Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 18, No. 17
By Krishna Kripa Das
(September 2022, part one)
(Sent from Syracuse, New York, on September 17, 2022)
Where I Went and What I Did
I remained in Tallahassee for eleven days in the beginning of September, chanting Hare Krishna for three hours a day, mostly at Florida State University, where I promoted our Krishna Lunch program, our free yoga classes, and our weekly programs on campus. On the other days I chanted at FAMU, at a food festival, at Cascades Park, and at Kleman Plaza. We also chanted at First Friday, a great event that brings a lot of people together. While chanting at the different venues, I gave out fifty-nine small books, which I sponsored, and I sold a couple Gitas and a few medium books.
I observed Radhastami on the day itself at Satyaraja Govinda Prabhu’s place where we were joined by three Indian families and a Nepali graduate student. There we had an abhiseka, kirtan, katha and prasadam. The next day we celebrated at our rural property half an hour east of Tallahassee, where we were joined by Alan, an older man, who Janesvari Devi Dasi met at the spring. There we had kirtan, katha, and prasadam.
On September 12, I took a bus to University of South Florida in Tampa, where I chanted on the campus for three hours a day and collected contact information from students interested in our Bhakti Yoga Society there. I also led the kirtan and assisted with the discussion at their Wednesday evening meeting. I flew from Tampa to Syracuse on September 15, chanting for half an hour at Baltimore Washington International Airport and two and a half hours at Inner Harbor, during a layover of almost six hours.
I share quotes from Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad-gita As It Is and Srimad-Bhagavatam, as well as one from one of his letters. I share notes on Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami’s He Lives Forever and his Free Write Journal, both of which I was proofreading. I share notes on Intelligence or Chaos?, a book by Hare Krishna Prabhu, a Prabhupada disciple from Holland. I share a point made by Devamrita Swami told to me by his disciple Janesvari Devi Dasi. I share a couple of points from a lecture by Satyaraja Govinda Prabhu on Radhastami.
I want to continue to thank all the devotees who came forward to assist us in purchasing a new vehicle for our temple in Tallahassee, and thus enabled us to reach our goal of $8,000. I want to especially mention Melanie Knapp, who has been involved with the temple for over 30 years and who still comes on my weekend harinamas when she is in town, who gave a sizable donation. Thanks to Satyaraj Govinda Prabhu for his donation on Radhastami. Thanks to Vivasvan Prabhu for his hospitality in Tampa and for replacing the hat he had previously given me with a better one. Thanks to Arjuna Prabhu for the ride to the airport, the great meals and the raisin bread sandwiches for breakfast and lunch the day I left. Thanks to Kaliya Damana Prabhu for paying for my ride to the Tampa bus. Thanks to Kaliya Krishna Prabhu for sharing the photo of Queen Elizabeth II at the Krishna Avanti School. Thanks to Vicky, an Indian student who took a selfie with me at University of South Florida. As always, I get by with a little help from my friends.
Itinerary
September 15–20: Syracuse harinamas and programs at Mantra Central
September 21: visiting guru and mother in Albany
September 22–September 24: Philadelphia harinamas and Ratha-yatra
September 25–November 22: NYC Harinam
November 23–December 14: three weeks of service to Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami
December 14–January ?, 2023: NYC Harinam
Chanting Hare Krishna in Tallahassee
Sometimes I take as many as eighty video clips of harinamas in half a month, but in Tallahassee we had so few musicians on the harinamas, I was almost always playing one of the key instruments, and so I could not take any videos other than this one at First Friday, before we stopped abruptly because of rain.
Here Jorge plays harmonium and chants Hare Krishna, accompanied by Jason playing drum, and Melanie playing karatalas at First Friday in Tallahassee (https://youtu.be/18IPZZCajmk):
I told a Christian girl at USF that I chose the Bhagavad-gita over the Bible because its idea of karma from past lives made it possible to understand the different situations people are born into although God is all good and all powerful, whereas the Judeo-Christian people couldn’t explain it. That the soul is also present in animals and plants is a broader vision. I do not feel I converted from Christianity, but I learned I had more neighbors to love. I thanked her for the conversation, and she smiled and said she liked to talk with people about things that really matter.
A Muslim man from Lebanon, who grew up in Saudi Arabia and who sat down to listen to the music, told me how he gave up intoxication and felt better for it.
Two Indian students helped me relocate my books and luggage when it rained.
