Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 19, No. 11
By Krishna Kripa Das
(June 2023, part one)
New York City, New Jersey, Albany
(Sent from Albany, New York, on June 17, 2023)
Where I Went and What I Did
I stayed at ISKCON NYC in Brooklyn for the first eleven days of June, and then I went to the Albany area, to help take care of my 98-year-old mother. While in New York City, I distributed flyers inviting people to our three-day festival which included the New York Ratha-yatra. During that time, I also attended a two-day festival organized by Gaudiya Math devotees for the 150th anniversary of the appearance of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, which they invited ISKCON devotees to participate in. The first day of our three-day festival was comprised of ten hours of kirtans in Tompkins Square Park and in Times Square, the second day was Ratha-yatra and a festival in Washington Square Park, and the third day was many hours of kirtan in the Brooklyn temple. I skipped out those Brooklyn temple kirtans to go on harinama with Harinama Ruci and to go to the Sunday feast in New Jersey where Niranjana Swami, who first introduced me to Krishna consciousness, was speaking about Ukraine, which he had just returned from. While visiting my mother, I alternated between making pancakes and oatmeal for breakfast, and I made either soup or khichri for lunch. Once I made coconut burfee when we had guests. I used my time there to upload about fifty videos I had taken from the harinamas and kirtans in the New York area and to begin proofreading Srila Prabhupada Tributes, my next big project.
I share a couple great quotes from Srila Prabhupada’s Sri Caitanya-caritamrita. I share notes on lectures with many amazing realizations from Srila Prabhupada, Jayadvaita Swami, Mahavishnu Swami, Niranjana Swami, Guruprasada Swami, Candrasekhara Swami, Pancharatna Prabhu, Vaisesika Prabhu, Agnideva Prabhu, Hansarupa Prabhu, and Janardana Swami.
Many, many thanks to Ekalesvari Devi Dasi (who I knew as Eyni in Newcastle) for her very generous donation. Thanks also to Indranie Jeenarine and family of New York City and to Radha Madhava Devi Dasi, who I knew from Gainesville and Tampa, for their kind donations, also given to me at the New York Ratha-yatra as was Ekalesvari’s. Thanks to Rama Raya Prabhu, Ahaituki Prema Prabhu, and Divyangi-devi Dasi for their videos and photos of me on harinama. Thanks to Dr. Goody (@drgoodyphotos), New York City dentist and photographer, for his photos of me at Washington Square Park. Thanks to Rama Dasa Prabhu for the lift from Willowbrook Mall to Towaco temple, and to the Russian speaking devotee, whose name I forgot, for his ride from Towaco temple to Willowbrook Mall. Thanks to Victor for getting me at the Chinese bus in Albany, buying at the co-op all sorts of wonderful items to sustain me, and for dropping me at my mother’s place.
Itinerary
June 12–17: take care of mother near Albany
June 17: NYC Harinam and Bhagavad-gita class at 26 Second Avenue
June 18: Hartford Ratha-yatra
June 19: NYC Harinam
June 20: London harinama
June 21–August 14: Paris harinama
– June 25 Paris Ratha-yatra
– July 1: Wroclaw Ratha-yatra
– July 2: Prague Ratha-yatra
– July 3: Prague harinama
August 15: NYC Harinam
August 16: Montreal harinama
August 16–20: Vaishnava Sanga Festival in Canada
August 21–25: Montreal harinamas
August 26–27: Kirtan Festival Celebration in Quebec
August 28: Montreal harinamas
August 29–September 6: Syracuse
September 7–13: NYC Harinam
September 14–21: take care of mother near Albany
September 22: Philadelphia harinama
September 23: Philadelphia Ratha-yatra
Chanting Hare Krishna in New York City
Rama Raya Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Tulasi Puja at ISKCON NYC (https://youtu.be/G_jddO-RVC8):
Maryrose chants Hare Krishna at Union Square (https://youtu.be/BajxHV0sXok):
Next Balaram, a visiting devotee, chants Hare Krishna there (https://youtu.be/-zqFaEFY1ao):
Here Jayananda Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Union Square (https://youtu.be/GbmvPYGzQno):
He agreed, saying, “We are all God's people.”
The guy replied, “So Jesus was like a spiritual master from the East, sort of like you guys. I bet he had a lot more in common with your philosophy than with the Catholics.”
