(Week 39: September 24–30, 2026)
For week 39 of 2026 I was based at ISKCON NYC in Brooklyn, and I chanted Hare Krishna with Rama Raya Prabhu’s NYC Harinam party every day, except Friday when I chanted in Philadelphia with Harinama Ruci and Sunday when I chanted by myself in a nearby subway station. Friday I went to Philadelphia, planning to promote and attend their Ratha-yatra, scheduled for Saturday, but as the event was canceled, I returned to New York on Saturday in time to chant with NYC Harinam.
September 30 was my birthday, and I made 108 pieces of pineapple-almond coconut burfi to offer to Krishna and to share with my friends. That day was Wednesday as it was the year I was born. I was happy to learn that Krishna Himself also appeared in this world on a Wednesday.
I share quotes from Srila Prabhupada’s Srimad-Bhagavatam. I share quotes from Improvisations to Music, Book 2 by Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami and notes on classes by Toshan Krishna Prabhu, Chatamayi Devi Dasi, Radhe Shyam Prabhu, and Surabhi Kunja Devi Dasi.
Thanks to Rama Raya Prabhu for the photos and video of me chanting Hare Krishna with his NYC Harinam party on my birthday. Thanks to Madhu Sri Prabhu for the Perrier water and the hair clippers. Thanks to Hansarupa Prabhu for the socks and medicine.
Itinerary
September 23–December 31: NYC Harinam
Chanting Hare Krishna in New York City
Yadubara Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Union Square (https://youtube.com/shorts/4sI3i8SBPgk):
Maha Mantra Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Union Square, and devotees and passersby dance (https://youtube.com/shorts/_VWQYDOAMVs?feature=share):
Chatamayi Devi Dasi chants Hare Krishna in Manhattan, and a guy dances (https://youtube.com/shorts/b_NrwDeNuA0?feature=share):
Tarun Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in Manhattan (https://youtube.com/shorts/lFgf0NaaeAM):
Keshava Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at the ISKCON NYC Sunday Feast Gaura Arati (https://youtube.com/shorts/e2EzviztUAk?feature=share):
Madhurya Rasa Devi Dasi chants Hare Krishna in Manhattan (https://youtube.com/shorts/Vo__qu3Xmls):
Young woman chants Hare Krishna in Manhattan (https://youtube.com/shorts/Q5BVKrB-FHU?feature=share):
Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in Manhattan, and a guy dances (https://youtube.com/shorts/mLSaq_exg2U?feature=share):
Maha Mantra Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in Brooklyn, and a girl plays shakers (https://youtube.com/shorts/NDxWeaPnWAo?feature=share):
Radhe Shyam Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in Brooklyn, and a girl plays shakers (https://youtube.com/shorts/zQhZdp-regk?feature=share):
Hadai Prana Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in Brooklyn (https://youtube.com/shorts/Tbk3MHpUBjc):
While we were chanting Brooklyn, Param Brahma Prabhu talked to an inquisitive policewoman.