I only slept 4½ hours the previous night and took two 20-minute naps on my 5-hour bus ride from Tallahassee, but surprisingly the 3 hours I was chanting Hare Krishna at USF by myself just sailed by.
A couple of Indians students came by to see me again as I was chanting the next day. One Indian student wanted a selfie, and another wanted my phone number. Many knew ISKCON from India. Vivasvan Prabhu, who is a real book distributor, suggested I put out a couple Srimad-Bhagavatams on the last day, and one Indian student purchased one for five dollars.
At the Bhakti Yoga Society program, I talked to a couple girls who were roommates and had gone to other yoga programs besides ours. They found our chanting had a beneficial effect on their minds, and one even asked about purchasing Chaitanya Charan’s book, Bhagavad Gita: 365 Reflections for Daily Mindfulness, which we had read from that evening.
Of the schools in Florida I presently visit, I have more interactions with students while chanting Hare Krishna at University of South Florida (USF) in Tampa.
Chanting Hare Krishna in Baltimore
I chanted Krishna for 2½ hours at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor en route from Tampa to Syracuse, and 15 minutes at the Baltimore Washington Airport before and after. It costs just $4 round trip to go downtown on the light rail, and it’s just 25 minutes from the airport, so it was incredibly convenient. As I walked from rail stop to the harbor, I passed the site of the Ratha-yatra festival I attended just last spring.
One guy remembering our vegetarian food at May’s Ratha-yatra wondered when our next festival was. I gave him and two others who liked the music “On Chanting Hare Krishna” pamphlets and told them about our Sunday feast with the chanting and free vegetarian feast in nearby Catonsville.
Back at airport, a TSA lady wanted to hear a tune on my harmonium, so after it went through the scanner, I played her a couple of mantras, and she smiled and applauded, and all passengers and security people got to hear the transcendental sound.
Queen Elizabeth II
Queen Elizabeth II passed away on September 8, which corresponded to the appearance anniversary of Bhaktivinoda Thakura, the great Vaishnava visionary who anticipated the spreading of Hare Krishna all over the world, many decades before it happened.
Bhaktivinoda wrote in his journal, Sajjana Toshani, back in 1885: “Oh, for that day when the fortunate English, French, Russian, German, and American people will take up banners, mridangas, and kartals and raise kirtan through their streets and towns. When will that day come?” The fortunate English people began raising kirtan through their streets and towns in 1968 in London, during Her Majesty’s long reign.
I share a little story about Queen Elizabeth II and Bhagavad-gita that I heard from Janananda Goswami on a recorded lecture at Yoga Lyrique in Paris on November 26, 2019:
David Wynne, the sculptor of the Queen of England, met Srila Prabhupada. He explained when he was growing his mother told him to read Bhagavad-gita because it was the most important book. Prabhupada asked the devotees to give the man his Bhagavad-gita, but the devotees replied, “He already has your Bhagavad-gita. The Queen of England gave it to him.” A royal book distributor!
It is interesting that when Queen Elizabeth II gave the Bhagavad-gita As It Is which she was reading to her sculptor, David Wynne, she said something about it:
Devotee: Didn’t the Queen make some remarks about that? She said something to you...
David Wynne: Yes, she said, ‘How marvelous it would be to completely trust Krishna.’
Prabhupada: That’s very nice.
David Wynne: She said, ah, ‘What a relief to be able to pass all responsibility to Krishna.’
Prabhupada: Yes. But that one has to learn, how to surrender to Krishna. The sentiment is very nice. It is just fitting from the royal... Because she’s after all favored, she has taken birth in the royal family, so she is not ordinary woman. And her intelligence must be extraordinary. So she has remarked like that, what is that exact word?
David Wynne: I think the exact word... She said ‘How marvelous to be able to give all responsibility to Krishna.’
Prabhupada: Yes. Krishna is ready.
David Wynne: Yes. And she said...
Prabhupada: But the thing is from our side Krishna expects something.
David Wynne: (laughs)
Prabhupada: Krishna is not a dead stone. Reciprocal. If you fully surrender to Krishna, then Krishna takes full responsibility. If you keep some reservation, Krishna also keep reservation.
(From a conversation between Srila Prabhupada and David Wynne on July 9, 1973)
Here is a photo of Queen Elizabeth II in the temple room at the Krishna Avanti school with Krishna and Balaram that devotees shared:
Two devotees left Tallahassee recently and thus we were understaffed, and I had to make more breakfasts than usual. This time I made the oatmeal with apple juice instead of water, and I added cinnamon and raisins to it.
