Tallahassee Ratha-yatra

Lord Jagannatha kindly agrees to participate in the Springtime Tallahassee parade (see http://www.springtimetallahassee.com/) each year, during a festival attended by a quarter of a million people. His associates pull His chariot and chant and dance, in a very lively way. Mother Yadunandana's Jagannatha Deities have big smiles on their faces and are an inspiration to see. A devotee lady visiting from Vancouver was leading the kirtana enthusiastically when I arrived. Some young women performing in the parade were attracted by her chanting. Garuda, Nrsimhananda, Krishna Kesava, and Nagaraja Prabhus, a local Vaishnava youth, and even I led kirtana before or during the parade, or on the subsequent harinama. Garuda played his guitar and danced the whole parade. Some of the young ladies danced nicely in a pattern at the front of the party, and Bhakta John and I tried to dance nicely in a pattern that was compatible, if not identical, behind them. For me, one of the best parts of the parade is seeing the waves, smiles, and dances of those in the crowd, revealing some level of attraction to Lord Jagannatha, His associates, His name, and His pastimes. I always think that in the future, some devotee will be relating the story of how they came to Krishna consciousness, and they will say how they saw the devotees chanting in the Springtime Tallahassee parade, and then . . . . After the parade we did harinama through a street fair covering several blocks near Park Ave. and Monroe St. Amazing enough, although we passed many policemen, no one asked us to stop, and we made our way slowly through the crowded festival. We found a vacant place amidst the grassy median of Park Ave. , away from vendors, where we chanted for some time. Bhakta Brian, Bhakta John, and I, as well as others, distributed educational flyers telling about some aspect of Krishna consciousness with the local temple program and contact information on it. Puskara Prabhu distributed Krishna: Reservoir of Pleasure. I had some flyers also with the Hare Krishna mantra on it as well as our web site (www.krishna.com), and I told the people if they liked our music that they could download some songs or order some CDs from our web site. Many people were thankful. We also carried a large sign proclaiming "Chant Hare Krishna and be happy." After the hour long harinama, there was prasadam for the devotees in a nearby park. Three young people dressed like hippies also joined us. There were rice, spaghetti, Gauranga potatoes and five varieties of cakes and sweets, most of it cooked by Daru Brahma Prabhu, temple president of Tallahassee. About fifteen devotees from Tallahassee and forty from Alachua attended the event. Many Alachua devotees came on the Vaishnava Youth Ministry bus which was sponsored by Ramiya Prabhu and a Tallahassee devotee. Kaliyaphani and Manu kindly drove the bus, Karuna Sindhu suppled nice rice and vegetable prasadam for breakfast, and Krishna Keshava Prabhu led bhajans enroute. All glories to all the devotees whose different contributions made the event a success. Please come next year and bring your friends, and we can make it bigger and better! All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu who are kindly engaging ourselves in this auspicious work!

Blissful Gainesville Wednesday Evening Program

Adi-karta Prabhu has created and is maintaining a nice evening program on Wednesday evenings at our Gainesville Student Center (Krishna House). There is kirtana, Bhagavad-gita class, more kirtana, and nice prasadam prepared by his wife, Mother Rucira. Ten students came, but often there are more. There was a lot of enthusiasm, especially for the second kirtana and the prasadam. I become so happy seeing the people become connected with Krishna. I got to talk to many of the students, and it was a very positive experience. Many are regulars. I was also able to invite them to my Tuesday class on The Nectar of Instruction.

Hankering for God / Perceiving Krishna by Service

Notes for my lecture on Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.6.22:

"[The Lord told Narada Muni,] O virtuous one, you have only once seen My person, and this is just to increase your desire for Me, because the more you hanker for Me, the more you will be freed from all material desires"

1. The Lord wants to benefit the devotee

a. We may appear to suffer initially, but by Krishna's grace we will be happy beyond our dreams.

2. Hankering for Krishna frees one from lust.

a. Example of the "new" gopis who were restrained by their superiors from running to Krishna in the dead of night, and who thus burned up in the fire of their anxiety to see Krishna, all their remaining material desires.

b. "Sri Krishna, the Personality of Godhead, who is the Paramatma [Supersoul] in everyone’s heart and the benefactor of the truthful devotee, cleanses desire for material enjoyment from the heart of the devotee who has developed the urge to hear His messages, which are in themselves virtuous when properly heard and chanted" (SB 1.2.17).