On my birthday, I just did distribution and did not take any videos. That day I chose to chant my favorite tune, and Rama Raya Prabhu took this video of it (https://youtube.com/shorts/YSPel5NtKLU?feature=share):
Chanting Hare Krishna in Philadelphia
Mahavishnu Swami and Harinama Ruci chant Hare Krishna at Rittenhouse Square in Philadelphia (https://youtube.com/shorts/xeuAN1m6GUs):
Mahavishnu Swami and Harinama Ruci chant Hare Krishna at Rittenhouse Square in Philly, and two guys chant and dance (https://youtube.com/shorts/DxxrJ0qLi4A):
Mahavishnu Swami and Harinama Ruci chant Hare Krishna while walking in Rittenhouse Square in Philadelphia (https://youtube.com/shorts/16gy2pYW48Q):
Mahavishnu Swami and Harinama Ruci chant Hare Krishna on Walnut Street in Philadelphia and passersby participate (https://youtube.com/shorts/wjKN_VIizPU):
Mahavishnu Swami and Harinama Ruci chant Hare Krishna in a clothes shop on Walnut Street in Philadelphia (https://youtube.com/shorts/gOiTlxgwCmk?feature=share):
Mahavishnu Swami and Harinama Ruci chant Hare Krishna in Philadelphia, and a woman reluctantly chants (https://youtube.com/shorts/bQx8U6ogfWA):
Raghunatha Prabhu and friends chant Hare Krishna at the Friday program at Bhakti Garden in Philadelphia (https://youtube.com/shorts/usUCLkEA7ls?feature=share):
Here is the original video, in which the deities are more clearly seen (https://youtube.com/shorts/MnT-J128TRg?feature=share):
Madhuha Prabhu chants Hare Krishna during mangala arati at ISKCON Philadelphia (https://youtube.com/shorts/xFqUDE2UnDk?feature=share):
Ananta-rama Sastri wrote a five-stanza poem glorifying Srila Prabhupada, which Prabhupada approved to be sung at Guru Puja, and in Philadelphia, they still do. I remembered a lot of it from when I lived there.
Mahavishnu Swami chants Hare Krishna at ISKCON Philadelphia (https://youtube.com/shorts/vtF1IaYZsF4):
While in Philadelphia got to dance for the pleasure of Radha Saradbihari, now on a new altar, like I did when I lived there over 40 years ago. At that time and at the temple my guru told me to dance more in the kirtan, which I still try to follow.
Photos
The amazing avacado drink that the cook happened to make for the deities’s lunch on my birthday reminded me of a similar drink that Kesihanta Prabhu made for his cooking classes in Providence 45 years ago when I went to college there.
God consciousness or dog consciousness, the choice is yours! Get a body that is eternal, full of bliss and knowledge or that of a prestigious poodle!
Insights
Srila Prabhupada:
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.22.21, purport:
“Pure devotees are so absorbed in thought of Krishna that they have no other engagement; although they may seem to think or act otherwise, they are always thinking of Krishna. The smile of such a Krishna conscious person is so attractive that simply by smiling he wins so many admirers, disciples and followers.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.21.22, purport:
“Animals are also citizens of the land in which they happen to be born, and they also have the right to continue their existence at the cost of the Supreme Lord. The disturbance of the animal population by wholesale slaughter produces a catastrophic future reaction for the butcher, his land and his government.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.1.30, purport:
“As through devotion to the Lord one can attain His abode, many have attained that goal by abandoning their sinful activities and absorbing their minds in the Lord through lust, envy, fear or affection.”
Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami:
From Improvisations to Music, Book 2:
“Please, Christ,
please let me
call Your father’s name
with a drop of
your sincerity.”
“O my soul our
life has been tough
those dead layers
of spirit that neither
wake to our despair
`to nama.”
“Prabhupada, you
taught the soul eternal
and Krishna as Supreme,
and it has been worth
the price
we are paying
with our lives
many times
over.”
“O Krishna, I have no secrets
but I know bears rip through
cabins, tear them
completely apart
looking for honey
and our fears
will do the same.”
“Deliver me this
pre-dawn in dark temple
with Deities dancing
tribhaṅga, O
smashing Young Boy.”
“Swami allowed even the sax and the guy
with frankincense in strainer
smoking up the Lower East Side sky
under the tree—
and drummers!
Flutes!
The come-and-hear-the-
Swami-in-the-park
drummers
getting higher than on LSD
those premature but
unbustable
chanters
hoping things would clear.
We don’t ask, ‘Whatever happened?’
because we’re still hoping
even on our last stretch.”
“Listen to the love of
art
musicians
they
cry without
tearing
down
anyone.”
“The promise
is all we have to live on
in ISKCON, that we can all go back
all
be saved.”
“My groove—I am the priest for
a flock near here. They
expect me to accept them
to detect in them
what is good
to give them
batteries of wisdom
from Prabhupada.”
