SB 01.11.07_Krsna The Supreme Personality Of Godhead_1999-03-31 Lecture – Srimad Bhagavatam 1.11.7 Krishna The Supreme Personality of Godhead 1999-03-31 Radhadesh
SB 01.11.06_The Evidences To Accept Krsna As God_1999-03-30 Lecture – Srimad Bhagavatam 1.11.6 The Evidences to accept Krishna as God 1999-03-30 Radhadesh
SB 01.11.03_The Ignorance And Fear Of Material Existence_1999-03-27 Lecture – Srimad Bhagavatam 1.11.3 The Ignorance & Fear Of Material Existence 1999-03-27 Radhadesh
The oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico continues to wreak havoc with ocean water and ocean residents. The spill has been haunting us all for one month now.
What a monster we have created! What an oversight on the part of man's passion to extract extreme energy sources? Had anyone thought that crude oil should perhaps remain in the depths below us? What will be the consequences for tampering with Mother Nature this time around?
As I was contemplating this morose subject while sitting in the office at the ashram a man appeared at the door. He was most jovial and expected me to remember him.
“I’m still around”, he said and then it dawned on me that this face was familiar – a face revisited from the mid-seventies. I suddenly recalled.
“How’s it going?” I asked him excitedly.
“Well it’s almost all gone”, referring to his youth. With that remark he lightened
the atmosphere and my grimness was put on the back burner. The visitor announced his name leading on to a friendship rekindled.
The day was tight with preparations underway for my next trip which was tonight headed for Milano. I patiently waited at the airport with an embarrassing mire four kilometres under my heels for the day when I met Brian and Leana, teachers of an alternative secondary school. They had met me at the temple some years ago on a field trip with their students. By divine arrangement they took the same flght as I was on, with Finnair. More interesting was that their seat numbers were 28 E and F. I had 28 D on my ticket stub.
We chatted about the oil tragedy and other topics until the new day began, skipping over a seven hour time zone change. “This is quite usual for me, this travelling about”, I explained to them “you are just getting the taste of swami life, always on the go”.
Brian and Leana were cool companions to have as passengers. Leane considers herself on eclectic person while Brian is an avowed Buddhist. His llama has him chanting on beads which he was doing while I did the same with my 108 beaded mala. I realised there was going to be little or no time to walk except for airport corridors, which I won’t include in my tallying process.
For fun the couple was carrying with them a figurine in the form of a plastic hollow Iron Man. Brian snapped his camera to photograph Iron Man in his seat-belt strapped down in between Leana and myself on the seat. He has been travelling with the couple for sometime. The photos are forwarded to friends for a laugh.
“Do you feed him as well?” (Laughter)
I then ventured to talking about shilas (ancient worshipable stones representing Vishnu) and how travelling monks carry one or two with them wherever they go. They are treated as if God, they provide companionship and are a way to remember the Divine. I also explained about the three large images of Jagannath, Baladev and Subhadra, wooden icons, carried by chariots resembling temples and how they are pulled manually through the love of their devotees.
Brian and Leana were fascinated. I invited them to the annual Festival of Chariots which is upcoming in July. (July 17th).
Throughout the flight when we were not dosing we compared notes over the different forms of spiritual expressions we were exposed to such as Brian’s Dutch Reform background, Leana’s Viking roots, my Dutch Roman Catholicism and where we are now. This sharing was absolutely fascinating.
We parted at Helsinki. I flew on to Milano. I noticed northern Europeans to be quiet in Helsinki and the more I was moving toward Italy the more outgoing people become.
We had two retreats in a row in Pandavas Paradise, one weekend after another. And in between them, we had two ladies from São Paulo staying with us in our Devi Ashram program.
The first retreat was another edition of our regular yoga retreats, which always have a strong focus on Krishna consciousness. We’re seeing that most people come to our retreats with a desire to get to know more about yoga spirituality, and we’re very happy to oblige them in this regard!
It was a four night retreat, so we got plenty of time together and managed to fit in several long walks and four 90-minute lectures (two on the Yoga Sutras, a mantra workshop and one on the environmental impact of meat eating). Above, a japa lesson and a picture of two toucans who dropped by during the retreat.
