’ll be detached.”
“So the whole Krishna consciousness movement is how to become dhira, self-restrained. Then life is successful. And anyway, don’t be involved, entangled, with these material things.”
From The Nectar of Devotion, Chapter 21:
“A person who personally practices the tenets of religion as they are enjoined in the sastras [scriptures] and who also teaches others the same principles is called religious. Simply professing a kind of faith is not a sign of religiousness. One must act according to religious principles, and by his personal example he should teach others. Such a person is to be understood as religious.”
From The Nectar of Devotion, Chapter 26:
“There is no difference between Krishna and His body, and therefore the transcendental features pertaining to His body are the same as Krishna Himself. But because these qualities stimulate the devotee’s ecstatic love, they have been analyzed as separate causes of that love. To be attracted by the qualities of Krishna means to be attracted by Krishna Himself, because there is no real distinction between Krishna and His qualities. Krishna’s name is also Krishna. Krishna’s fame is also Krishna. Krishna’s entourage is also Krishna. Krishna and everything related with Krishna which gives stimulation to love of Krishna are all Krishna, but for our understanding these items may be considered separately.
“Krishna is the reservoir of all transcendental pleasure. Therefore, the impetuses to love of Krishna, although seemingly different, are not actually distinct from Krishna Himself. In the technical Sanskrit terms, such qualities as Krishna’s name and fame are accepted both as reservoirs of and as stimulation for love of Krishna.”
From The Nectar of Devotion, Chapter 27:
“In the Padyavali there is a statement by some devotees: ‘We shall not care for any outsiders. If they should deride us, we shall still not care for them. We shall simply enjoy the transcendental mellow of chanting Hare Krishna, and thus we shall roll on the ground and dance ecstatically. In this way we shall eternally enjoy transcendental bliss.’”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.9.33, purport:
“The eternal relation of a particular soul with the Lord is evolved. A genuine relation of the living being with the Supreme Lord can take any form out of the five principal rasas, and it does not make any difference in transcendental degree to the genuine devotee.”
From The Nectar of Devotion, Chapter 30:
“In another instance a devotee says, ‘I am always swimming in the nectarean ocean of the pastimes of the Personality of Godhead, and as such I have no more attraction for religious rituals, economic development, sense gratification or even the ultimate salvation of merging into the existence of Brahman.’ This is an instance of the mind’s endurance due to achieving the best thing in the world. The best thing in the world is absorption in Krishna consciousness.”
“The gopis were advised by their superiors to bolt the doors at night, but they were so carefree that they did not carry out this order very rigidly. Sometimes, by thinking of Krishna, they became so confident of being out of all danger that they would lie down at night in the courtyards of their houses.”
Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami:
From A Poor Man Reads the Bhagavatam, Volume 1:
“‘You’ve given me enough to type all winter, Swamiji!’
“‘Enough,’ he replied, ‘to last you several lifetimes.’
“I remember thinking that I could always leave in a few months if I didn’t like the Swami, just as I could leave a temporary job for the Boy Scouts or the Navy or even home.
“I mean I could leave
any scene I didn’t like—
I learned that from Beat life
and marijuana smoking.
‘I don’t need you, man!’”
“Receiving a letter from Prabhupada was the happiest of occasions, and it is something that is no longer available to the devotees. His letters had a special life for the time they were written. If Prabhupada gave an order, we had to carry it out immediately. If he gave encouragement, the devotees rallied around him. If he gave a reprimand, we felt determined to improve. But receiving a letter always created a special emphasis in an individual devotee’s relationship with Prabhupada.
“Sometimes we read the letters and see an instruction which doesn’t seem to fit the current ISKCON scene. Is the instruction obsolete? Maybe. The letters have to be seen according to time and circumstance, and their essence has to be applied to our present situation. This is again why letters cannot be used to justify our own situations as evidence—they were written under too specific a circumstance to allow for that. In his letters, Prabhupada was trying to teach his disciples how to apply Krishna consciousness in different situations and to different mentalities. They are reflections of his thinking and have a certain flexibility that his purports do not. The constants are always there and never become outdated—chant sixteen rounds, follow the four rules, serve Krishna with full devotion, etc.—but to say that we have to be bound by specific instructions in the letters may be a little sentimental on our part. If we are sensitive to the context, we will understand the essence, Prabhupada’s mood, and we will apply that mood to our own case.
