Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 18, No. 2
(January 2022, part two)
New York City and Upstate New York
(Sent from Stuyvesant Falls, New York, on February 5, 2022)
Where I Went and What I Did
On January 18, I flew from Tampa to JFK airport in New York City, and I took lunch prasadam at the Brooklyn temple and joined Rama Raya Prabhu’s NYC Harinam party for two hours at Atlantic Avenue / Barclays Center subway station in Brooklyn before taking the train upstate to Hudson.
There Sankarsana Prabhu of Potomac picked me up and took me to Viraha Bhavan, the ashram of Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami and his caretakers in Stuyvesant Falls, half an hour south of Albany, where I am playing the role of assistant caretaker for almost four weeks.
I share many quotes from Srila Prabhupada’s Srimad-Bhagavatam that I heard in our daily readings or that I read in the Back to Godhead magazine I proofread. I also include excerpts from Science of Self-Realization, from a lecture and from a conversation with Allen Ginsberg. I share notes on the Free Write Journal of Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami. Also from Back to Godhead, I share quotes from Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura and Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura and notes on articles by Nagaraja Prabhu, Satyaraja Prabhu, Visakha Dasi, Gauranga Darsana Prabhu, Harivamsa Prabhu, Rukmini Vallabha Prabhu, and Vraja Vihari Prabhu. I also share notes on a recorded class in Paris by Janananda Goswami. I share a Prabhupada quote recalled by Baladeva Vidyabhusana Prabhu, and I share a couple interesting quotes by some sociology professors on the topic of religion.
Itinerary
January 19–February 14: Serving Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami in Stuyvesant Falls, NY
February 14: NYC Harinam
February 15–17: Tampa harinamas and college outreach
February 18: Gainesville harinamas
February 19–20: Bhaktivedanta Institute Cosmology Conference 3
February 21–25: Tallahassee harinamas and college outreach
February 26–28: Gainesville/Alachua harinama and Sunday feast
March: India with Gaura Nitai and Yogamaya Yajna Prabhus
April: Tallahassee and Tampa harinamas and college outreach
May ?: harinama with Sankarsana Prabhu by the Washington, D.C., museums
May ?–June ?: NYC Harinam
June ?–August ?: Paris harinamas
Chanting Hare Krishna in New York City
Natabara Gauranga Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Atlantic Avenue / Barclays Center subway station in Brooklyn (https://youtu.be/fnNuK8gU1Ks):
Arjunananda Prabhu chants Hare Krishna (https://youtu.be/82PligftYfI):
Alex chants Hare Krishna (https://youtu.be/uuYnoe3QqPA):
Vraja Mohan Prabhu chants Hare Krishna (https://youtu.be/GQCrhU-7hbY):
My guru, Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami, is very enthusiastic to get up at 2 a.m. and chant his sixteen rounds of Hare Krishna japa. It is very impressive for me to see that despite his being 82 years old and having a variety of ailments, he is able to maintain such a powerful daily spiritual practice. His main caretaker, Baladeva Vidyabhusana Prabhu, also joins him in this.
In addition to my chanting of japa, I chant ten minutes of Hare Krishna kirtan both morning and evening for the neem Gaura-Nitai deities we have on the ground floor. In the morning I do arati and chant “Gurvastakam” and the Nrsimha prayers and in the evening I chant “Gaura Arati” and the Nrsimha prayers.