In between the retreats, we hosted two ladies in our Devi Ashram program. This program allows women to spend some time in Pandavas Paradise, absorbing as much spirituality as they wish, while enjoying our beautiful surroundings and comfortable guest facilities. One was a psychologist and the other a doctor. The psychologist arrived there without ever having tried japa meditation. By the end, she was chanting 16 rounds a day!
The other retreat, which ended last Sunday, the 13th, was organized by a group of teachers of the Brasilia (DF) District School System. It was part of a course they are doing on agroecology, and the focus was on agroforestry.
They chose to do their first practice of planting a small agroforest garden in Pandavas Paradise. Though the group was much less inclined towards yoga spirituality than our usual crowd, they still had japa sessions, some came to our daily aratiks and most chanted Hare Krishna in kirtan with us. They also watched a 90 minute presentation on karma, at the end of which several of them bought our books.
They planted three “mandala-shaped” agroforestry gardens with a mixture of corn, banana, native trees, pumpkin, zuchini, pineapple, cassava and much more!
Over the years, some sankirtan devotees do big events, and sometimes the security guards check our bags and do not allow books in. So we take Jagannatha stickers, hidden in our pockets, and some small books in a shoulder bag. When guards ask what the small books are for, I say I am giving them to friends and they usually allow them in.
One big event is the famous Melbourne Cup for horse racing. A few times, after having big days with stickers and small books, I have walked out to my van, to head back to the temple, and seen a big line of people waiting for an under-supply of taxis. So when I jump in the van (with large "Chant Hare Krsna and Be happy" magnetics on the sides), some people ask me if I can give them a lift to the city for a donation.
They usually form a group of ten or twelve friends, so the van becomes full. I preach to them on the way and get them chanting in a Hare Krsna kirtan all the way, which is quite easy as they have been drinking. It is funny, as they don't have inhibitions about chanting and even open the windows to call out Hare Krsna to people walking by.
All glories to the holy names!
One such group chanted with me all the way to the city and gave me $50, so I gave them each a soft-cover Gita and some prasadam sweets.
Just as they hopped out, one intoxicated man asked for a lift to a casino 500 metres up the road. He gave $50 and received a hard-cover Gita and sweets. I started to think this was a very good transcendental taxi service so I drove back to the racetrack to see if anyone else wanted a transcendental ride.
There was another group of racing fans needing a lift to St. Kilda near the temple. They also chanted all the way, took prasadam, gave $50, and received a lot of books.
It was getting late so I retired to the temple.
The Lord has showered his mercy on the conditioned souls in a similar way at a few other race tracks in different cities. The Lord is merciful even to the most fallen souls at the races, who are gambling, eating meat, taking intoxication and chasing women all at one event.
Oh Holy Name! You destroy all the sufferings of Your surrendered devotees. O Holy Name! You are the delightful form of concentrated spiritual bliss! To the residents of Gokula, You are an endless festival of happiness and joy. O Holy Name! You are the complete transcendental form of Krsna. I bow down and offer my respects to Your lotus feet.
Over the years, some sankirtan devotees do big events, and sometimes the security guards check our bags and do not allow books in. So we take Jagannatha stickers, hidden in our pockets, and some small books in a shoulder bag. When guards ask what the small books are for, I say I am giving them to friends and they usually allow them in.
One big event is the famous Melbourne Cup for horse racing. A few times, after having big days with stickers and small books, I have walked out to my van, to head back to the temple, and seen a big line of people waiting for an under-supply of taxis. So when I jump in the van (with large "Chant Hare Krsna and Be happy" magnetics on the sides), some people ask me if I can give them a lift to the city for a donation.
They usually form a group of ten or twelve friends, so the van becomes full. I preach to them on the way and get them chanting in a Hare Krsna kirtan all the way, which is quite easy as they have been drinking. It is funny, as they don't have inhibitions about chanting and even open the windows to call out Hare Krsna to people walking by.
All glories to the holy names!
One such group chanted with me all the way to the city and gave me $50, so I gave them each a soft-cover Gita and some prasadam sweets.
Just as they hopped out, one intoxicated man asked for a lift to a casino 500 metres up the road. He gave $50 and received a hard-cover Gita and sweets. I started to think this was a very good transcendental taxi service so I drove back to the racetrack to see if anyone else wanted a transcendental ride.