It came out plenty sweet enough without the addition of any sugar.
Tallahassee is one of the ten rainiest cities in the United States.
During my public chanting of Hare Krishna in September I encountered at least a couple of rainbows, known in Sanskrit as indra-dhanu, the bow of Indra.
As I missed the last bus back from the park after harinama one night, I walked halfway home.
I happened to pass the utility pole I crashed into on August 22 and saw the $500 worth of damage I reportedly caused to it.
The site of my accident was just one block from the capitol of the State of Florida.
Apparently the word commercialize has several meanings. The ones I am familiar with as expressed by Merriam-Webster are “to exploit for profit” as in “commercialize Christmas” or “to debase in quality for more profit.”
Thus when I saw this sign at Florida State University, I was most surprised:
Why would there be a office of commercialization at a university?
Later I investigated and found in the business world, commercialization is the process of introducing a new product or production method into commerce—making it available on the market. Thus the word does not necessarily have to have the sinister implications I thought.
I like to see how other religious groups advertise on campus, and thus I took a photo of this sign.
The phrase “Encounter God every Tuesday at 7 p.m.” had some appeal. I checked out the Instagram page mentioned, and found it filled with photos of people in the club but devoid of practical any information about God, and thus I was disappointed. Usually our web sites have photos of Krishna or Srila Prabhupada, quotes from Bhagavad-gita, or videos of people doing kirtan in a temple or harinama on the streets, but this page did not seem to have anything substantial there.
Insights
Srila Prabhupada:
From Bhagavad-gita 4.22, purport:
“The duality of the material world is felt in terms of heat and cold, or misery and happiness. A Krishna conscious person is above duality because he does not hesitate to act in any way for the satisfaction of Krishna. Therefore he is steady both in success and in failure. These signs are visible when one is fully in transcendental knowledge.”
From Bhagavad-gita 4.24, purport:
“The Absolute Truth covered by maya is called matter. Matter dovetailed for the cause of the Absolute Truth regains its spiritual quality. Krishna consciousness is the process of converting the illusory consciousness into Brahman, or the Supreme. When the mind is fully absorbed in Krishna consciousness, it is said to be in samadhi, or trance. Anything done in such transcendental consciousness is called yajña, or sacrifice for the Absolute. In that condition of spiritual consciousness, the contributor, the contribution, the consumption, the performer or leader of the performance and the result or ultimate gain – everything – becomes one in the Absolute, the Supreme Brahman. That is the method of Krishna consciousness.”
From Bhagavad-gita 4.26, purport:
“A brahmacari hears only words concerning Krishna consciousness; hearing is the basic principle for understanding, and therefore the pure brahmacari engages fully in harer namanukirtanam – chanting and hearing the glories of the Lord. He restrains himself from the vibrations of material sounds, and his hearing is engaged in the transcendental sound vibration of Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.5.32, purport:
“Think always that the money which is accumulated is the wealth of the Lord. Wealth is considered to be the goddess of fortune (Lakshmi), and the Lord is Narayana, or the husband of Lakshmi. Try to engage Lakshmi in the service of Lord Narayana and be happy. That is the way to realize the Lord in every sphere of life. The best thing is, after all, to get relief from all material activities and engage oneself completely in hearing the transcendental pastimes of the Lord. But in case of the absence of such an opportunity, one should try to engage in the service of the Lord everything for which one has specific attraction, and that is the way of peace and prosperity.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 8.19.21:
“The Personality of Godhead [Lord Vamana] said: O my dear King, even the entirety of whatever there may be within the three worlds to satisfy one’s senses cannot satisfy a person whose senses are uncontrolled.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 8.19.21, purport:
“The aim of the varnasrama divisions — brahmana, kṣatriya, vaisya, sudra, brahmacarya, gṛhastha, vanaprastha and sannyasa — is to train one to control the senses and be content with the bare necessities.”
From a letter to Devananda on November 23, 1968:
“Simply our prayer should be, My dear Krishna, please remind me to always chant Your Holy Name, please do not put me into forgetfulness. You are sitting within me as Supersoul, so you can put me into forgetfulness or into remembering You. So please do not put me into forgetfulness. Please always remind me to chant, even You send me into the hell, it doesn’t matter, just so long as I can always chant Hare Krishna.”
Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami:
From He Lives Forever:
“Years ago in Boston, I asked Srila Prabhupada—because we were always thinking that Prabhupada would leave sooner or later—‘Srila Prabhupada, now that you are here we can ask you so many questions and get direction and guidance. But how will we be able to get that after you are gone?’ And he replied, ‘The name of Krishna is not different from Krishna Himself. Do you understand that?’”
“Srila Prabhupada once described that by preaching we’re like Krishna’s advertising firm—advertising the glories of Krishna. Big businesses spend millions of dollars for their advertising. So do you think that when you engage yourself fully as an advertiser for Krishna, He is not going to maintain you or take care of you? As long as He sees that you are not cheating in the name of being His representative, then—He’s not a poor man—He’ll give you all that you need… if you’re actually sincere.”
“Sometimes we appear to be struggling on a very low level, but we have to keep it up and become purified. Then Krishna will reward us.”
From Free Write Journal #212:
From From Imperfection, Purity Will Come About: Writing Sessions While Reading Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s Saranagati:
“You still chant with inattention. The jaundice, the avidya, is still on your tongue. You have to first feel remorse. ‘I am destroyed by my own greed, and I am always lustful.’ If we don’t admit that this applies to us, then it will hold us back. If we don’t admit it, we will be stuck with our lack of humility and our dishonesty. Are we not poor? Have we even exhausted (akincana) our material desires? Submit your tale of grief at the feet of the Supreme Lord.
“Bhaktivinoda Thakura is knocking at the door of our self-esteem, so we prefer to admire his songs from a distance. We don’t want to get too involved. We’re positive thinkers. We only want to hear nectar. If requested, we are willing to go through a few songs of theoretical grief, but don’t expect us full-grown men and women to get down on our knees and cry. No sir, we don’t grovel, never.
“‘I’m not a sinner, so why should I pretend I am?’ Thus Satsvarupa dasa admits his tale of unsurrender and unfeeling. He never cried and saw no wrong in himself. Thus he could not understand why Bhaktivinoda Thakura sang these songs about himself.”
“Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s song is being sung before God. It is a summation of his ruined life. He did not write these songs with any other audience in mind, although he has allowed us to hear him.”
“Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s song is the end-of-life summary confession of a wicked man. Are such men rare, or are we all like that? You can decide for yourself, but as Bhaktivinoda Thakura continues to sing, we begin to suspect that maybe he is referring to us. It’s almost too late to reform—we are just too worn out and wasted by material life. When will we pour out our own tale of grief before the Supreme Lord?”
From Prabhupada Meditations, Volume 1:
“He had bundles of thousands of pages that he had typed, wrapped up in saffron and lying on the floor in his closet. When he first took some typing out of this mass of material and gave it to me, I remarked, ‘I think you have enough work to last me a whole winter.’ Swamiji laughed and said, ‘I have many lifetimes of work for you.’
“After I’d been doing it for some months, Swamiji started using a Dictaphone. One day I stopped in at his apartment in the middle of my office workday to put in an hour on his manuscript. Swamiji kept the Dictaphone covered in his room except when it was in use. When I went in and got it, he noticed that I was dressed in shirt and tie from the office. He remarked, ‘You are still at your office work?’ I replied, ‘Yes, but I go out and see clients. Right now instead of seeing them I’m coming to do this work. I’m like Sanatana Gosvami who stayed away from work in order to read the Srimad-Bhagavatam.’ As I said that, I was holding the Dictaphone, and heading for the next room where Jadurani was painting, where the clotheslines were strung with Swamiji’s clothes, and where the jar of ISKCON bullets was waiting in the corner. As I left his room, Swamiji smiled and said, ‘You are Sanatana.’”
“Swamiji said never be idle. He had written an announcement and posted it on the wall: ‘Always be engaged, and if you don’t have any work, then chant Hare Krishna.’ This is how we worked for the Swami; different boys did different things.”
From Prabhupada Meditations, Volume 2:
“One time I was present when a disciple, Hamsaduta dasa, gave Prabhupada a donation and then said, ‘Prabhupada, whatever I have is yours. My life is for you.’