“Similarly, devotees should not use the letters to debate their points. If a devotee reads us a letter to show that something we are committed to is not pleasing to Prabhupada, we have to again look at the context. Prabhupada may have discouraged our particular service for one devotee, while elsewhere he may have encouraged someone to take it up. Although a particular letter may be entered as evidence, the final test is whether that particular instruction can stand up against the sastra. Prabhupada’s books are the ultimate representation of his preaching.”
From Remembering Srila Prabhupada: A Free-Verse Rendition of the Life and Teachings of His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder-Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness:
“HIS REQUEST FOR A BIOGRAPHY”
“Prabhupada said,
if they write my biography,
have them say
I am like one
who transplanted a tulasi plant
from one continent to the other.
It is not easy.
It has to be done
with care and devotion
or else it will die
as you attempt to plant it
|in the new land.
To the harsh West-lands of the mlecchas,
he carried the tulasi
of Lord Caitanya’s teachings
and placed it in the earth
in such an expert way
that it has sprouted
into hundreds of Krishna conscious centers.
“Conclusion
“To turn a sinful person
to a life of pure devotion
is the work of a highly empowered soul.
The thoughtful scholars of Bhagavad-gita
(like Thoreau and Emerson)
had never turned to bhakti
nor could they convey it to others.
The Indian swamis who journeyed West
(like Vivekananda) regarded the Gita
as a vague treatise on many paths.
How could they lead others
to the highest path—devotion to Krishna?
Srila Prabhupada was the first,
and he was the greatest.”
From The Wild Garden: Collected Writings 1990–1993:
“I am also consulting our friend, the Supersoul. Please tell me what to do, inner guide and guru. What is best for a particular follower of Srila Prabhupada? The seas are not always clearly charted for each individual. Even though the seas have been traversed thousands of times, every voyage is unique.”
From My Relationship with Lord Krishna:
“This day belongs to Krishna. I have nothing to sacrifice or renounce because everything already belongs to Him.
“One thing I can say even now, Krishna is always present everywhere. We just have to find Him out. Srila Prabhupada says a geologist can find gold. We can find Krishna.”
From Free Writing Journal #156:
“You have to be open to give love in order to get it. Prabhupada’s famous saying, ‘If you love me, then I’ll love you.’ If he had said it to me earlier, I could have been initiated at the first initiation. I needed that nudge. But once he said it, I was ready.”
From A Poor Man Reads the Bhagavatam, Volume 1:
“When I first came to Prabhupada, this absolute presentation attracted me. He was not overbearing about it, yet he left no room to compromise. It’s difficult to explain what Prabhupada was like in those days. He was soft, elderly, wise, humble, and inviting. He was surrounded by an aura of kindness, gentility, and mendicant poverty. Even we could see that he depended on Krishna. When he spoke, however, he was absolute. It’s inconceivable how we, who were so relative and eclectic, were able to accept what Prabhupada said.
“I remember thinking at the beginning that Prabhupada could teach a different spiritual book every week. After I attended my first Bhagavad-gita class, I asked one of the other students what book he would speak on the next week. I suggested he might like to speak on The Tibetan Book of the Dead. ‘No, Swamiji says everything’s in the Bhagavad-gita.’ I accepted that quickly. How could we accept Prabhupada’s absoluteness? It is inconceivable, it is only his mercy.”
“Can I connect with Krishna and not with the demon babbler within?”
From Dear Sky: Letters from a Sannyasi:
“But we hanker for the peaceful maintenance of the Lord. Within that maintenance, Krishna gives us a certain life duration and a quota of sense enjoyment, and we fill our life with rajo-guna activities. We jivas basically waste our time trying to establish ourselves permanently in a temporary place. That’s the civilization we live in. Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare / Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare. But Prabhupada has come on Lord Caitanya’s order to tell us that this world is false, that by chanting Hare Krishna we can realize the real.”
Vrindavan Dasa Thakura:
From Caitanya-Bhagavata, Adi 2.26:
“Lord Caitanya inaugurated the congregational chanting of the holy names as the essence of all religious principles for the age of Kali.”
From Caitanya-Bhagavata, Adi 2.60:
“Many people came from various provinces to study in Navadvipa, because by studying there one achieved a taste for education.”
Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura:
From his commentary on Caitanya-Bhagavata, Adi 2.26:
“Whenever there is a disagreement about the process of spiritual advancement, the process itself is generally criticized. But only the chanting of hari-nama is undisputedly situated above all other processes of sadhana. In the first verse of His ‘Sri Siksastaka,’ Sri Caitanya Narayana has stated:
ceto-darpana-marjanam bhava-maha-davagni-nirvapanam
sreyah-kairava-candrika-vitaranam vidya-vadhu-jivanam
anandambudhi-vardhanam prati-padam purnamritasvadanam
sarvatma-snapanam param vijayate sri-krishna-sankirtanam
“‘Glory to the Sri Krishna sankirtana, which cleanses the heart of all the dust accumulated for years and extinguishes the fire of conditional life, of repeated birth and death. This sankirtana movement is the prime benediction for humanity at large because it spreads the rays of the benediction moon. It is the life of all transcendental knowledge. It increases the ocean of transcendental bliss, and it enables us to fully taste the nectar for which we are always anxious.’ The second and third verses of ‘Sri Siksastaka’ also explain the process of chanting Krishna’s names, the fourth verse explains the process of anartha-nivritti, cleansing the heart of all unwanted things, the fifth verse explains the living entity’s constitutional position, the sixth verse explains the state of a living entity who chants the holy name, the seventh verse explains the result of that state, and the eighth verse explains the symptoms of perfection.”
From his commentary on Caitanya-Bhagavata, Adi 2.35:
“If fruitive workers consider a Vaishnava low-class because of his external appearance, this improper vision makes them offenders. Everyone within eight hundred thousand miles from where a Vaishnava appears or incarnates in this world is freed from all material conceptions. They then become relieved from the misunderstandings of considering the Vaishnavas as born in a particular caste, as belonging to a particular creed or asrama, as being simply ordinary scholars, or as being objects of mundane enjoyment. The real sadhus who worship Sri Hari and give proper respect to the demigods and brahmanas never fall under the clutches of demonic vehement karmis by disrespecting the Vaishnavas and thereby cleansing and widening their path to hell.”
From his commentary on Caitanya-Bhagavata, Adi 2.51:
“Places inhabited by Vaishnavas are better than ordinary holy places.”
From his commentary on Caitanya-Bhagavata, Adi 2.54:
“Sri Navadvipa is considered the most glorious abode in the entire universe, for on one hand, Sri Navadvipa is the birthplace of Sri Gaurasundara, the personification of love of God, and on the other hand, innumerable associates of the Lord, who are able to purify the entire world, were also present there. Since the wonderful, sweet prema of Vrindavana was hidden, the six Gosvamis and their followers lived in Sri Vrindavana and broadcast Lord Krishna’s eternal pastimes on the order of Sri Gaurasundara. Similarly, during the time of Sri Gaurasundara, many devotees came from various places to Sri Navadvipa and assisted the Lord in His kirtana pastimes.”
From his commentary on Caitanya-Bhagavata, Adi 2.55:
“There is no place superior to Navadvipa in the three worlds, because Sri Gaurahari, the all-auspicious ocean of mercy, imparted love of God, which is rarely attained even by the demigods, to anyone and everyone without considering whether they were qualified recipients or not. Therefore the glories of Sri Navadvipa are factually incomparable and matchless.”
From his commentary on Caitanya-Bhagavata, Adi 2.67:
“In his commentary on Bhagavad-gita (2.45), Sri Madhvacarya quotes the following verses: ‘In the Vedic literature, including the Ramayana, Puranas, and Mahabharata, from the very beginning (adau) to the end (ante ca), as well as within the middle (madhye ca), only Hari, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is explained,’ and ‘All Vedic knowledge is searching after the Supreme Personality of Godhead.’ (Katha Upanishad 1.2.15)”
Gaudamandala Prabhu:
In Prahlada Maharaja’s offering of prayers to calm Lord Nrsimha, he begins by taking permission from Lord Brahma.
Either we associate with three qualities of material nature or we associate with the Lord and His pure devotees.
By engaging in devotional service, we are choosing Krishna.
The Bhagavatam speaks about the material world so we can understand its real nature.