There was another group of racing fans needing a lift to St. Kilda near the temple. They also chanted all the way, took prasadam, gave $50, and received a lot of books.
It was getting late so I retired to the temple.
The Lord has showered his mercy on the conditioned souls in a similar way at a few other race tracks in different cities. The Lord is merciful even to the most fallen souls at the races, who are gambling, eating meat, taking intoxication and chasing women all at one event.
Anything not supported by the Vedic principles must be considered imaginary and lacking in standard proof... If one tries to nullify the conclusions of the Vedas by accepting an unauthorized scripture or so-called scripture, it will be very hard for him to come to the right conclusion about the Absolute Truth. The system for adjusting two contradictory scriptures is to refer to the Vedas, for references from the Vedas are accepted as final judgments. When we refer to a particular scripture, it must be authorized, and for this authority it must strictly follow the Vedic injunctions. If someone presents an alternative doctrine he himself has manufactured, that doctrine will prove itself useless, for any doctrine that tries to prove that Vedic evidence is meaningless immediately proves itself meaningless.
SB 01.10.33-36_The Solution To All Material Problems_1999-03-24 Lecture – Srimad Bhagavatam 1.10.33-36 The Solution to All Material Problems 1999-03-24 Radhadesh
After all-day headaches yesterday from the doctor’s office I went to bed in a subdued state and slept peacefully all night. I woke up at one o’clock and got up and began chanting. I’ve chanted twelve rounds so far. The first four were completely distracted with my mind on a mundane subject. But then I pulled out, and I started hearing the syllables of the holy names. I began to chant quickly and with the aim to get them done but in a good sense, quota bound. My mind is still flickering, but for the most part, it’s concentrating on japa. I think as I continue past my twelfth round I will get even more concentrated, and the other subjects will fade away like dreams.
For four rounds your
mind is fixed on a TV show.
Shamed to admit.
But even
then I was pronouncing
and wide alert with no
pain. Some credit.
For the second four I
was thinking of the names
and the quality of the exercise.
I built my numerical strength
and put aside the mundane
show. I counted my mantras
and tried to get them done
before Baladeva came up.
I did it and wrote this
poem. So I’m ahead on
schedule despite a bad
start. It is better to get up
later and at once concentrate
on harinama. Maybe I’ll
say extra to make up
for the bad.
This is one of the most beloved pictures of Prabhupada. It shows him eating lunch in his kitchen at the Radha-Damodara Mandira in Vrndavana and looking out at the courtyard at the bhajana-kutiras of Rupa Gosvami and Jiva Gosvami. The picture was taken after he went to America and returned with his disciples. But he used to sit here in the early 1960s and he said he received the order and inspiration of Rupa Gosvami and Jiva Gosvami to go to America by taking darsana of their samadhi-mandira and bhajana-kutira from the window. He was told by Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura to preach in English in the 1920s when he first met him and again in a letter in the 1930s just before his spiritual master left the world. But there were many obstacles, and it was many years later that he was able to go. In 1960 he moved to the Radha-Damodara rooms and had regular darsanas and prayerful meditations upon the Gosvamis’ kutiras. Someone told me he claimed they spoke to him.
Now he is back in his rooms visiting them. He doesn’t have a temple in Vrndavana yet, but it is on the way to happening, and he is also succeeding in developing Mayapura, ombay, the Soviet Union, Africa, South America and all over the world. It all comes from this room. The effulgence of the sunshine pours on him through the lattice window from the courtyard and from the effulgent blessing of Rupa and Jiva Gosvamis.
They were not his son,
they were flesh and blood
Afro-Americans just
his son’s age but not
the one. The other kids
spoke at the funeral and
said little anecdotes about
what a nice and cool
person he was only six years
old. Mom and dad were grieving.
His wife conceived another
boy, and they named him
after the demigod in charge
of health to try and assure
he wouldn’t die. He gave
them consolation but they
never forgot their first
born son. They had an
older daughter.
Family life is hard. Another
man in Guyana had his young
son run over by a car in
the street. Children are called
hostages to time, and you
try to raise them to become
Vaisnavas but there is no
guarantee and what kind of
a role model is the dad?
They grow up fast.
Everybody ages. The
father dies of cancer.
They all fall down.
While you’ve got your
life, pray to Lord Krishna,
preach to others and tell
them about the wonderful
details of Krishna’s life.