3. How we can increase our hankering for Krishna?

a. "O twice-born sages, by serving those devotees who are completely freed from all vice, great service is done. By such service, one gains affinity for hearing the messages of Vasudeva" (SB 1.2.17)

b. "The holy name, character, pastimes and activities of Krishna are all transcendentally sweet like sugar candy. Although the tongue of one afflicted by the jaundice of avidya [ignorance] cannot taste anything sweet, it is wonderful that simply by carefully chanting these sweet names every day, a natural relish awakens within his tongue, and his disease is gradually destroyed at the root" (NOI, verse 7).

4. "A living being cannot be vacant of desires."

a. "Everyone is forced to act helplessly according to the qualities he has acquired from the modes of material nature; therefore no one can refrain from doing something, not even for a moment" (Bg. 3.5).

b. Mayavadis think they can avoid reactions by being inactive by Krishna does not accept this in Bhagavad-gita 3.4.

5. "The more a person is engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Lord, the more he acquires a hankering for it." How is that?

a. By his service, he becomes purified and can then appreciate devotional service on a deeper level, thus becomes even more attracted to Krishna!

b. His experiences Krishna's sweet reciprocation, and thus he is inspired to render more service.

6. His service and His person are identical

a. This is nicely described in the verse (b) and purport (c,d) to SB 1.6.33:

b. "The Supreme Lord Sri Krishna, whose glories and activities are pleasing to hear, at once appears on the seat of my heart, as if called for, as soon as I begin to chant His holy activities."

c. "As soon as a pure devotee engages himself in the pure devotional service of hearing, chanting and remembering the name, fame and activities of the Lord, at once He becomes visible to the transcendental eyes of the pure devotee by reflecting Himself on the mirror of the heart by spiritual television. Therefore a pure devotee who is related with the Lord in loving transcendental service can experience the presence of the Lord at every moment."

d. "Since He is absolute, He can appear Himself in the picture of His glorification, the two things being identical.

7. Realizations of the Lord's presence

a. Krishna-kripa Dasa: During nama-hatta harinamas (nagara-sankirtana) in Navadvipa Dham, when we take out the Gaura-Nitai Deities and we have a hundred devotees enthusiastically participating, it feels so ecstatic it as if we were living 500 hundred years ago and we are personally going out with Lord Caitanya and His associates on sankirtana.

b. Bhaktin Kim: Doing some casting work for the Philadelphia Jagannatha Deities, I have to meditate carefully on each and every curve of Lord Jagannatha's face, and by doing that was surprised how blissful it made me feel. [I mentioned to her how the form of the Lord is stated in the scripture to be beyond the happiness and distress of this world.]

c. Jitamitra Dasi (Kalakantha Prabhu's wife): When I moved to Gainesville, I considered giving up my evening dressing of Radha-Shyamasundara, thinking the half-hour drive each way to be too much, but I notice now that I feel so happy dressing the Deities, the inconvenience is truly insignificant.

Preaching Realizations / Deity Pastimes / NOI

Notes on a class by Satvata Prabhu's lecture on Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.6.21

Srila Prabhupada said if you sell books, Lord Caitanya will personally embrace you.

When you travel and preach, you see how Krishna takes care of you.

"Brazil is a poor country. We would go out to other cities by bus. In order to eat we would have to sell some books and in order to get home we would have to sell more books.

The first class he ever heard in a temple explained that Deity worship (arcana) is practicing serving Krishna so we know what to do in the spiritual world.

When you are absorbed in preaching, you are far away from offense.

Deity pastimes:

Once he wanted to chant Radha-stava in Vrndavana and thus he prayed to our Deities there. Just then the person in charge of scheduling the singing said, "Today you lead the kirtana."

Once in Brazil, some redneck type people who live in the forest saw an arati ceremony at the temple. After the arati, they asked how the priest how he made the dolls dance like that and if they were puppets.

Bhakti Vikasa Swami mentioned in his seminar in Mayapur on March 1, 2007 on the Preface to The Nectar of Instruction that Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura said that Lord Caitanya recited these verses of Upadesamrita (The Nectar of Instruction) to Rupa Goswami at the ocean at Puri, and Rupa Goswami later wrote them down.

Four people attended my first Nectar of Instruction class, and I am very inspired to continue. They all seemed to be glad they came, and almost everyone took a book.

Seeing God / Rama's Glories / Absorbed in Bhajan

Notes on Ekendra Prabhu's lecture on Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.6.20 and Rama-lila
Because the Lord is beyond the reach of the senses, he can only be seen by one who has pleased him.
Maya makes sure that we are free from all material taints so we can go back to Godhead.

