Diary
of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 9, No. 5
By Krishna-kripa das
(March 2013, part one)
By Krishna-kripa das
(March 2013, part one)
North
Florida
(Sent from London, England, on April 28, 2013)
(Sent from London, England, on April 28, 2013)
Where
I Went and What I Did
March
began for me with my alternative Spring Break. While my friends from
Krishna House visited our farm in Mississippi and temples in Houston
and New Orleans, I decided to chant at the North Florida schools
whose Spring Break was later in the month, Florida State University
(FSU) in Tallahassee and the University of North Florida (UNF) in
Jacksonville. In the ten-day break, I did harinama
on
nine of the days, organizing eight of the harinamas,
and
joining Amrita Keli dd and her friends on the remaining day on the
green at UNF. The second week of March, I was back in Gainesville,
chanting on the campus there, until Saturday, March 16, the day of
the St. Augustine Ratha-yatra, another delightful experience.
In
the “Insights” section I have great quotes from my personal
reading of Srila Prabhupada’s books, very inspirational Srila
Prabhupada memories by Yadubara Prabhu, extensive notes on a lecture
Kalakantha Prabhu gave in Mayapur on what encouraged him in his
devotional service and practical and effective ideas for encouraging
others, some additional knowledge about Lord Shiva, the greatest of
Vaishnavas, and notes on other lectures by senior and junior notes
from classes in North Florida.
First
Friday Harinama in Tallahassee
I
love it when the devotees from Gainesville come and chant at First
Friday in Tallahassee. We can do some very lively chanting that
attracts people’s minds with a large group of enthusiastic young
devotees. There were sixteen of us stopping in Tallahassee on the
first evening of our Spring Break trip. Daru Brahma Prabhu now
distributes his spiritual food on the access road to Railroad Square,
and everyone has to pass by his booth, both coming and going. We set
down a few blankets and chanted near where the prasadam
was
served out, but we had so many people we could also chant on the
street which encircled Railroad Square, and as we did so, many people
were happy to see us and some joined in the dancing with enthusiasm.
Damodar Prasad was very happy to distribute five Bhagavad-gitas
in a half an hour to the many people walking by. Tulasirani and
Hladini also distributed many books. It was Alex’s first time, and
she really liked the event. We chanted from about seven to about ten
in the evening. It was a great way to start the Spring Break.
Harinama
in Tallahassee
Nimai
Pandit and I stayed in Tallahassee for our alternative Spring Break
trip while the others continued on to Houston. On Bhaktisiddhanta
Sarasvati Thakura’s appearance anniversary we chanted at
Tallahassee’s Lake Ella. The Thakura had great faith in the
chanting as a spiritual practice saying, “Srinama-sankirtana
[the
congregational chanting of the the holy name] is the best sadhana
[spiritual practice].
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 [perfection].”A
new person joined us at the lake, played the African djembe
drum and bought a Bhagavad-gita.
I
had prayed to Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura that she buy a book.
After all, the book distribution was his idea! He had told our Srila
Prabhupada, “If you get money, print books!” We ended having
seven people chanting altogether, and Nimai Pandit Prabhu distributed
so many cookies I had to make another batch. Melanie
wrote, “I’ll never forget that little girl with a slice of half
eaten pizza in one hand so enthusiastically accepting the prasada
[food offered to the Lord] in
the other. She was in bliss!” Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saravati also
promoted prasadam
distribution
as well as the chanting of the holy name, saying “We
have to force-feed prasada
to persons full of anarthas
[nonbeneficial desires]. Those who have no interest in spiritual life
should be given prasada.
By taking prasada
they will gradually attain kanishtha-adhikara
[the first stage of devotion to the Lord]. If someone has no
inclination for bhakti
[devotion to the Lord], then a devotee should offer some food to
Krishna while chanting mantras and then give him that prasada.”
We
also chanted at Lake Ella on Sunday, and Franco and Eric, two workers
at Krishna Lunch in Gainesville, who had come to Tallahassee to visit
a friend, came to the Sunday feast program, and then kindly drove us
to Lake Ella and chanted for half an hour with us.
Monday
and Tuesday Nimai Pandit joined me in chanting on the campus with a
book table, invitations, and oatmeal cookies. We met many interested
students who were previously unaware of our lunch program, cooking
classes, and Bhagavad-gita classes and who came to know of
them. Nimai Pandit Prabhu, although originally expressing shyness,
ended up going out by himself with the book table on Wednesday and
Friday while I was in Jacksonville, and he collected the emails of
many interested students. Thursday it rained.