I know a devotee who does
three TV shows teaching
bhakti-yoga. A man called
in and asked for a set
of japa beads and the Bhagavad-gita. That is
first class service, and he’ll
be rewarded. His wife
takes care of their
children, “She tolerates
me.”
I write lines about my
friends and try to help
in that way. I get
headaches and can’t lecture
in public.
I write these random lines
and can’t meet with many people.
This morning at my scheduled time
I sat to write my poem. But
for the first time in a long time,
I couldn’t get one to come.
I just couldn’t write about
Krishna or His pure devotees.
So I put down my pen
and gave up. It’s much
later in the day, and I’ve
put these random lines
together.
My head feels pained and
I can’t think of something to
say about Krishna. I spent
the morning at the doctor’s.
I haven’t finished my
quota, but I will. Krishna is the Supreme,
and He takes us one by one.
I pray my friends and
I can join Him in
the spiritual world and
tomorrow when I sit
I can write a poem.
This is the concrete jungle a la 1930s. Only rich people could own nice cars like this and afford to park them in this system of piling them on top of one another and living in one of the apartments seen nearby. But what unnatural living it is! There is not a tree or grass or flower in sight. As with high rise apartment buildings today, once inside your condo all you can see out the window is other tall buildings. People come to the city and work hard to maintain this standard of living which is actually packed in uncomfortable quarters and dangerous.
Prabhupada used to compare skyscraper apartment living in places like New York City to the life of pigeons who live in close packed holes. He said in India even a poor man used to have a house with land and a courtyard and cows. But people who live like this in a condo actually think they are privileged and well-to-do.
By personally working hard or by manipulating other workers to toil for you, or by inheriting a large legacy, rich persons maintain their standards of living uncomfortably crowded.
The Vedic standard of happy living is much different. It is an agricultural based life where a man kept a small farm and cows and bulls and grew his own grains and vegetables. He lived near orchards where there were pleasant trees, ponds and meadows. Nor did he live for material pleasure. He lived simply to spare the major energy of his life for self-realization. He practiced chanting the holy names of God, worshiping in the temple and did not waste his vital energy in hellish enterprises or hellish entertainments like liquor nightclubs with loose women, cinema and music halls. He didn’t live in heavily nationalistic countries that were competing in economic resources with their neighboring countries and always poised for war or actually fighting.
When you think of what it takes to maintain this stack of the latest cars and to live nearby in a luxurious high rise “pigeonhole” you know it is not right. and you will opt for simple living where high thinking is possible.
SB 01.10.31-32_Divine And Demoniac Classes Of People_1999-03-23 Lecture – Srimad Bhagavatam 1.10.31-32 Divine & Demoniac Classes of People 1999-03-23 Radhadesh
This year, as in past years, we noted under Pandava-nirjala Ekadasi (coming up on June 22) that one should observe a "total fast, even from water, if you have broken Ekadasi."
Nrsimhadeva.com: We are searching for Nrsimha Caturdasi pictures in temples which celebrated it worldwide. We have already collected the pictures from Mayapur, Ludhiana and New Vrindaban.
Gopijana: We are very happy to announce to the whole community of devotees， the construction of a small but very important temple for Srimati Simantini Devi at Sri Jagannath Mandir compound in Rajapur, Sri Mayapur dham.
Surapala dasa: ISKCON of Las Vegas is looking for a person capable to invest in purchasing temple building in Vegas. Due to recession, prices of houses in Vegas dropped down at least 50% of the original prices
We do so many foolish things. We waste time watching movies, sports, soap operas and we simply watch the world roll by. This shows that we simply don’t think that we are going to die. We genuinely illusion ourselves to think that life is going to last forever. Honestly, if death came knocking at your door and told you that your appointment is tomorrow, would you sit back and watch a soccer game or a rugby match? Would you go to Blockbusters and rent out the latest movie? Would you talk about your neighbour’s grandchild who just did something rebellious at school? What would you do if death was waiting at your doorstep? What makes you think he isn’t already waiting at your doorstep?
“The most wonderful thing is that although every day innumerable creatures go to the abode of death, still a man thinks he is immortal.” Yudhistira, spoken at the Lake of Death, Mahabharata.