Rama Raya Prabhu chanted Hare Krishna at Union Square, and a passersby plays shakers and dances (https://youtu.be/OTruxCJINAc):
My main focus before the Ratha-yatra was to advertise it. I personally passed out two thousand invitations.
Caitanyananda and Jayananda Prabhus are very excited about their program of distributing prasadam every Friday and Saturday, whenever the weather is good, at Washington Square Park beginning at 3 p.m. and continuing until the food runs out.
All kinds of people take prasadam there including this uniquely dressed frequenter of the park,
and this former student at University of Florida, who was a lover of the Krishna Lunch there, posing next to Jayananda Prabhu, our enthusiastic cook and distributor of prasadam.
Natabara Gauranga Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Washington Square Park, and a lady plays shakers and dances (https://youtu.be/1tmMugCEiHs):
Narada Muni Prabhu chanted Hare Krishna, and four youths played shakers and danced (https://youtu.be/DYJmWAe9HYg):
Here I chant Hare Krishna to a Badahari Prabhu tune at Washington Square Park, accompanied expertly by Ananta on drum (https://youtu.be/6fVs9n-TSbI):
Then I played an upbeat Radhanath Swami tune, and passersby played shakers and danced (https://youtu.be/UM5ozaUm9yU):
After playing the drum excellently for me, Ananta Govinda Prabhu chanted Hare Krishna at Washington Square Park (https://youtu.be/IaXIy3EefsI):
Toward the end of his lively kirtan, many people played shakers and danced (https://youtu.be/5P8QgG2PR4w):
Radhika Dasi of California chants Hare Krishna at a 150th Anniversary of the appearance of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura event at Times Square (https://youtu.be/SxRVvMrakww):
Aravinda Nayana Prabhu chanted Hare Krishna there next (https://youtu.be/k9N_8Fh6imI):
Krsna Kumar Prabhu chanted Hare Krishna there too (https://youtu.be/O0Z2PucVaDI):
Rama Raya Prabhu also chanted Hare Krishna at that event at Times Square (https://youtu.be/XGXMsJPmXaI):
That festival for Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura continued the next day in Thomas Paine Park, a small park near the Brooklyn Bridge station in Manhattan. I passed out invitations for three hours straight and did not take any videos.
Sometimes it is difficult for the pujari to see the clock and thus make sure his arati or offering is on time, but that is not a problem at our Brooklyn temple.
Jaya Goracand Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in Union Square (https://youtu.be/sJWQ9-9hNyA):
I also chanted Hare Krishna there (https://youtu.be/PdyY3mUr0Lw):
Madhava Prabhu also chanted Hare Krishna at Atlantic Terminal, and two ladies play shakers and dance (https://youtu.be/_RB5AtOc01g):
Later while Madhava chanted Hare Krishna, more passersby played shakers and danced (https://youtu.be/f2SEI30zXqo):
Rama Raya Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Atlantic Terminal, and a guy dances with Savyasaci Prabhu (https://youtu.be/DEkYF626GeU):
A couple danced while Rama sang as well (https://youtu.be/09eCWIRVgo8):
Ishan Thakura Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Atlantic Terminal, and girls play shakers and dance (https://youtu.be/Cz-GqWCfHNE):
Some of visions of Radha Govinda at mangala-arati were extra special.
Some of Their day dresses at greeting of the deities were as well.
Dayal Mora Prabhu, temple president of our Soho Street temple in London, chants Hare Krishna at Guru Puja Kirtan in ISKCON NYC (https://youtu.be/pu3ybh0nMp0):
By Thursday many supplies had arrived that were needed to serve 15,000 plates of prasadam at Saturday’s Ratha-yatra.
I delayed going on harinama hoping to talk to Jayapataka Swami about the TOVP exhibits before his program at 4:00 p.m. When I did go out, Harinama Ruci was just heading for the streets, and realizing they had no distributor of Ratha-yatra flyers, I joined them. They shared a lot of transcendental joy as you can see in the three videos below.