Harinama
at UNF in Jacksonville
While
chanting at UNF, I talked to one girl who glanced toward the kirtana
as
she walked by. I invited her to our program of hatha
yoga, spiritual
discussion, chanting, and vegetarian food. She was a political
science major, and she said they could use doing some yoga
in
the political field. I replied that they could use some chanting too.
I asked if she was hungry and offered her rice, vegetables, and
granola, and she took a handful of granola. She said she was
vegetarian and that none of the clubs serve vegetarian dinners, and
that she would come by our Krishna Club.
When
I offered an invitation to someone who walked by, another boy who
overheard me said, “I’ll take one.” His name was Dan, and he
had done meditation, and he also said he would come to the programs.
Troy,
who had once played drum for Amrita Keli and I, came by and stopped
to talk. I offered him some granola which he accepted.
One
boy who liked the club but was busy on Thursday, the day of our
meetings, came by. He was happy when I told him of our Friday
breakfast program, with its walking meditation on the nature trails,
singing, class, and breakfast, and I took his email so we could
remind him about it.
One
man with a party of twenty high school students from Miami came right
up to me, and figuring they were on a tour, I explained myself by
saying, “This is the free speech area.” He asked if I was with
the university or was just here recruiting. I said we had a club
here, and I was promoting our meetings. I told him that we also had
clubs at University of Florida, where we distribute 800 plates of
food a day, and also at Florida State University, where we distribute
130 plates a day. He said he ate the food at UF, back when we served
it for free, probably decades ago. He said, “I have a question for
you. Most students are from Christian backgrounds, so how do you
introduce them to your tradition, which is so different from their
own.” It was a great question, and I wished I had a great answer
all prepared to give him. The best I could do off the top of my head
was to say that glorification of the Lord through song is present in
practically every tradition. And I told the story of attending the
progressive dinner organized by the chaplins at UF. There I talked to
girls in a couple of different Christian choirs and explained that
glorifying the Lord in congregation through song, according to our
tradition, is the most powerful spiritual practice for this age. Both
girls agreed, each saying, “That is what I like best about our
church too.” The leader of the high school group was satisfied with
my answer, and I wished his party well on their tour of UNF, one of
my favorite campuses because the people are so friendly and have time
to talk.
Tallahassee
Rainbow Gathering
I
failed in convincing my friends from Krishna House to go to the
Tallahassee Rainbow Gathering on the way back from their trip to
Houston, so I only had three participants lined up to go and one of
them canceled at the last moment, having to serve in our Tallahassee
Restaurant, Higher Taste, to cover for someone who did not show up
for work. Thus I was left to chant and distribute Krishna food at the
Tallahassee Rainbow with just one other devotee, an Indian Ph.D.
physics student and brahmacari,
Nimai Pandit Prabhu. As Rainbow Gatherings are not ideal places for
Indian brahmacaris,
Nimai
was afraid to go, so I told him to pray to Srila Prabhupada and Gaura
Nitai for protection, and off we went to distribute halava
from
Krishna House in Gainesville and some very tasty and nutritious kitri
which
Daru Brahma and Nama Kirtana Prabhus had freshly prepared in
Tallahassee.
The
gathering was conveniently located at Moore Lake, under half an hour
from our student center in Tallahassee. Two people were too few to
carry our supplies, so we engaged some helpful Rainbows. One girl,
who was visiting from Michigan with some friends, helped us carry
stuff both in and out, and on the way out when we sang
Hare
Krishna, she sang along, all this without having had contact with the
Hare Krishna devotees before. I met Amanda, who I saw several years
ago at University of North Florida, and who arranged a program with
the devotees and her peace organization on the campus. In later
years, I would see her at the Ocala Rainbow Gather, and this year, in
Tallahassee. She took two plates of prasadam,
one
when we arrived and one just before we left. We had a little extra
kitri
that
we left at a crossroads called Max’s Corner, along with some
halava,
The
bulk of the extra halava
we
left in a box at a school bus in the parking lot, along with a
message to give it to our friend, Kyra, from Alachua, who we heard
was camping out there and who we were sure would distribute it. After
the event, we encountered Kyra later in Alachua at a Sunday feast,
with friends from the Tallahassee gathering, and learned that she did
get some of the halava
we had left, but the Rainbows had distributed a lot of the halava
without
her assistance. It was beautiful to see the Rainbow kids that Kyra
had brought singing and dancing before Radha Shyamasundara in
Alachua. At the gathering we also met Bhakta Clay, a new devotee from
the Tallahassee area, who had lived in Krishna House while I was
traveling. Nimai talked with him briefly, and he helped us carry our
remaining supplies out and chanted with us on the way. One boy at the
trading circle asked if I could recite Bhagavad-gita
as
he worked on some handicrafts. I was more interested in chanting Hare
Krishna than reciting the Gita,
but considering that it was rare to be asked to speak the Gita,
I
read the four key verses from chapter 10, which he appreciated.