“Chant Hare Krsna. Always remember Krsna. And death may take place at any time. There is no guarantee that after so much time you'll die. At any moment, you can die. Death, there is no guarantee. But it is a guarantee that you must die. That is guaranteed. But when you will die, that is not guaranteed. Therefore we must be prepared for death at any moment. Therefore a devotee is not afraid of death. He knows that death may come at any moment.” Srila Prabhupada, Bhagavad-gita lecture, Geneva, 1974.
So simply chant and forget these things. Why wait until your old age sets in to take your spiritual life so seriously.
Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
Each week we will post a question to a panel of about two dozen clergy, laity and theologians, all of whom are based in Texas or are from Texas. They will chime in with their responses to the question of the week. And you, readers, will be able to respond to their answers through the comment box.
Our Sunday opinion section, Points, ran an intriguing piece last month by Stephen Asma, a professor of philosophy at Columbia College Chicago. He starts it out this way:
"No self-respecting professor of philosophy wants to discuss the soul in class. It reeks of old-time theology or, worse, New Age quantum treacle. The soul has been a dead end in philosophy ever since the positivists unmasked its empty referential center. Scientific philosophy has shown us that there's no there there.
But make no mistake, our students are very interested in the soul."
From there, Asma goes into a discussion about how people talk about the soul and what their discussions about it may mean. You can read his essay in the link to Points.
What I would like to hear from you all is this:
What does "soul" mean to you? And how do you talk about it? What's more, how would you talk about it if asked to discuss the concept of a soul in a lecture, sermon or essay?
Keep reading for some provocative answers.
That's the question we posed this week to Texas Faith panelist. Here's how they responded:
NITYANANDA CHANDRA DAS, minister of ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness), Dallas
No one HAS a soul, it is not a possession. Rather we ARE a soul and have a body.
In the tradition of the East, knowledge of the self is considered to be the essential preliminary knowledge that is necessary to understand higher topics such as God, the universe, and religion. We must first know who we are.
According the Bhagavad Gita and logic as well, the soul, the conscious observer, is entirely different from the body. The body itself is simply a vehicle, but due to a type of spiritual delirium, maya, we identify ourselves with our temporary material bodies. Thus we know ourselves as White, Black, Indian, Republican, liberal, heterosexual, homosexual, Christian, Hindu, Muslim etc.
If we examine ourselves in a logical and scientific manner, we will see that although the body and mind change over time, (every single cell in the body is eventually replaced in a period of 7 years) we remain the same observer. If you owed a debt to a person and were approached 40 years later could you say: "That is not me, that person who owes you money was young, I am old with gray hair."
So although every single cell in the body has changed, the same observer has remained in that vehicle. Therefore Krishna states, BG 2.13: "As the embodied soul continuously passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. A sober person is not bewildered by such a change." and BG 2.22: "As a person puts on new garments, giving up old ones, the soul similarly accepts new material bodies, giving up the old and useless ones."
So just like your car, you have to change out old parts for new ones, and eventually the vehicle cannot work anymore and for the body that is called death.
"Consciousness cannot be denied. A body without consciousness is a dead body. As soon as consciousness is removed from the body, the mouth will not speak, the eye will not see, nor the ears hear. A child can understand that. It is a fact that consciousness is absolutely necessary for the animation of the body. What is this consciousness? Just as heat or smoke are symptoms of fire, so consciousness is the symptom of the soul. The energy of the soul, or self, is produced in the shape of consciousness. Indeed, consciousness proves that the soul is present." -Beyond Birth and Death
one who is in full knowledge&who is always engaged in pure devotional service is the best.For I am very dear to him,&he is dear to Me BG7.17 [23:23:00]
Dallas Srimad Bhagavatam morning class schedule, Google calendar, http://bit.ly/crXR8t you can subscribe :) [00:54:42]
What does it mean to be truly humble? As devotees we speek every day about being humble, but do we take a moment to actually think what does that truely meen? In many ways we read, or resite so many words and phraises, we will quote one verse after another but how many times do we stop [...]
If Krishna is within every living entity and he knows and understands every person’s heart, how is it that he does not know what Srimati Radharani is feeling and so has to come as Caitanya Mahaprabhu to understand Her mood?