Points from Rama-lila that impressed me:

1. Srila Prabhupada writes that Lord Rama was even kind to Ravana after his death since he engaged Ravana's pious brother, Vibhisana, in performing his funeral ceremony so he would not go to hell. This is an incredible idea for one in mundane consciousness because the tendency is to be very vengeful toward one's enemy and to take pleasure in making him suffer. The Lord, however, looks to benefit everyone. All glories to Lord Rama!

2. When Rama was king there was no death for those who did not want it. This is another amazing idea. Talk about good government!

Although today was a fasting day, I did not look at my watch for the whole two-hour bhajan program at Krishna Lunch. I could not believe the two hours had gone so fast. That is the mercy of Lord Rama! I never remember that happening before.

Prabhupada Quotes / Gift from BT / Rama's Glories

Srila Prabhupada said, "Ayur-veda means the Vedic knowledge about the duration of life."
Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.1.3, Caracas, February 24, 1975

Srila Prabhupada wrote in a letter dated August 14, 1976, "If you feel at all indebted to me then you should preach vigorously like me. That is the proper way to repay me. Of course, no one can repay the debt to the spiritual master, but the spiritual master is very much pleased by such an attitude by the disciple."

At our Gainesville men's group meeting, Brahma-tirtha Prabhu liberally agreed to give me a laptop which I can use on my travels to do my Krishna.com questions and my journal. All thanks to him for his kindness.

Notes on Nagaraja Prabhu's lecture on Lord Ramacandra's Appearance Day:
Some people think that because the Lord is all-pervading that He cannot appear. But God can do whatever He likes. Who can stop Him from appearing?
Srila Prabhupada once said that if Laksmi (wealth) is not used for Narayana (God) then she becomes maya (illusion).
The most important lesson to learn from Lord Rama's pastimes is that if you try to get Laksmi without Narayana, you will lose.
Our philosophy is that if you please God you do not have to worry about anything else.
The residents of Ayodhya, the kingdom of Lord Rama, were ready to leave the opulence of their land and follow Rama to the forest for without Rama their opulence had no meaning for them.
As devotees, we let Rama rule our life.

Insight from Bhakti Caru Swami / Saturday at the Campus

Notes on a Bhakti Caru Swami class on Nectar of Instruction preface and verse 1:
Why does Rupa Goswami bring up this idea of making disciples in the first verse of Nectar of Instruction? Because Lord Caitanya wanted all his followers to become spiritual masters and spread Krishna consciousness all over the world.
Compared to during Srila Prabhupada's time, ISKCON is stagnant. When you go to the West, you see Indians manning the temples. This means that Westerners are not joining, and Indians, because it is their thing, are joining despite our lack of preaching.
King Arhat imitated Rsabhadeva in his avadhuta mood because he found Rsabhadeva, as an avadhuta, had more followers than he did as a king, and thus Jainism was born.
When there is dhanam and janam, the sundarim is not far away.

I went to the campus with the harmonium to chant for an hour. I practiced four Hare Krishna tunes, and one guy smiled and shouted "Hare Krishna" as he bicycled by. I passed one girl and her boyfriend doing a yard sale to and from the campus. She had a favorable attitude about Krishna Lunch, and so I told her there were two groups doing Krishna food at this weekend's Kanapaha Botanical Gardens festival. I also mentioned our weekly Sunday feast in Alachua. I found a piece of Radha-Madhava's mahaprasadam from Mayapur in my bag, and gave it to her as a treat from India and explained the historical significance of Mayapur and the spreading of the chanting of Hare Krishna all over the world from there. She liked the flavor of the sweet, and said it would be great with coffee. She asked about our vegetarian cooking class, and I told her about the yoga, Bhagavad-gita, and Nectar of Instruction classes which I knew about and told her I'd ask about the vegetarian cooking class, which I later found out we used to have but don't at present. I felt victorious that at least someone got a little mercy in the form of prasadam from the holy dhama.

Issues With God / Enchanting Chant / Rainbow Rap

Notes on Ekendra Prabhu's class on SB 1.6.19:

Most of us are so demanding in our relationship with God that if we were as demanding with our parents and friends they would become disgusted with us.

Our desires to control the outcome of events and to have all our desires fulfilled are manifestations of our false desire to be God.

Once when Ekendra was having difficulty in marriage, he read a book he highly recommended called Divorce Is Not the Answer by George Pransky. The author makes the point that in the beginning of relationships we see our differences as interesting attractions but when familiarity breeds contempt, they become sources of great distress. He advised that we try again to see the novelty of the differences and not see them as points of contention.

Krishna Lunch:

A young mother and her well behaved son and daughter watched our bhajan group attentively for ten or fifteen minutes and then inquired from Adi Karta Prabhu about our religion.