Because of his sincerity, I gave him a Gita
which
I paid for myself. As we left, a young man needed a ride to the city,
and we let him come in the back of the van. He recognized we were
Hare Krishnas, and recited the entire Hare Krishna mantra perfectly
and told us how much he liked Bhagavad-gita.
I
explained how it had so many universal truths in it and he agreed. On
the whole, it was inspiring to be instrumental in some people getting
initial contact with Krishna, and others happily getting another dose
of Krishna food and Krishna chanting. I was grateful to Nimai Pandit
Prabhu for his going beyond his limits in doing that outreach, and he
was glad he had come.
Saint
Augustine Ratha-yatra
Saint
Augustine Ratha-yatra is one of my favorite experiences of my winter
in North Florida. Because people come there from all over the United
States, it is a great location, and this year, the weather was
perfect, sunny and in the 70s (the low 20s Celsius). Before the
Ratha-yatra, we do harinama
on
the very crowded and narrow St. George Street, which is otherwise not
allowed. In the beginning very few people took the Krishna,
Reservoir of Pleasure
pamphlets we were freely handing out, but after the awhile, people
loosened up and many people began smiling and taking them. A few
people even danced with the devotees.
It
was first Ratha-yatra of the season for the Alachua-based Jagannatha
Deities, who go to about six Ratha-yatras in North Florida in the
course of the year. The sound system was good, the chanting
melodious, and many devotees danced.
We
had a stage show in the park, and some devotees played music there
during the harinama
and
the Ratha-yatra, and there was more chanting and traditional Indian
dance as part of the stage show afterward. There was also a free
feast with a curd vegetable preparation that was very good.
During
the chanting at the stage show I danced for awhile amidst the crowd
of people wandering through the park and those having lunch.
Tulasirani dd engaged some of the middle-aged bikers in dancing,
which was a humorous and surprising first for her.
As
our festival was ending and as we were cleaning up, locals who had
come each year thanked us for doing the festival, and it was
beautiful to see their appreciation.
The
St. Augustine Record
printed an article “Decorated
chariot rolls through St. Augustine” in which author Sheldon
Gardner which describes the festival and includes brief descriptions
how some of devotees became attracted to Krishna consciousness. Thanks to The Record for the Ratha-yatra cart illustration above.
Insights
Srila
Prabhupada:
from
Srimad-Bhagavatam
6.1.49,
purport:
“Somehow
or other one must be enlightened about his past, present and future.
One who is interested only in his present body and who tries to enjoy
his senses to the fullest extent is understood to be engrossed in the
mode of ignorance. His future is very, very dark. Indeed, the future
is always dark for one who is grossly covered by ignorance.
Especially in this age, human society is covered by the mode of
ignorance, and therefore everyone thinks his present body to be
everything, without consideration of the past or future.”
from
Srimad-Bhagavatam
6.1.50,
purport:
“For
example, if one is struggling in the ocean, he must swim through it
alone. Although many other men and aquatics are swimming in the
ocean, he must take care of himself because no one else will help
him. Therefore this verse indicates that the seventeenth item, the
soul, must work alone. Although he tries to create society,
friendship and love, no one will be able to help him but Krishna, the
Supreme Lord. Therefore his only concern should be how to satisfy
Krishna. . . . We
should remember that everyone is responsible for his own life. If an
individual becomes a pure devotee of Krishna,
he is then delivered from the ocean of nescience.”
from
Cc. Adi. 14.1 purport:
“The
Hari-bhakti-vilasa
confirms that difficult things become easy to understand if one
remembers Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and easy things become very
difficult to understand if one forgets Him. We actually see that even
those who are very great scientists in the eyes of the general public
cannot understand the very simple idea that life comes from life,
because they do not have the mercy of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. They
defend the false understanding that life comes from matter, although
they cannot prove that this is a fact. Modern civilization,
therefore, progressing on the basis of this false scientific theory,
is simply creating problems to be solved by the so-called
scientists.”
from
Cc. Adi. 14.19 purport:
“Because
of His protecting and maintaining this world in the present
Kali-yuga, Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu is known as Visvambhara, which
refers to one who feeds the entire world. The movement inaugurated by
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu when He was present five hundred years ago is
again being propagated all over the world, and factually we are
seeing its practical results. People are being saved, protected and
maintained by this Hare Krishna movement. Thousands of followers,
especially Western youths, are taking part in this Hare Krishna
movement, and how safe and happy they feel can be understood from the
expressions of gratitude in their hundreds and thousands of letters.”
from
Cc. Adi. 14.22 purport:
“In
the Caitanya-bhagavata
this
pastime is described as follows: "The Lord, with His beautiful
eyes, would cry, but He would stop immediately upon hearing the Hare
Krishna maha-mantra.