Mahavishnu Swami chants Hare Krishna in Brooklyn, and engages passersby in chanting and dancing (https://youtu.be/169-RvV1p1I):
Dayal Mora Prabhu continued the Hare Krishna chant there in Brooklyn Heights as well as engaging passersby (https://youtu.be/GmNcpkqeSNM):
Next Jivananda Prabhu chanted Hare Krishna in Brooklyn Heights, and during his kirtan three ladies danced (https://youtu.be/VZ59j_C36fw):
So many nice people were attracted by the kirtans at Tompkins Square Park that day I was reminded that Jagaddhatri Devi Dasi told us that Kadamba Kanana Swami said that the Hare Krishna Tree there is a desire tree!
Rama Raya Prabhu took this video of the end of it (https://youtube.com/shorts/g48rEL7XgGw?feature=share):
While Vraja Mohan was chanting, many danced (https://youtube.com/shorts/VpmipUZmZ2g?feature=share):
Ryan is a young, new devotee living in the Brooklyn temple and dedicated to the NYC Harinam.
His parents, who live three hours north in Albany, came to the Times Square festival, and I talked to them for half an hour.
I lent his mother my green shakers, and she played them as she and her husband moved to the sound of the Hare Krishna kirtan (https://youtube.com/shorts/1XpgOF6BbDo?feature=share):
Madhava Prabhu chanted Hare Krishna at Times Square, and many danced (https://youtu.be/t1qvuVPm5tA):
Acyuta Gopi chanted Hare Krishna at the end of the evening, and lots of people danced nicely (https://youtu.be/ZDSJNM4yUSA):
Mahavishnu Swami and a party of devotees chant on the 4 train and in Grand Central Station en route to Ratha-yatra (https://youtu.be/dkc5wuBId0c):
Mahavishnu Swami and a party of devotees chant on 42nd Street (https://youtu.be/6DIvIAmevj4):
Mahavishnu Swami chants Hare Krishna on Fifth Avenue, and ladies chant and dance (https://youtu.be/PEbcY12Yqh4):
The Ratha-yatra parade began on 45th Street, just east of Fifth Avenue.
I chanted and danced in the Ratha-yatra procession last year, so this year I volunteered to pass out some of the three thousand information packets that had been prepared. After I did a bag of those, I passed out “On Chanting Hare Krishna.”It was striking to see how many people were attracted by the procession, with its chariots and chanting.
Here devotees chant Hare Krishna as New York Ratha-yatra reaches 35th Street and Fifth Avenue (https://youtu.be/v5s9X662BVU):
Vishnugada Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at NYC Harinam kirtan venue at New York Ratha-yatra (https://youtu.be/LVY2NePhxUE):
Rama Raya Prabhu chants Hare Krishna there, and many chant and dance (https://youtu.be/99b8SK-PbIk):
One of the people who came and danced during Rama’s kirtan was the downtown Brooklyn sanitation worker who had danced with us the previous Tuesday at Atlantic Terminal (https://youtube.com/shorts/D9qVHIErzJM):
He was happy to meet us again. When I shared the videos with him and invited him to our Tuesday and Saturday progams he said, “I will definitely attend, I rather enjoy it. It truly relaxed my inner spirit.”
Another person who stopped by the NYC Harinam kirtan after Ratha-yatra was a girl who told me that her parents were devotees and she had come regularly to the Brooklyn temple as a kid. Hansarupa Prabhu recognized her and said that he and his wife both knew her mother.
Madhava Prabhu also chanted Hare Krishna there, and many danced (https://youtu.be/_x-HfG9zrK0):
Ananta Gauranga Prabhu chanted Hare Krishna there too (https://youtu.be/vY8JRVNaW2M):
Acyuta Bandhu Arjuna Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at NYC Harinam kirtan at Ratha-yatra (https://youtu.be/QJcalSmEKGA):
While he sang more and more people danced (https://youtu.be/Tzfq3vGYp5A):
Aravinda Nayana Prabhu chanted the last Hare Krishna kirtan with NYC Harinam and many danced (https://youtu.be/PO39P3B7l-E):
The next day Mahavishnu Swami chanted Hare Krishna in front of the Brooklyn temple (https://youtu.be/4-j-_gpWkW0):
He continued chanting Hare Krishna as the party took the subway to Brooklyn Heights, and a lady on the train played the shakers.