“I thank Krishna for
favoring us by
finally taking away
last illusions
to leave us so small and
naked and finally
surrendered
Yes, I look forward
to that culmination
as He wills.”
“We imitate Prabhupada’s
sounds, walk with
canes, wear his
dress, speak
tough English
but still
can’t make it.”
“Thank you for coming you
exalted Vaishnava”—I reply
with a trombone solo
and squeak.
“Krishna, I’m walking on an icy
crust. You help me at
each step, even those in which I fall
and break a
wrist, an arm, a head.
You are never lazy or
neglectful in our
care.
Now let me spend my time
in Your service,
and let me
use my time
well.”
“Here is how I do it:
you sit alone with scriptures
and talk to Him
with everyday talks
O Krishna, Krishna, how silly
I sound, I know,
You who like our voices
to cry for ourselves but not only—
we should cry for all.”
“I’m saying this for
your benefit:
return to
your Krishna.”
“Krishna is far away—
and very near—
but how little I know.”
“Snow wet melty world
my inner dreams are not
ecstatic, just a worried fellow
but still I’m lucky,
lucky,
to be loved, cared for
and to live
under the shelter of the Supreme.”
“I want to die in the arms of my Lord—
that’s the truth, isn’t it?”
“O Krishna—will you be truly satisfied
with me?
You are my life—in my life
at every moment.”
“I’m gonna read
my way to heaven
just watch if I don’t!
I won’t disappoint my Swami
but will sing a tune to please
become a surrendered
soul right from the shed
while demanding the freedom
that has already been given.”
“There’s no way a guy like me can be young again and the truth is head fog rolls in, even on a sunny day. I’m just happy to be able to write some daily lines and hang ’em out to dry in a backyard somewhere.”
“Complain: No one knows
my God as God.
Well you got to make
it known.”
“He’s the sound in ether—
something that subtle
and He occupies time and space
when He likes.”
Tosan Krishna Prabhu:
I asked Srila Prabhupada why I was attracted become a Krishna devotee but my friends were not.
He said, “Because you are fortunate.”
I said, “How do people become fortunate?”
He replied, “We have to make them fortunate.”
Prabhupada was watching Yogesvara teaching a popular musician of that time, Donovan, to chant the Hare Krishna mantra. Srila Prabhupada interrupted him saying, “This is not how you preach. The first thing is to know that we are suffering.”
Why can we freely talk about birth, death, disease, and old age?
Because we are not implicated in these things. We are eternal, full of bliss, and knowledge.
In bhakti the sadhya [goal] and sadhana [practice] are nondifferent.
We feel we are unqualified, but we hope against hope.
I praised Srila Prabhupada saying I liked his idea for the cover of Srimad-Bhagavatam. I expected he would be pleased, but he said sternly, “What my idea? This is all from sastra.”
Suffering is evidence that you are not connected to Krishna.
We point out how people are suffering. Then we explain to them that they are suffering because they are disconnected from Krishna.
Comment by me:
It is amazing the Mayavadis think that bhakti is temporary, since three times Krishna says in the Gita that He is known by bhakti alone.
The Mayavadi describes the truth as nirvisesa [without varieties], but Lord Brahma describes as visesa-sobham [having varigated beauty].
Regarding Krishna consciousness as freeing one from all miseries there is this verse: “Engaged constantly in chanting and hearing about Me, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the sadhus do not suffer from material miseries because they are always filled with thoughts of My pastimes and activities.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.25.23)
My sister, like you were saying about some people, thinks we are negative because we talk about birth, death, disease, and old age.
Chatamayi Devi Dasi:
Envy is standard equipment in a human body like seat belts are in a car.
Prithu Maharaja does not let the presence of envious people keep him from making his speech.
Prithu Maharaja is setting a good example by taking help of the sadhu when making important decisions.