When the ladies, understanding the fun of the Lord, discovered that
He would cry and then stop upon hearing the chanting of the Hare
Krishna mantra,
they all took it as a clue to chant Hare Krishna as soon as the Lord
cried. Thus it became a regular function. The Lord would cry, and the
ladies would begin chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra,
clapping their hands. In this way all the ladies of the neighboring
houses would assemble in the home of Sacimata to join in the
sankirtana
movement
twenty-four hours a day. As long as the ladies continued to chant the
Hare Krishna maha-mantra,
the Lord would not cry but would very pleasingly smile upon them."
from
Cc. Adi. 14.51 purport:
“Our
Krishna consciousness movement is introducing this bona fide method
of worship in the Western world. Its members are going from village
to village and town to town with Deities of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu,
teaching people how to worship the Lord by chanting the Hare Krishna
mantra,
offering prasadam
and distributing prasadam
to
people in general.”
from
The
Nectar of Devotion,
chapter 34:
“No
one, while remaining on the material platform, should
discuss these different descriptions of bhava
and
anubhava
by
quoting different statements of transcendental literatures. Such
manifestations are displays of the transcendental pleasure potency of
the Lord. One should simply try to understand that on the spiritual
platform there are many varieties of reciprocal love.”
from
Bhagavad-gita
As It Is 10.12–13,
purport:
Krishna
is
the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and one should always meditate
upon Him and enjoy one’s transcendental relationship with Him.
Kalakantha
Prabhu:
The
value of my poeticized Srimad-Bhagavatam
is
that it is very condensed. Thus you can cover all the pastimes in the
Krishna
book in just thirty classes.
from
a lecture given in Mayapur:
“This
verse has many interesting facets. For one thing, it puts the
position of father, mother, husband and guru on the same level.
Nobody should take any of these responsible positions unless they are
capable of giving real shelter to their dependents. No one would
think I cannot be a perfect mother or father, therefore I should not
become one. Similarly,
no one should think I cannot be perfect as a spiritual master,
therefore I should not become one. Caitanya Mahaprabhu encouraged
everybody, yare
dekha, tare kaha 'krishna'-upadesa amara ajnaya guru hana tara' ei
desa. (CC
Madhya 7.128) Everybody, wherever you go, whomever you meet, tell
them about Krishna and that way become a spiritual master and try to
liberate your land.”
“There
is something very wonderful about the commonality between gurus,
husbands, and parents and the responsible people. And that is they
have the wonderful ability to give unconditional love to their
dependents, love that is given so freely regardless of how the
dependent responds, that is the unifying quality of these various
positions.”
“Ravindra
Swarup Prabhu wrote a very beautiful and eloquent praise of Srila
Prabhupada, in which he described how he went, this elderly swami
went to the lower east side of New York City Manhattan very degraded
place, and presented sainthood as a viable career option.”
“So
I was thinking about what has kept me in Krishna consciousness for
forty years. In every case, it was the loving reciprocation, the
loving presentation of the devotees.”
“Srila
Prabhupada was there [in Mayapur] each morning giving class, taking
us around, circumambulating the Deities and ringing the bell, making
everyone dance in ecstasy. Speaking from the 7th canto telling us how
the same hand that ripped apart Hiranyakashipu was patting the head
of Prahlad Maharaja.”
“In
this way so many wonderful memories were there. I was twenty years
old, very inexperienced, I felt like I was living the
Caitanya-caritamrta
and those memories of Srila Prabhupada and his kindness have kept me
in Krishna
consciousness.”
“H.
H. Bhakti Tirtha Maharaja and I lived in the back of a van together
for years. We have very different backgrounds. He was very
experienced, college educated, and he was very strong in his
spiritual life. Every morning he would get up at midnight every day
and he would chant many rounds and write a letter to Srila Prabhupada
every day and read and then he would wake me up. . . . He never ever
made me feel anything but very much appreciated and respected and
loved. Never did I feel like he is laying some kind of guilt trip on
me or feeling better than me. I never thought I felt anything from
him but this unconditional love. That sustained me for many, many
years.”