“Prabhupada replied, ‘I know that.’ This remark by Prabhupada struck me deeply. On the one hand, the remark was an assurance. He was saying in effect, ‘I accept your offer of love. I know that you are sincere, and therefore you don’t have to say, “Whatever I have is yours.” You are always showing it by your activities.’ But another meaning that Prabhupada’s remark had for me was that he actually expected us to give everything. Even after we had given everything according to our own calculation, from Prabhupada’s point of view, our surrender was not completely finished. The disciple’s coming to the point of complete surrender is the beginning of the relationship. A disciple is expected to make a thorough giving of himself to the guru, and the spiritual master is expected to collect that surrender on behalf of Krishna. Once that is established, then the guru and disciple can go forward together and perform many activities for Krishna.
“When Hamsaduta made that remark, Prabhupada went on to say, ‘Whatever is yours is mine, and whatever is mine is yours.’”
From Truthfulness, the Last Leg of Religion:
“A brahmana receives absolute knowledge, but if he does not distribute it he is compared to a leaky pot. Unless a brahmana teaches, he will lose whatever knowledge he has. Distributing the truth is therefore an integral part of knowing the truth.”
From Remembering Srila Prabhupada, Volume 1:
“THE MEETING
“They met on the roof
in 1922 in Calcutta.
The evening air was warm. Stars and moon
and scanty electric lights
revealed the form of the saintly person
sitting on the roof.
At once he told him, ‘You are intelligent.
Why don’t you preach Lord Caitanya’s message
to the whole world?’
Abhay challenged: ‘What about swaraj?
India is not an independent nation.’
It doesn’t matter, said his Guru Maharaj.
Krishna Consciousness cannot wait
and doesn’t depend on king or president.
All it needs is a pure devotee,
someone submissive to his guru
and bold in Krishna’s service.
One was sent by Krishna,
and the other also.
One appeared as guru,
the other as disciple.
And they met.
Radha and Krishna, Arjuna and Krishna,
Pariksit and Sukadeva, Vidura and Maitreya,
Lord Caitanya and Rupa-Sanatana—
all these were great meetings,
as was this in 1922
when the seed-direction was given
for delivering humankind.
All the world was dreaming nightmares,
threefold sufferings and repeated births and deaths.
But the way to their awakening
was ordered that night
by one who had seen the truth
to one
capable, trusted, chosen, and blessed.
It began from there.
Now the spiritual work would begin.
No more sublime discussion
followed by inaction,
no more centuries of charitable enlightenment
locked within a crippled nation.
Now it would burst forth,
according to the desires and plans of the acaryas.
The release of all the Jagais and Madhais!
The release of all the cave-dwellers!
The liberation of women and children and animals and men!
The ushering in of a golden, pious age
by the release of knowledge of the eternal soul
and knowledge of loving union with God!
Hope for everyone
now assured by this exchange
between two powerful servants of the Lord!
That the meaning remained hidden on that night
was also the will of the Lord,
so nothing would interfere
with the sacred unfolding of His plans,
starting with this confidential exchange
that fools and rascals could not
understand or disturb.
In the guise of a young Gandhian,
Abhay appeared to argue,
appeared to be defeated.
After he went downstairs, he revealed his mind:
‘He is wonderful! Now I know
Lord Caitanya’s movement is in expert hands.’
‘I accepted him as my spiritual master immediately.
Not officially, but in my heart.’”
From Free Write Journal #213:
From Remembering Srila Prabhupada: A Free-Verse Rendition of the Life and Teachings of His Divine Grace, Volume 1:
“THE SUMMER OF 1966
“You began to gather them. They came to you—
Keith and Chuck and Howard
and Wally and Mike and Steve
and Ray and Bruce and Stanley and Bob and Jim—
looking up to you with the first inkling
that one has to surrender to the guru.
Spending the summer in coming to you,
taking the storefront and your back room as hallowed places,
religiously attending the evening class,
they effortlessly gave up drugs,
while losing a taste for illicit sex—not trying to give these up,
but like a snake throwing off his old skin.
They came to you.
The first to consider you as their spiritual father,
enjoying your elderly, spiritual company.
Ragtag eclectic youth, but plain and simple enough
to see clear truth through the mind’s confusion,
that you are their spiritual master.
The hot city summer passing,
their lives came to new birth,
confiding to one another, ‘This is really it.
We should not kid ourselves and assume
to know everything.
Swami is telling the truth.
Why try to be smart over what we’ve read
and what drugs and women we’ve known?
There’s nothing to be proud of. Let’s face it.
He is our spiritual guide.’
A kindergarten of spiritual life,
a free ground of learning for the first time,
They unlearned the old empirical ways,
gaining hope in God consciousness,
what they always wanted.”
From Prabhupada Meditations, Volume 3:
“Years later Prabhupada said, ‘In the beginning, I did not tell them that you have to follow any rules and regulations. I simply said chant.’”
From From Imperfection, Purity Will Come About:
“Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s complete surrender takes place within a relatively few stanzas. He is teaching us the way, how it will happen, what to expect when we faithfully practice Krishna consciousness with determination. But it’s not going to happen today.”
Bhaktivinoda Thakura:
From Caitanya-siksamrita 1/7:
“In the teachings of Sriman Mahaprabhu, there are two principal instructions: developing a taste for the chanting of the Lord’s holy names and displaying compassion to the fallen souls. The greatness of a Vaishnava depends on the extent he possesses these qualities. There is no need to endeavor for other good qualities. All good qualities of a Vaishnava automatically manifest in a Vaishnava who endeavors for these two qualities.”
From Jaiva Dharma, Chapter 16:
“The living entities are entangled by the shackles of maya, regardless of whether they are situated in the mode of goodness, passion, or ignorance. Although golden shackles, silver shackles, and iron shackles are made of different metals, nevertheless they are shackles and nothing else.”
“If free will is a disadvantage, why did the Supreme Lord give free will to the living entities? Free will is like a special jewel. If the living entities were not given free will, they would be very lowly and insignificant like matter.”
From Tattva-sutra 20:
“Is the Supreme Lord responsible for the living entities misuse of free will? It cannot be said that God gives the distress the living entities suffer due to misuse of free will. The Supreme Lord is not to be blamed in anyway. He is not responsible for the distress the living entities suffer due to their transgressing rules and regulations. If the Supreme Creator forced the living entities to accept anarthas, He would be at fault for discrimination. However, if the living entities had used their free will to strengthen their spiritual attachment, they would have increased their own glories. If they did not have free will, they would not have an opportunity to increase their own glories. We should know that by giving such wonderful free will to the living entities, the Supreme Lord has displayed His mercy upon them and degradation caused by misuse of free will is meant to rectify and deliver the living entities.”
Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura:
From Caitanya-bhagavata, Adi-lila 17.44, purport:
“Sri Gaurasundara appeared in this world in order to bestow eternal benefit on the universe. So far He had not manifested any sign of awarding loving devotion to the people of this world. But after seeing the lotus feet of the Lord at Gaya, He inaugurated His pastimes of awarding loving devotion to the people of the world. Understanding that these lotus feet of the Lord had appeared in the material world to give pious persons who are free from the clutches of impersonalism an opportunity to serve the Lord’s lotus feet, the Lord became overwhelmed with the eight transformations of ecstatic love. Being bereft of Krishna’s service, persons who are averse to Krishna in this world maintain the sinful desire of becoming the Lord or the enjoyer of the material world. After destroying the conditioned souls’ desire for material enjoyment or liberation, when the lotus feet of the Lord appear in the purified hearts of the living entities, then their propensity for serving the Lord is awakened. In order to exhibit and preach this great truth, the Lord accepted the dress of a devotee and had darsana of the transcendental lotus feet of Gadadhara through His service inclined senses. When living entities bound by gross and subtle chains wander throughout the material sky, they remain averse to the service of the Lord. But when their service propensity is awakened on the strength of mercy received from Hari, Guru, and Vaishnava, then the lotus feet of the worshipable Lord Vishnu become the object of those servants’ awakened spiritual propensity. Without a service mentality, one cannot become fortunate enough to see the form of the Lord. Without the piety resulting from devotional service, one’s faith does not awaken. On the strength of piety born of the devotees’ mercy, a living entity receives the opportunity to hear topics of Lord Hari. Sometimes on the strength of piety born from Krishna’s mercy a living entity becomes freed from the bondage to material sense objects and thus encounters the worshipable Lord Krishna—this is spiritual vision. When, after full surrender, a living entity hears and glorifies topics of Lord Krishna, the propensity of his consciousness is constantly engaged in the service of Krishna—this is the result of piety born of a devotee’s mercy. In spite of being the only worshipable object of all surrendered souls, Sri Gaurasundara considered Himself a servant of the worshipable object and thus began to propagate transcendental love of Krishna by chanting His glories. The eight transformations of ecstatic love manifested in the body of the Lord as a result of seeing the lotus feet of Gadadhara marked the beginning of His propagation of loving devotional service.”