He chanted at Brooklyn Heights as well (https://youtu.be/ZP0UnCOY_kY):
While there, people participated by chanting the mantra and dancing (https://youtu.be/jTNCg6UcISc):
Next Harinamananda Prabhu chanted Hare Krishna in Brooklyn Heights, and people participated (https://youtu.be/j5tQEGECE3A):
Once, being encouraged by an employee, Harinamananda chanted Hare Krishna in a surf and skateboard shop (https://youtu.be/2FBMhVe8-Nc):
The owner, however, was not so happy about it.
Here Harinamananda Prabhu chants Hare Krishna on Brooklyn Bridge (https://youtu.be/QvRv0hdO1Pw):
While Harinamananda Prabhu chanted Hare Krishna on the Brooklyn Bridge, several people participated by chanting and dancing (https://youtu.be/IwMrW9LA_Vo):
I left the harinama early to go to New Jersey to see Niranjana Swami, who originally invited me to live in the New York temple 43 years ago.
Here Niranjana Swami chants Hare Krishna during the Sunday feast program at the Towaco temple in New Jersey (https://youtu.be/_8AG46-wgvM):
At Ratha-yatra, Lord Jagannatha, now in Baltimore, returns for the weekend, and because I went to Towaco the previous evening, I got to see Sri Sri Gaura-Nitai too!
Life in Albany
I promised my sister I would take care of my mother three weeks a year, as I take care of my guru three weeks a year. I make sure she has meals and medicines.
I brought my mother spinach lasagna from the temple restaurant and a coconut cream doughnut from the Doughnut Plant. The worker at the Doughnut Plant, though not a devotee, said Hare Krishna to me and told me she had gone to our festival on Saturday. She was impressed by how beautiful the procession was.
Ekadasi is always a challenge for me. This time I put sugar in the quinoa instead of salt because the salt in the salt shaker was unusable because it was mixed with rice, and I guessed the white crystalline substance in a jar was salt when it was sugar.
Here is what I offered. I always cook breakfast and lunch together because it is easier. I listen to my guru’s online Sri Caitanya-caritamrita readings while I do it.
My sister envisioned strawberry shortcake for dessert after dinner on Ekadasi, but the biscuits had grains in them and the ice cream had two kinds of beans in it.
I decided to put the strawberries and whipped cream on the buckwheat pancakes from breakfast, and it came out great!
As my mother lives in a rural area outside of Albany, there is not the sound of traffic and ambulances I encounter in Brooklyn. Neither is roar of the G train, accompanied by the vibration of the floor. Although I miss the deities, the kirtans, the prasadam, and my friends in the temple, no noise disturbs my hearing of my japa, and it is so quiet in the bathroom in the morning I can review Bhagavad-gita verses in my mind. There is no temple class to attend, so I can hear my guru's online readings. Thus I count my blessings.
Insights
Srila Prabhupada:
From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Antya 3.266–268:
“Without the mercy of a devotee and without the chanting of the holy name of the Lord, love of Godhead cannot be possible. In the activities of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the three worlds dance and chant, having come in touch with love of Godhead. This is the characteristic of His pastimes. The holy name of Krishna is so attractive that anyone who chants it — including all living entities, moving and nonmoving, and even Lord Krishna Himself — becomes imbued with love of Krishna. This is the effect of chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra.”
From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Antya 4.194:
“The living entity who is subjected to birth and death attains immortality when he gives up all material activities, dedicates his life to the execution of My order, and acts according to My directions. In this way he becomes fit to enjoy the spiritual bliss derived from exchanging loving mellows with Me.” [Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.29.34]
From a Ratha-yatra address in London on July 16, 1972, which Mahavishnu Swami chose to play the morning of the New York Ratha-yatra:
This movement is for cleansing the heart from the misunderstanding of identifying ourselves with our bodies.
“We are searching after that joyfulness within this material world, but that is not possible. Just like a fish, if it is taken from the water and put on the land, in any condition the fish will never feel joyfulness.”
“Similarly, we are spirit souls. Somehow or other, we have come in contact with this material world. Therefore in this material world we cannot have joyfulness. Ānandamayo ’bhyasat. This material world is not befitting our spiritual self. Spiritual self requires spiritual joy. That is beyond these material senses. Therefore this Krishna consciousness movement is meant for clearing or cleansing or purifying the senses. As soon as we purify our senses, then actually we can enjoy our spiritual sense enjoyment.”