“H.
H. Tamal Krishna Maharaja was so kind to all of the families in the
community and very accommodating to everybody and very respectful and
appreciative and so unconditional in his love. . . . He said not
everybody can oversee a community. He said the Six Goswamis could do
this, dhira
adhira jana priyo.
He quoted this same verse, they were dear to every body, both
devotees and nondevotees. And they would come to them for advice.”
“And
finally one very special devotee, Yamuna Devi Prabhu, Prabhvi. I
don’t dare call her Mother Yamuna. I tried that one time and she
said, yes, Father Kalakantha. . . . We would go to her ashram for
Srimad-Bhagavatam
class. It was so sweet. She and Dina Tarini were so learned and also
loving in their approach to Krsna consciousness. . . . She told about
the time that they were recording the Radha Krsna temple album. All
of the devotees were at the studio in Apple records. George was in
the control room mixing. They were recording for several hours. . . .
She was awake by herself, so she sat down at the harmonium began
singing a bhajana.
. . . She [had] listened to this bhajana
over and over again, never seeing it in print. Just to pass the time,
she started singing as best as she could remember “Bhaja Hu Re
Mana.” Of course she sang bhaja
mana hu re.
And she was just singing and when she finished George came out of the
studio, and said I was recording that and I want to put it on the
album. . . . She had no idea it was being recorded. She did not want
to put it on the album but George insisted, ‘I have to put it on.’
There were many mistakes in the language and the words.”
“Later
Srila Prabhupada heard the bhajana and said, ‘You have made
a mistake.’ She was so embarrassed, and said ‘I’m sorry.’ He
said, ‘No, no, that’s alright, you can fix it later.’”
“So
when talking to new people, look for some way in which they are
better than you. Maybe they are older than you, maybe younger, more
educated, better looking more experienced, something in them that is
superior to you and then talk about that thing.”
“The
second thing
yena tena prakarena, manah krsna nivesayat
(from The
Nectar of Devotion)
first of all, think about Krishna, the rules and regulations can come
later.
Another
thing that was very radical I noticed whenever students came to the
temple room, they would see the murti
of Srila Prabhupada in our small temple room, and they would become
very disturbed, just very strange. We had a full size murti
of Srila Prabhupada in a small temple, and it just dominated
everything. So we opened a Bhaktivedanta Library in another room and
we moved the murti
there. Then the students seemed to feel more comfortable. It was less
strange because they did not know who Prabhupada was. So when they
came we started teaching them about Prabhupada, reading Lilamrta
over lunch everyday, talking about his life, teaching the words of
the songs he taught us and explained the meaning and then more and
more of them started joining and then they said, ‘Why is the murti
of Srila Prabhupada not in the temple room?’”
“When
they asked for it, then we brought it back. And now it’s cool
because they tell the other students, ‘Oh yeah, that’s
Prabhupada, he’s so cool.’”
“We
let them come in on the basis of an experiment. We say just enroll
for a semester. You have to get up early and chant eight rounds, but
there is no commitment. You don’t have to be a member of ISKCON,
you don’t have to join ISKCON, you don’t even have to like
ISKCON. Just learn bhakti and then decide. You do this for one
semester, and you attend your classes and then after a semester, you
decide if you want more. If you don’t like what you got then you go
right back to where you were, karma back guaranteed.”
“And
one more important point is this, conversely to catch them doing
something right, we have learned not to catch them doing something
wrong. Somebody is eating with their left hand. What do we do? ‘Oh,
Stop that.’ they are going to feel very uncomfortable like they are
on trial. Any moment they can be punished. So we just started noting
down, I and the other senior devotees, in our little notebook that
they are doing something wrong. Once a week, we sit down together and
say here are some of the rules of etiquette we would like you to
learn. And without pointing any fingers, we say, eat with the right
hand and so many other details.”
“This
analogy of guru and parent is very similar. Nothing in my life has
prepared me more for taking disciples than having children. You give
them love and love and love and that is very natural, but then they
do what they are going to do. You learn the meaning of unconditional
love when you have children. But with disciples, it is so much nicer.
No diapers. And in most cases, they do what you suggest.”
“To
see people equally is only possible by loving everybody.”