Harinama:

I saw more of my old harinama friends at this Friday nights' harinama. I was happy to hear from Kesava Prabhu how they had distributed four or five buckets of both kitri and halava at the Ocala Regional Rainbow Gathering, and many people were appreciative. He was glad I had emailed him from Mayapur reminding him of the event. Seeing Eli, now Nitai Prabhu, the national Krishna Rainbow Gathering organizer, who was on pilgrimage in Mayapur, had made me recall the upcoming Florida event.

Science Analogy / Song Lover / SDG on Japa

Notes on Jayananda Prabhu’s class on SB 1.6.18:

Mass spectrometry is used to identify the chemicals in a rock by bouncing X-rays off it. By observing how the X-rays are reflected, we can understand what the chemicals present are. In the same way, by observing this world, which is a reflection of the spiritual world, we can get some insight into the spiritual world.

The Greek Orthodox church emphasized jnana (knowledge), while the Roman Catholic church stressed good works.

Krishna Lunch:

One girl sat on the ground in front of our chanting party to eat her lunch. Purusharta Prabhu suggested that she sit on the blanket next to us, but she replied that she preferred to sit in front of us so she could watch us sing. Before she left, I mentioned that we have singing at our temple in the evenings, and that we could teach her the words to the song and how to play the different instruments. She said that she was intimidated by the musical instruments, but she liked to sing. She said she was busy this week, but next week, if her schedule permitted, she would come by.

Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami conference call:

Notes on his reading of a relevant section from Japa Walks, Japa Talks:

We should not despair in our attempts to chant that our mind wanders. Never give up chanting. When we preach we turn away from ourselves and are saved from wallowing in our own situation. We should not feel too bad about our desire to get our rounds done. It is a sign of responsibility.

Seeing Friends Coming to Mayapur

Today I met some Vaishnava youths I knew from Alachua. I talked with Arjuna about getting him in touch with the disciples of Bhakti Tirtha Swami here as he was attached to Bhakti Tirtha Swami, and I reminisced with Dattatreya about how nice it is on the Polish festival tour. I also met a devotee from Russia I knew from the tour. And I met Janananda Prabhu, a Prabhupada disciple from Vrndavana who gives thoughtful classes and who will be teaching a couple of seminars. The devotees always say I look so happy, and I explain it as a result of seeing all my friends from America , Europe, and other parts of India come here to Mayapur Dham. I also explain how Mayapur is my favorite temple because of the beauty of the Deities and the enthusiasm for chanting, especially during and after the evening arati.

Notes on Romapada Swami's class on Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.1.14

Because of Dhrtarastra's bodily attachment he could not hear Vidura's repeatedly given good instructions. Dhrtarastra was an elevated person, but because of the influence of his son, Duryodhana, and by the influence of Sakuni, he acted wrongly. Vidura was so much respected that Bhismadeva, who was very much his senior, consulted him. Vidura recommended the Gandhari marry Dhrtarastra, Bhisma agreed, and Sakuni drove Gandhari and Dhrtarastra to Dhrtarastra's home after the marriage. Later, after Pandu died untimely and his wife, Madri, entered his funeral pyre, Duryodhana and his brothers harassed the Pandavas. Krishna , the eternal well-wisher of his devotees, the Pandavas, was concerned and sent Akrura to investigate the situation in Hastinapura. Kunti, her eyes full of tears, inquired from Akrura if Krishna had plans to protect the Pandavas, and he and Vidura reassured her. After observing the situation for three months, Akrura advised Dhrtarastra:

(1) Do not act on the platform of the ignorant bodily conception of life by differentiating between the sons of Pandu and your own sons. Each life one has a different set of sons, so one should not be so attached to “one's own.”

(2) You should act out of virtue.

Dhrtarastra praised the wise and ambrosial words of Akrura but said that due to attachment to his sons those words could not remain in his heart and he could not carry them out. He was content to let whatever would happen as a result of that happen as ordained by fate. This failure to take responsibility for his actions resulted in his downfall, and we must be careful not to helplessly act according to our material attachments, neglecting higher principles, or that will also be our downfall.

That Dhrtarastra wanted a kingdom for his sons was not the problem. Dhruva also wanted a kingdom, but Dhruva went about it in the proper way, by asking the sage Narada how he could rightfully obtain it. Dhrtarastra, however, cast righteousness aside to further his ambitions and thus his sons were destroyed. Because Dhruva was respectful to Krishna and his devotee Narada, his ambition was achieved, but because Dhrtarastra disrespected Krishna and his devotees, the Pandavas, his party was destroyed.

Dhrtarastra later reflected on Akrura's advice and inquired from Bhisma and Vidura about their opinion. He decided that since Yudhisthira deserved the kingdom and the citizens wanted him to be king, he would perform a ceremony making Yudhisthira the incumbent king.

Meanwhile Duryodhana met with Karna and Sakuni. Karna thought that they should fight the Pandavas and take the kingdom rightfully by conquering them, but Sakuni, seeing how the Pandavas easily conquered King Drupada, who had previously conquered Duryodhana's party, was afraid they would lose and thus wanted to use unfair means to deprive them of the kingdom. Outraged, Karna left the meeting, and Sakuni revealed to Duryodhana a nefarious plan to get the Pandavas out of Hastinapura and then kill them, explaining how they could do this without objections by Bhisma and Dronacarya.

Dhrtarastra, because of his sons ambitions, worried what they would think of him making Yudhisthira the incumbent king, and thus he consulted Sakuni, who engaged a materialistic so-called brahmana to advise Dhrtarastra to kill the Pandavas. King Pandu had taken good care of his blind elder brother Dhrtarastra, and the thought of killing Pandu's sons was not at all palatable to him. However, Duryodhana knew how attached Dhrtarastra was to himself, and thus he threatened to commit suicide if Yudhisthira became king. He further argued that Dhrtarastra and all his sons would have no position if Yudhisthira became king and the whole situation would be miserable for them. In this way, Dhrtarastra's mind was changed, and he heard the plans Sakuni made for getting rid of the Pandavas, and let them be carried out.

The moral of the story is that because the Pandavas took shelter of Krishna, they were not affected by bad association, but because Dhrtarastra had no such shelter he became a victim of bad association and was destroyed. Actually we can always trace destruction to some bad association in the past. Thus we should always follow the example of the Pandavas and escape bad association by taking shelter of Krishna.

Nama-hatta Program in Baduria

We went to a nama-hatta program in a town called Baduria, only three and a half hours away! I brought my computer so I could accomplish some of my regular work as well. After a solid breakfast of rice, dal, and sabji, we went on harinama for just over two hours. We went through the town to the outskirts and then back through the town to the outskirts on the other side. Gaura Nama Prabhu engaged some of the devotees in distributing a Bengali book about Lord Caitanya's life and teachings and many were sold. The event must have been well advertised because we were greeted nicely wherever we went. Some people washed the road ahead of us with buckets of water, some even splashed water on the devotees' feet, others threw sweets made with sugar which the kids madly tried to grab, others, including a six-year-old girl, blew conch shells, and some brought rice, vegetables, and coins as donations. The harinama ended at the site of our pandal program in the middle of the town. After a sizable lunch of three sabjis, dal, chapattis, rice, papadam, chutney, and rasgullas, we took a break for an hour and an half or so, and then chanted Hare Krishna on the stage at the pandal for over an hour. We encouraged the attendees to chant along. The devotees from foreign countries introduced themselves telling where we came from. The places included America, England, Finland, Italy, and Israel. All the devotees were really enlivened by doing the program. As we left, many people smiled, embraced us, touched our feet, shook our hands, and in this way made it clear they appreciated our presentation. We were given puris and sabji for dinner on the way back, which I gave away in charity. One has to guard against overeating on programs like this!

Saturday Festival Memories

The Saturday festival in Mayapur with its Deity procession is so lively here, even without the elephant. The big Gaura Nitai Deities from Prabhupada's Bhajan Kutir are pulled by ox cart. Following them are the big Prabhupada murti and the small Radha-Krishna Deities. The kirtanas are so lively. Then always chant my favorite tunes. A friend of mine told me today that most of the tunes are Bollywood tunes (from India's entertainment industry) and that the traditional Bengali tunes are too hard to follow. I do not know if it is true, but the tunes are attractive and very easy to sing and dance to.

After participating in the festival I stopped at the brahmacari kitchen for their hot milk from the goshala which is really good. As I walked back home, a tourism bus from the parking lot near Vamsi Bhavan past me. There was a lively kirtana going on in the back of the bus and the people waved and cheered as they passed. I was thinking the chanting is so nice they could do it all the way home and they would be full of ecstasy when they arrived. Then they could get together with their family and friends each evening and spread the wonderful gift they received at Mayapur to others. We should encourage them to create the nice atmosphere of Mayapur's evening program and Saturday festivals in their homes and villages, and share the ecstasy with others.

“Sri Panca-tattva themselves danced again and again and thus made it easier to drink nectarean love of Godhead. They danced, cried, laughed and chanted like madmen, and in this way they distributed love of Godhead. . . . Although the members of the Panca-tattva plundered the storehouse of love of Godhead and ate and distributed its contents, there was no scarcity, for this wonderful storehouse is so complete that as the love is distributed, the supply increases hundreds of times” (Sri Caitanya-caritamrita 7.22,24).

I met the Gaura-Nitai Deities on the way back to Their temple and participated in a small kirtana led by the people pulling Them. It was a beautiful way to end a beautiful evening.

Sastric Knowledge is Perfect

Bhakti Vidya Purna Swami, Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 2, Chapter 1

King Pariksit asks how to apply the mind so that the mind becomes free from dirty things. This is needed because the usual ways we apply our minds, do not free them from dirty things but often create more dirty things.

Using the scripture, we must connect everything with the Lord, in order to purify our minds.

There are different kinds of knowledge:

1. pratyaksa - knowledge gained through sense perception
2. paroksya - knowledge gained from others
3. aparokysa - knowledge that is experienced
4. adhoksaja - knowledge beyond sense perception
5. aprakrta - knowledge that is transcendental

There are so many books on management and more come out every year. But if you take knowledge from scripture you won't have to look for new knowledge each year because the scriptural knowledge works in all circumstances not just some.

Principles always apply. Details change according to time, place, and circumstance.

According to the sastra, the varnasrama system is considered to be the Lord's body. Thus we must accept varnasrama. We must also accept each of the varnas and asramas to be important because every part of the Lord's body is important. It is not that the Lord's head is important, but His feet are to be neglected. Each division has something inspiring to contribute to society. The brahmanas teach. The ksatriyas protect and are true to their vows. The vaisyas give their hard-earned money in charity to benefit others. The sudras do their arts under the direction of the others. Michelangelo, who worked under the direction of superiors, contributed many more great works of art, appreciable by a greater variety of people, than Van Gogh, who worked on his own.

Shoe Saga

Inconceivably enough, I was separated from five pairs of shoes in this year alone! One in Calcutta, one in Russia, one in Hungary, one in Ukraine, and finally one in Mayapur in November. Fortunately they were all about $3 shoes, so it wasn't a great loss. I decided to go without shoes as long as possible out of a sense of frustration and defeat. However, day by day it has been getting colder in the mornings here, and I have been afraid of getting sick.

Last night I read in my diksa guru's book, Prabhupada Nectar (Vol. 2, No. 25): “Srila Prabhupada did not like his disciples to perform artificial austerities. When one devotee appeared bare-chested in the cold at a Kumbha-mela, Prabhupada reprimanded him. On another occasion, in America , he teased his disciple Nara-Narayana, who came into the cold temple room wearing only a light T-shirt.

“Nara-Narayana,” said Prabhupada from the vyasasana, “you must be eating chickens.” The other devotees turned and stared.

“Yes,” said Prabhupada, “this is how the Mohammedans keep warm. Are you eating chickens, Nara-Narayana?”

“No, Srila Prabhupada.”

Prabhupada then began telling a story how the Mohammedans keep warm: “The system is that a man tries to eat one hundred chickens by eating a single chicken. A farmer will take a hundred chickens and then feed one of them to the ninety-nine. He then feeds another one to the remaining ninety-eight, and another one to the remaining ninety-seven. Finally, when there are only two chickens left, he feeds one chicken to the other. Then that chicken is fed to the emperor. In that way, it is considered that he is eating one hundred chickens.”

As a result of reading this, I decided to give up my artificial austerity of going barefoot in December. After harinama in Navadvipa, I decided to look for some shoes. The people in Bengal are so short the stores do not carry size 11. Size 10 is the largest. Thus I tried on at least five pairs of shoes before finding something that fit. Because the top part is cloth, at least they won't give me blisters, like the five pairs that were stolen. We will see if my big toe wears a hole in the top of them before too long, or more likely, if someone rips them off. I will keep them indoors at night to be safe. At any rate, they were only 135 rupees ($3) and if they last the winter, I will be grateful.

World Vedic Civilization and Macrocosm Within the Microcosm

Bhakti Vidya Purna Swami, Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 2, Chapter 1

The knowledge of the soul, God, and their relationship is called para-vidya. Other knowledge in the Vedas is called apara-vidya. This other knowledge can become para-vidya if it is used in Krishna's service. Non-Vedic knowledge can also become para-vidya when used in Krishna 's service.

Suhotra Swami:

The sahajiyas accept Krishna is their worshipable Deity but do not perform any abhideya (approved process to attain Him).