After lunch I have been showing harinama and kirtan videos to my guru. He wrote about some of them in his Free Write Journal #180:
Harinama Videos
Krishna Kripa travels around the world doing harinama. He takes videos of the harinamas, and he’s been showing them to me here. I enjoy them very much. I watched a small harinama group led by Rama Raya in a subway station in Brooklyn. Rama was wearing woolen gloves with the fingers cut off so he could play the harmonium and yet keep warm. They were out singing just a few days after New Year’s, and they had sparkling lights set up around the Hare Krishna mantra. They had small books they were distributing. [https://youtu.be/-FUKXYLUzSw]
Another video was taken on the campus of the University of Florida in Gainesville. Just a few devotees were out, but it was very lively, playing on different drums.[https://youtu.be/0otGyYUE7P8]
I saw a video of Sacinandana Swami at a kirtana-mela in New Mayapur, France. He was leading a large group of men and women who were all dancing. [https://youtu.be/e0r2jG3KB0A]
Another video taken at the Balarama Festival in France was led by Agnideva, who they say is living in France. [https://youtu.be/nPg6Ki-NGpY]
I saw a video of Kaliya Damana in Tallahassee, Florida. He too was dancing back and forth in a temple room playing a drum. He is growing older, but he hasn’t lost his enthusiasm for chanting Hare Krishna and being Krishna conscious. [https://youtu.be/ls6srOr-Eeo]
Krishna Kripa is doing a good service by filming these harinamas from exotic places. I feel like I’m there in the kirtana. Krishna Kripa’s harinama videos get millions of hits from people watching them on their computers. So I don’t see him often on the harinama—I know he’s the one behind the camera.More Videos by Krishna Kripa dasa
The first one we saw was in Edinburgh, Scotland. The devotees were holding kirtana in the road in front of a restaurant/bar. The people in the bar were happy to see the devotees, and they clapped their hands. Out on the road with the devotees, a few local people joined. A girl with a yellow miniskirt jumped up and down joyously in tune with the harinama. A few men came out of the bar in a friendly mood and danced with the devotees in exaggerated movements. Mahavishnu Swami was there wearing an outlandish big hat with a “Changing Bodies” diorama on the brim and other Krishna conscious paraphernalia on his body. This video had three million hits. (The way they get so many hits is that someone who is already popular puts a link to it on his page, and it expands from there exponentially.) This one went viral! The men were playing mrdangas and drums, and Mahavishnu was playing an accordion which was wrapped under an American flag. [https://youtu.be/cC-iJZ02Ef0]
TallahasseeThe other video we watched today was from Tallahassee, Florida. The devotees marched and danced in a procession, pulling a Ratha-yatra cart which had a big sign in front of it: “We are family.” People lined the sidewalks watching the devotees. About a dozen devotee women waved fans in two hands and danced in choreographed movements, which may not have been so polished but were full of enthusiasm. A bearded man with a visible sikha led the singing, and his harmonium was amplified by a microphone. This video had 1.8 million hits. The devotees were out in full force, with Jagannatha murtis behind them. The devotees were so enthusiastic and ecstatic that they continued their kirtana even when the procession was over, and they were walking back to their car. It was a parade with many floats, and people have commented that the devotees’ presentation was the best. [https://youtu.be/aGmX_ZDg6oo]
The next week in his Free Write Journal, he mentioned a couple of videos I showed him on Ekadasi:
After lunch, Krishna Kripa showed me videos of harinama, one from Indradyumna Maharaja’s Poland festival, with many young people chanting and dancing with the devotees [https://youtu.be/FxkYM0gtQXI]
and another of young people enthusiastically dancing and chanting with the devotees in Dublin, Ireland. [https://youtu.be/ORWR2OUNtP8]
He has a big collection of such harinama videos, and I’m pleased to watch them regularly.
One day I showed Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami a video of Rama Raya Prabhu and others chanting Hare Krishna on New Year’s Eve at Tompkins Square Park, where regular public chanting of Hare Krishna began on October 9, 1966 (https://youtu.be/2HrwZVDU_H0):
On the last Saturday in January, the day of our yearly Ratha-yatra in the Gasparilla pirate parade in Tampa, I showed him a video of Visvambhar chanting Hare Krishna to a very receptive crowd at that event in a previous year (https://youtu.be/NtmV4GJWznY):
Hearing the revealed literature on bhakti is an important activity here at Viraha Bhavan. Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami has disciples read to him for about an hour at breakfast time and almost an hour and a half at lunchtime.