“We
should know that’s the indication we are advancing, when we don’t
feel enmity towards anyone else. When we feel love towards them, we
can see ourselves honestly, if I would have been in that person's
position then I would probably be doing the same thing. We could see
how we are common. Not distinguishing by gender or age or race or
country, and we can give that affection unconditionally. That is a
signpost that we are actually coming closer to loving Krishna.
That will be the success of our movement and that will be the glory
of Srila Prabhupada. When all the followers of ISKCON show
unconditional love, then the whole world will become Krishna
conscious.”
Find
the entire text of this lecture at:
Kaliyaphani
Prabhu:
comment
before St. Augustine Ratha-yatra:
The
holy name is Krishna. And Krishna is the worldwide solution for
everything.
Laksmimoni
dd:
Material
things are never as good as we thought they would be, nor do they
give us as much satisfaction as we thought they would.
There
is a small tinge of the idea of spiritual separation in material
life. When we are separated from someone we like, we just remember
the good things about them.
The
association of the Lord is so nice that when it is lost, one desires
it even more than before, and because of that desire, one remembers
the Lord constantly and thus gains the perpetual association of the
Lord by that constant remembrance.
There
is a feeling we have of a lacking within, which is there ultimately
because we are lacking Krishna, and to be fixed in devotional
service, we have to understand that there is nothing that can remove
that feeling of lacking until we attain Krishna.
In
spiritual separation one appears to be dissatisfied because he has
not attained Krishna, but on the other hand, he is satisfied because
he is remembering Krishna more intensely in separation and
associating with Him through that remembrance.
We
have to hanker to hanker for a taste so that we want to do devotional
service.
If
we do not desire Krishna, we have to desire to desire to Krishna, and
if we cannot desire to desire Krishna, we have to desire to desire to
desire Krishna.
George
Harrison wrote “My Sweet Lord” after a conversation with Srila
Prabhupada in which he was explaining separation from Krishna. When
the dawn comes when we see the initial light we anticipate the sun
rising, and our desire to see the sun develops more and more.
Srila
Prabhupada created the society of devotees to keep us strong in
Krishna consciousness.
Sometimes
Krishna disappears as a test for His devotees.
comment
by Kalakantha Prabhu: Garuda Prabhu in his book about the rasa
dance
of Krishna gave an analogy in which God disappearing from the gopis
who
desired enjoy His association alone and reappearing when they
cooperated, is compared to God disappearing from sectarian religions
who claim to be His favorite until the time they learn to cooperate
with each other, when He will appear.
comment
by Syamala Kishori dd: One can say the gopis
are
humble because they did not mind being used as a example for all
eternity of devotees who became so proud that Krishna disappeared
from them.
Nanda
dd:
When
life gets especially tough, we must increase our hearing and chanting
about Krishna so that that we can see our situation in proper
perspective.
comment
by Ballabha Sena and Gopala: Prabhupada said in morning walk in
Dallas that we know we are beyond the regulations of sadhana-bhakti
if we are beyond eating and sleeping.
Yadubara
Prabhu:
[Yadubara
Prabhu has several slide shows of still photos taken from the
Following Srila Prabhupada video series. He came to Krishna
House in Gainesville one Friday evening and commented on some on
these slides. Below are some highlights. One devotee youth said she
dreamed of Prabhupada that night as a result of his wonderful
presentation.]
The
San Francisco devotees were very liberal and the New York devotees
were conservative, but Srila Prabhupada was such a great soul he
encouraged both. Once when Srila Prabhupada was recuperating in New
Jersey, the San Francisco devotees sent him a reel-to-reel recording
they had made with Hare Krishna chanted to a new tune and accompanied
by all kinds of unusual instruments. The New York devotees were
aghast, but Srila Prabhupada accepted it, happy that they were still
chanting Hare Krishna.
Gaurasundara
read all kinds of books about India and learned about the idea of a
brahmana,
and
so he asked if Srila Prabhupada could make him a brahmana.
As
a result Srila Prabhupada had the first brahmana
initiation
in Boston.
Prabhupada’s
favorite flower was the gardenia because of its wonderful fragrance.
Srila
Prabhupada asked his disciples why we had taken so much trouble to
organize the San Francisco Ratha-yatra. Then he answered his own
question, “It is the compassion of the Vaishnava.”
Srila
Prabhupada always paid special attention to the children. He loved
the children very much. He understood they were the future of the
movement.
Srila
Prabhupada noticed there was salt in the caranamrita,
the
ISKCON Press book he was giving class from had a bad binding,
Prabhupada’s name was simply “A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami”
instead of “His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada,”
and the picture of Srila Prabhupada’s guru was upside down on the
altar, and thus he could understand something was wrong —they were
minimizing their spiritual master.
