Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 18, No. 4
(February 2022, part two)
Tampa, Gainesville, Tallahassee, Alachua
(Sent from Mayapur, Nadia, West Bengal, India, on March 5, 2022)
Where I Went and What I Did
After spending Lord Nityananda Prabhu’s appearance day with my friends in Brooklyn, I flew to Tampa to chant at University of South Florida for three days and lead the kirtan at their weekly Wednesday program for students. One student attending our club chanted with me on the campus the next day, learning how to play the karatalas in record time. Then on Friday I chanted in Gainesville at Krishna Lunch and with the Alachua devotees across from the University of Florida entrance. I attended the Third Bhaktivedanta Institute of Higher Studies conference on cosmology that weekend. As the conference ended in the middle of the afternoon, I was able to chant with the Russian devotees in Depot Park on Saturday afternoon and with the Krishna House devotees in downtown Gainesville in the evening. The final full week of February I returned to Tallahassee to chant Hare Krishna and promote Krishna Lunch at FSU. The final weekend I chanted in Gainesville at Depot Park in the afternoons and in midtown in the evenings. On the final day of February, I sang at Krishna Lunch in Gainesville.
I share insights from Srila Prabhupada’s books, the writings of Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami, Caitanya-Bhagavata, and the lectures of Mahatma and Navina Nirada Prabhus and more.
Thanks to Kumari Sakhi Devi Dasi for the video of us chanting at Krishna Lunch. Thanks to Nishta for videos of harinamas at Krishna Lunch and Depot Park. Thanks to Sankirtan Prabhu for the rides to and from Depot Park harinama. Thanks to Rohini-kumar Prabhu and Vaishnavi Devi Dasi for the ride back from harinama at Depot Park and for joining us on our evening harinama. Thanks to Vivasvan Prabhu for picking me up at the Tampa airport and for letting me use his car to go to the USF campus. Thanks to his brother for dropping me at the University of South Florida campus on my last day. Thanks to Lila and Jenya for getting me at the bus in Gainesville.
Itinerary
March: India with Gaura Nitai and Yogamaya Yajna Prabhus
April 1–21: Tallahassee and Tampa harinamas and college outreach
April 22–24: Gainesville harinamas and college outreach
April 25–May 6: Tampa harinamas and college outreach
May 7: Clearwater Beach Ratha-yatra
May ?–May ?: harinama with Sankarsana Prabhu by the Washington, D.C., museums
May ?–May ?: Syracuse harinamas
May ?–June ?: NYC Harinam
June ?–July ?: Colorado Rainbow Gathering
July ?–August ?: Paris harinamas
August 22–September ?: Tallahassee, Gainesville, Tampa harinama and outreach
September ?–September ?: Philadelphia harinamas and Ratha-yatra
Chanting Hare Krishna in Tampa
I chanted Hare Krishna at University of South Florida in front of the Marshall Student Center for three hours a day for three days. I do not have any video of most of this because I was alone most of the time.
I also led the chanting of Hare Krishna at the USF Bhakti Yoga Society club meeting.
I was most impressed with a young Indian man who played guitar very nicely along with the chanting. Ramiya Prabhu introduced me to a lady named Jasmine, who liked to sing, and I invited her to join me in front of the Marshall Student Center the next day.
Vivasvan Prabhu has maintained a temple in Tampa for decades, and he kindly lets me stay there and use his car to do campus outreach. After the campus program, I attended his Wednesday evening program in Tampa. Here Rayn Mataji chants Hare Krishna there (https://youtu.be/B0ENIVg2ihI).
Vivasvan Prabhu himself chants Hare Krishna at his Wednesday evening program (https://youtu.be/v9ENbC4cjMI):
Jordan, who has only been practicing Krishna consciousness for a month and a half, chants Hare Krishna at a Tampa morning program (https://youtu.be/lOLOaezINWs):
Jordan, whose family moved to Tampa from Africa several years ago, impressed me on the first day of my visit when he played drum for me for three hours on the campus:
I chanted Hare Krishna outside the Marshall Student Center at the University of South Florida in Tampa, and Adam, a passing musician who knows guitar, drum, and piano and who said he’d play anything someone put in his hands, plays the karatalas for the first time remarkably well (https://youtu.be/J7ja9CxmP4k):
Jasmine, who offered to sing with me, came by two hours before our appointment saying that she heard the chanting, and just wanted to listen as she was eating her lunch. She decided to study nearby for the intervening time so she could continue hearing the Hare Krishna chant. After her studying was completed I taught Jasmine, who has attended our USF Bhakti Yoga club thrice and likes that we include kirtan and philosophy with our yoga, to play the karatalas for the first time, in addition to singing the response (https://youtu.be/ZJLnu6ghpY8):
I found an impressive array of youthful devotee musicians at Krishna Lunch when I went to sing there one Friday.