Self-realization means to understand that we are spiritual souls, part and parcel of God.
Despite our advancement, because we lack knowledge of self-realization we cannot be happy.
Whenever you have got time, while you are walking on the street, while you are riding on the bus, chant Hare Krishna. There is no loss, and the gain is very great.
Simply by seeing the Lord on the chariot you make advancement in freeing yourself from the cycle of birth and death.
Our movement is based on chanting, dancing, and taking prasadam. Even if you do not take interest in the books, if you become attracted to these three things you will progress. You will gradually understand Krishna, and when you understand Krishna, you will not have to accept another material body, but come to Krishna in His spiritual world.
This Ratha-yatra is a feeling festival for the Vaishnavas, how to feel the separation of the Lord.
Anyone who participates in this festival will gradually develop his love for Krishna.
From a lecture on Bhagavad-gita 3.21–25 on May 30, 1966, in New York City:
If the leaders are not ideal, we cannot expect the followers to be ideal.
Everyone has a definition. The definition of God is that he is full of all kinds of opulence.
Krishna had 16,000 wives and 16,000 palaces, and He entered into each palace simultaneously. That is opulence. This is astonishing, but for God nothing is astonishing.
Everyone has to endeavor to accomplish something, but God does not have to do anything to accomplish things.
Although the Bhagavad-gita was Gandhi’s life and soul, he had his own interpretation of it, and thus he was ultimately unsuccessful. Although promoting nonviolence, he ended up dying by an act of violence. We have to understand Bhagavad-gita from the authorities.
All over the world, Krishna is accepted as a great leader because of His giving the wisdom of Bhagavad-gita.
We are suffering because of artificially cutting off our relationship with Krishna.
Every man’s life is meant for self-realization. A civilization that is checking men from this goal is committing the greatest violence according to scripture.
Jayadvaita Swami:
One becomes purified in both body and mind by bathing in sacred rivers.
In the Judeo-Christian tradition the river Jordan has some special significance.
In the Vedic tradition there are many sacred rivers headed by the Yamuna.
Yamuna is glorified as the ornament of Vrindavan, and an instrument of justice. She is considered 100 times more sacred than the Ganges.
She assists in Krishna pastimes in Vrindavan, and also as Kalindi, a queen of Krishna, in Dvaraka.
Yamuna is there from the beginning of Krishna’s pastimes as a baby.
The nectar one obtains from the Yamuna is devotional service to Krishna.
You can be a good person and stay in the material world for many births.
You can be a good person and go down to lower species. King Nrga performed so many pious acts, and yet he became a lizard for his one impious deed.
The holy name only does good.
By pious activities alone one cannot get love of Godhead, but by the chanting of the holy name one can.
Just carrying out the tasks given by the guru is devotion. Ultimately we will do it with feeling, but just completing the task is devotion. Srila Prabhupada writes, “Devotional service is not a matter of sentimental speculation or imaginative ecstasy. Its substance is practical activity.” (Nectar of Instruction 3, purport)
For the sake of enjoyment, we go through so much trouble, but in the end Krishna takes it away, and we lament. And that is our program for happiness.
Even if you think this place is a place of happiness, you cannot stay here.
Thus this program of seeking happiness through material development is simply madness.
As long as we are thinking this spot life is all and all, we are missing the point.
We may be proud of being an American, but in our next life we can be an American dog or an American bug.
I am busy with all these external things, but I am missing my eternal need.
If we are so serious about things which are taken away, how much more serious we should about the eternal.
We should protect our real asset, Krishna consciousness.
If we are not willing to take up the process, how serious are we about the result?
Q: Why do we consider Krishna the Supreme of the Hindu gods?
A: Why do we consider Biden is supreme in the country? There is the secretary of the treasury. There is the secretary of defense. These are powerful posts, but they are subordinate to the president. Similarly the demigods, though powerful, are all subordinate to Krishna.
It is the nature of soul to do what God wants.
Mahavishnu Swami:
All the prasadam we are cooking, all the advertising, all the preparations are gaining us the favor of Lord Jagannatha.
The Ratha-yatra is a big opportunity for people to join in, by pulling the cart, by the chanting, by the books.