Srila
Prabhupada would be concerned when something was wrong and do the
needful, but he never became angry or morose.
Sahajiyaism
and
impersonalism are two enemies of Vaishnavism.
Whenever
the train would stop in India, the devotees would get off the train
and have kirtana.
One
time enroute from Bombay to Amritsar, the train stopped at Mathura
for 20 minutes and the devotees had an especially ecstatic kirtana
there
in the holy dhama.
I
asked Srila Prabhupada if I could travel with his party and take
pictures. Srila Prabhupada asked if I planned to become a devotee. I
was attracted, but I did not think I would join, and so I told him
that, and he said, “You cannot stay.” I stayed for two months,
and he did not say anything. He knew I was attracted. I came to
understand that we cannot stay with the devotees for long if we do
not become a devotee. If we try, we will not be able to enter deeply
into the association.
One
devotee engaged some boy scouts in kirtana.
Kirtana was
our life and soul. It was about all we did.
In
Surat there were four or five engagements each day with full
prasadam.
Prabhupada
came on the harinamas
his
discples did at the Kumbha Mela. He could have stayed with friends
in Allahabad, as he knew many people from living there for years, but
he preferred to stay in the cold in a tent with his disciples.
Three-year-old
Sarasvati would tug on people’s shirts and say, “Krishna is the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, and you should surrender to Him.”
Srila Prabhupada said she was a perfect preacher as she told others
what she knew about Krishna.
Srila
Prabhupada did not care for style of the garments offered him but the
devotion they were offered with.
Jean
[now Visakha dd] wanted to do a photo essay of a Indian village and
suggested she asked Srila Prabhupada which one. Prabhupada replied,
“Vrindavan,” and so she did the photo essay and became a devotee
in the process, touched by the devotion of the widows chanting in
Vrndavana.
Radhika
Ramana Prabhu:
from
a lecture in Alachua on Shiva Ratri:
Shiva
and Parvati lived at Kedarnatha. Once they went to take bathe in the
Mandakini, and they saw a beautiful baby, and Parvati was attracted
to the beautiful boy who appeared there, but they were busy taking
bath, so she set him in their ashram and bathed, When they returned,
they found they were locked out of their place, because the boy was
Vishnu, and he took over their ashram, and that became Badrinath, and
Shiva and Parvati created a new place nearby.
A
devotee of Lord Shiva was so faithful in worship, Lord Shiva wanted
to reward him, and asked what benediction he wanted. The young
devotee said he did not know what was best, and asked Shiva to give
him wherever Shiva considered to be best. Lord Shiva thought for a
while, and decided devotion to Krishna is the ultimate benefit, and
gave him that.
Lord
Shiva wanted to participate in Lord Krishna's dance of love, but was
told it was not possible. After much protest, he was told he could
bathe in a special river and get the body of a gopi,
and
so he did and joined the dance. But as he is Shiva, the Lord of the
dance of destruction, he did an extreme dance that was rocking the
whole area. Krishna came to him, praised His dancing and offered Him
a benediction. He asked to witness all of Krishna’s pastimes.
Shiva
likes to connect people with Krishna.
Shiva
asked Yasoda to sprinkle Him with water from Krishna’s bath and
remnants of food offered to Krishna.
One
early Rajapura Jagannath pujari
was
annoyed that the local residents were offering everything to a Shiva
deity nearby and not Lord Jagannath, so he hid the Shiva deity. After
returning to Mayapur he fell from his bike, vomiting blood. He had
dream where Shiva appeared saying, “You are so great a devotee of
Jagannath you can offend me? You will suffer until you pour water on
a Shiva Deity at Alalanatha. He did not immediately follow that
order, but he continued to suffer until he did.
Parvati
asked for Lord Jagannath’s
prasadam,
but
not for herself. As mother of the universe she wanted to share it
with all her kids.
Madhava
Prabhu:
Just
as in math we start with addition, and then learn the other
operations, and then calculation, algebra, and higher and higher
mathematics, we start with our regulated spiritual practice (sadhana)
and ultimately attain prema
(pure
love of God).
Comment by Bhakta
Paul: We all want to go to heaven, but we don’t want to die first.
Prema
Manjari dd:
Defending is the
same as fearing because it is the reaction to fear.
In
Sweden I was appreciating the beauty of nature during a japa
walk
and then I noticed a bug trapped in a web and a spider approaching
it. I also saw a bird swooping down to catch a worm. I was suddenly
struck with the cruelty that is present in nature all around us.