If we do not have the association of the devotees we are lost. We will have to associate with the different varieties of materialistic people.
We have to be careful that those chanting in the temple are following parampara so that Krishna is pleased and not disturbed.
What Srila Prabhupada did to spread Krishna consciousness was very simple. He took his karatalas, and he chanted Hare Krishna. He spoke on Bhagavad-gita. He distributed prasadam. Sometimes we try to think of new ways to spread Krishna consciousness, but what Srila Prabhupada did was very simple.
Through Srimad-Bhagavatam, through the association with devotees, and through our practice of devotional service, we come to realize the goal is Krishna prema, love of God, and we becomes seekers after that.
We see people in India, they may have thousands of disciples, but our question to them is, are they in parampara? If not, they are not giving the actual thing, just some sentiment.
Manisirani Devi Dasi:
We are limited in our abilities in terms of what we can do because everything is controlled by the Lord.
My child ran off once when I was not paying attention and sat down on the white line of the road. One car passed another but the child was unharmed sitting on the line between them. I heard the screeching of the brakes, and the drivers brought me my child unharmed.
People with great prowess sometimes think because of their expertise they can challenge the authority of the Lord whereas people in more humble circumstances will surrender.
Every day we have many chances to surrender to the Lord.
Comments by me:
Krishna tells how He wants us to act in different verses:
“Therefore, O Arjuna, surrendering all your works unto Me, with full knowledge of Me, without desires for profit, with no claims to proprietorship, and free from lethargy, fight.” (Bg. 3.30)
“Therefore, Arjuna, you should always think of Me in the form of Krishna and at the same time carry out your prescribed duty of fighting. With your activities dedicated to Me and your mind and intelligence fixed on Me, you will attain Me without doubt.” (Bg. 8.7)
Sita Thakurani Devi Dasi:
We have this desire and that desire, and thus we will continue to accept one body after another.
If you do not understand the supreme position of Krishna, you cannot surrender to Him.
Krishna shows great mercy by appearing as the arca-vigraha so we can see Him.
Krishna manifests as Caitanya to taste the love Radharani has for Him.
We have to be patient because Krishna is the one who bestows the devotional service.
Aksayananda Prabhu:
Vyasa wrote the Upanisads to explain the four Vedas.
Vyasa was not satisfied until he described the Lord’s pastimes, so we can understand those pastimes are the essence of knowledge.
Nowadays the different sciences are actually hurting man because they are detached from their relationship with the Supreme Lord.
People nowadays do not know the source of everything, and so they make different speculations.
Comparing other scriptures with the Srimad-Bhagavatam is like comparing pocket dictionaries with the unabriged dictionary. For people who want to go into transcendental knowledge more deeply, Srimad-Bhagavatam has value.
This knowledge is not so complicated, but if we are hearing it for the first time, it may seem so.
Although Dhruva Maharaja is only five years old, he expresses realizations that most adults never attain.
Without time, you cannot create anything.
Consciousness gives form to matter. Apples and bananas are composed of the same five gross material elements, but the forms are different.
You need srsti shakti to create anything. If you have the ingredients but no srsti shakti, you will not be able to create anything.
Some people say God cannot get married, but I can get married, so I can do something that God cannot?
Where does Satan come from? God. There is only one source of everything. God is the source of both the good and the bad.
Krishna can use the evil in the world to teach us lessons.
The conception of Satan as an independent agent apart from and in competition with God is illusory.
False ego is a misunderstanding of the self. When I think, “I am this body. I am a man. I am a sixty year old. I am French,” all these are false ego.
According to my conception of myself, I create a certain body. If I think I would look good with long hair, I will let my hair grow.
The false ego is the contact point between the soul and the material world.
When we are connected with Krishna, we are sustained by Krishna’s potency.
The desires we have are the cause of our bodies.
Human beings change in behavior as a result of religious practice. You do not see such changes in animals.
If we do not use our human bodies for self-realization, there is no guarantee we will get another human body in the next life.
Suppose you were Alexander the Great in a previous life. Would it help you to know that? Not really. It may just be a distraction, like if your neighbor does not respect you, and you say, “Don’t you know that I was Alexander the Great?”
Rohininandana Prabhu:
Meditation is not recommended in this age. If you try to meditate on nothing or on one thing for ten seconds you will find it difficult.