The Ratha-yatra is an attack on maya, on this materialistic civilization.
Ratha-yatra is one of the Lord’s pastimes, and we are taking part in it together, as a communal effort, and we participate in the ecstasy.
In the Congo, every tribe has a deity, but none of the deities has a smile. Lord Jagannatha, however, has a smile.
Niranjana Swami:
From a lecture at Towaco, New Jersey, on June 11, 2023:
We had a retreat in Ukraine recently. We could not call it a festival because people would wonder why we were having a festival during a war. It was called the Nitai Gauranga retreat, and 1,300 devotees attended. It was at a ski lodge in a beautiful place in the Carpathian Mountains in western Ukraine. The devotees were so happy to see each other, being so much separated by the war.
There is a lot of conflict going on in the country still and a lot of missiles exploding. People cannot sleep because of the missiles exploding all night.
Two thousand devotees have left Ukraine.
In the maha-prakasa-lila, Lord Caitanya asked Gangadasa if he remembered the time that he was worried that he couldn’t protect his family from violence in his village. Gangadasa said yes. Then Lord Caitanya asked if he remembered thinking of drowning himself in the Ganges because he couldn’t protect his family. Gangadasa said yes. Then Lord Caitanya asked if he remembered that a boatman suddenly appeared out of nowhere and bought him and his family to safety. Gangadasa said he remembered, and Lord Caitanya said, “I was that boatman.”
Devotee care in Ukraine is the heartbeat of the yatra. There are 20,000 devotees in Ukraine. They have comradery and close sangas when they get together.
I never asked devotees for funds for Ukraine. Devotees inquired from me about the situation there and spontaneously offered to help.
Devotees from North America donated to supply generators and solar panels in response to me telling a leading devotee that the temples needed electricity.
Devotees in Ukraine distributed twice as many books last year during the 2022 marathon as compared to the 2021 marathon. The book distributors say that the people are really asking relevant questions and really looking for answers. In Kyiv several devotees distribute 100 books a day.
Share Your Care, which offers support to individuals, has given 3,730 devotees financial aid.
I can tell stories of how Krishna protected His devotees:
One devotee family was encouraged to move out of their apartment because things were getting worse. They took whatever possessions they could fit in their car and drove to western Ukraine. Two days later a missile entered their apartment and destroyed it, and the apartments on either side were destroyed and their neighbors died.
The devotees were regularly distributing prasadam in one city, Kherson. Once they forgot to bring Srila Prabhupada’s books with them to distribute. They debated about what to do and decided to go back and get the books. While they were getting the books, the place where they going to serve the prasadam was destroyed by a missile.
One devotee, who was a soldier, was in a trench with other soldiers, when a missile landed in the trench. The missile fell on the devotee’s shoe in such a way that the detonater did not fire. That devotee would always chant faithfully Hare Krishna for two hours every morning, and the other soldiers gained faith in his prayers seeing how they were protected in that way.
The devotees at the recent festival expressed so much gratitude.
One devotee made a very nice point: There are many uncertainties on the material side, where to live, how to make money, how to protect the family, etc., but on the spiritual side everything is clear. Srila Prabhupada gave us a program, and we just have to follow it.
681 devotees were given facility to live in temples in Western Ukraine.
112,000 plates of prasadam were sponsored.
Devotees are distributing food in 50 cities in Ukraine at 250 locations.
At Kharkiv they distribute 11,000 plates a day in metro stations.
Over two million, and probably by now, three million, plates of food have been distributed since the beginning of the war.
At the initiation in Towaco, the three devotees also pledged to serve Srila Prabhupada’s mission in addition to the standard vows.
The initiates were a couple who became Radhika Mohan Dasa and Premamayi Radha Devi Dasi, and another a devotee, who was from Connecticut, who became Amrita Sundari Devi Dasi.
Guru Prasada Swami:
Good health can be a distraction or an advantage depending on how we use it.
The intimacy of the disciple is to know the guru so well that he spontaneously does what the guru wants before he is asked.