Fear
of maya
[the
energy that causes us to forget our relationship with God],
fear
of separation from Krishna, and fear that harm may come to Krishna
are the fears of the devotees.
A nondevotee sees
himself as the Lord of all he surveys, although he may not do so
consciously.
Fear
of maya
[the
energy that causes us to forget our relationship with God] is a very
healthy fear.
A friend of mind
decided she would not take the devotional services to seriously and
do some other things. Her experience was that the further she got
away from her devotional practice, the more she felt anxiety.
We can be fearless
for a day by trying to be complete surrendered to Krishna for that
day.
Get
up before maya
gets
up.
Through
the different activities of our morning program we are taking shelter
of Krishna in different ways.
We
have to both endeavor our best and depend on Krishna’s mercy.
Only
if we relish pleasure internally from our relationship with Krishna
can we be truly detached from the external world.
Try
to see how everything Krishna does is good, and behind apparently bad
things there is a great good. We have to practice this.
comment
by Tulasirani: We do our best to show Krishna that we want to advance
our relationship, but we knows that result is up to Krishna.
Nama
Kirtana Prabhu:
from
a conversation after class:
Gambling
seems harmless but there are a lot of bad activities associated with
it.
Rohini
Kumara Prabhu:
Consider
the people in general to be your brothers and sisters and invite them
to experience Krishna consciousness.
Q:
Suppose a senior person is always very condescending to me. How do I
handle it?
A:
Approach your authority and explain the situation and ask him the
best way to act.
Tulasirani
dd:
An
ordinary man cannot complete satisfy one wife, but Krishna could
completely satisfy so many.
Krishna
performed a pastime of having a headache, saying that only the dust
of the feet of His devotees could cure it. Narada asked all varieties
devotees including Krishna’s queens and the great demigods but only
the gopis
would
risk hellish punishment for committing such an offense [by touching
their foot dust to Krishna’s head] to relieve their beloved
Krishna’s headache. Seeing the gopis
devotion,
Narada desired the dust of their feet.
Many
of the great teachers in our line are assistants of the gopis
in
their original spiritual forms, and they retain their completely
selfless spirit in their activities in this world.
By our offering
prayers and glorifying the pure devotees we can attain the platform
of pure devotional service because when we do those things, Krishna
will be pleased to help us.
We have taken to
this path of pure devotional service, and so we must become purified.
We can go through the purification kicking and screaming, or we can
surrender to it.
Every
time I do not feel like going on harinama,
going
on book distribution, or going to mangala-arati
but
I do it anyway, telling Krishna, “I do not feel like doing this,
but I am doing it for You,” then it becomes really sweet.
Better
to do your sadhana
with
complete attention and focus than to do something that is way more
than you are capable of doing, with distraction.
Krishna
consciousness takes great determination, and when you are surrounded
by loving devotees, who are supportive, then it is a lot easier.
Sometimes it is
valuable to come before the Deity and say, “I want to come to the
point of complete surrender, please help me. That is all I want.” I
always feel better after that.
The more we do our
activities for Krishna’s pleasure, the happier we will be and the
more we will be inclined to act for His pleasure in the future.
from a conversation
after the St. Augustine Ratha-yatra:
I
was walking down the same street, hours after the harinama
was
over, and it seemed so boring. But that is what the people experience
every day. Sometimes we forget how life sucks without kirtana.
Dr.
Dina Bandhu Prabhu:
The
sweetest thing for the Supreme Lord is when the living entity uses
his free will to offer Him presentations in devotion.
Karma-yoga
is
like if you are an expert chef and you make what you are best at
cooking and offer it to your friend. Bhakti-yoga
is
like if you ask what your friend wants to eat and make that for him.
Prateek:
from
a conversation:
Banka
means very good looking, so banka-bihari
means
Krishna is a very good looking performer of pastimes.
-----
“The
name of Krishna is purely spiritual. There is no knowledge as great
as that of the name, and no practice of austerity or meditation, no
result of spiritual activity, no form of renunciation, no act of
sense control, no pious act, and no goal that can match it. The name
is the supreme liberation, the supreme destination, and the supreme
peace. The name is eternal life itself. The name is the supreme
devotion and the supreme intelligence. The name is the supreme love
and the supreme remembrance. The name is the soul's reason for
existence. The name is the lord of the soul, the most worshipful
object, and the supreme guru.
“These
high praises are verified by the realizations awakening devotees gain
as they practice chanting, and so they come to have deep conviction
in the holy name.”
—Agni
Purana