Here Champakalata Devi Dasi chants Hare Krishna at Krishna Lunch at University of Florida in Gainesville (https://youtu.be/er4o8xRIXQI):
Casey chants Hare Krishna at Krishna Lunch (https://youtu.be/ie6lFwveF6U):
Kumari Sakhi Devi Dasi chants Hare Krishna at Krishna Lunch (https://youtu.be/tJkdokVTjXU):
At once point while Kumari Sakhi was chanting Hare Krishna, Champakalata Devi Dasi and Katie danced (https://youtu.be/X5HOiCqjepg):
Then some students joined in, including a couple of young ladies from Chile (https://youtu.be/fS2UA6WXcN4):
Here Nishta chants Hare Krishna at Krishna Lunch (https://youtu.be/JgFKVGNVFda):
She took her own video from a different angle (https://youtu.be/YntRlBRS770):
Yogamaya Yajna Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Krishna Lunch (https://youtu.be/tOhRRmZ6_eM):
Krishna Kesava Prabhu chants Hare Krishna across from University of Florida in Gainesville (https://youtu.be/snf7gE6Xp-U):
Nagaraja Prabhu chants Hare Krishna there (https://youtu.be/xEYyZq4nrtQ):
Guru Vagmi Prabhu also chanted Hare Krishna there (https://youtu.be/UTncKk-LGUM):
Man Mohini Devi Dasi chants Hare Krishna (https://youtu.be/MIdWKyOliTI):
I learned that Gopal, a devotee youth who presented at the Bhaktivedanta Institute, liked harinama, so I invited him to chant with me at Depot Park Saturday afternoon, after the seminar ended for the day. His friend, Nishta, was interested in coming and arranged for her father to give us a ride. I began chanting Hare Krishna at Depot Park with Gopal playing mrdanga and Nishta playing karatalas (https://youtu.be/ArTZZK8kvcU):
After fifteen minutes we were all surprised to see a group of about fifteen devotees from Alachua arrive also to do harinama, and so we decided to join them. We later learned that some Russian devotees have organized a weekly Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. at Depot Park, followed by prasadam.
Here Govinda Gopal Prabhu chants Hare Krishna with Russian devotees from Alachua at Depot Park in Gainesville (https://youtu.be/gk9LZJfcpuI):
I also took a Facebook Live video of his kirtan for almost an hour (https://youtu.be/l0TjVJySBhY):
Gopal also chanted Hare Krishna there at Depot Park (https://youtu.be/zk2m_cneU7Q):
Govinda Gopal Prabhu chanted Hare Krishna kirtan before prasadam (https://youtu.be/4u5KLfJueJE):
Prasadam included a savory and a dessert. A sacrifice without food distribution (asrstannam) is considered incomplete and of the lowest grade (Bg. 17.13), and so we thank the Russian cooks for their thoughtfulness and their devotion.
While she was chanting Hare Krishna some young ladies danced (https://youtu.be/1hSnWSIvIGc):
Next Vinoda Kovida Prabhu chanted Hare Krishna in downtown Gainesville, and passersby danced, some having so much fun they danced with us again later when Ananta Vallabha Prabhu was leading. Three people told Janaki that dancing with us more fun than what was going on in the bar (https://youtu.be/1hSnWSIvIGc):
At one point, Vinoda Kovida Prabhu engaged a group of people in chanting the Hare Krishna mantra (https://youtu.be/TNaQpx0jTJE):
Here is another video of Vinoda Kovida Prabhu chanting Hare Krishna (https://youtu.be/2sanILqPMV0):
Here Ananta Vallabha Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in downtown Gainesville, and a couple chants and dances (https://youtu.be/5aaesU97xy4):
While Ananta Vallabha Prabhu chanted Hare Krishna, many passersby participated by chanting, dancing, clapping, taking videos, and accepting invitations to Krishna House programs (https://youtu.be/sGKO97YIJ54):
In this clip from the above video, one lady was more enthusiastic to chant Hare Krishna with us than the others in the clip (https://youtu.be/azFLcbyfUiY):
I said to that enthusiastic lady, “You must have been a great yogi in your previous life!”
She replied, “Well, I eat a lot of Krishna Lunch!”
While Ananta Vallabha Prabhu was leading, the devotees sang the Happy Birthday song to a girl who had appreciated their Hare Krishna kirtan (https://youtu.be/tH4UJipJAow):
Because I was flying out of Gainesville on March 1, I decided to return from Tallahassee and spend the last weekend in February in Gainesville also.
I chanted for three hours in Tallahassee midday and then caught a ride to Gainesville with Madhumangala Prabhu. We decided to do harinama that night, and I was happy we had a party of five.
Here Ananta Vallabha Prabhu engages birthday girls and their friends in chanting Hare Krishna along the streets of midtown Gainesville (https://youtu.be/MggTJFno8xA):
Govinda Gopal Prabhu chants Hare Krishna with Russian devotees from Alachua at Depot Park in Gainesville (https://youtu.be/Y0AJYAggHbQ):
Rohini-kumar Prabhu chants Hare Krishna (https://youtu.be/TL1G75Kfxsg):
Avi chants Hare Krishna, and three Russian devotee ladies dance (https://youtu.be/WPwCrm9W7R4):
While the devotees were chanting Hare Krishna youthful Russian girls, Visakha and Manjari, joined the older devotees in talking to people and distributing literature, and that impressed me.
Here is the end of that Hare Krishna kirtan organized by Russian devotees from Alachua (https://youtu.be/7M4-Aywjods):
I sang briefly before the Russian devotees came, and I met Ace (above), who remembered Vaninatha Vasu Prabhu from the 1980s. Vaninatha was always giving him plenty of prasadam which he remembered fondly.
Here Yogamaya Yajna Prabhu chants Hare Krishna by the bars, and many passersby take part in different ways, including chanting the mantra, dancing, and taking videos (https://youtu.be/ULayzElNUE0):
While I was chanting Hare Krishna at University of Florida Krishna Lunch in Gainesville on Monday, Lance, a student passing by who plays piano and drum, offered to play an instrument. We settled on the harmonium, for which we taught him the chords to Prabhupada melody, and here he plays as I lead the singing (https://youtu.be/s5CqvxeVi1w):
I chanted Hare Krishna at our rainy day Krishna Lunch venue, which we had to relocate to, and devotees danced with joy (https://youtu.be/Lmy51QarWIg):
Thanks to Kumari Sakhi Devi Dasi for the above video.
Chanting Hare Krishna in Tallahassee
Athena (above), who has come to some of our programs and came on harinama in Miami once, attended a retreat catered by devotees with a two-hour kirtan, and described feeling immersed in the divine the whole time. Later she wrote to me saying that a student posted on a social media site, “The Hare Krishna man is the only person I don’t get mad at on Landis [the green behind the main library] he’s so nice.”