He takes a turn reading as well, sometimes for as long as half an hour. I am impressed to see his enthusiasm for this activity as well the enthusiasm of the fifteen or twenty disciples and followers who join him daily, mostly via Zoom. Last autumn they read Sri Caitanya-caritamrita and Caitanya-bhagavata, and now they are reading Srimad-Bhagavatam, and they are already on the Third Canto. As he takes breakfast upstairs, I listen to the morning reading downstairs via Zoom on my phone in the kitchen as I wash the dishes. I do not do much additional reading, except to proofread Back to Godhead magazine and my guru’s weekly Free Write Journal and to read assignments for the online class I am auditing through Florida State University on the sociology of religion.
At the end of the Zoom reading, Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami says farewell individually to all the devotees appearing on Zoom.
Then he leads congregational chanting of two Hare Krishna mantras.
The devotees on Zoom respond by chanting and dancing.
If you want to join the daily Zoom meetings, contact me, and I will send you the link.
Prasadam is another important activity at Viraha Bhavan. They make offerings to the deities three times a day. I do the breakfast and dinner, and Baladeva does lunch, which is the main meal.
Here is Bala and his palak paneer with tiny bite-sized puris, along with dal. It is his popular “Indian set,” and our guru ate practically everything on his plate.
Palak paneer is a favorite of my 97-year-old mother, who lives 21 minutes away by car, and I brought her some for dinner. While visiting her, I noticed she had read a hundred pages in Yamuna’s biography since I was there at Christmastime and gave her the book as a gift. That impressed me.
At Viraha Bhavan, the maha-milk builds up in the course of time because I am the only one who drinks it, and I just drink a cup a day. Bala makes saffron-cardamom sweet rice out of it when half a gallon accumulates.
He wanted the sweet rice to cool fast, so he could serve it to our guru for lunch, so he put it in a flat tray, and we put the tray in a snowbank, and an hour later it was cool enough to serve.
Bala has regularly made chocolate chip cookies to share with the neighbors for years, but during the traumatic time that Baladeva from Trinidad left his body here, he got out of the habit. During my visit, however, he was inspired to resume his nice program of making prasadam for distribution.
Among the downstairs deities are laddu Gopal, who we serve laddus to three times a day. A disciple from out of town would make laddus and send them to us for that purpose, but somehow she was unable to do so recently, so I made the last two batches of them.
Among the upstairs deities, Radha Govinda, are prominent. I dressed them once while here thus far, and my guru found it acceptable. I always pray to Radharani, “Please let me dress you and Govinda to the satisfaction of my Guru Maharaja.”
I went on a japa walk one day when the temperature was below freezing. I decided the coldness did not have such a good effect on my body, so I decided to just go for walks when it was above freezing from then on.
The Stuyvesant Falls, which in the autumn varied in size depending on the rainfall upstream, seems to be frozen solid. How a waterfall can free solid is a mystery to me!