I was in the army when I encountered Krishna consciousness, and I decided that as Arjuna was warrior and fought for Krishna, I should fight for Krishna. My superior called me into the office, and I was worried he was going to chastise me. He said you don’t belong here. You are reading all these religious books. You belong in the chaplain’s department. And you are vegetarian so I will give you special rations. And your schedule is not compatible with the others, so I will give you a separate place to stay. I found by following Bhagavad-gita I got all facility. People saw I was happy in the army although they were miserable, and they asked why, and I would introduce them to Bhagavad-gita. In the two years I was in the army, three people I introduced to Bhagavad-gita became devotees.
When you are a servant, you do not have to worry about anything.
The people who are most miserable in my experience as the wealthiest.
You cannot cook any better than Srimati Radharani. You cannot play with Krishna better than His friends. Still He invites us to offer things to Him, and He is completely satisfied to accept them.
Practically Krishna took everything away from Srila Prabhupada except his Krishna consciousness, but he was completely happy.
Just as Kardama Muni was surprised by his mystic power in manifesting the seven-story palace, Srila Prabhupada was surprised by the expanding of his Krishna consciousness movement.
As soon as you just want to serve the husband or the wife, then the marriages are enjoyable and they last, but when the husband or the wife wants to exploit the other for his or her enjoyment, it creates competition, and the result is unpalatable and the marriage breaks up.
Depending on Krishna means doing what Krishna wants us to do. For the followers of Lord Caitanya it means sharing Krishna consciousness.
Srila Prabhupada said that the mission of the Krishna consciousness movement is to give Krishna consciousness to everyone.
If we can achieve the spirit of sacrifice that Devahuti had in our missionary activities, we will be successful.
One Christian said that we are more fortunate than the Christians because the Christians are arguing about whether Christ said this or that, but we have all these books and recorded words of Srila Prabhupada.
Srila Prabhupada said if 10% of the population of the world became Krishna consciousness, then the world would become Krishna consciousness.
Candrasekhara Swami:
Because devotees are not interesting amazing people by their powers, they do not exhibit yogic perfections.
Both individually and as a movement, we have to be careful not to be allured by facilities that come our way.
Pancharatna Prabhu:
Yoga is defined as citta-vrtti-niroda or wrapping up all the activities of the consciousness.
Akhandadhi Prabhu has a series of fifty or so hour-long lectures called the Atma Paradigm. He expertly tears apart the speculations of the scientists which amount to scientism.
Akhandadhi makes the point that as far as consciousness arising out of matter there is zero evidence for it and lots of evidence against it.
They cannot explain qualia or conscious experience such as the redness of red.
We have surrendered to maya, and now we have to surrender to Krishna.
When we become sincere, maya exposes our anarthas so we can get past them.
Vaisesika Prabhu:
Srila Prabhupada said, after the installation ceremony for Krishna Balaram in Vrindavan, that the ecstatic kirtan of his devotees was sufficient, but they did usual rituals to satisfy the local brahmanas.
When we chanted Sri Brahma-samhita at one fire sacrifice, Srila Prabhupada said he liked it and hoped we would chant it at all fire sacrifices in the future.
Srila Prabhupada was most successful in bringing Bhagavad-gita, Srimad-Bhagavatam, and the holy name all over world.
Devotee comes from the Latin devoto, which means one who keeps vows.
By following these vows, one can go back to Godhead.
Srila Prabhupada said that the order of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is His internal potency, and by that order we can attain the spiritual world.
Radhika Ramana Prabhu told me, “Philosophers do not take a philosophy seriously until people have access to it.” The Six Goswamis went through the Vedic literature and took out the essence and put it in their books to make it accessible.
Srila Prabhupada called the material world “a colossal hoax.”
The main qualification for you taking first initiation is that you have had it with the material world. You may have duties in material world, but your heart is not in it. You have given your heart to Krishna.
The Hare Krishna mantra is a sixteen word mantra that destroys all obstacles in Kali-yuga.
Although holy name is equal to everyone, you have to chant without offenses to get the full affect.
Don’t criticize Vaishnavas. If someone does, say something nice about the person.
We should not think we are entitled to anything.
Some think Krishna is a thing, but you initiates think that Krishna is THE thing.
Mike, was an atheist, who did not like Hare Krishna. By the hearing the Wisdom of the Sages podcasts, he is now taking initiation.
Michele became Mangala-citra Dasi.
Mike became Murari Prema Dasa.
The young Indian man became Sundaracala Dasa.
Bhaktin Gautami became Gopijana Priya Dasi.