Boredom and pride cause one to fall from the mode of goodness.

The whole Vedic civilization fell apart because people did not transcend the mode of goodness and come to the transcendental platform of pure goodness. Instead the mode of goodness became mixed with passion and ignorance as the false ego of pride developed in first the brahmanas (intellectuals) and then the ksatriyas (administrators).

Temples in Turkey that have been unearthed have inscriptions with the names of Hindu gods on them.

In Memphis, Egypt, in 500 B.C., there were Indians worshiping Hindu deities.

Temples in South American, as well as Egypt and India, were built using the same mathematical and astronomical principles.

They are fourteen centers along the spinal column where the nadis meet. These correspond to the fourteen planetary systems.

Because the macrocosm (the universe) is represented within the microcosm (our body), the many descriptions of the universe in the Srimad-Bhagavatam are relevant to our lives.

Bhakti Vidya Purna Swami: Krishna dasa Kaviraja Goswami says in his Sri Caitanya-caritamrita that as soon as a person becomes sincere, Krishna sends a bona fide spiritual master to enlighten the person.

Suhotra Swami: There is a devotee who originally hated the Hare Krishnas, and so he stole a book from a devotee book distributor. The devotee ran after him but could not catch him. Ultimately the thief read the book and became a devotee himself.

Bhakti Vidya Purna Swami: In difficult situations we take shelter of those things that give security. Ultimately our emotions must be directed toward Krishna. Therefore in whatever position we find ourselves, we should hear about Krishna from a devotee who has faith in Krishna.

Bhakti Vidya Purna Swami on Relationship, Culture, and Sanskrit

Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 2, Chapter 1

Krishna acts according to scripture although He can do anything. The relationships described in the scriptures are how he likes relationships to go and if we follow the scriptural direction we will get the best out of a relationship.

If you think of Krishna as a big, nasty guy, then Krishna will act like a big, nasty guy. If you think He is adorable, like the residents of Vrindavana do, then he will be most adorable.

We are all goal-oriented, either to please ourselves, to please God, or to please others with the expectation that we will also become pleased.

Krishna is looking to see that one performs penance to benefit others.

Q: How are we supposed to relate to the people that we are preaching to?
A: You have to think about presenting the information in such a way that they will be interested to hear. Most people would be willing to consider that they are lay people and a practicing spiritualist may have something to offer them, so that is not the problem, although often we think that is the problem. Generally we do not have a problem with the philosophy but with the culture of relating to people.

Once in America there was a poll taken about religion. It came out in the poll that millions of people identified themselves as Hare Krishnas. They thought that the Hare Krishnas had the best philosophy, but that they had the worst attitude.

First you have to be comfortable with yourself. No one will follow you if you are not comfortable with yourself. People comfortable with themselves are attractive to people who are not comfortable with themselves.

Maharaja was sitting on a subway car in New York City, happily talking with another devotee, when a man came up to them and asked them if they had some practice that made them so happy, which he could also follow. The person was so shocked to see people happily conversing on a New York subway!

In Srila Prabhupada's books in many places the superior position of a husband in relationship to his wife is mentioned. However, if you notice all the husband-wife dealings in the Srimad-Bhagavatam and Mahabharata, you do not see any macho, exploitative males, not even one. So the literature also teaches the application in the culture, but unfortunately many people miss that. Krishna is masculine and His energies are all feminine, but how does Krishna relate with His energies, forcefully? No, sensitively.

Q: Is there a difference between penance, sacrifice, and austerity?
A: In all three there is restriction for some superior benefit. It could be said that penance is sambandha, sacrifice is abhideya, and austerity is prayojana.

Srila Prabhupada said that of mundane subjects, Sanskrit is the most important. Sanskrit can teach us how language functions. Knowing that, we can use English more effectively.

Later I mentioned what Maharaja said about Sanskrit to Vidvan Gauranga Prabhu, my Sanskrit teacher. He had mentioned that he had been to a Gaudiya Math to pick up some Sanskrit and Bengali commentaries on some Upanisads. The person there said that actually you people from ISKCON are the only people who buy these books. Bhaktivinoda Thakura wanted Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura to write these books establishing Vaishnavism on the basis of these scriptures. Otherwise the world will only have the Mayavadi misinterpretation of them. The Gaudiya Math people are all into the rasika literature, which was around even then, but Bhaktisiddanta Sarasvati Thakura was more interested in the Srimad-Bhagavatam, Bhagavad-gita, Vedanta Sutra, Upanisads, etc. If it wasn't for you people in ISKCON, this emphasis would be forgotten. Please don't let it happen. It is up to you.