Insights
Srila Prabhupada:
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.9.21:
[Lord Krishna said:] “I wish you good luck. O Brahma, you may ask from Me, the giver of all benediction, all that you may desire. You may know that the ultimate benediction, as the result of all penances, is to see Me by realization.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.9.37–40, purport:
“Some of the living entities are relatively happy in better conditions of life, whereas others are in distressed conditions of life. But factually, none of them are actually happy in material conditional life. No one can be happy in prison life, although one may be a first-class prisoner and another a third-class prisoner. The intelligent person should not try to be promoted from third-class prison life to first-class prison life, but should try to be released from the prison altogether. One may be promoted to first-class prisoner, but the same first-class prisoner is again degraded to a third-class prisoner in the next term. One should try to be free from prison life and go back home, back to Godhead. That is the real goal for all types of living entities.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.1.21, purport:
“The whole world is compared to a forest. At any moment there may be a flare-up of fire in the forest due to friction. No one goes to the forest to set it on fire, but due only to friction between bamboos, fire takes place and burns an entire forest. Similarly, in the greater forest of worldly transaction, the fire of war takes place because of the violent passion of the conditioned souls illusioned by the external energy. Such a worldly fire can be extinguished only by the water of the mercy cloud of saints, just as a forest fire can be extinguished only by rains falling from a cloud.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.1.23, purport:
“Lord Vishnu has four hands, and each hand holds a particular item — either a conchshell, wheel, club or lotus flower. Of these four emblems, the cakra, or wheel, is the chief. Lord Krishna, being the original Vishnu form, has only one emblem, namely the wheel, and therefore He is sometimes called the Cakri. The Lord’s cakra is the symbol of the power by which the Lord controls the whole manifestation. The tops of Vishnu temples are marked with the symbol of the wheel so that people may have the chance to see the symbol from a very long distance and at once remember Lord Krishna. The purpose of building very high temples is to give people a chance to see them from a distant place.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.5.5, purport:
“The material universes are full in themselves. There is no scarcity for maintenance in the material world. Because of their poor fund of knowledge, the materialists are disturbed when there is an apparent increase of population on the earth. Whenever there is a living being on the earth, however, his subsistence is immediately arranged by the Lord. The other species of living entities, who far outnumber human society, are never disturbed for maintenance; they are never seen dying of starvation. It is only human society that is disturbed about the food situation and, to cover up the real fact of administrative mismanagement, takes shelter in the plea that the population is excessively increasing. If there is any scarcity in the world, it is the scarcity of God consciousness; otherwise, by the grace of the Lord, there is no scarcity of anything.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.7.41, purport:
“The highest perfectional work of charity is to give people in general immunity from the anxieties of material existence. This can be done only by performing activities in devotional service to the Lord. Such knowledge is incomparable. Cultivation of the knowledge in the Vedas, performance of sacrifice, and distribution of munificent charities all together cannot form even a part of the immunity from the pangs of material existence that is gained from devotional service.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.8.21, purport:
“Samadhi involves concentrating the mind upon the supreme cause of all, even if one is unaware of whether His actual nature is personal, impersonal or localized. Concentration of the mind on the Supreme is certainly a form of devotional service. To cease from personal sense endeavors and to concentrate on the supreme cause is a sign of self-surrender, and when self-surrender is present, that is a sure sign of devotional service. Each and every living entity needs to engage in devotional service to the Lord if he wishes to understand the ultimate cause of his existence.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.9.1, purport:
“The Lord has employed His wonderful material energy in manifesting many, many wonderful distractions in the material world, and the conditioned souls, illusioned by the same energy, are thus unable to know the supreme cause. The most stalwart scientists and philosophers, therefore, cannot be accepted as wonderful. They only appear wonderful because they are instruments in the hands of the illusory energy of the Lord. Under illusion, the general mass of people deny the existence of the Supreme Lord and accept the foolish products of illusory energy as supreme.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.9.11:
“O my Lord, Your devotees can see You through the ears by the process of bona fide hearing, and thus their hearts become cleansed, and You take Your seat there. You are so merciful to Your devotees that You manifest Yourself in the particular eternal form of transcendence in which they always think of You.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.9.24, purport:
“Unless one is sufficiently protected by the Lord, he may fall down from his spiritual position; therefore one has to pray constantly to the Lord for protection and the blessing to carry out one’s duty.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.9.29–33:
“The Supreme Personality of Godhead then said: ‘O Brahma, O depth of Vedic wisdom, be neither depressed nor anxious about the execution of creation. What you are begging from Me has already been granted before. O Brahma, situate yourself in penance and meditation and follow the principles of knowledge to receive My favor. By these actions you will be able to understand everything from within your heart. O Brahma, when you are absorbed in devotional service, in the course of your creative activities, you will see Me in you and throughout the universe, and you will see that you yourself, the universe and the living entities are all in Me. You will see Me in all living entities as well as all over the universe, just as fire is situated in wood. Only in that state of transcendental vision will you be able to be free from all kinds of illusion. When you are free from the conception of gross and subtle bodies and when your senses are free from all influences of the modes of material nature, you will realize your pure form in My association. At that time you will be situated in pure consciousness.’”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.9.38, purport:
“Spiritual perfection is not limited by material qualifications but is developed by dint of one’s sincere endeavor to render transcendental service. Voluntary endeavor is the only qualification for spiritual perfection.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.13.50:
[Maitreya said:] “Who, other than one who is not a human being, can exist in this world and not be interested in the ultimate goal of life? Who can refuse the nectar of narrations about the Personality of Godhead’s activities, which by itself can deliver one from all material pangs?”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.22.45, purport:
“In the present age, the king or president forgets that he is the servant of God and thinks of himself as servant of the people.”
“In the Vedas (Katha Upanisad 2.2.13) it is said, eko bahunam yo vidadhati kaman: the Supreme Lord supplies the necessities of life to everyone, and there is no question of starvation. If anyone starves, it is due to the mismanagement of the so-called ruler, governor or president.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.22.47, purport:
“Great personalities of the material world are very eager to render welfare service to human society, but actually no one can render better service than one who distributes the knowledge of spiritual realization in relation with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. All living entities are within the clutches of the illusory energy. Forgetting their real identity, they hover in material existence, transmigrating from one body to another in search of a peaceful life. Since these living entities have very little knowledge of self-realization, they are not getting any relief, although they are very anxious to attain peace of mind and some substantial happiness. Saintly persons like the Kumaras, Narada, Prahlada, Janaka, Sukadeva Gosvami and Kapiladeva, as well as the followers of such authorities as the Vaisnava acaryas and their servants, can render a valuable service to humanity by disseminating knowledge of the relationship between the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the living entity. Such knowledge is the perfect benediction for humanity.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.22.49, purport:
“Remaining fixed in devotional service gives one the utmost in self-satisfaction. Actually self-satisfaction can be achieved only by pure devotees, who have no desire other than to serve the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Since the Supreme Personality of Godhead has nothing to desire, He is fully satisfied with Himself. Similarly, a devotee who has no desire other than to serve the Supreme Personality of Godhead is as self-satisfied as the Supreme Lord. Everyone is hankering after peace of mind and self-satisfaction, but these can only be achieved by becoming a pure devotee of the Lord.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 9.4.63, purport:
“The Supreme Personality of Godhead said to the brahmana: I am completely under the control of My devotees. Indeed, I am not at all independent. Because My devotees are completely devoid of material desires, I sit only within the cores of their hearts. What to speak of My devotee, even those who are devotees of My devotee are very dear to Me.”
From The Science of Self-Realization, Chapter 8, “The Highest Love”:
“As soon as there is the chanting vibration, Hare Krishna, immediately Krishna’s paraphernalia, Krishna’s name, Krishna’s fame, Krishna’s abode, Krishna’s associates – everything – all of a sudden become manifested within because He is present. This is the beginning of one’s Krishna consciousness. To remember by reference to a context means that as soon as one hears a code word, one at once remembers all the information behind that code. Similarly, when our minds are attracted to Krishna and everything about Krishna simply by hearing a little glorification of His qualities, that is the beginning of pure Krishna consciousness.”
From “Not Everyone Will Come” in Back to Godhead, Vol. 56, No. 3 (May/June 2022):
[This is an edited conversation between Srila Prabhupada and the poet Allen Ginsberg on May 12, 1969, in Columbus, Ohio.]
Srila Prabhupada: Every human being should be inquisitive to know the Absolute Truth. That is the real business of human life. So to come to that business, you won’t find masses of people. It is not possible. You shouldn’t expect it.
Allen Ginsberg: Your plan here in America, then, is to set up centers so that those who are concerned can pursue their studies and practice?
Prabhupada: Personally, I have no ambition.
Allen Ginsberg: Yeah.
Srila Prabhupada: But the mission of human life is to come to that point. So at least there must be some center or institution that may give people this idea. It is not that everyone will come.”
From a lecture on Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.9.10–11 in Montreal on July 14, 1968:
“One who is Krishna conscious, that very consciousness is so happy that he doesn’t want anything more. That very consciousness is happiness.”
Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami:
From A Poor Man Reads the Bhagavatam, Volume 2:
“Everyone’s mind picks up lint here and there unless they’re liberated. We don’t identify with the lint, but we can’t deny that it’s there. I’m looking for the connection of everything to Krishna.”
From Karttika Moon:
“It was candles, skinny little birthday candles, that Srila Prabhupada gave us in the autumn of 1966. It was a surprise. I remember going to his room in the evening as usual one night. A little ceremony was in progress. On Prabhupada’s low table, which was his altar in his worship room, he had us place and burn candles. He directed each of us to go up and set the candle on the tabletop, which we did by first burning a little wax until some drops fell and then fixing the candle onto the table.
“When we asked Swamiji what it was for, he replied, ‘To increase your devotion.’ Only later did I figure out that this was our observance of the evening ceremony of Karttika lamps, which goes on for the whole Damodara month. This is observed in the temples in Vrindavan and done in a very grand fashion at ISKCON’s Krishna-Balaram Mandir. But for me, nothing will ever be as sweet as lighting those first birthday candles on Swamiji’s tabletop in October-November, 1966.”
From A Poor Man Reads the Bhagavatam, Volume 2:
“I grew up in this culture, and it clings to me like a handicap.”
From The Wild Garden: Collected Writings, 1990–1993:
“Someone said, ‘You are lenient,’ and I said, ‘Who can force you?’”
From Obstacles on the Path of Devotional Service:
“A supervisor of a counseling agency regularly turned to the Krishna devotee among his counselors whenever difficult cases arose. He said, ‘You have a special peacefulness within you. You can deal with these cases.’”
“I am afraid of severe trials, but I will accept them if they are what I need to attain You. I don’t want to live in safety just to keep my good reputation intact. I want to get rid of anarthas [unwanted qualities and activities] and attain Your lotus feet. This is my service to my spiritual master.”
From Karttika Moon:
“Who knows why people, such a few, join in each nation? They come forward, as I did, and hear from the Swami and it all makes sense, it’s what they always wanted.”
From A Poor Man Reads the Bhagavatam, Volume 2:
“Such asramas are the center of the world, and yes, prayer is powerful enough to evoke the Lord’s mercy. Thomas Merton used to say that his monastery in Kentucky was the heart of America, not Washington, D.C. or New York City. Bhagavad-gita says that wherever sincere devotees perform sankirtana and pray to Krishna, spiritual energy is generated and everyone benefits.”
“Neither should we be afraid to take advantage of opportunities afforded us to make retreats in a natural setting. We are surrounded by Krishna’s natural beauty. He Himself advises us to see Him in the light of the sun, in the songs of birds and the fragrance of flowers. By allowing the waves of goodness to wash over us in such a setting, we can sometimes put aside our passion and reach deeper into our Krishna conscious meditation on the holy name and the sankirtana mission. We should take advantage of whatever impels our Krishna consciousness.”
“Even if our lives require that we have to go out and raise money to support a family, or we have other demands upon our time, we should rise early, bathe the body with water, and bathe the mind with the holy name. This is the only way to avoid superficiality in our spiritual practices. We can draw our inspiration for quiet, alone meditation from Srila Vyasadeva.”
From Japa Transformations:
“EAGER HOPE AGAINST HOPE
“Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare. A man wrote to me and told me he chants a different mantra instead of Hare Krishna, a chant composed of the names of Lord Caitanya. I told him we should chant the Hare Krishna mantra because it’s recommended by the acaryas in the Gaudiya sampradaya. It’s the yugala-mantra, made of the names of Radha and Krishna, and it is the supreme mantra. We should chant the Hare Krishna mantra and not another. I like chanting Hare Krishna, and I’ve been doing it for forty years. I wouldn’t dream of chanting another mantra. So lay your head back and try your best, even on this bad day, to chant your favorite mantra and plead with Lord Caitanya to appear in His names.
“Hare Krishna mantra is the supreme
sound vibration. The acaryas say
it’s so. My spiritual master gave it
to me, and I’ve put it in my heart.
“Even on a low day, I embrace
it and rush through, chanting
Hare, Krishna, and Rama as the
thing to do.”
From Karttika Moon:
“The story of our travel is a precious few days. It’s a botheration austerity with uncertainties and fears of delay and breakdown. But also it’s a rare road time in which intimations come, not all to be followed and not all to be ignored.”
Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura:
From Dasa-mula-tattva, Chapter 1:
“The practice nowadays is to read a novel reclining on the bed after supper and before sleep. However, Sri Caitanya’s teaching must not be treated or read in the same manner. The essence and profound conclusions of the entire Vedic scriptures lie encapsulated in His precepts. The transcendental truths contained in His teachings may only be grasped if and when they are read with proper faith, attentively and in the company of saintly personages, followed by discussions to mine out the gems of truth.”
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura:
From Amrta-vani, “108 Essential Instructions”:
“As soon as we learn about the truth, we should become fixed in it. We should not waste even a moment of the time we have left in our lives on sense gratification. Rather, we should use all our time to worship Hari.”
Janananda Goswami:
From a recorded lecture at Yoga Lyrique about a month ago:
On harinama a man asked a devotee, “Will this book explain why these people are so happy?”
She replied, saying “yes,” and the man took a Bhagavad-gita and gave a donation.
Human life is meant to clear our consciousness so we can begin to see what is going on here, that there is something beyond attaining material happiness or avoiding material distress.
Before meeting the devotees I was into psychedelic music, and I wondered if I became a devotee where I would get the pleasure I used to find in that music. I encountered a Gita verse [2.46], “All purposes served by a small well can at once be served by a great reservoir of water. Similarly, all the purposes of the Vedas can be served to one who knows the purpose behind them.” Then I understood that if I contact Krishna, the reservoir of all pleasure, certainly I will get whatever pleasure I derived from that music, plus a lot more.
Nagaraja Prabhu:
From “Faith Above the Modes” in Back to Godhead, Vol. 56, No. 3 (May/June 2022):
“Lord Krishna explains that true bhakti is transcendental, beyond the influence of the modes of nature. The practices of bhakti-yoga gradually carry us to pure bhakti. The sraddha, or faith, that inspires us to steadfastly take up the practices of bhakti-yoga is a gift from Lord Krishna’s pure devotees, who are themselves transcendental to the modes of nature. Even while in the material world, they exist on the spiritual plane, where they serve Krishna directly. There’s nothing higher, or more admirable, than that.”
Satyaraja Prabhu:
From “The Majestic Glory of Sri Sri Rukmini-Dvarakadhisa” in Back to Godhead, Vol. 56, No. 3 (May/June 2022):
“Krishna is always Krishna, exhibiting both simple and opulent dimensions according to His transcendental, inexplicable, and sweet will.”
Visakha Dasi:
From “Goodness: The Platform of Happiness” in Back to Godhead, Vol. 56, No. 3 (May/June 2022):
“Genuine spiritual life has no material impediments; one’s advancement can be checked only by one’s own lack of desire.”
“If our desire for spiritual life remains strong, our future is brighter and more joyful than we can even imagine.”
Baladeva Vidyabhusana Prabhu:
Srila Prabhupada once said to the GBCs, “Out of all of you, Ramesvara is a little intelligent.”
Gauranga Darsana Prabhu:
From “The Mood for Entering Vrindavan” in Back to Godhead, Vol. 56, No. 3 (May/June 2022):
“Factually, the Lord never considers anyone His enemy in the first place. He punishes demoniac people only for their purification and to stop their nefarious activities that trouble the innocent.”
Harivamsa Prabhu:
From “Loosening the Grip of Fear” in Back to Godhead, Vol. 56, No. 3 (May/June 2022):
“Acts of service imbued with love for Krishna powerfully divest us from our bodily consciousness and purge our hearts of its fears.”
Rukmini Vallabha Prabhu:
From “Is Bhakti-yoga Difficult?” in Back to Godhead, Vol. 56, No. 3 (May/June 2022):
“Since bhakti-yoga is executed on the spiritual platform, the progress we achieve on this path is never lost. It is beyond the influence of time. Even if we are not completely successful in this lifetime, our progress is permanent and can be continued at a later stage. Therefore bhakti-yoga is worth the effort and without risk.”
“In bhakti-yoga, the benefits are realized continuously and not only at the end.”
“Association with serious practitioners of bhakti-yoga is the most important factor determining our progress because it facilitates our spiritual education and provides us with the required inspiration, encouragement, and guidance. Because we all have to interact with the world and can be affected by it, association with other bhakti-yogis can help us rejuvenate spiritually and focus again on our spiritual practice.”
“Bhakti-yoga is the process of reconnecting to all-loving and all-powerful Krishna, who is ever patient and possesses full power to help us.”
Vraja Vihari Prabhu:
From “Three Levels of Appreciation” in Back to Godhead, Vol. 56, No. 3 (May/June 2022):
“When I thanked God for the gifts I have received in life, the rest of my day was a productive one. But when I saw the gaps first thing in the morning, I lived the day feeling a gnawing incompleteness.”
“Srila Prabhupada taught us to appreciate Krishna on at least two levels: We can thank Krishna for what He does in our lives, and we can thank Him for who He is – wonderful, attractive, and most merciful to all living entities.”
“We are all connected to Krishna, and therefore to each other as well. While many philosophers and scientists admit that all living entities are chemically and atomically connected, we devotees of Krishna know Him to be the common factor that unites all of us.”
Elwood Carlson, professor of sociology at Florida State University:
John D. Rockefeller once said, “God gave me my billions.”
Neal Krause and Christopher G. Ellison:
From “Parental Religious Socialization Practices and Self-Esteem in Late Life” in Review of Religious Research, Vol. 49, No. 2 (Dec. 2007), 109–127 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/20447484]:
[This was a required reading in an online “Sociology of Religion” course I am auditing through Florida State University this spring semester.]
“Stark and Finke (2000) also show how prayer builds confidence in religion. More specifically, these investigators propose that, ‘Prayer builds bonds of affection and confidence between humans and a god or gods’ (Stark and Finke 2000:109). They then go on to argue that, ‘Prayer, then, can have many purposes, but an important result is to reassure humans that religious phenomena are real.’ It follows from these arguments that if prayer helps people feel more confident about their faith and helps convince them that religious phenomena are real, they will be more deeply committed to religion.” [Stark, Rodney and Roger Finke. 2000. Acts of Faith: Explaining the Human Side of Religion. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.]
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Want to live a long time? Want to become free from your karma? Do not take more than your God-given quota! That is the message given in the beginning of Isopanisad:
isavasyam idam sarvam
tena tyaktena bhuñjitha
ma grdhah kasya svid dhanam
kurvann eveha karmani
evam tvayi nanyatheto ’sti
na karma lipyate nare
“Everything animate or inanimate that is within the universe is controlled and owned by the Lord. One should therefore accept only those things necessary for himself, which are set aside as his quota, and one should not accept other things, knowing well to whom they belong. One may aspire to live for hundreds of years if he continuously goes on working in that way, for that sort of work will not bind him to the law of karma. There is no alternative to this way for man.” (Isopanisad 1–2)
When manning a Hare Krishna book table, I use these two verses to try to sell Sri Isopanisad.