One person commented, “I love him.”
This is Srila Prabhupada’s mercy that he has given us the chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra to purify our hearts of all kinds of materialistic tendencies, and it is the mercy of his followers that they are keeping his mission going on after his disappearance from this world so we can encounter and practice his sublime teachings, the culmination of the Vedic wisdom, even now. It is the mercy of the Lord that some people, despite the materialism of this age, are able to appreciate our offering to humanity to a greater or lesser extent, as the students’ comments above reflected.
I had some interesting encounters on Landis.
One young lady dressed as a Catholic sister walked by, and I invited her to our Krishna Lunch, suggesting that vegan food was not prohibited by her tradition. In the course of talking with her, I mentioned that St. Francis was my favorite among the Catholic saints because he extended his love to the animals. She mentioned that she was in an order of Franciscan sisters, which I had never heard of before. I asked if she knew the story of St. Francis and the wolf, and she said she had. The girl with her, however, had not, so I asked her to tell the story because she would remember more of the details. A wolf was terrorizing a village and the residents appealed to St. Francis to do something. He preached to the wolf about nonviolence in the name of Lord Jesus Christ, and it became transformed. Instead of threatening the people of the village, the pacified wolf came to their doors like a puppy dog, and the residents fed it leftovers. When the wolf finally died, the people of the village expressed lamentation. Isabel, the Catholic sister in training, then started talking about the Eucharist, where the Catholics consider the wine and bread in the sacrifice to be exactly identical with the blood and flesh of Jesus Christ. I mentioned that we could understand that because in our tradition when a devotee offers food to Krishna it becomes transformed to spiritual substance non-different from Krishna. I told a story of how one temple president tasted the orange juice at breakfast and it didn’t seem quite right. He asked the priest about it, and it turned out the priest had forgotten to offer it to Krishna that morning. The sister told an interesting story about St. Francis. He starved a horse for three days and then offered it a choice of a pile of hay or of the Eucharist, and the horse went for the Eucharist instead of the hay. I pointed out that evidence of devotion for God in animals such as this suggests animals also have souls.
I mentioned that I was a monk since 1983, and she asked what vows I followed. I explained that we chant the Hare Krishna mantra, which I had been singing, on a string of 108 meditation beads, and each day we promise to chant sixteen times around the beads. I also mentioned that we vow to abstain from meat eating, illicit sex, intoxication, and gambling, and that I got initiated as monk when I was twenty-three. She said she was twenty-six, and she plans to take her vows next year.
She had an impressive natural joy about her, and she did not have the argumentative, self-righteous spirit that you sometimes see in the Christians that talk with us.
In the beginning of our conversation I mentioned that in my sociology of religion class I had just read a paper on how a decrease in priests has resulted in more sisters and even lay women leading the parishes, and she said that was quite true, but very recently there is a new trend among men to enter the priesthood in greater numbers, and she felt very happy about that. On the whole, it was a pleasure to have such a positive conversation with a person completely dedicated to another spiritual path. She offered to pose for a photo with me and had the girl who was with her take it. I wish her well with her vows and her life of devotion.
Danakeli Prabhu of Dallas chants Hare Krishna at a Tallahassee evening program (https://youtu.be/SCCKDVI50rQ):
Navina Nirada Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at a Tallahassee evening program (https://youtu.be/UdfOHCxQ9jk):
Visvambhar and Amala Harinam Prabhus chant Hare Krishna at Sunday Evening Arati in Alachua (https://youtu.be/pK4Fn2adE9g):
Amala Harinama Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in Alachua for the safety of the Ukraine devotees (https://youtu.be/psgVIKUTyVE):
Kishor Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in Alachua for the safety of the Ukraine devotees (https://youtu.be/BJz0MjQ-PVI):
I had not seen this T-shirt one devotee was wearing before:
What kind of vegetarian food does God eat?
Joyfully Baked, a devotee bakery in Gainesville, offers Him awesome doughnuts:
Lakshman, Saturday brunch cook at Krishna House,
made Him an amazing pizza last Ekadasi.
Insights
Srila Prabhupada:
From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Adi 17.1:
“Let me offer my respectful obeisances to Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, by whose mercy even unclean yavanas become perfectly weSrila Prabhupada:ll bred gentlemen by chanting the holy name of the Lord. Such is the power of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.”
From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Adi 17.30:
“Thus a Vaishnava should not ask anything from anyone else. If someone gives him something without being asked, he should accept it, but if nothing comes, a Vaishnava should be satisfied to eat whatever vegetables and fruits are easily available.”
From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 24.318:
“Srimad-Bhagavatam is as great as Krishna, the Supreme Lord and shelter of everything. In each and every verse of Srimad-Bhagavatam and in each and every syllable, there are various meanings.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 5.16.3:
“When the mind is fixed upon the Supreme Personality of Godhead in His external feature made of the material modes of nature—the gross universal form—it is brought to the platform of pure goodness. In that transcendental position, one can understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vasudeva, who in His subtler form is self-effulgent and beyond the modes of nature. O my lord, please describe vividly how that form, which covers the entire universe, is perceived.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 5.16.3, purport:
“If one rigidly observes the regulative principle of chanting sixteen rounds of the maha-mantra every day, his dealings with the material world for the sake of spreading the Krishna consciousness movement are not different from the spiritual cultivation of Krishna consciousness.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 5.16.4:
“The great Rishi Sukadeva Gosvami said: My dear King, there is no limit to the expansion of the Supreme Personality of Godhead’s material energy. This material world is a transformation of the material qualities [sattva-guna, rajo-guna and tamo-guna], yet no one could possibly explain it perfectly, even in a lifetime as long as that of Brahma No one in the material world is perfect, and an imperfect person could not describe this material universe accurately, even after continued speculation.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.31.32, purport:
“An intelligent man should give up such undesirable association and should always mix with saintly persons. When he is in association with saintly persons, all his doubts about the spiritual expansion of life are eradicated, and he makes tangible progress on the path of spiritual understanding.”