Vidvan said that in India no scholar takes you seriously as a Vaishnava scholar unless you are fluent in Sanskrit and have read the original texts and the commentaries on them.

A Visit with Sri Prahlada Prabhu

Today a disciple of Bhakti Caru Swami named Srivasa Prabhu, who was recently married, sponsored a feast for the whole Mayapur community. At the feast, I sat next to Sri Prahlada Prabhu, who I knew from the Polish tour. I asked him if he had any special appreciation of the Mayapur dhama from living here. He mentioned how it is easier to perform devotional service here and harder to get into maya. He said he is personally attracted to more of the pilgrimage places in Vrindavana, but he read about Mayapur to cultivate an appreciation for it. In the course of his reading, he found out that the area from the grhastha housing project to the Jalangi River corresponds to the gardens around Radha-kunda in the Vrindavana area. Also the place where Lord Caitanya first met Lord Nityananda is just behind the housing project. At the Radhastami feast in Mayapur, he asked a visiting Gaudiya Math sannyasi if it would be better to be in Varsana, the residence of Srimati Radharani, on that most holy day. The sannyasi said no, it is better in Mayapur because in Mayapur one's offenses are not considered, only one's devotion. Mayapur dhama ki, jaya!

Suhotra Swami, Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto 2, Chapter 1

When Mahamaya got initiated by Srila Prabhupada, Srila Prabhupada explained, “Mahamaya is another phase of Srimati Radharani.”

Laksmi acts either as Laksmi or Maya depending on how we approach her.

In the Sixth Canto, Chapter Nineteen, Kasyapa glorifies the worship of Laksmi-Narayana and explains the whole Bhagavata philosophy in just a few verses.

In the Second Canto it is described that the Lord draws energy from the marginal energy to run the cosmic manifestation.

Lord Buddha said his dharma would last one thousand years. His leading disciple told him that there are many young women who want to become nuns. Buddha said that that was alright, they could come, but in that case, his dharma would last only five hundred years. This is written in the Buddhist scripture itself.

Lord Buddha defeated the best Vedic scholars who knew the Vedas backwards and forwards. If God wants to preach atheism, then who can defeat Him?

Bhakti Vidya Purna Swami mentioned that we generally do not tell new people that Laksmi can present herself as either the spiritual or material energy, because in the beginning it is important to clearly understand the difference between the spiritual and the material.

Devotion Transforms Matter into Spirit

12/5/06 Bhakti Vidya Purna Swami class on Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 2, Chapter 1
One thousand names of Vishnu is equal one name of Rama. Three names of Rama are equal to one name of Krishna (SB 1.19.6, purport).

Due to ignorance people think that they can get something for nothing. Materialists capitalize on this weakness of the people by arranging schemes like lotteries to make money for themselves. Devotees have nothing to do with either of these mentalities. They act in spiritual knowledge.

The first step of God realization is to learn to see everything is a manifestation of God's energy, although we initially have difficulty seeing in it that way. Thus, everything that we value is actually Krishna. Therefore Krishna is always there for us, while nobody else is always there for us.

Q: When something is engaged in devotional service does it change physically?
A: Does a copper wire change when electricity goes through it? The effect is different, and the effect is what matters. When a devotee speaks through the microphone the cit potency from the devotee enters the sound and affects the audience, who hears it, in a spiritual way. A nondevotee speaking the same sound would not have the same effect.

One mataji tells that a Kirlian photographer took a picture of some prasadam after it was offered, and it had a nice aura around it.

Maharaja said that we are so affected by the influence of the prominent shaktas of the age (the modern scientists who are devoted to the material energy) that we think that things have to change physically for the change to be significant.

If a brahmacari is happy with the food that is given to him, it will nourish his body, but if he is dissatisfied with it, it will destroy his body.

We are instructed to absorb our mind and intelligence in the Lord fully. The prohibitions exist for those who cannot do that.

Devotional service can attract the karmis by giving them the relationship they always wanted, and it can attract the jnanis by initially giving them the liberation they want and ultimately giving them higher spiritual pleasure of devotional relationships.

After class my friend Santi Parayana Prabhu, while convincing another friend of mine to take the Bhaktivaibhava course, mentioned that the elder Maha Vishnu Goswami tells a story of someone named Kaccha that illustrates the importance of knowledge. The conclusion is that one must be willing to die three times to get knowledge. I later found the colorful story of Kaccha on the Internet: http://www.indiayogi.com/content/indgods/kaccha.asp