Agnideva Prabhu:
Although Devahuti was a princess, she lived in the forest with practically nothing, yet she never complained, and Kardama appreciated how surrendered she was. Thus he decided to reward her, using his powers as a great yogi.
One sannyasi thought Srila Prabhupada was not a proper swami because he was not performing the traditional austerities that a sannyasi in India would perform. A disciple of Srila Prabhupada explained to that sannyasi that in India there is a system already set up so a sannyasi can go door-to-door and the householders would give him food, but in the USA it is not like that. Srila Prabhupada had to figure out how to survive.
Srila Prabhupada taught by his example to live simply even when great opulence came to him. Srila Prabhupada’s integrity in this endeared him to his disciples.
Srila Prabhupada never complained and never demanded.
Hansarupa Prabhu:
Lord Ramacandra’s deity of Ananta Vasudeva is in Bhubaneswar and is 2 millions years old.
Srila Prabhupada said going back to Godhead is like waking up from a dream.
If one is thinking he is advanced, he is in a dangerous position. Then he will not serve the devotees, and he will create a whole independent identity for himself.
We should go out every day and tell everyone we meet about Krishna.
After I cleaned the temple at 55th Street I would distribute Back to Godhead at Central Park. Once a well dressed couple came to visit Srila Prabhupada. I did not recognize them, but they said I sold them their first BTG. Since then they had bought Srila Prabhupada’s books from the BBT, and now they wanted to personally meet Srila Prabhupada.
Srila Prabhupada was like a wise grandfather for his disciples, and for those had left home at a young age, he was like their father, giving all sorts of practical advice for leading a better life.
Srila Prabhupada once said, “Every alley in Calcutta is a guru factory.”
Srila Prabhupada said the likelihood that one will meet a bona fide spiritual master in one particular life is like the likelihood of a turtle poking its head through the knot in a piece of wood floating in the vast ocean.
Srila Prabhupada was able to spread his movement so extensively because his disciples were willing to do anything for him to reciprocate what they had received from him.
If you can be enthusiastic to clean the toilets, you can be enthusiastic to do anything.
No one can estimate by material calculation the potency of prasadam.
In these festivals tens of thousands of people come in contact with Krishna consciousness for the first time, and it is guaranteed it will not be their last time.
The nectar flowing from the lips of the spiritual master can purify even the darkest hearts.
When you cooperate to put on a festival, you taste a rare nectar that those who are reluctant to help miss out on, and you will remember that for the rest of your life.
The highest taste is not some philosophical speculation that serves to set you apart from others.
We have everything we need to maintain and expand this Krishna consciousness movement here with Radha Govinda.
We have been transformed.
Bhakti Charu Swami always told his disciples to never leave ISKCON.
Comments by me:
At Times Square one man was reluctant to take a festival flyer, but he mentioned that he saw the devotees doing a parade down Fifth Avenue one year. I said, “It happens every year, and this is the invitation for it for this year! Its happening next weekend.” Then he accepted the invitation. Thus we see practically how he was getting a chance to connect with Krishna consciousness again.
In the bathroom in Radhadesh they have permanently fixed one of those devices that plays all of Srila Prabhupada’s lectures. When people enter the bathroom they turn it on, and when they leave they turn it off.
Janardana Swami:
We hear that Kardama Muni’s flying palace had seven stories, so skyscrapers are not a new thing.
The opulent palace was like a reward to Devahuti for her selfless service. Beyond this, Kardama Muni rewarded Devahuti with bhakti.
As Devahuti served her husband faithfully and attained bhakti, by serving our gurus we can also attain bhakti.
Kardama Muni, being a yogi, actually surpassed the demigods as far as interplanetary travel is concerned.
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Although chanting the holy name of God is very powerful, one must do it without offenses to quickly achieve the goal of Krishna prema, love of Godhead. Thus in the temples we often recite the ten offenses against the chanting of the holy name every morning. Sometimes before listing the offenses, devotees chant both the Bengali and the English translation to this very relevant verse from Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, which really stresses how absolutely important it is to avoid the offenses:
“If one is infested with the ten offenses in the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, despite his endeavor to chant the holy name for many births, he will not get the love of Godhead that is the ultimate goal of this chanting.” (Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Adi-lila 8.16)