The reaction to the Gulf spill shows how addicted to oil we are. Although people are universally horrified, they react by trying to think of ways to more safely perpetuate oil drilling and the like.
Underneath this is a basic absence of commitment to solar and wind (and presumably electric transport). It used to be that people dismissed solar and wind as just too expensive, but wind has already shown that being cost-effective is not enough.
I believe the problem is the perception of solar and wind variability. At heart, people just do not believe we are saving many kWh by using solar and wind. I think in their hearts they fear that for every kWh of variable generation, something like that amount is being used to keep demand met – as spinning reserve, as something that is run inefficiently as back up during gaps.
I believe if we could rigorously make the statement that at various regional penetration rates, solar/wind offset a range of kWh per each kWh (say 90%, 70%, whatever it is), the case for solar and wind could be made more successfully. And I mean this without storage. Let’s find out how high the penetration rate has to get to require storage, given modern smart, responsive, well-designed grids.
I bet we could do away with gasoline for all light duty vehicles before we hit the limit (assuming we had electric transport). Remember, we only need about a third as much solar and wind electricity to do away with primary energy from oil to propel our vehicles. We need only 3.4 quads of electricity to replace 17 quads of oil used for moving all our light duty vehicles.
Normally people don’t notice this difference because they assume coal will be burned to make the electricity, which gets you back to almost 17 quads. But NO! we use solar and wind, where the electricity is the starting resource. Actually, the huge efficiency loss between oil and gasoline, about 80%, is often used against solar and wind, because oilmen make a big deal about how hard it is too replace oil. Sure, and it’s harder because they waste 80% of it (i.e., there is 5 times more energy drilled than moves your car). The huge amount of primary oil energy drilled becomes one more reason to stay paralyzed by the challenge.
3.4 quads of electricity is about 1000 TWh of electricity, which is only about 25% of today’s electricity. If added to our current demand, it would mean a 20% penetration of solar and wind, about what people feel very comfortable predicting as acceptable without making grid back-up for variability unwieldy.
Inspired by a few devotees who do some power walking- HH Bhakti Marg Swami walking worldwide, or Vaisesika Prabhu walking around Govardhan in Kartik, etc etc, I've been walking an exploring Toronto a bit more lately.
On Sunday Morning the cutest scene occurred that made my japa a bit more conscious. While passing the rail system tracks there was this lady watching her two year old stand close to the wire fence as he waited for the train to pass. As it did, he kinda did this funny little dance move in excitement. It was heart warming and also reminded me of how the gopis would sometimes gather around little Krsna and sing to him. Krsna would then move his little feet rhythmically and clap to the music.
On another walk, this boy about five years old remarked to his mom after passing me, " he's the most different out here, he's cool". His mom then tells him " he looks like a monk I think".
Dina Bhandu Prabhu explained on a tour through Vrindavan that Krsna would take notice of everything, and ask Nanda Maharaj or Mother Yasoda what it was. Krsna would ask, " mother, what type of tree is this? The leaves have tails." "It's a peeple tree", mother Yasoda would respond.
The material world is a realm where as we grow under the influence of time we become "adult"erated by the need to compete, lord it over or defend. The inhibition, and sense of wonder and marvel we displayed in childhood become covered by familiarity and contempt.We become obsessed with original sin, and forget original innocence.
As we learn about Krsna, and watch his devotees interact, a hope reawakens that one can grow up and not become adulterated; that one can marvel at the cosmic manifestation knowing that standing right behind or beside him is Krsna, the eternal father, friend, master, child or lover.
Ok, now walk time,
Saturday 22nd, December 2007. I woke up relatively early, considering we were up late for the show and kirtana. I chanted a little before slipping in for Gurupuja. The kirtana started off like any other but you could feel some mighty energy emanating. Quite soon, there was uncontrollable dancing. The dancing went on and on and became ever increasingly intense. My mind was struggling to keep up with the whole explosion of life. Exhaustion set in but that didn’t seem to stop us. We pushed on because we were tasting something much higher than the comforts and discomforts of the body. HH Indradyumna Swami was leading the kirtana, sometimes passing the lead off to one of his kirtana leaders (Tribuvanesvara Prabhu from Poland).