Bhakti Tirtha Swami lists ten characteristics of empowered management:
1. consider our spiritual identity
2. be detached from our body
3. consider the point of view of others before making a final decision.
4. remember that the Lord is everywhere
5. everything has a purpose
6. be accountable
7. call for love, how are we helping to solve
8. love in action (harinama sankirtana is an example)
9. remember we are always near death
10. this moment is a second chance, do not miss it
Comment by Radhe Shyam Prabhu: Other thinkers have some of those ten suggestions presented by Bhakti Tirtha Swami, but no one has them all.
Radhe Shyam Prabhu:
From a class on Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.22.18 in New York on September 28, 2026:
When Prithu Maharaja was king, everyone followed Ekadasi.
The kings felt they should act as a transparent via medium to the Supreme Lord.
Prithu Maharaja was invested by the Lord with palana-shakti, the ability to rule.
Our ability to lead comes from the association of great souls.
One man doubted Srila Prabhupada’s strategy of sending disciples all over the world, thinking the movement would lose solidarity, but Srila Prabhupada said he had put one good soul in each city, and that was sufficient.
If we forget that we are appointed by a superior person and act independently, we will become proud and get ourselves into trouble.
There are more qualified people than us but somehow or other, the Lord has put us in this position of leadership, so let us try to please Him and execute the role He wants us to play.
If we do not engage our psycho-physical nature in the Lord’s service, our unengaged mind will cause difficulty. Thus first of all Prithu Maharaja engaged the citizens in varnasrama.
A leader cannot be too much distracted by negativity otherwise that will become his focus.
The brahmana’s beauty is his wisdom, and the vaisya’s beauty is his wealth.
If you are asleep, if someone comes to visit you, he will go away. But there is a temple where the Lord is sleeping, but people go to see Him.
Comment by Pancaratna Prabhu:
Here the ksatriyas are described as beautiful while the brahmanas are not so. An example is the brahmana Vyasadeva, who was not particularly attractive, which was not appreciated by the ksatriya ladies who valued beauty more.
One lady who sometimes comes to our programs at 26 Second Avenue says that as a girl while riding in the car with her father, she saw Srila Prabhupada walking alone playing karatalas and singing along a sidewalk in the Lower East Side before the first temple was established.
From a presentation called “Brahmachari’s Fears”:
All the scriptures give both good and bad examples, some which are quite extreme. This encourages people who may not be on the highest level.
Even one who is very sincere in the beginning can become slack. Bharata Maharaja is an example.
People sometimes take too much care of their bodies while at other times they take too little care of their bodies.
We begin to follow the externals of Vaishnava behavior, and gradually we internally assimilate the mood of the Vaishnava.
By expressing our present internal state to senior devotees, we can take help and advance.
Examples of inner struggles include fear of the future, dryness in spiritual life, comparison of ourselves to other devotees, doubts, fear of authority, sexual attraction, service burnout, attraction to material life, feeling stuck, and fear of losing independence.
Krishna does not treat people generically but individually.
Be a brahmacari a day at a time.
One brahmacari said, “If I cannot be brahmacari, I will commit suicide.” This is fanaticism.
One should become brahmacari to withdraw from incumbrances, to absorb oneself in Krishna, and to distribute Krishna consciousness.
It is good to draw inspiration from many Vaishnavas.
We should not let others future affect ours.
We have to go from novelty to depth.
Eyes and ears can distract in japa.
Replace material objects in our minds with spiritual objects.
Srila Prabhupada used these words:
to beat (anger) - Hiranyakasipu
to catch (lust) – Ravana
I speak to college students about this. If we can convince them that they are not proprietors but Krishna is the proprietor, then they will progress.
We have a lot of knowledge, but we do not apply it.
reading hearing
understanding
Personal Reflection Journal
2. Sadhana Check
3. Self-observation
4. How does one Sastric idea apply today.
5. One Service and One Relationship
6. Tomorrow’s One Resolution
Excitement → Commitment → Depth
Comments by me:
Prayer always helps.