“Persons who, due to being initiated by another sect of religious faith, do not find devotional service as the common platform for approaching the Supreme Personality of Godhead, also cannot understand Krishna consciousness. We have experience that some students come to join us, but because of being biased in some particular type of faith, they leave our camp and become lost in the wilderness. Actually, Krishna consciousness is not a sectarian religious faith; it is a teaching process for understanding the Supreme Lord and our relationship with Him. Anyone can join this movement without prejudice, but unfortunately there are persons who feel differently. It is better, therefore, not to instruct the science of Krishna consciousness to such persons.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.32.42, purport:
“To serve a devotee, to chant the holy name according to a certain counting method, to worship the Deity, to hear Srimad-Bhagavatam or Bhagavad-gita from a realized person and to live in a sacred place where devotional service is not disturbed are the first out of sixty-four devotional activities for making progress in devotional service. One who has accepted these five chief activities is called a devotee.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.8.59–60, purport:
“Devotional service is so potent that one who renders devotional service can receive whatever he likes as a benediction from the Supreme Lord.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.8.61:
“If one is very serious about liberation, he must stick to the process of transcendental loving service, engaging twenty-four hours a day in the highest stage of ecstasy, and he must certainly be aloof from all activities of sense gratification.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.8.68, purport:
“Anyone who engages in devotional service, anywhere within this universe, is never unprotected.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.8.69, purport:
“Every devotee, therefore, should be determined that in this life he will be able to satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead and by that process go back home, back to Godhead. That is the perfection of the highest mission of life.”
“The significance of this particular verse is that Dhruva Maharaja acted exactly according to the advice of his spiritual master, the great sage Narada. Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti also advises that if we want to be successful in our attempt to go back to Godhead, we must very seriously act according to the instruction of the spiritual master. That is the way of perfection. There need be no anxiety over attaining perfection because if one follows the instruction given by the spiritual master he is sure to attain perfection. Our only concern should be how to execute the order of the spiritual master. A spiritual master is expert in giving special instructions to each of his disciples, and if the disciple executes the order of the spiritual master, that is the way of his perfection.”
“As far as our ISKCON movement is concerned, we simply ask that one observe the four prohibitive rules, chant sixteen rounds and, instead of indulging in luxurious eating for the tongue, simply accept prasada offered to the Lord.”
Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami:
From Free Write Journal #184:
“Devotees are in a world of their own, but they are impacted by world events. The recent easing of the threat of Russia’s invading Ukraine is welcome news for the devotees in both countries. We have nothing to do with the international politics, but Prabhupada has said that the widespread chanting of Hare Krishna could prevent World War III. The devotees, both in Russia and in Ukraine, are avid chanters of the holy name, and their combined hari-nama could avoid the worst disasters for both countries. We pray that diplomacy and peace will prevail and that there will be no invasion of Ukraine by Russia.”
“I watched about an hour of footage of the inauguration of the renovated building at #1 Ultadanga Road. This was the building where Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Maharaja started his preaching movement in and resided in for fourteen years (1918–1932). And this is the historic place where His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada met Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Prabhupada for the very first time. Prabhupada was reluctant to go and see the sadhu, but his friends, who had seen Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati and were impressed by him, urged Prabhupada to go up to and see Srila Bhaktisiddhanta, who gave his lectures on the roof. He was giving his lecture when our Prabhupada and his friends entered the roof-space. They made their dandavats to the spiritual master. He interrupted his lecture and addressed the small group, including our Prabhupada. He said—“You are educated young men. You should preach this message of Caitanya Mahaprabhu to the English-speaking people.” Our Prabhupada then said to his future spiritual master that India should first gain its independence from England; otherwise, people wouldn’t take them seriously. Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura replied that Krishna consciousness did not depend on who was in political power. They talked some more, and our Prabhupada felt he was defeated. He was impressed that he had met a person who had Lord Caitanya’s message in his expert hands. I watched on YouTube about an hour of ISKCON speakers all telling about the event that happened 100 years ago, when Abhay Charan De met Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura. I watched Bhakti Caitanya Maharaja, Raghunatha Maharaja, Giriraja Maharaja, Hari Sauri Prabhu, Her Grace Daivi Sakti, Lokanatha Maharaja, and several others speak about the glorious history of Ultadanga Road. ISKCON obtained the building some years ago, but it was in very broken down condition. They restored it and renovated it so that it looks just like it did 100 years ago. I saw video footage of the restored building, and it is very beautiful! You can see the exact spot on the roof where Abhay Charan De met Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura. I was thrilled and humbled to see my exalted Godbrothers and sister speaking wonderfully about the history of the place.”
“Answering mail is very important to me, and I want my correspondents to receive my answer as soon as possible.”
From a Poor Man Reads the Bhagavatam, Volume 2:
“Our immersion in material miseries comes from our turning away from God’s mercy. When we learn to offer our activities as service and to accept Him as the Supreme, then we not only save ourselves, but we also help others. The truth is actually simple.”
“Krishna consciousness has jurisdiction over all subjects; they become re-spiritualized simply by the touch of a devoted person.
“Prabhupada used to encourage us that we could speak on any topic and in any department of knowledge—psychology, sociology, literature, history, and even science and math—even if it appeared that Krishna consciousness had no relevance. A devotee can always make the connection with Krishna and show the defect in any body of knowledge that has lost its connection.”