The kirtana was raging on strong. We would dance in formations and then dance off to the side to cool off. Uddhava even busted out a hand stand, throwing some break dancing into the mix. Indradyumna Swami picked up one young boy and spun him around. Everyone was touching the boy’s feet. Maharaja brought the kirtana down low to the ground. Our arms were stretching out high, looking to the ceiling. We were crying out to the Lord. The temple room was heating up like a sauna of excitement. HH Indradyumna Swami led the party outside, into the courtyard so we could cool down. We started dancing on the marble porch of Srila Prabhupada House (an adjacent building to the temple where Srila Prabhupada stayed). The devotees were dancing up and down the marble stretch in the chilly, Melbourne, morning summer breeze. Soon enough it was time to bring it back to the temple.
The kirtana still waged on. Maharaja would look at his watch with wide eyes, grab at the face of it and throw his hand into the air, indicating that we were just throwing the time away in ecstatic kirtana. The kirtana was still going up and down and up and down. Spontaneously Indradyumna Swami picked up Bhakta Adam and whirled him around. Bhakta Adam’s eyes were seaming with bliss. All of a sudden a small troupe of mischief makers picked up HH Indradyumna Swami and paraded him around the room. We all jumped in there to steal the mercy of his lotus feet, much to his embarrassment. After two and a half hours of kirtana, Maharaja finally brought it to an end. “That was the class” he said and that was the end of the morning program.
Still floating on the cloud of bliss till the middle of the day, I was wandering around looking for some transcendental engagements. I found Uddhava and Adam, pondering in the courtyard. “What are you boys up to?” I asked curiously. “We’re going to serve the tour devotees lunch” replied Uddhava, rather smugly. “Oh, can I come as well?” I didn’t sound so sure of my request but I thought it was a simple enough proposition. “Yeah sure, come along in about ten minutes time” they replied, so I did.
The devotees came in, with rather inspired looks on their faces. They knew they were ready for a serious feast. The yogis looked disappointed - they had to skip out to prepare for their night’s performance. Some of the devotees, mostly the Prabhus, laughed and joked in English while many of the Matajis spoke in languages unfamiliar to me. We served until they were fully satisfied and then took the service of cleaning up. It felt like a great honour to serve the dynamic troupe of Le Carnaval Spirituel, as they battled on with their preaching seva.
I joined the boys for yet another night of the show. The second time was even more impressive than the first. I looked in awe as Dina Dayal spun his sticks in a flurry of colour and metallic light. I gazed above his head and I was in terror! There was a chandelier above him and it was hanging dangerously close to the ends of his stick. I was praying to Krsna very intensely and could only watch as Dina Dayal did his majestic dance of fate. By Krsna’s arrangement nothing went wrong and the show went on for another smooth and blissful run. The kirtana exploded yet again, with whatever remaining energy we had from that morning.
We just came back yesterday from a most enlivening retreat with Bhurijana Prabhu and Jagattarini Mataji.
Mataji's topic for her seminar was: 'Going beyond time', dealing with Srila Rupa Goswami's transcendental and deep litteratures on the spiritual work.
Bhurijana Prabhu chose a lecture: '5 minutes with Srila Prabhupada in Mayapur' for his classes in which Srila Prabhupada stresses the importance of bhakti in our offerings to Lord Krishna.
Jagattarini Mataji had us taste the nectar of kunja-vihari astakam every morning while Bhurijana Prabhu concluded each night with his captivating lila-kirtan sessions.
Here's the slideshow.
Dear devotees and friends, Please accept my best wishes. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. We last wrote to you from Krasnoyarsk, at the end of our East Siberian tour for 2010, and now we have just completed our West Siberian tour, and I’m on my way to Lithuania for the annual Padayatra/Rathayatra festival there, organized by Krishna [...]
If we chant with conviction and focus, listening the words that come from our mouths...listening carefully to the sound of the mantra then that will be good attentive Japa. When we get this purification then we continue with this good quality Japa and the next round will be good or better than the last.
Good chanting produces more good chanting and so it increases but it takes the initial effort from ourselves to achieve this...it's our responsibility to take a step towards Krsna.
and why not print them to look like treasures as other religions do?
Lord Caitanya glorifies Madhavendra Puri
If Krishna is within every living entity and he knows and understands every person’s heart, how is it that he does not know what Srimati Radharani is feeling and so has to come as Caitanya Mahaprabhu to understand Her mood?
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario