(December 2024, part two)
New York City and Albany
(Sent from Islip Airport, Long Island, New York, on January 4, 2024)
Where I Went and What I Did
The second half of December, I was happy to remain in the ashram of ISKCON NYC and serve NYC Harinam.
I would chant with Rama Raya Prabhu’s NYC Harinam party from Monday through Saturday for three or four hours in the afternoons.
I would lead the chanting for half an hour and distribute the invitations and free literature the rest of the time, occasionally also selling a book.
On Sundays I would chant with the Gita Life devotees in Downtown Brooklyn for an hour or so in the morning, and then either in a subway station alone or on the Brooklyn Bridge with several devotees for two hours or so in the afternoon.
In addition to chanting with NYC Harinam I would do additional hours of harinama for the Prabhupada Marathon, chanting for two hours in another subway station in the morning or at noontime several days a week, and I made my quota of thirty hours for the month of December. I report my scores in this journal after the harinama videos.
Sometimes I would give the Srimad-Bhagavatam class in the temple, which is recorded on the ISKCON NYC YouTube channel.
At ISKCON NYC the last Ekadasi in December I made walnut burfi for Radha Govinda.
On Tuesday, December 24, I went upstate to participate in my family’s Christmas celebration in Albany, New York, coming back in time to catch the last three hours of harinama on Christmas Day. We went to the Christmas narration and song program for the appearance of Lord Jesus Christ in this world at the Quaker meeting, and I brought khicri and a coconut sweet for the dinner after. I brought doughnuts from the Doughnut Plant and other prasadam for my relatives for Christmas.
I share many quotes from the books, lectures, conversations, and letters of Srila Prabhupada, most of which I read in Bhakti Vikasa Swami’s soon-to-be-published book on the mood and mission of Srila Prabhupada. I also share quotes from The Delaware Diaries, a soon-to-be-published book by Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami. I also share notes on classes in New York City by Jayadvaita Swami and Rama Raya, Sri Prahlada, Param Brahma, and Arjunananda Prabhus.
Thanks to Jayadvaita Swami for the neck warmer for use on my extra subway station harinamas for the Prabhupada Marathon. Thanks to Ahaituki Prema Prabhu for the videos and photos of NYC Harinam with me in them. Thanks to Fern, Oliver, and Victor for the socks for Christmas. Thanks to Karen for the figs and ginger for Christmas.
Itinerary
October 5, 2024–January 3, 2025: NYC Harinam
January 4: Miami maha-harinama
January 5: Miami Ratha-yatra
January 6–17: Tallahassee harinama and college outreach
January 17–20: Gainesville BIHS Evolution conference
January 21–23: Tallahassee harinama and college outreach
January 23–24: Gainesville
January 25: Tampa harinama and Gasparilla Ratha-yatra
January 26–29: USF harinama and programs
January 30–April: Tallahassee harinama and college outreach
Chanting Hare Krishna in New York
While I was chanting at Fulton Street subway station two hours one morning for the marathon, this man greeted me with “Hare Krishna” and played shakers for a few mantras with me. He said he played in reggae band in Peru called Jagannatha. I found them online . . . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJcZBeUE-ws
Premamani Devi Dasi chants Hare Krishna in Times Square subway station (https://youtu.be/cebNZgJeIEk):
Sukanti Gaurangi Devi Dasi chants Hare Krishna at Atlantic Avenue / Barclays Center in Brooklyn (https://youtu.be/pax-W1K0RxE):
Krishna Rai chants Hare Krishna at Atlantic Avenue / Barclays Center subway station in Brooklyn (https://youtu.be/_HH9rejeMfc):
Jaya Goracand Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Atlantic Avenue / Barclays Center in Brooklyn (https://youtube.com/shorts/b4oKlPM7pCE?feature=share):
December 18 was the disappearance anniversary of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura. I shared with my Facebook friends this amazing quote by him:
“Srinama-sankirtana is the best sadhana. If other sadhanas help us in Krishna-sankirtana, then they deserve to be called sadhana; otherwise they are simply impediments to sadhana. Sri-Krishna-nama-sankirtana is the emperor of sadhanas. It is the only infallible sadhana capable of bringing us to siddhi.”
An Indian man gave a dollar or two so I gave him “Easy Journey to Other Planets.” He opened it up to the page with the Prabhupada photo, and smiled, saying, “I haven't seen Bhaktivedanta in a while.”
When I returned on the C train, I noticed the new C trains do not have doors between the carriages, facilitating my chanting of Hare Krishna being heard by more people.
Acarya-nistha Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Jackson Heights / Roosevelt Avenue subway station (https://youtu.be/8UZeOWpzJ_s):
Here he chants another Hare Krishna melody there (https://youtu.be/A4KM1GlpQnE):
Maya Cabrinha chants Hare Krishna at the Wednesday evening kirtan at ISKCON NYC (https://youtu.be/Wi2cEHoko6w):
Rama Raya Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Fulton Street subway station (https://youtu.be/j_zMYtDPhf0):
Ranchor chants Hare Krishna at Times Square subway station (https://youtu.be/juDO3MKKY8U):
Param Brahma Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in Times Square subway station (https://youtu.be/ABZ3dHgrMGw):
Rama Raya Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in Times Square subway station, and several play shakers and dance (https://youtu.be/1IHovsARCY0):
Rama Raya Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in Times Square subway station, and a family plays shakers and dances (https://youtu.be/ba7JxgLF7b8):
Sri Prahlada Prabhu chants the first Hare Krishna kirtan at the 26 Second Avenue Saturday program (https://youtu.be/EBqC196TDLQ):
Sri Prahlada Prabhu chants Hare Krishna to a Polish festival tune at 26 Second Avenue (https://youtu.be/GwwuktmeQP0):
After Sri Prahlada’s lecture, it was past the time that the final kirtan usually starts. There was some talk about skipping the kirtan, and continuing on to prasadam.
Meru, who has been attending devotional programs for a year or two said to Sri Prahlada, “Your kirtan is like prasadam itself.”
Sri Prahlada Prabhu chants the final Hare Krishna kirtan at the 26 Second Avenue Saturday program (https://youtu.be/gsBMlHweZlk):
On both December 24 and December 25, Radha Govinda were dressed at mangala-arati in such colors as you could not help but remember Christmas!
I chanted Hare Krishna in Times Square subway station on Christmas Day, and I felt happy to see all the passersby dance joyfully with a devotee woman visiting from Australia (https://youtube.com/shorts/ODB8EywDrpk?feature=share):
Jayananda Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in Times Square subway station on Christmas Day, and young Indians dance with Divyangi Devi Dasi (https://youtube.com/shorts/UDvDEt3e_Uw?feature=share):
Tom chants Hare Krishna at Times Square subway station (https://youtu.be/zyc8Zx6uU8k):
Divyangi Devi Dasi chants Hare Krishna at Times Square subway station, and passersby interact (https://youtube.com/shorts/grjN-55SnYM?feature=share):
Premamani Devi Dasi chants Hare Krishna in Times Square subway station (https://youtu.be/OKUYJ_bwlaI):
Rama Raya Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in Times SquarePremamani Devi Dasi chants Hare Krishna in Times Square subway station subway station, and many dance with devotees (https://youtu.be/HdVGlGGLzQE):
Rama Raya Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Times Square, and Premamani Devi Dasi dances with passersby (https://youtube.com/shorts/5aJPjaXDVAs):
Rama Raya Prabhu chants Hare Krishna to “Jingle Bells” tune in Times Square subway station (https://youtu.be/_iEAk75QRGU):
Rama Raya Prabhu chants Hare Krishna to “Auld Lang Syne” tune at Times Square subway station (https://youtu.be/YEfLGQFh6QM):
Often Radha Govinda looked especially beautiful.
Godruma Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in Times Square subway station (https://youtu.be/EFefyHrgu2s):
Param Brahma Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in ISKCON NYC Guru Puja kirtan (https://youtu.be/9rEgLV7BcN8):
Nitish chants Hare Krishna with Gita Life devotees on Union Street in Brooklyn (https://youtu.be/oOxeNrocV5w):
The last Sunday in December was warm enough to chant on Brooklyn Bridge, and although I have chanted there several times, I never so it so crowded. There was a line of twenty people waiting to cross the bridge. We chanted for five minutes waiting for the line to go down, but it never did, so we had to join the line and wait our turn.
Here Matanga Prabhu chants Hare Krishna on the Brooklyn Bridge (https://youtube.com/shorts/kq1PCqbzhQs?feature=share):
Matanga Prabhu chants Hare Krishna on the Brooklyn Bridge, and Indian families play shakers and dance (https://youtu.be/7JEPMfhA0Wg):
Matanga Prabhu chants Hare Krishna on the Brooklyn Bridge, and devotees dance in a circle (https://youtu.be/DpJDfnOtbL8):
When we were two-thirds of the way across the bridge, we encountered a pedestrian traffic jam. Literally we were at a standstill for at least half an hour and probably more, since the whole harinama took an hour longer than usual.
Here Matanga Prabhu chants Hare Krishna on the Brooklyn Bridge during the pedestrian traffic jam (https://youtube.com/shorts/v-3o59Z3tvE?feature=share):
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During the traffic jam, I talked to this woman from California because she seemed attracted by the chanting. She now lives with her Swiss husband in Zurich. Her husband asked very nice questions about our philosophy and accepted “On Chanting Hare Krishna” and the address of our Zurich temple.
Matanga Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in the ISKCON NYC temple lobby after the Brooklyn Bridge harinama (https://youtube.com/shorts/6vA_FcJu8zs):
Krishna Kripa Das chants Hare Krishna at Times Square (https://youtube.com/shorts/ToL48oG_xkU):
Rama Raya Prabhu chants Hare Krishna to the tune of the New Years song, “Auld Lang Syne,”at Times Square subway station (https://youtu.be/pNww4SNZdP4):
Narada Muni Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in Times Square subway station, and a Seattle woman, who knows about our temple there, sits and listens (https://youtu.be/cIiVbfVA0TQ):
Bali Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Times Square subway station, and a woman plays shakers and dances (https://youtube.com/shorts/PyXqIAhDnWE?feature=share):
Jaya Goracand Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Times Square subway station, and two women play shakers and dance (https://youtube.com/shorts/g_tJgHLrZag?feature=share):
Rama Raya Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Times Square, and Premamani Devi Dasi dances with passersby (https://youtube.com/shorts/5aJPjaXDVAs?feature=share):
Rama Raya Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Times Square subway station, and devotees and passersby play shakers and dance (https://youtu.be/GH9jsCbDgos):
At one point, devotees and various passersby danced together in a circle (https://youtu.be/nYrThgr4RkY):
One woman was especially enthusiastic to dance (https://youtube.com/shorts/RCNW2Mw-xEc?feature=share):
Although Times Square is the busiest subway station, the police restrict activities there on New Year’s Eve, and thus we chanted Hare Krishna in the Fulton Street subway station in Manhattan, which is closer, warmer, and quieter.
Here I chant Hare Krishna at Fulton Street on New Year’s Eve (https://youtube.com/shorts/kZLOhytvilg?feature=share):
Jagaddhatri Devi Dasi chants Hare Krishna at Fulton Street on New Year’s Eve (https://youtu.be/4eS3j_M02go):
Sevaka Devi Dasi chants Hare Krishna at Fulton Street on New Year’s Eve (https://youtu.be/AvYwI2iUugQ):
Madhav Charan Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Fulton Street on New Year’s Eve (https://youtu.be/pskbz7ZH2HI):
While Madhav Charan Prabhu was chanting Hare Krishna, a guy and a woman danced (https://youtube.com/shorts/ntp0lHoNmPU?feature=share):
Another guy danced as well (https://youtube.com/shorts/fhWW9Gr7JPM?feature=share):
Braja Sakhi Devi Dasi chants Hare Krishna at Fulton Street on New Year’s Eve (https://youtu.be/LaApDTN-afE):
Rama Raya Prabhu chants Hare Krishna to “Auld Lang Syne” tune at Fulton Street on New Year’s Eve (https://youtu.be/3-v43zsiXDM):
Here is a video of that in portrait orientation (https://youtube.com/shorts/ATvlgPXlRLo):
At one point while Rama Raya Prabhu chanted Hare Krishna, several devotees danced (https://youtu.be/P-CIXGAZmM0):
Rama Raya Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Fulton Street on New Year’s Eve and two girls and a woman dance (https://youtube.com/shorts/XD-30g0cGLE?feature=share):
Rama Raya Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Fulton Street on New Years Eve, and passersby and devotees dance (https://youtu.be/MSFFd4r1L2g):
Prabhupada Marathon 2024 Scores
My personal contribution to the Prabhupada Marathon is very small. I go out on my own extra hours and chant Hare Krishna in public. If people give me money, I offer them a book.
This year I went out just over 30 hours, people gave me $184.60 and accepted 29 books and 22 “On Chanting Hare Krishna” pamphlets. One reason I go out is to set an example that we should try to increase out book distribution in some way during the Prabhupada Marathon. I hope to increase next year, as I have in previous years.
Income and Expenses for 2024
Comments: My travel expenses were greater than usual as I went to Europe twice instead of once, I went to India, and I went to New York City during spring break because all the colleges in Florida I sing at had spring break the same week. My gifts were greater than usual because I donated three years of tax refunds to my guru, which amounted to almost $500. My electronics expenses were greater than usual as I purchased a computer for the first time in five years for almost $1000. I also decided to invest in two external hard drives, totaling 22 GB and costing $600, to keep up backup copies of the many videos I take of harinama. I still have some money left from the money I got by filing for unemployment during COVID, and that is why I was able to spend so much while receiving so little and not be completely broke. I hope to spend more conservatively in 2025.
Insights
Srila Prabhupada:
From Bhagavad-gita 12.11, purport:
“If one decides to sacrifice for the supreme cause, even if he does not know that the supreme cause is Krishna, he will come gradually to understand that Krishna is the supreme cause by the sacrificial method.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.2.36, purport:
“The Lord’s holy name must be heard, glorified and remembered everywhere in the world.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.7.13, purport:
“Artificially stopping a mischievous child is not the real remedy. The child must be given some better engagement so that he will automatically stop causing mischief. In the same way, the mischievous activities of the senses can be stopped only by better engagement in relation with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When the eyes are engaged in seeing the beautiful form of the Lord, the tongue is engaged in tasting prasadam, or remnants of foodstuff offered to the Lord, the ears are engaged in hearing His glories, the hands are engaged in cleaning the temple of the Lord, the legs are engaged in visiting His temples—or in other words when all the senses are engaged in transcendental variegatedness—then only can the transcendental senses become fully satisfied and eternally free from material engagement. The Lord, as the Supersoul residing in everyone's heart and as the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the transcendental world far beyond the material creation, is the seer of all our activities. Our activities must be so transcendentally saturated that the Lord will be kind enough to look upon us favorably and engage us in His transcendental service; then only can the senses be satisfied completely and be no longer troubled by material attraction.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.7.36:
“O best among the brahmanas, those who are spiritual masters are very kind to the needy. They are always kind to their followers, disciples and sons, and without being asked by them, the spiritual master describes all that is knowledge.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.8.27, purport:
“Devotees do not ask anything from the Lord in exchange for their service. Even the most desirable liberation is refused by devotees, although offered by the Lord. Thus the Lord becomes a kind of debtor to the devotees, and He can only try to repay the devotees' service with His ever-enchanting smile. The devotees are ever satisfied by the smiling face of the Lord, and they become enlivened. And by seeing the devotees so enlivened, the Lord Himself is further satisfied. So there is continuous transcendental competition between the Lord and His devotees by such reciprocation of service and acknowledgement.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.26.5, purport:
“Men do not understand that because they unrestrictedly kill so many animals, they also must be slaughtered like animals in big wars. This is very much evident in the Western countries. In the West, slaughterhouses are maintained without restriction, and therefore every fifth or tenth year there is a big war in which countless people are slaughtered even more cruelly than the animals. Sometimes during war, soldiers keep their enemies in concentration camps and kill them in very cruel ways. These are reactions brought about by unrestricted animal-killing in the slaughterhouse and by hunters in the forest.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.11.27, purport:
“We should not be disturbed by so-called disturbances. There have been so many disturbances to our Krishna consciousness movement, but we cannot give up our forward march. On the contrary, people are receiving this movement very enthusiastically all over the world, and they are purchasing literature about Krishna consciousness with redoubled energy. Thus there are both encouragements and disturbances. This was so even in Krishna's time.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.11.58, purport:
“Even at the present moment, everyone everywhere can be happy and free from material tribulations by following Srimad-Bhagavatam. There is no need of austerities and penances, which in this age are very difficult to perform. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu has therefore declared, sarvatma-snapanam param vijayate sri-krishna-sankirtanam. By our Krishna consciousness movement, we are trying to distribute Śrimad-Bhagavatam so that anyone in any part of the world can be absorbed in the Krishna consciousness movement by chanting and hearing about the activities of Krishna and be free from all material tribulations.”
From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Adi, Introduction:
“We have often heard the phrase ‘love of Godhead.’ How far this love of Godhead can actually be developed can be learned from the Vaiṣṇava philosophy. Theoretical knowledge of love of God can be found in many places and in many scriptures, but what that love of Godhead actually is and how it is developed can be found in the Vaishnava literatures. It is the unique and highest development of love of God that is given by Caitanya Mahaprabhu.”
From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Adi 9.39, purport:
“With the good will of the Supreme Personality of Godhead there can be enough fruits, grain and other foodstuffs produced so that all the people in the world could not finish them, even if they ate ten times their capacity. In this material world there is actually no scarcity of anything but Krishna consciousness. If people become Krishna conscious, by the transcendental will of the Supreme Personality of Godhead there will be enough foodstuffs produced so that people will have no economic problems at all. One can very easily understand this fact. The production of fruits and flowers depends not upon our will but upon the supreme will of the Personality of Godhead. If He is pleased, He can supply enough fruits, flowers, etc., but if people are atheistic and godless, then nature, by His will, restricts the supply of food. . . . Therefore, to solve all problems, one must seek the good will of the Supreme Personality of Godhead by becoming Krishna conscious and worshiping Him regularly in devotional service.”
From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya-lila 13.160 (quoted from Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.82.44):
“Lord Sri Krishna said: ‘Devotional service unto Me is the only way to attain Me. My dear gopis, whatever love and affection you have attained for Me by good fortune is the only reason for My returning to you.’”
From a letter to Makhanlal on June 22, 1973:
“We can preach all over the world that the only way to be saved from collective and individual devastation is to take to the chanting of Hare Krishna. In short, this material world is a very precarious place therefore we should always chant Hare Krishna and seek Krishna's protection.”
From a letter to Susan Beckman in August 1973:
“The conclusion is that one should learn the art of chanting the Holy name of Krishna 24 hours a day and that alone is the remedy for all problems of material existence.”
From a letter to Karandhara on June 18, 1975:
“We require money. Lakshmi is the immediate assistant of Narayana. Narayana is always preceded by the word Lakshmi. The Mayavadi philosophers do not touch Lakshmi, but we accept for the service of Krishna. We are not of the mentality of Ravana who took Lakshmi from Narayana and became ruined. Keep Lakshmi and Narayana always together and you will become as powerful as Hanuman. He is always worshiped along with Lord Rama and Lakshmi, Sita.”
From a letter to Amarendra on June 12, 1972:
“More and more I am urging my students to recognize the grave responsibility which is theirs for saving this fallen human society from gliding down into hell.”
From a letter to Makanlala on January 10, 1972:
“Our routine work – rising early, cleansing, chanting, temple worship, sankirtana, study – these things must go on very nicely, and if they become improved more and more, and are not neglected or in any way decreased, then all our other activities will be successful.”
From a class on Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.13.15 in Geneva on June 4, 1974:
“We have created these GBCs. So they should be very responsible men; otherwise, they will be punished. They will be punished to become a sudra. Although Yamaraja is a GBC, but he made a little mistake, he was punished to become a sudra. So those who are GBC, they should be very, very careful to administer the business of ISKCON. Otherwise they will be punished. As the post is very great, similarly, the punishment is also very great.”
Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami:
“They were singing ‘Jagannatha Swami’
which I don’t like as much
as the Hare Krishna mantra.”
“The devotees are my people, and Krishna is our God. Prabhupada is our spiritual father, and he saved us from material life and nominal religion. I may not be an intense mixer with the larger society of devotees, but I respect them. I should not commit offenses to them, even in my mind.”
“Srila Prabhupada. I remember him
especially from the early days
when he saved me from my fate
on the Lower East Side.
“He was just starting his American
campaign. And I was declining
fast when I met him.
“He lifted me out of my history,
my identification with marijuana
and madness, LSD.
“I became his good son
and disciple, clean cut
and responsible. He made
me secretary of ISKCON.
“I will remember those months
to my last hour and
hope for the best.”
“The devotee who has stopped his chanting because of the ghosts in his temple must be listening to ‘ghosts’ within his own mind, because Krishna in His holy name is more powerful than any material illusory energy.”
“As Krishna turned the two Arjuna trees into beautiful demigods by tearing them down, so the holy names can tear down the ignorance that frightens one and dissuades one from chanting.”
“In the Beth Israel Hospital, Swamiji woke from sleep, sat up and said, ‘I do not know Krishna. I only know my Guru Maharaja.’”
“As one enters old age, more bodily troubles pop up. It’s no fun. Disease is one of the four basic miseries of conditioned life: birth, death, disease and old age. They bar the attempt for uninterrupted happiness in this world. Happiness is temporarily staving off one of the natural miseries. My body is a temple of disease. Chronic daily headaches, urinary tract infection, enlarged prostate, frequent urination, kidney stones, crippled ankle causing difficulty in walking, and who knows what other diseases that haven’t been detected yet or are just around the corner.”
“I have much to be grateful for. Prabhupada wrote me a note in 1974: ‘You are pure. May Krishna protect you from calamities.’ I have proven myself impure and have not avoided some serious calamities. But I believe I still have Prabhupada’s blessings because he is the embodiment of compassion and forgiveness. ‘I am never displeased with any member.’ He intercedes for us. Knowing this, I maintain equilibrium.”
“Wash out the infections in your mind and heart. It can be done by the chanting charms.”
“The chanting charms are felt by those who know the art of chanting to please Krishna. It becomes a thrilling exercise for them. The bland chanter counts his quota, devoid of bliss. He hits a home run into the upper deck rarely. He has to improve his swing by hard work.”
“The son may say the father is distant from him, but it is not a fact. Their natural intimacy has been disturbed by alienation. I have cast Krishna out by my rebellion and indifference, but He remains in my heart, looking over me. ‘No God—no peace. Know God—know peace’—sign outside a church. Introduce Krishna to your speech, to your attention. Reintroduce Him as your master, through your spiritual master.”
“Krishna is the life of my life. I become covered over by the network of maya, and I forget Him. I become caught up by the worldly distractions. It is the greatest personal and worldwide tragedy when we forget Him. We try to solve our problem with non-Krishna solutions. Krishna is the savior; He is all we need.”
“Love of God is our natural and blissful state of being. A person who has attained it is the most fortunate person in the world. A symptom of love of Krishna is wanting to tell others about Krishna.”
“Those who serve Radha and Krishna with devotion in this world have an impression of the spiritual world. They love to chant Their names and serve Them and hear of Their pastimes. When devotees are intensely and exclusively engaged in Krishna consciousness, then it is very much like the spiritual world.”
“One morning, he posed a question:
‘What if people knew of the spiritual world—Who wouldn’t want to go there?’
We argued back, ‘But they don’t believe there is such a place.’
‘Yes,’ he countered, ‘but what if there is such a place? Who wouldn’t want to go?’
We all agreed everyone would like to transfer to the world of eternity, bliss and knowledge. Hearing such things from his mouth, spontaneously spoken, was inspiring and faith-building.”
“Thus he [Srila Prabhupada] remained the king on his walks, defeating all enemies and generously nourishing his followers. The walks were a high point in the day.”
“Disease, old age and death are inevitable. If I am Krishna conscious, my end of life should not alarm me. I’ll go to a better, more spiritual next life. I’m just a tiny spirit soul and cannot prolong my life past its destined time of departure. I’ll ‘disappear’ when Time and Krishna determine. I can only surrender and increase my laulyam to join with Krishna and His associates in the spiritual world. I can increase my faith that He and Prabhupada will take care of me.”
“I could say there is spiritual advancement that even an old man can make. He can drop his attachments to prestige, his envy, his lust, his anger and resentment. He can continue to chant the holy names with devotion until his dying day. He can go on hearing and reading about Krishna, and try to be kind to others. These will all count in his favor. Do what you can and leave the results up to the Lord, who definitely loves you and wants what is best for you.”
“One thing about the Mr. Payne incident [in which a real estate man cheated the devotees] is that Śrila Prabhupada never held any grudge against Brahmananda or any of us. He was even willing to take the loss of the money if it had to be. He loved us, even as blundering children, because we were sincerely dedicated to his wishes.”
“Krishna is our ishta-devata, our favorite Deity. In His Vraja cowherd boy form, He sports in the ways associated with that place. Nowadays, it is much different than it was five thousand years ago, but sincere souls still feel the presence of Krishna beneath the dirty veneer.”
“You are operating under weakened conditions. The sail on your boat is ripped, you are taking in water. Or as Prabhupada said on old age and not feeling well, ‘The windows are broken, but there is still a light on inside.' He had wonderful ways of saying things, which we should keep and say ourselves. We cannot imitate him in all manners, but we can follow. Now our time gas tank says ‘empty,' so drive into the gas station and be prepared to pay up while you still have the money.”
“The Vaishnava acaryas have written enough hari-katha for us to read twenty-four hours a day for our whole life. Prabhupada told me that personally in 1966. I had doubted him. I did not know the breadth of the Vaishnava literature back in 1966. Krishna’s stories and philosophy are unending. Poems, songs, dramas, and dissertations have been given to us by the best minds of the centuries.”
“Thoreau said, ‘Time is a pond I go fishing in.’ Aside from the violent fishing reference, the saying captures the mood of peaceful leisure for contemplation.”
“We should be forgiving as an aspect of humility. Who are we to stand in judgment of others, since we are so fallen ourselves? It is a kind of arrogance coming from one who is still in material illusion about his or her own position. I forgive because I seek Krishna’s mercy. He wants me to forgive. It is hardhearted not to forgive, and a Vaishnava is softhearted. We see our own frailty and want to be forgiven our sins. So we should extend the same to others. Do unto others as you wish them to do unto yourself. You can also try to see the good in other persons, even though they have some fault for which they need forgiveness. This is especially true in the case of devotees. Krishna says, api cet su-duracaro. One who is rightly situated, who has accepted Krishna as his protector, can never be seen as unforgivable. His or her faults are like spots on the moon. Think of all the good a devotee has done, and consider the thing that you can’t forgive as just a bump on their spiritual path. They need your forgiveness, so don’t withhold it from them. They (I) am crying out for your forgiveness. So please don’t withhold it from me. Be like a mother who forgives the child, even when wayward, again and again. Be worthy of forgiveness, not unworthy. You give great relief to the guilty person when you give them your mercy of forgiveness. And so it is a great act of large-heartedness and love when you can do it. It stems from your original love of Krishna, who, as I say, wants you to be a forgiving person. Therefore, you should work on it. When you feel faultfinding or your inability to forgive, struggle to overcome it.””
“Letter writing is good too. You have to be convinced that talking about Krishna is real and the highest good. Reading the Bhagavatam inspires this. It is its own declaration.”
“But we should not be of troubled spirits; Krishna has set things right for His devotees. They understand that if they are in a difficult situation, it’s for their own good and purification, and that Krishna always loves them and will save them in the end. They have similar trust in the spiritual master.”
“The gopis gave and did everything for the pleasure of Krishna. They did so out of natural attraction. I cannot do so. I perform my devotional service under rules and regulations with a sense of obligation.”
“I just read for an hour in chapter four of Adi-lila of Caitanya-caritamrita. This is the most wondrous achievement of Srila Krishnadasa Kaviraja and Srila Prabhupada and his Bhaktivedanta purports. By studying Śri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, we can understand Srimati Radharaṇi, and by studying Srimati Radharani, we can understand Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.”
“You take life easily, as if you had all the time in the world. The fact is different. The fact is your time is very limited, and you should be immersed in bhajana, but you are not, not twenty-four hours a day. You do your minimum quotas and then float. You could be reading more and chanting more. Within your health limits, there is still time to improve and increase your contact with hari-katha and harinama. I’m preaching to myself and to anyone who reads this.”
“It should be easy to think of Him. Just think of Him charging Bhisma with Arjuna’s chariot, and Bhisma ready to face death. Krishna took up the wheel of the chariot and threatened Bhisma to leave Arjuna alone or die on the spot. Think of Him standing on the chariot and instructing the bewildered, grief-stricken Arjuna in Bhagavad-gita. Think of Him playing in the Vraja forests with the cowherd boys and nonchalantly killing demons sent by Kamsa. Think of Him expanded into 16,108 forms, with the same number of queens and the same number of palaces in Dvaraka. With each queen, He was engaged in different domestic activities, and this amazed His visitor Narada. Think of Him seated at the dinner table with His father Nanda Maharaja and His mother Yashoda. Think of Him teasing the gopis with His tollgate. Think of Him wheeling the ass demon Dhenukasura and his donkey friends, killing them and throwing them in the trees, which all collapsed. Think of Him receiving diplomatic advice from Uddhava. Think of Him fleeing the battlefield as Rancor, so as to give His devotee Mucukunda the chance to annihilate the Yavana king. Think of Him beheading Sisupala. Think of Him attending Sandipani Muni’s gurukula and fetching His dead son as a guru-daksina. Think of Him saving the lizard from the well. Think of Him manifesting His universal form to Mother Yashoda and again to Arjuna. Think of Him saving Draupadi from being disrobed in the vicious assembly of the Kurus. Think of Him chastising the Kaliya snake and extinguishing the forest fire. Think of him controlling all the universes through His Vishnu expansions. Think of Him in your heart. Think of His desire to bring all living entities back to Godhead. Do not say you cannot think of Krishna.”
“Be kind to all living entities, as hard as that is to achieve.”
“Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu has come in this age to kill the demons with cultural weapons, the chanting of the holy names. A small band is carrying it out. Not just one person, but sankirtana, congregations. One by one you pick them up in the sea of chanting. It works in ways unseen.”
[On doing a question and answer booth at a Ratha-yatra:] “Relax when people come up to you and just want to pass the time. Ask them how they are doing. Show interest; be philosophical and friendly. Sit in a chair, and ask them to sit beside you. This is tolerance and patience and compassion. Pace yourself with your inner clock and pulse. It’s going to be all right. Krishna is in control.”
“Śrila Prabhupada’s translation of the guru gayatri mantra is intriguing: ‘Let me try to understand my spiritual master, who is always in blissful Krishna consciousness. Let me meditate upon him being enthused, just as he enthuses us.’ He says, ‘Let me try to understand.’ He does not say, ‘Let me understand.’ This implies the understanding of the spiritual master is a very deep thing, not immediately grasped. To me, it implies knowing him in his siddha-svarupa, or eternal form in his relationship with Krishna in the spiritual world. We cannot concoct this or imagine it. But it will come to us by regular prosecution of his instructions and practice of devotional service when we are at the mature stage. ‘Let me try to understand my spiritual master’ also means understanding him in his books. That is more accessible than reaching the stage of understanding his siddha-svarupa. It means, let me study the Bhaktivedanta purports to the Srimad-Bhagavatam and all his other books. Their meanings have many levels, and only by prolonged study of the books can we come to understand him and the Krishna consciousness he presents. As Prabhupada said, ‘If you want to understand me, read my books.’ This is understanding Prabhupada as the medium to Krishna, as the instructor in his sannyasa guru form, as the one we saw and served in his presence from 1966 to 1977, and even today. Only by understanding his books and faithfully applying ourselves to them will Krishna be pleased with us and reveal to us further secrets of the identity of the spiritual master.
“The second half of the mantra speaks about enthusiasm: ‘Let me meditate upon him being enthused, just as he enthused us.’ Srila Prabhupada was very enthusiastic to preach. We see this in his personal, tireless efforts to spread the Krishna consciousness movement all over the world. In the scriptures, it is said that only one who is directly empowered by Krishna can spread the holy name all over the world. Prabhupada was so empowered by the Krishna shakti that he started from a very humble beginning and personally supervised his movement until it grew to thousands of disciples and over a hundred temples. He made us enthusiastic by his example and by his personal instruction. He inspired us. He showed us that if we wanted his personal favor, we had to preach also, like him—‘just as he enthused us.’ If we are initiated by a disciple of Śrila Prabhupada, the same mood of the mantra prevails. We thank our spiritual master and meditate on how he has linked us to Śrila Prabhupada and the parampara. We try to understand the mystery of this connection, and we are faithful to it. We trust his blissful Krishna consciousness and enthusiasm, and respond with our own. We should not be morose or doubtful, but blissful in the sac-cid-ananda realization of Krishna consciousness.”
“I do not fear death as much as I fear the indignity of deterioration and hopeless pain.”
“The passing away of Sadaputa Prabhu, our precious scientist. He wrote so many groundbreaking books. Kept abreast of the latest in science and could defy all their atheistic arguments. A great loss to our movement.”
“We speak of our lackings; we lament them, but we don’t omit them in our writing. We hold up a mirror to our own face, and when a reader looks into it (hears it), he sees his own face, his own lackings. He gains actual self-realization of where he or she is at in Krishna consciousness. At least that is the strategy I work with.”
“After yesterday’s comment on my writing, I feel more confident that it is a species of Krishna consciousness. It’s a choo-choo train bearing a long trail of railroad cars pulled by a mighty engine. It’s a cornucopia pouring fruits and fresh produce out of a conch-like horn. It’s jazz improvisation by a veteran tenor sax man or the upbeat playing of a practiced quartet. It’s repeated attempts by a student of script to make a perfect calligraphy. It’s a devotee giving a Srimad-Bhagavatam lecture and moving from analogy to analogy, going on tangents and returning to the theme of the day’s sloka and purport. It’s a ‘blood, sweat and tears’ honest effort. It’s a stage magician with an unending grab bag of tricks. It’s a man in a time of drought praying for rain and then going outdoors joyously to catch the drops when the rain starts to fall. It’s a man mowing his lawn, a farmer cutting down his corn stalks. It’s children at play, or an old bhakta continuing to play his mrdanga and sing bhajanas in a cracked voice. It’s TKG giving what disciples called his ‘state of the union lectures,’ in which he departed from the strict deliverance of scripture and told them exactly what his plans were and what was on his mind. It’s a daily journal interspersed with summaries of Caitanya-caritamrita and Srimad-Bhagavatam. It’s an author trying to deliver speech pleasurable to the ear, as described in the penance of speech in the Seventeenth Chapter of Bhagavad-gita. It’s my early BTG essays, which pleased Śrila Prabhupada, transformed by evolution by time and style, but still trying to please him. It’s all this and more, twenty midgets climbing out of a tiny circus automobile. It’s plain fare, kitri and rotis, being served daily. Keeping the hand moving and trying to repeat the words of the spiritual master in one’s own original voice. The things I did and the events I feared would happen but never did. Writing words until the last breath, like Madhvacarya, who died while writing a tika.”
Jayadvaita Swami:
Lord Vishnu is never attached the material energy, and Lord Shiva is married to the material energy.
We are proud of our bodies, but the Bhagavatam says the bodies are just bags, and bags of what? Bile, mucous, and air.
We have to get some taste from our speaking. The sadhus, the swanlike persons, take pleasure in discussing the glories of Krishna, but the materialistic, crowlike people, take pleasure in criticizing others.
Offenses to sadhus make our godly qualities diminish like the waning moon.
I know people who are otherwise good devotees who get on the internet and criticize those who have dedicated their lives to propagating the holy name. It is madness. Besides disturbing people’s minds, it destroys the rare opportunity they have for self-realization.
Q (by Jaya Goracand Prabhu): We see some devotees criticize Vaishnavas, but at the same time they seem to have a sincere attitude of service to guru and Krishna.
A: It could be it is just a matter of time. Here after blaspheming Shiva, Daksa went on to perform more sacrifices, but later he suffered so much.
Q: Suppose our parents blaspheme Krishna or the devotees, and we cannot walk away?
A: Try not to speak in such a way as to provoke them. Try changing the topic. Try avoiding their company.
Bhaktisiddhanta Prabhu, who was an artist, wanted to present a murti of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura to Krishnadas Babaji Maharaja. We found him at one of the Gaudiya Maths in Vrindavan. He was sitting on a bed. When he was presented the murti, he chanted the Hare Krishna mantra loudly and clearly for twenty or thirty minutes, and then said, “Installed.”
The instruments are meant to attract attention to the holy name of Krishna, but the holy name is the main thing.
We used to do harinama on Fifth Avenue, from 42nd Street to 59th Street, and then back down again, for hours a day. It used to be that no movie about New York City was complete without the Hare Krishnas on Fifth Avenue.
I came to devotional service from a record album.
Lord Vishnu is like a parent. If you want something useful, He will give it to you, but if you want something that will be bad for you, He will not give it. Lord Shiva, however, grants any benediction. Thus intelligent people worship Vishnu for selected benedictions.
Although Lord Shiva gives benedictions to both those looking for material enjoyment and those looking for liberation, Daksa was so envious he found fault with this auspicious being.
Comments by me:
A UK devotee went to college. In a class on sales, the professor showed different examples of the different techniques. Then he showed a video of a harinama and pointed out that it included all the techniques he had mentioned and that everyone on the street was attracted by the devotees’ presentation.
In South Africa a bhakti-sastri teacher told me that in Johannesburg the devotees used to do half an hour of harinama for a block or so around the temple both after breakfast and in the afternoon. There was one man who would come out on to his veranda every day and say nasty things to the devotees. The devotee telling the story said he traveled to another region to teach bhakti-sastri for some weeks, and when he returned that man had joined the temple.
End of comments by me.
If we are grhasthas we should not pretend to be renunciates and never talk to our wives.
As an expert cook doesn’t use the cookbook required for a neophyte but cooks very nicely, an advanced devotee does not have to follow all the rules of the Vedas necessary for beginning practitioners.
If we follow we become leaders for the whole world. If we do not follow we cause disturbance in Vaishnava society, and ultimately for the whole society.
If you can lift Govardhan Hill, you can dance with the gopis.
We need a guru to know what to do and what not to do.
Either dress as we are dressing, in the traditional dress, or as ladies and gentleman, but not like hippies. The Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Mormons always dress respectably because they want people to take their message seriously. Finally the question of dress is not very important, either this way or that way. It is not worth a campaign, either this way or that way. Our campaign is “smartavyah satatam vishnur vismartavyo na jatucit – Always remember Lord Vishnu and never forget Him.”
Sati accuses her father in effect of being a person who attends a sacrifice just to take prasadam.
Those who are unfortunate cannot appreciate the holy name, prasadam, the deity of Vishnu, or the devotee of the Lord.
The opulent possessions of the materialists are like sand castles on the beach.
It is said if a vanaprastha cannot do his duties because of infirmity according to the scripture, one may give up eating and drinking and end his life. Even in America and Europe, if an old person stops eating and drinking it is not considered suicide.
Rama Raya Prabhu:
To be tricked in the material world is a bad thing, but when Krishna tricks us into engaging in devotional service that is good thing.
What is the power of the pure devotee? Now 47 years after his disappearance we are all engaged in Srila Prabhupada’s service.
The pure devotee comes to this material world to get us out of this material world.
Sri Prahlada Prabhu:
Bhagavad-gita 7.8, where Krishna describes Himself to be the taste in water and the light of the sun and the moon, sounds like pantheism, but Krishna also reveals Himself in the Gita to be the source of creation and to be existing beyond it.
All our abilities are given by Krishna and can be taken away in a second.
When Srila Prabhupada's secretary asked Srila Prabhupada why he watched the Charlie Chaplin movie, he explained that Charlie Chaplin's humor is very original, and Krishna is the original source of all humor.
Paramatma gives people their karma impartially. The devotees, however, go out and give Krishna to people, and that is not under the law of karma.
Param Brahma Prabhu:
Even if you conquer over the six enemies of the mind, you still have to worry about by being attacked by hypocrisy and deceit.
It is a great fault to correct our seniors. They have their own people designated people to correct them. We should not risk our spiritual life by correcting them.
Preaching to members of the opposite sex is dangerous.
If we mind our own business, we can avoid so much trouble.
Arjunananda Prabhu:
Material nature makes goats out of us.
Srimad-Bhagavatam is stories of people attaining good fortune. How? By a Vaishnava entering their lives and opening their bhakti account, and then they start investing.
Narada Muni, in a disguised form, chanted Vishnu just before Hiranyakasipu impregnated his wife, so both the husband and wife had Vishnu on their minds, and thus their child became a great devotee.
Our real good fortune begins when we actively take shelter of the practice of pure devotional service.
We advise people to leave their jobs for a year and take shelter of Krishna because the tendency is that if one has a job he does not take full shelter of Krishna.
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In every religion so many rules and regulations are there. This verse from Padma Purana reminds us of the ultimate goal, remembrance of the Supreme Lord. If this lacking, we are following the rules and regulations in vain. Remembrance of the Supreme Lord is so auspicious it can completely purify us of all material contamination and situate us in love of God. May you always remember the Supreme Lord.
smartavyah satatam vishnur
sarve vidhi-nisedhah syur
etayor eva kinkarah
“Lord Vishnu [Krishna is the origin of Vishnu] should always be remembered and never forgotten at any time. All the rules and prohibitions mentioned in the sastras should be the servants of these two principles.” (Padma Purana, quoted in Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 22.113)