“The mahajana does not dwell unnecessarily on details. This is not an age for getting hung up on innumerable Vedic details but for learning the art of devotion. Relevance is defined by that which most evokes our original love of God. Lord Caitanya has determined that chanting Hare Krishna mantra and hearing narrations from Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam will do that best.”
“While the atheists use knowledge to run and hide from Krishna, we find Him everywhere in every understanding. Our duty, then, is only to help make His presence and teachings clear to others so that they can see Him too.”
“If my own speaking has any potency, it’s because I repeat what Srila Prabhupada says. I say it in faith and someone can hear it with faith. That is parampara. I cannot speak it on my own; I have to be linked to the disciplic succession. I stay linked by repeating the words of my spiritual master. Therefore, although I don’t see Krishna’s pastimes or realize them, I pass on the sraddha and the pleasure and conviction that comes when you hear from the pure devotee.”
“My dear Lord Krishna, please have mercy on this sinner. My dear Lord Krishna, thank You for Your mercy. Talking to myself to help me pray is not a sentimental thing or merely emotional: it is philosophical reason.
“The motivation for prayer and for always thinking of Krishna is that we are actually helpless in this world. We are in a very dangerous position. We don’t know what is going to happen at death, what may happen at any moment. The sastras say there will be transmigration and so much suffering. That is the salvation angle; we should get out of this condition. Beyond that, however, is the attraction to Krishna.
“We are rascals. We have come to this material world and committed so many sinful activities; so we should want to get out of this situation. We are helpless, sinful. This is the motivation for prayer, to talk to our protector, our well-wisher, who will take us beyond salvation to Him—if we can just attain this immediate, simple thing of always talking to Krishna and of being with Krishna by chanting the holy name while thinking of Him.
“It seems to me that I might have had a little bit more of that when I first joined as a devotee, when I saw it in Prabhupada, and when I thought spontaneously of Krishna from minute to minute while at the welfare office. I think it has been drying up by the institutional work, by Prabhupada’s absence now, by the offenses I committed as guru, and just by the resurfacing of material desires. To be gaining this again is nothing extraordinary; it is my natural situation and I am going back to it.”
From Begging for the Nectar of the Holy Name:
“Go after it. Be greedy for this. Collect mantras. Cram mantras. Give yourself three weeks for the exclusive practice of chanting. Neglect other duties at this time. For so long you have done the other things dutifully and pushed the japa into a corner like a neglected child. How many devotees do I know who must admit, ‘My chanting is poor’? So go and do it. But don’t be proud that you have increased your quota by a minuscule amount. Premature saint, namacarya coming back to the pack boasting, ‘I did a big vrata. I discovered something.’ Bosh.
“You have discovered you have no taste. That’s why you didn’t want to get into it. You thought, better leave it in its state of perpetual neglect because once you pay attention, you will see how bad the case is. Advanced cancer. Too late? No, never. It’s just in time. It’s the perfect time. Go on chanting now and tell us about it as honestly as possible. Let your loud pen scratch us a simple report of these days and nights. Come back again for more retreats like this and write more of this simple and sublime theme: ‘This is what happens when you spend time chanting.’”
From The Twenty-six Qualities of a Devotee:
“Indifference to Material acquisitions, aniha:
“Sometimes a specific quality of the Vaishnava will come forth and shine, just as at night a certain star may first appear and then others. On another occasion, another quality may be called for and come forth. And sometimes, like blossoms on a tree in spring, many show at once. The pure devotee is capable of showing one quality after another, not as a theatrical performance but as is needed in the course of rendering service to Krishna and the Vaishnavas. And all the transcendental qualities come naturally to him, without separate effort, as integral parts of his Krishna consciousness.
“We should not demand a consistency according to material standards in a devotee’s display of these qualities. His meekness does not mean he cannot on occasion become angry. Detachment does not mean he cannot use material things in the service of Krishna. The devotee is consistent, but not in a small-minded way. All a devotee’s actions are consistent with his rendering pure, unalloyed devotional service to Krishna.
“The quality of aniha, indifference to material acquisitions, is another part of the Vaishnava’s opulence. He doesn’t have to acquire things because he is already satisfied in devotional service. A devotee may use material things in the service of Krishna, but he doesn’t become attached or dependent on them. He may serve Krishna with millions of dollars, construct buildings, and profusely publish Krishna conscious literatures; but even if he has nothing material to use, he can serve Krishna just by chanting Hare Krishna.”
From Begging for the Nectar of the Holy Name:
“Srila Prabhupada is fingering his beads. He roars, ‘Sit properly!’ and loudly chants by the hour. I can do it too.”
From Karttika Moon:
“Give me easy passage, so I can go to a writing retreat and discover. Discover what? That I love God (Krishna) and He loves me; He loves us all.”
“The moon began to rise and look brilliant. It is the Karttika moon. I remember that Prabhupada said that sometimes in New York City in 1966 he looked up and saw that it’s the same moon, same sky, same clouds, so why should he think that he’s a foreigner in America? Every place belongs to Krishna. By the same logic, it’s the same moon of Karttika whether over the land of Vrindavan or here in England or wherever. You can think of Krishna under the Karttika moon in England and you can think of Him in Vrindavan, India.”
Vrindavan Dasa Thakura:
From Caitanya-Bhagavata, Adi Khanda 10.119:
“Whoever hears these auspicious topics of the Lord’s marriage is never entangled in worldly life.”
From Caitanya-Bhagavata, Adi Khanda 10.120–121:
“With Laksmi at the side of the Lord, the house of Saci appeared like Vaikuntha, the most effulgent abode. Such a wonderful effulgence constantly emanated from the house that Mother Saci could not even see properly.”
From Caitanya-Bhagavata, Adi Khanda 10.129:
“Until the Lord Himself allows one to know Him, even Laksmi has no power to understand Him.”
From Caitanya-Bhagavata, Adi Khanda 11.17:
“As the Lord thus passed His time in scholastic pastimes, His servants could not recognize Him, so what to speak of others?”
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura:
From Caitanya-Bhagavata, Adi Khanda 9.234, commentary:
“By sending Sri Nityananda Prabhu as my spiritual master, Sriman Mahaprabhu has bestowed causeless mercy on such a fallen soul as me, and when the pastimes of Sri Nityananda Prabhu were completed, He has taken Him away from me. O my Lord, bless me so that my mind may not deviate in Your absence after You have both enacted Your disappearance pastimes. May I ever fix my restless uncontrolled mind at the lotus feet of You both.” By this statement the author has taught the constitutional duty and principle of humility to every servant of the spiritual master.”
From Caitanya-Bhagavata, Adi Khanda 10.4, commentary:
“When a living entity becomes greedy for objects not related to the Lord, he loses his opulences and, being disturbed by his restless mind, he furthers his conditional life.”
From Caitanya-Bhagavata, Adi Khanda 10.79, commentary:
“The rituals in which sandalwood pulp and flower garlands are offered the day before an auspicious ceremony is called Adhivasa.”
From Caitanya-Bhagavata, Adi Khanda 10.119, commentary:
“In this material world people become joyful by hearing about the marriage of a boy and a girl. Encouraged by such topics, the conditioned souls become eager to face the miseries of material bondage. But the topics related with the marriage of Sriman Mahaprabhu, who is the controller of maya, are not like this. This pastime of the Lord is meant to demonstrate the uselessness of material existence. A living entity who is attached to material enjoyment considers the marriage of a mundane boy and girl to be the ideal example of sense gratification, and if he considers the spiritual pastimes of the Supreme Lord’s marriage as similar to the conditioned soul’s sense gratificatory activities, which are apparently sweet but ultimately poison, he will certainly be entangled in the bondage of material existence. But the Supreme Lord is the only object of all enjoyment, and the servants, maidservants, and wonderful ingredients of service, which are all under His control, cannot produce such inauspiciousness. Wherever the happiness of the Lord is present, the sense gratification of the living entities cannot remain.”
From Caitanya-Bhagavata, Adi Khanda, Chapter 11, Summary:
“One day Isvara Puri requested Nimai Pandita to point out the mistakes in his Sri Krishna-lilamrta and indicated his desire to correct the mistakes under Nimai’s guidance. Hearing his words, the Lord condemned mundane scholarship and spoke the following invaluable nectarean words: ‘First of all, this book is composed by such a pure devotee as Puripada, and, moreover, it is full of topics about Krishna. Therefore whoever finds faults in this book is certainly an offender. The poetry of a pure devotee, in whatever form it may be, is always pleasing to Krishna. There is no doubt about it. The Supreme Lord never sees any grammatical faults in the statements of His devotees, for He is controlled by devotion and He accepts the sentiments of His devotees. A person who finds faults in the statements of a devotee is himself full of faults. No one is so audacious as to find faults in the descriptions of the Supreme Lord by a pure devotee like Puripada.’”
Brahmatirtha Prabhu:
Today (March 1) is the 50th anniversary of my meeting Srila Prabhupada and speaking to him for three days in a hut in Mayapur.
After returning from India, I went on a family trip to South Florida in the winter. It was so beautiful with the weather and the coconut trees. I was thinking, “I am glad I don’t live here.” Having just heard Srila Prabhupada’s instructions, I was thinking that the pleasant situation would distract me from my focus on devotional service to Krishna.
Kids are a total anxiety for one’s whole life.
In 1976 I went to the New York Ratha-yatra, and I saw that Mr. Manischewitz, the famed Jewish manufacturer of matzos and wine, had become a devotee. My father said to me when I mentioned that, “I have been thinking of changing to another brand.”
If we are attached to the body, both at the time of dying and at the time of living, we will be in anxiety.
The first conversation I had with Srila Prabhupada was not recorded. Srila Prabhupada asked me: Who are you? Why are you here, and What are you doing? In this way he made me feel very comfortable. I asked him about miracles. He explained that only fools believe in miracles. Everything is a process. You just do not know the process, and therefore, you say miracle.
As a kid I always wanted to go to India. I heard of Bhagavad-gita. I had seen the devotees chanting in the 1960s. I wanted to know what it was all about. I knew I had to experience it firsthand.
Someone had the brilliant idea of putting a stick of incense in Srila Prabhupada’s straw outhouse, and it burned down.
I did not know that the conversations were being recorded or that many devotees were outside the door listening.
After the conversations, Shyamsundar exclaimed, “Those were perfect answers!” Srila Prabhupada agreed, and said, “Yes, you should make a book, and call it Perfect Questions, Perfection Answers.”
I could never understand the Bhagavad-gita verse 9.30. I asked my professor, and he said, “That is intuitively obvious,” but actually he did not have a clue. When I met Srila Prabhupada, after talking with him for half a day, Srila Prabhupada quoted to me one Gita verse. It was Bg. 9.30. He also ended his conversation with that verse. He got me to go beyond our western way of seeing things as black or white to seeing there are many shades of gray, and thus a person who does a bad thing yet remains engaged in God’s service should be still respected because of that good quality.
Knowledge begins with faith. “In the beginning there must be faith. Then one becomes interested in associating with pure devotees. Thereafter one is initiated by the spiritual master and executes the regulative principles under his orders. Thus one is freed from all unwanted habits and becomes firmly fixed in devotional service. Thereafter, one develops taste and attachment. This is the way of sadhana-bhakti, the execution of devotional service according to the regulative principles. Gradually emotions intensify, and finally there is an awakening of love. This is the gradual development of love of Godhead for the devotee interested in Krishna consciousness.” (Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 23.14–15)
Hare Krishna is like one of those songs you can’t get out of your mind. That is what happened to me. When I was eighteen I heard Jayadvaita Swami chanting in Greenwich Village, and it stuck in my mind.
When I was a Peace Corps worker in India, I heard different people speak at different temples and mosques. I saw an Hare Krishna program advertised, and I went and heard Gargamuni there. His was the most reasonable presentation, and I still remember his class to this day.
Srila Prabhupada said, “You Americans are ten steps from Krishna facing the right way, and you Indians are one step from Krishna but facing the wrong way.”
Devotees in Mayapur gave me many instructions, and I was bewildered about what I should do. After a few months, I saw Srila Prabhupada in Calcutta, and I explained my situation, asking him how to know what I should do. He answered with one word, “association.”
Mahatma Prabhu:
When Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura as a child received the garland from Lord Jagannatha, Bhaktivinoda Thakura concluded, “This is the personal associate of Lord Caitanya who has come to help me.” Thus Srila Prabhupada always referred to his guru as “a Vaikuntha man.”
At age seven, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura was engaged by his father in editing his books.
When asked about his guru, Srila Prabhupada would choke up with emotion and would say, “He saved me.”
Srila Prabhupada would always attribute his success to his guru.
One of Lord Caitanya’s strategies for spreading Krishna consciousness was to send his eternal associates into this world to give people spiritual association.
There is a yoga village where woofers live. It is about four minutes walk from New Govardhan farm community in Australia. A devotee who encourages people to visit the temple and try the practices of Krishna consciousness shows the people who become attracted the murti of Srila Prabhupada and tells them all these wonderful practices are only here because of him.
Sometimes Srila Prabhupada told his disciples, “You were sent by my guru to assist me.”
At Mayapur behind a cow village are the deities that Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati chanted 192 rounds a day in front of for almost ten years.
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati would often make the point that we are meant to be enjoyed by Krishna.
He went for darsana without his glasses. When people wondered why, he explained that he came to the temple not to see the deity but so the deity could see him.
He spoke a lot about humility.
He said, “I find faults because I do not have a drop of humility.”
He said, “If you see faults, do not dwell on them for you will become degraded.”
Humility in japa means to know that I need Krishna’s help to develop love for Him.
He would say that the true holy name can be chanted with an attitude of service.
He would say that the holy name goes from your ear to your heart to your lips, and if it does not enter your heart and just goes to your lips, that is mayic chanting.
Bhaktivinoda Thakura said that you can get everything from nama-abhasa chanting of the holy name but Krishna prema.
Srila Prabhupada said the pure devotee can convert people simply by smiling.
When devotees asked Lord Caitanya who a Vaishnava was, he gave three different answers in three years, (1) one who once chants the holy name, (2) one who regularly chants the holy name, and (3) one whose association can inspire others to chant the holy name. These correspond to kanistha, madhyama, and uttama-adhikaris.
Comment by Devarata Prabhu: One devotee, Devananda, who was a good book distributor was asked how he did one day. He said he chanted very good japa and the holy name distributed so many books.
Navina Nirada Prabhu:
Without ongoing devotional service to the Lord, why should the Lord absolve us of our sins?
Some try to see God in nature, fewer through yoga and meditation try to connect with the divinity in their hearts, and even fewer try to realize the Lord in His personal feature through devotional service.
Many people have some idea of approaching a higher truth but they are not able to give up sense enjoyment.
Suppression is not a permanent solution.
Unless we replace the sense objects we are attached to with something positive that will completely satisfy our minds, we cannot give them up.
We have all experienced that we thought we had gone beyond a certain type of sense enjoyment, and then of a sudden the urge to do it again appears, and we are surprised.
When we have attained something better, then we can truly walk away from a former habit of sense enjoyment.
My mother gave me a donation before I went to India, and when I came back she gave me another donation. I said, “Why do you want to give me a donation? You just gave me a donation!”
She said, “It just made me feel so good.”
We should improve ourselves and not prove ourselves.
If we are not grateful, we are a great fool.
Jananivasa Prabhu said, “Somehow or other we should try to inspire people to do something for Krishna.”
In the short moment one contacts a book distributor, he feels something substantial is there.
We want to inspire people to give up everything to Krishna. That has to be voluntary.
We have to take a leap of faith to share the message, knowing that Krishna will take care of us.
It is not enough to make the right choice once. We have to continually make the right choice.
In martial arts, you can take the energy of a punch thrown at you and use it to your advantage. On book distribution you can transform negativity in the same way.
We have to have a sense of duty. Not that “I am not feeling it today.”
If we focus on the principles rather than the details we can steadily progress.
First we have to understand the “why” then the “how” becomes easy.
Sharing singing, dance, and food should be normal.
The first program I attended was in Switzerland when I was in ninth grade, on the outskirts of Zurich. No guests showed up, but we had a great time.
The yoga texts say if you feel some real devotional ecstasy you should not reveal it, even to your own mind, because your mind will profane it.
I opened a meditation center in San Francisco because my guru told me to. He said to because we had one there in the early days and we did not have one at present, and because I would learn patience. I trained up everyone to keep it going, and now I do what only I can do, travel and distribute books.
If you asked me what I wanted to do when I was fifteen years old, I would have said I want to travel the world, have a lot of friends, and to be the best at what I can do.
The benefits of chanting the Hare Krishna mantra have far exceeded my expectations.
When you are at home, you get what you want, and when you are on the road, you get what you get.
You can count on that there is a plan, and that there are conscious people in this world, and that is a great realization.
Meditation means to face yourself.
The best form of assessment is peer assessment. In that association you can learn how to improve.
If you have a regular practice, you can have the realization that there is someone besides yourself that is calling the shots.
Enthusiasm comes from a root that means divinely inspired.
Having a daily practice separates the pros from the amateurs.
Meditation involves understanding our false egos.
The mantra is a call for grace, a call for empowerment, which is what is required to touch people’s hearts.
If we change the motivation, or the way we present ourselves, the quality of our communication with others can improve.
Q: You are teaching spirituality and talking with people every day. What does society need the most?
A: Before you talk spirituality, you have to talk humanity. People are looking for personalism. People are ready to drop the facade at the drop of a hat if you do not have an ulterior motive. Everyone is struggling. Empathy is required.
People are not looking for information but realization. Sharing my struggles and my journey I find to be valuable. I have to make the first effort.
There is always something you can take away from any realization.
Nelson Mandela was breaking rocks as a political prisoner for over 20 years. There was an Indian man there, and they discussed the philosophy of Bhagavad-gita together, and he said that is what kept him going.
Highly regard loss that brings great gain.
I sat in a forest in the redwoods and wrote a book I had been sitting on. Disturbed by the forest fires and the fires of the election, I traveled the country to see friends and spiritual mentors.
No material substance and no material substitute can give us spiritual experience.
By chanting the mantra and offering our service to the Supreme we can experience a place where time stops and we feel that we have nothing else to obtain.
Thank you for being who you are and doing what you do.
Keep on chanting. If you do something consistently, you get some realization from it.
People ask what is this all about. I say to ask: What is your contribution? How do you want to serve?
We are largely invisible on the campus. We do a few meals. But many people do not know us.
The human form of life is meant for self-realization not sense gratification because sense gratification can be acquired in any species of life.
Depending on our nature, we qualify as a brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya, or sudra.
Pride creates the attitude of thinking one is entitled to something.
That King Nrga said, “I am sure you must have heard my name,” the acaryas say, indicates he was not a pure devotee of the Lord because a pure devotee of the Lord is not proud.
Krishna is not a religious fanatic. He does not say only this way will work.
If we have Krishna’s pleasure in mind, we will not be concerned that others do things the same way that we do.
Srila Prabhupada generally preached principles and not details because he understood the details will need to be adjusted.
Krishna goes for the essence and so should we.
After fifty years the Christians had no organization, yet we have over a thousand centers of different sizes.
If people see that Krishna has a plan, and it is a better plan, then they will become interested.
The brahmanas are self-regulating.
You have to have administrators to keep the vaisyas in check because otherwise they will simply exploit and even kill the citizens.
Brahmanas are motivated by truth, ksatriyas are motivated by power, vaisyas are motivated by money, and sudras are motivated by enjoyment.
This Ayurvedic doctor in Manipal was telling me this is a bad age. Those studying medicine are not so qualified. The medicines are not so potent. And the patients are not so sincere in following the treatments. But there is one good quality. Simply by chanting the holy name of the Lord, one can attain all perfection. I asked him if he was a Hare Krishna devotee, and he said yes. Everyone in the Udupi area is a devotee of Krishna. There are pictures of the deity everywhere. Even busy people stop by on their cars and scooters, take off their shoes, and do pranamas to Krishna through a little hole in the temple wall which gives a view of the deity.
If you think of your worshipable Lord Krishna even once a day with love, He will be satisfied.
Danakeli Prabhu of Dallas:
I gained perspective over the last two years, and now I realize sharing Krishna consciousness with others is most important to me.
Janesvari Devi Dasi:
I like Florida more than Hawaii. There are few devotees in Hawaii. People always come there to enjoy.
I was not expecting to come to Tallahassee, but I am seeing so many opportunities here, connecting with wonderful people.
Kesava Gopal Prabhu:
Our goal is to become attached to Krishna, but if we have a lot of other things going on we have to be become detached from those things. During the COVID I had the opportunity to realize what I had to become detached from.
Karuna Gopi Devi Dasi:
We wanted to start a center in Miami, and it turned out to be a shelter for many during the COVID as the temple was closed.
Madhumangala Prabhu:
There are studies that show that cows that are named give more milk.
I see so many opportunities for me have come during the COVID 19. I was in a situation I did not like, and because of COVID people did not want me to come back
Gopal:
Coming out of Mayapur into the world I find I have some skills I can use and things are not so bad.
Jorge:
I learned didgeridoo as a result of COVID. I thought the breathing required would strengthen my lungs.
The temple had a rebirth when we thought we would have to close it, and it is all coming together.
Carter:
I was obsessed with finding my ideal self. Each obsession would die out.
I see that capitalism and greed is ruining people’s lives. I want to be a light worker.
Sophia:
I gained everything. I saw all the things that were distracting me from facing what I need to face. Looking at the person I was before COVID is like crazy to me. I did not lose anything.
Saurabh:
I found because of COVID I was able to spend more time with my family instead of us being absorbed in our professions.
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The Krishna House devotees attended a japa seminar by Mahatma Prabhu, which inspired them greatly. That made me ask myself, what I would I say if I gave a seminar on japa? I told some of the devotees who were unable to go to the seminar some of the things I would tell people to inspire them in japa. One item I would include is this great quote from “Arunodaya Kirtana-1 (Udilo Aruna) Songs to be Sung at Dawn” in the Gitavali of Bhaktivinoda Thakura. We are distracted from our japa because we think something is as valuable as the holy name of the Lord, but Bhaktivinoda Thakura points out that this is a great mistake. Actually nothing in the whole material world is as valuable as the holy name, and when we realize that then we can chant the holy names of the Lord with one-pointed attention:
krishna-nama-sudha koriya pan,
nama bina kichu nahiko aro,
caudda-bhuvana-majhe
“Drink the pure nectar of the holy name. There is nothing but the name to be had in the fourteen worlds. It has filled the soul of Sri Bhaktivinoda Thakura.”