Hare Krishna Prabhu:
From Intelligence or Chaos?:
“While in both cases the emotional affection will be focused on God and His divine attributes, the one emotion leads to a non-focus on the I which is love for God, and the other emotion leads to a focus on the I, which is love for God’s energies. Therefore, put differently the choice of the living being is determined by love for power on the one hand and the power of love on the other hand.”
“By employing the term nothingness in the absolute sense, nothingness is effectively turned into somethingness. This is exactly where the confusion starts. The singularity is a good example of this, for the singularity is nearly nothing, and is an ingenious way to create an intermediary step, whereby nothingness is turned into some form of somethingness, a somethingness that can actually play a part in reality. Of course, just based on our common sense, on any level it is absurd to think that everything, the entire universe, came from actual nothingness, from total and absolute non-existence. Even though our common sense can sometimes mislead us, in this instance that is not the case. While the proposition itself is already absurd, the logic of its refutation is inescapable, and reveals the absurdity.”
“When I look at my life, from my first childhood memories until the present as an adult, my life, my body, my mind, my circumstances have all changed significantly in every way. There is, however, one thing that does not change, regardless of the changes and that is the unmistakable sense and feeling of ‘I’, my identity. My consciousness, my memories, my emotions but also my body have all undergone major changes. What does not change is the I, the person that has observed these changes and who is aware of all the phases in those changes; this I remains fundamentally the same.”
“The current generations of super-powerful computers can easily beat man in terms of data processing speed. However, data processing has little or nothing to do with comprehending the data, or comprehending the results of the processed data.”
“Often, the present, the now, is considered to be an ultra thinly sliced moment at the intersection of where the past and future meet. In reality, time functions in an opposite manner. Our memory of the past takes place in the present, just like our anticipation of the future takes place in the present. Past and future do not exist, except in our consciousness, as a memory or an anticipation. All our conscious observations and experiences occur in the present, the now.”
“The question is how broad and deep is the moment we call ‘now’. While writing this book, for example, I make use of information that I have learned in the past, such as my language skills. From my memory this information is transferred to the present immediately and simultaneously, where it merges with my consciousness of the keyboard that I type on and the computer screen that displays what I am writing. In this way, millions of images, neural activities, memories, and experiences come together at a specific time and place, namely the moment and place that I am writing right now. The moment in which all these memories and experiences come together is always the present, the now.”
“Consciousness is often compared to light, for light is self-evident, its presence is obvious and it makes everything else visible.”
“Consciousness is the ultimate complication which, because of its extraordinary and incomparable attributes, is elevated above all else. It is completely unique and incomparable to any other phenomenon or reality.”
“Consciousness is the foundation of our experience of reality, and it is the principle that makes us sure of our own existence, and it makes us sure of existence in general.”
“Descartes formulated his previously cited and famous statement: ‘I think, therefore I am’. What he actually meant is: ‘I am conscious, and therefore I am.’ That is to say that thinking is just one of the functions of consciousness.”
“Consciousness without personality is unimaginable in the same way that the sun is unimaginable without light and heat. Personality is the way in which consciousness manifests itself to others and to other conscious beings. Personality is also the way in which consciousness manifests itself to itself. We are personalities, and that is also how we perceive ourselves. Personality is a non-reducible reality in the same way that consciousness is a non-reducible reality.”
“‘I do not feel forced to believe that the same God that equipped us with senses, reason and intelligence, intended for us not to use them.’ – Galileo Galilei”
“The purpose of our existence in this world is to realise that it does not have a purpose other than to make us realise that we should not be here.”
“The rise of the impersonal interpretation of the Vedas only came into being in the 7th century AD, with the advent of the great Indian philosopher and mystic Sankaracarya. Sankara gave an explicit, impersonal and monistic interpretation to the Vedanta-sutra, the philosophical core of the Vedic doctrine.”
“Ramanuja, a fierce opponent and critic of Sankara, argues in the following manner. If the world is an illusion, then the following question can be asked: is this illusion real and does it really exist, or is it unreal and does it not exist? In other words: Does the illusion exist, or does it not? If the illusion is real and therefore exists, then the world, including the attributes and duality that are part of the illusion, also exists. If the illusion is unreal (the illusion does not exist), then this means that the world is not an illusion, and therefore exists. Denial or confirmation both lead to the same result, namely that the universe inclusive of its form, attributes and specific objects exists and that personality exists.”
“At the most fundamental level, it is impossible for the soul, which is constitutionally made of pure spiritual energy and consciousness, to fulfil its emotional needs through any amount of exploitation of matter. Spiritual happiness does not depend on external stimulants as it is generated from the centre of consciousness. When we connect to this centre of consciousness we simultaneously connect to our source of consciousness, God. As a result we will undergo the intense experience brought about by the increase in the supply of spiritual energy and the subsequent expansion of our consciousness.
“Thus, as our emotions reach deeper layers of happiness, we become aware of the fact that the depth and intensity of our emotions are unlimited. To our astonishment we realise that we can experience feelings that we did not know exist. Basically, a whole new universe opens up for us of with an array of emotions, sensations, colours, smells, tastes, sounds and feelings of an unknown ecstatic intensity, filled with unlimited variety and a never-ending sense of delightful amazement. In this state of consciousness time disappears completely and fundamentally changes. Eternity then becomes a moment, and a moment turns into eternity. In such a state we never have to worry about being bored.”
“‘If we find ourselves in the position that nothing in this world can satisfy us, then the most likely explanation is that we were made for a different world.’ — C. S. Lewis, famous British philosopher and writer”
“It is crucial that we should be able to lift religion up out of the domain of just faith and often times superstition and to place it into the domain of science and philosophy. Philosophical and theological differences, after all, can be discussed, debated and argued, which will lead to deeper insights and sharpening of the intellect. However, fundamentalism, sectarianism and fanaticism prohibit reasonable debate and exchange of information based on logic, science and philosophy. Fundamentalism and sectarianism are mostly instruments of the ego and oppose the development of spiritual consciousness. The key characteristics of authentic spiritual development are humility, service mindedness and a sincere desire to acquire truth in conjunction with a tolerance for other, opposing viewpoints. Unfortunately some adherents, across the spectrum of the various religious traditions, get caught up in a sense of being privileged, belonging to the chosen people. In a subtle, and sometimes not so subtle way, they develop a sense of superiority towards those whom they regard as less fortunate. Such a sense of superiority undermines every serious attempt towards true spiritual development, and despite noble aspirations, here too the ego can be the major spoiler.”
“God is the ‘star’ of the spiritual universe, just like we know stars in the shape of movie stars and rock stars in this world.”
“The human tendency to idolize and worship is normal and familiar, and it is a reflection of our original spiritual position, and reflects our natural position in our relation to God. All attributes and charms that we find attractive in a celebrity are attributes that God possesses infinitely and unlimitedly. Therefore, it is logical that God is the ultimate star of the spiritual world, amongst all the other stars. The beings in the spiritual world of course also love each other, and they feel attracted to each other’s exquisite features and attributes.”
“Light is not the absence of darkness, rather darkness is the absence of light. In a similar way, happiness is not the absence of suffering, rather suffering is the absence of happiness.”
Satyaraja Govinda Prabhu:
Talk on Radhastami in Tallahassee:
Just as a mother tells the father any little positive thing the kid does, Radharani tells Krishna, in order to invoke His favor, about whatever positive thing a devotee does.
Radha and Krishna do not want to force us. Radharani is always there, and if we turn to Her, She will help us.
Janesvari Devi Dasi:
Devamrita Swami says in one of his books that humans are the only species that destroys its habitat.
-----
“My favorite verse in Vamana-lila is spoken by Sukracarya, the spiritual master of the demons, who glorifies the name of the Lord:
mantratas tantratas chidram
sarvam karoti nischidram
anusankirtanam tava
“There may be discrepancies in pronouncing the mantras and observing the regulative principles, and, moreover, there may be discrepancies in regard to time, place, person and paraphernalia. But when Your Lordship’s holy name is chanted [anusankirtanam], everything becomes faultless.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 8.23.16)
It is interesting that originally Sukracarya forbade his disciple, Bali Maharaja, to give in charity to the Supreme Lord, who had appeared as Lord Vamana, but at the conclusion of the pastime, he glorifies the power of the holy name of the Lord to make a faulty sacrifice perfect. Thus it appears that Sukracarya became purified by the association of Lord Vamana and His great devotee, Bali Maharaja, who surrendered everything to Him, and thus increased his appreciation of the Lord and His divine name.
Thanks to Nagaraja Prabhu, editor of Back to Godhead, for teaching me this verse on harinama once years ago when I asked him for a verse about the holy name!