Dharana [the first stage of meditation] is described to be like drops of water, while dhyana [meditation itself] is described to be like a steady stream of water.
To practice karma-yoga, hatha-yoga, and Sankhya-yoga you require different material skills, but in bhakti-yoga the most important process is hearing from spiritual authorities, something that anyone can do.
If someone has realized the knowledge he presents, it will have greater impact on the hearer.
If we hear from a realized devotee and follow in his footsteps, we can advance.
If we have faith in the knowledge we have received, we can describe it.
Sankirtana, the dharma of the age, requires no qualification, nor does one have to renounce one’s position in society to perform it.
Lord Caitanya advises the Kurma brahmana not to renounce his family life but to chant Hare Krishna at home and to advise others to become Krishna conscious.
Hearing the holy name on harinama opens the way for Krishna to enter and transform people’s lives.
We see how the children are less distracted and are therefore so much more attracted to the harinama than the adults.
Hari Vilasa Prabhu tells an amazing story from the early days of harinama in Paris in the 1970s. The devotees were on harinama in downtown Paris, and the phone in the phone booth next to them rang. A passerby answered it and told the devotees the call was for them. They were surprised because they did not know anyone who would call. The caller was a lady who lived several stories above where they were singing. She was depressed and planning to commit suicide, but hearing the joyful chanting of the devotees, she found some hope. She thanked the devotees, and she invited the devotees to come by her place to sing. She was a well-to-do person, and she helped the devotees financially and by supplying important contacts, some who helped when Srila Prabhupada came to visit.
Comments by me:
How to connect with the Lord in the heart is mentioned in these three verses from Bhagavad-gita 6.5–7:
“One must deliver himself with the help of his mind, and not degrade himself. The mind is the friend of the conditioned soul, and his enemy as well. For him who has conquered the mind, the mind is the best of friends; but for one who has failed to do so, his mind will remain the greatest enemy. For one who has conquered the mind, the Supersoul is already reached, for he has attained tranquility. To such a man happiness and distress, heat and cold, honor and dishonor are all the same.”
Sankhya helps in performing bhakti purely because it shows us in detail how we have nothing to do with the material world, and thus nothing material can satisfy us. Understanding this, we can perform our bhakti without material desires.
Srila Prabhupada quotes Lord Caitanya as advocating the hearing of the Hare Krishna mantra in his Bg. 13.26 purport, and thus that is an important purport for stressing the importance of the public chanting of the holy name, harinama sankirtana.
In Nectar of Instruction in giving an example of charity, Srila Prabhupada chooses to mention giving the holy name.
The verse that Ramananda Raya quoted and which Lord Caitanya accepted was Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.14.3:
jñane prayasam udapasya namanta eva
sthane sthitaḥ sruti-gatam tanu-van-manobhir
ye prayaso ’jita jito ’py asi tais tri-lokyam
“Those who, even while remaining situated in their established social positions, throw away the process of speculative knowledge and with their body, words and mind offer all respects to descriptions of Your personality and activities, dedicating their lives to these narrations, which are vibrated by You personally and by Your pure devotees, certainly conquer Your Lordship, although You are otherwise unconquerable by anyone within the three worlds.”
This is an important verse to memorize.
Comment by Jiva Prana Prabhu:
One Muslim lady refused a Ratha-yatra flyer on harinama yesterday, saying that she knew what it was about and that she would never come to our festival. However, after she passed by us, she kept looking back at our chanting party for the next 100 meters.
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So many people do not understand the meaning of the Hare Krishna chant or the value of performing it, however, this verse indicates that is not a problem.
yathagadam viryatamam
ajanato ’py atma-gunam
kuryan mantro ’py udahrtah
“If a person unaware of the effective potency of a certain medicine takes that medicine or is forced to take it, it will act even without his knowledge because its potency does not depend on the patient’s understanding. Similarly, even though one does not know the value of chanting the holy name of the Lord, if one chants knowingly or unknowingly, the chanting will be very effective.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.2.19)
The chanting frees one from bad karma and awakens an interest in spiritual advancement whether one knows it or not, and thus we are always happy to bless people in this way, although most do not really appreciate it. We know from the scripture it is the Lord’s recommendation for this age, and He is very pleased with those who take the trouble to promote it.