Brahmacaris should always work under someone.
You can not understand the future. In 2009 I ended up going to four countries I had not planned to.
Srila Prabhupada advises both in Sri Caitanya-candramrta and The Nectar of Devotion that we become attached to at least one of the nine items of devotional service.
From a class on Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.22.19–20 in New York on September 29, 2026:
When we address an assembly we have to consider how to benefit them.
When have to consider what they are looking for and how we can make what we have to give them relevant to them.
Radhanath Swami recommends making speeches that are compassionate, authoritative, and pleasing.
Anyone who puts their foot into this temple is very important.
We have to treat the people in such a nice way that they come back.
If people come to the temple during the morning program, we gather them in one place, we then chant a round of japa, giving beads to those who promised to chant, and give a short introductory talk. Many people end up becoming devotees.
He have to learn how to say something that is not pleasing in a pleasing matter.
Ask new people: “What do you call the doctor who treats the teeth? What do call the doctor who treats the heart?, etc.” And then ask them, “Why do we have all these doctors?” Because every part of the body can give trouble. But we are not the body. We are the driver of the body.
Krishna told Kaliya he was obliged to punish him because he caused so much trouble to the residents of Vrindavan and therefore he should not be displeased with Him. Then Krishna healed all Kaliya’s wounds, and Kaliya became very happy with Him.
It is important for the speaker to look at the audience.
Srila Prabhupada used modern language to make his speech understandable. For example he spoke of cars and drivers not chariots and passengers. He spoke of Brahma as the chief engineer of the universe.
We should not give frivolous talk not relevant to the message.
Because everything is recorded nowadays, we have to be very careful what we say.
Comment by me:
My sister’s partner, Victor Anderson, who does Buddhist and Native American practices, seeing the Hare Krishna film, said that it looked like Srila Prabhupada’s eyes were filled with tears of a compassion that was not occasional but an integral part of his being.
“The highest truth is reality distinguished from illusion for the welfare of all.” (SB 1.1.2)
In Bhagavad-gīta (17.15) Krishna describes that speech should be:
Truthful.
Pleasing.
Beneficial.
“Personal realization does not mean that one should, out of vanity, attempt to show one's own learning by trying to surpass the previous acarya. One must have full confidence in the previous acarya, and at the same time one must realize the subject matter so nicely that he can present the matter for the particular circumstances in a suitable manner. The original purpose of the text must be maintained. No obscure meaning should be screwed out of it, yet it should be presented in an interesting manner for the understanding of the audience. This is called realization.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.4.1, purport)
Surabhi Kunja Devi Dasi:
From a class on the Appearance Day of Bhaktivinoda Thakura:
The glories of Mayapur have been covered, but now they are gradually becoming revealed.
Lord Brahma got into trouble stealing Krishna’s calves and cowherd boyfriends because he was proud, so Lord Caitanya arranged that during His pastimes that Brahma take birth as Muslim, outside the Vedic culture, so he would not be proud.
We are grateful to Bhaktivinoda Thakura for his Navadvipa-dhama-mahatmya, by which we can understand the glories of Navadvipa-dhama.
He predicted very soon the spreading of Hare Krishna would spread all over the world, and he predicted the appearance of someone who would make it happen.
He read Sri Caitanya-caritamrita repeatedly.
Srila Prabhupada said we can pray direct to the acaryas on their appearance days.
Comments by me:
Chanting at Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s samadhi is very easy.
Srivas Angam in Mayapur corresponds to the place of the rasa-lila in Vrindavan.
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This valuable verse informs us that love of God is already within us, and it tells us how we can awaken it.
nitya-siddha krishna-prema ‘sadhya’ kabhu naya
“Pure love for Krishna is eternally established in the hearts of the living entities. It is not something to be gained from another source. When the heart is purified by hearing and chanting, this love naturally awakens.” (Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 22.107)
