Jacksonville Art Walk

The very enthusiastic chanters, musicians, and dancers in our party inspired people to take part. I encountered many students from the local community college, but very few from University of North Florida, where we have programs. People took pictures of the devotees chanting and themselves and their friends with the devotees.

You can see how passersby were attracted by our chanting in this video (https://youtu.be/cu6qF5cO-HA):

First Friday in Tallahassee

Remembering previous good experiences chanting at First Friday, I encouraged my friends from Krishna House to go, and six of them did. Nama Kirtan Prabhu had not served prasadam at First Friday for a few months, but he decided to do so at the First Friday in December. We chanted near the prasadam serve out until there was a slow period, when I suggested we do a walking hariama around the circular Railroad Square. Christiana, who led the singing, offered shakers to people who were attracted, gave them mantra cards, and encouraged them to dance. Audrey and others assisted. It was incredible to see the openness of the people to take part and their joy in doing so. Audrey said it was the best harinamashe ever went on, and she was so glad she came. Special thanks to Carlos for playing the harmonium, Bali and Vaishnava for playing the drum, and Ricardo for playing the karatalas.

In this series of video clips, you can get a taste for what it was like (https://youtu.be/mda6aQ84dLs):

St. Augustine Christmas Parade

I remembered the rain, the speed of the procession and the good reception by the public from previous years at the St. Augustine Christmas Parade, but this year the rain and the speed surpassed my memories. I was happy that twelve of us came in the Krishna House van to join with the Alachua devotees, who arranged for our participation in the event. Christiana did such a good job dancing enthusiastically in the front of the procession that Mother Mukhya, Alachua temple president, mentioned her in the Sunday feast program announcements the next day. Audrey also did a good job dancing. I let the two young ladies go in front until I was disturbed by the great gap between our party and the float ahead of us, and then I went to the front of our party, hoping to inspire the devotees to reduce the gap. Although I moved as fast as I could, dancing and proceeding forward at the same time, it was very difficult to bridge the gap. I was amazed that the other devotees did not make much endeavor to reduce the gap very much, even the ladies half my age, for whom walking quickly was not difficult. When we got to the center of town, fortunately for us, the procession slowed down, and everyone was able to catch up. Mother Akuti got some of the onlookers who seemed a little favorable to play the tambourine, and Christiana got a few people to dance. We were definitely the most lively and interactive group in the parade. Our float was a Ratha-yatra cart, but it was pulled by a vehicle instead of by the devotees, which lost some of the charm of the experience. Also the vehicle blocked our vision of the deities, a frustration. Apparently the city officials prefer we use a cart pulled by a vehicle rather than people so as it keep the parade moving at a brisk pace. Ironically, even with the vehicle pulling the cart, we could not keep up. Still it was a great event with many devotees participating, and lots of people were happy to see the devotees in the parade.

Mostly I was dancing, but I took a little video of our participation in the parade (https://youtu.be/39JH6BkBlfM):

Chanting Hare Krishna at Krishna Lunch

Prahladananda Swami is almost always willing to go on at least one harinamawherever he goes. He chanted with us at Krishna Lunch one day during his visit (https://youtu.be/RCoOaQfRg30):

Saci, who has played in the Vrindavan 24-hour Kirtana and who now travels and plays drum for B. B. Govinda Swami, came twice to Krishna Lunch, leading the chanting of Hare Krishna on December 9 and 11 (https://youtu.be/vDnkIyadNms):

Yadubara Prabhu, the photographer and movie maker, whose daughter Hari Priya is a regular singer at Krishna Lunch, led the chanting of Hare Krishna on December 10 (https://youtu.be/s4oPhoxSfT8):

Purusartha Prabhu leads the chanting of Hare Krishna several times a month, when he is in the area. He also brings good musicians and good instruments. Here he sings on December 11 (https://youtu.be/q-lRImk3ajM):

Sometimes during the Christmas season, devotees chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra to the tune of “Jingle Bells”, a popular Christmas carole, as Dhamesvara Mahaprabhu das Prabhu does here (https://youtu.be/4_sLhsmtCbw):

As the semester came to an end, we stopped serving Krishna Lunch at the campus, but we continued at Krishna House for another few days.

I encouraged the devotees to go out and sing on the campus and remind passersby that we would still serving Krishna Lunch at our place, and some of us did.

We had a book table with free cookies along with the chanting party.

“In distributing love of Godhead, Caitanya Mahaprabhu and His associates did not consider who was a fit candidate and who was not, nor where such distribution should or should not take place. They made no conditions. Wherever they got the opportunity, the members of the Pañca-tattva distributed love of Godhead.” (Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Adi-lila 7.23)

Source: http://m.dandavats.com/?p=18374

Today everyone is in the quest for happiness. Looking for it, hankering for it, yearning for it. But the irony is that people are looking for it in the wrong places. We do not know what will make us happy and how to achieve that state.

 

A little child wants to walk, but first the child has to learn to crawl. Do you remember when you were learning to crawl? It was very difficult. When you had finally learned to crawl you saw everyone around you walking, and you wanted to be like them!

 

So you tried to walk, and your father, your mother held your finger. You fell down. Every time you tried to walk you kept falling down. But through the process of practice you gradually developed the strength and the wisdom to walk. And now how many of you think about it when you are walking? This is absolutely natural! But to come to that natural spontaneous state of walking, you actually took a lot of failed attempts. But you didn’t give up?

 

So similarly, we chant the holy names, we try to live a spiritually devotional life, and it may be difficult at times.

 

But if we just keep trying sincerely, and try to associate with people and read sacred books that give us strength, then gradually wisdom and realization will come. And then spiritual life is just like walking. It becomes natural to us.

 

The reason the child is able to learn to walk is because the ability is inherent within him or her. If the ability to walk was not inherent within the child it would never be able to learn walking. But through practice we develop our inherent abilities. And that is the way of spiritual life too. To become peaceful and happy and to take shelter of the holy name even amid trying circumstances is actually inherent within the soul. But it takes practice. And along with practice, two qualities are very important: perseverance and patience. We must be enthused to persevere. But it may take some time. So we must persevere with patience. By following this timeless wisdom, we will certainly be able to perfect the art of being happy.

“He reasons ill who tells that Vaishnavas die,When thou art living still in sound! 
The Vaishnavas die to live, and living tryTo spread the holy name around!”

By Sutapa Das,
Communication Incharge
ISKCON Mangalore
Karnataka.

Hare Krishna

All Glories to Srila Prabhupada

Srila Prabhupäda’s vision for spreading the Sankirtana Mission of Sri Caitanya Mahäprabhu encompassed four principles, or four waves, which he coined as the four-fold Gandhi movements in his 1949 letter to the Honorable Sardar Dr. Vallavbhajee Patel, the Deputy Prime Minister to the Government of India in New Delhi. If one closely looks at how Srila Prabhupäda developed his International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) established ten years later in 1966, these same four principles were introduced during the following eleven years of Srila Prabhupäda’s physical presence. (excerpts from Make Vrindavan villages). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJjIQb5jrtk

1. Sankirtana Movement : Introduced by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu In the form of Congregational chanting of Hare Krishna Mahamantra and distribution of spiritual literature.

2. Temple Worship Movement: By making temples all around the world and worshipping Lord Krishna with transcendental love and devotion in deity form.

3. Spiritual Initiation Movement: This includes formal initiation of devotees in the chain of disciplic succession.

4. Classless Society Movement: The fourth item is to organize the much discussed caste system as a solution of natural division of the human beings all over the world.

To commemorate this great event and following on the lines of Sankirtana movement, ISKCON Mangalorecelebrated ISKCON’S Golden Jubilee festival in 2 broad realms:

• Kirtan festival : At Panambur beach, Mangalore on January 3rd, 2016 in midst of mother nature and blessings of many senior Vaishnavas. The program was graced by His Holiness Indradyumna Swami(USA), HG Haripada Prabhuji and his good wife HG Phalini mataji(USA), HG Ekalavya prabhu, HG Patri prabhu(Russia) and many other devotees. Hundreds of devotees and thousands of visitors relished the mesmerizing and sublime chanting of Hare Krishna Mahamantra.

• Distribution of Spiritual literature: More than 1500 Bhagavad Gita and many other small books were distributed in various schools of Mangalore in the month of December.

Finally the president of ISKCON Mangalore, HG Sriram prabhu gave vote of thanks to all the devotee for their incredible service in making this program a great success. Jai Srila Prabhupada

Your servant

Sutapa Das

IYF Coordinator and communication incharge

ISKCON Mangalore, Jagannath Mandir, KUDUPU

For more photos, visit: https://www.facebook.com/iyf.jagannathmandirmangalore/media_set?set=a.542674815889508.1073741859.100004409826785&type=3

Diary of a Traveling Preacher

Volume 8, Chapter 4

March 16 – April 16, 2007

By Indradyumna Swami

As a devotee grows older, he becomes more and more aware, by the grace of the Lord, that his life is coming to a close and his time to achieve perfection in Krsna consciousness is running out.

Sometimes the signs come in disconcerting ways. A few months ago several of my disciples approached me and asked if I would tell the history of each of the salagram silas on my altar.

“Perhaps another day,” I replied.

“But Guru Maharaja,” said a woman disciple, “you’re the only one who knows the unique story behind each sila. And you’re getting older … ”

She didn’t finish the sentence. There was no need. Old age implies that things are winding down and coming to an end.

Another sign is the gradual departure of friends and loved ones as we cross the threshold of 50 years, the beginning of old age according to Vedic culture. With the passage of time their departures are more frequent and less surprising. Jayadvaita Maharaja has written:

“That’s how it is. You watch your friends go, one by one. Then those who are left watch you go.”

Of course, as devotees we have been studying and discussing these facts of life since the day we joined the movement. But somehow, they take on a different perspective as our own bodies age.

If we are prepared to leave, as we should be, we have nothing to fear. Krsna assures us in Bhagavad-gita:

dehi nityam avadhyo yam dehe sarvasya bharata tasmat sarvani bhutani na tvam socitum arhasi

“O descendent of Bharata, he who dwells in the body can never be slain. Therefore you need not grieve for any living being.”

[Bhagavad-gita 2.30]

But the difference between theoretical knowledge and realization is vast. In order to bridge that gap the Lord sometimes accelerates a devotee’s progress by putting him through an ordeal, causing the devotee to become more serious in his spiritual life. By the Lord’s grace, I had such an experience upon my return to Durban, South Africa, at the beginning of April.

I had been complaining of pains in my upper back for some time, so a doctor and devotee friend of mine, Sunil Mohan das, had arranged an appointment for me with an osteopath. As I sat patiently on the examination table, the doctor ran his hand down my spine from behind. Suddenly, he stopped and gasped.

“Sunil,” he said, trying to mask his concern with a calm voice, “please come here.”

Sunil went around the table, and the two of them spoke quietly, but their hushed conversation let me know that there was a problem.

“Did you find something?” I finally said.

“Maybe,” Sunil replied. They then stepped into the next room.

As I strained to hear their conversation, I suddenly heard the word “melanoma.”

I broke into a cold sweat. I knew that melanoma is one of the most dangerous and aggressive forms of skin cancer. Last year my Godbrother, HH Bhakti Tirtha Maharaja, passed away from it. If caught in the initial stages it can be cured, but if left undetected it leaves little chance for survival.

“Excuse me doctors,” I said loudly, “did I hear you say melanoma?”

There was silence for a moment, and then Sunil came back into the room. “Yes, Maharaja,” he said. “There’s a dark, raised mole on your back with irregular borders. It’s not a good sign. But don’t worry. We can’t conclude anything until we send it in for a lab test.”

In the next room I could hear the osteopath talking on the phone to a dermatologist. “Come quickly,” he said. “It looks serious.”

In five minutes the specialist arrived. “It’s here,” said the osteopath as he showed the dermatologist the mole.

“Yes, I see,” said the dermatologist in a grave voice. He then injected me with a local anesthetic and removed the mole. He finished the job with four stitches and then held up the mole for the others to see.

All three remained silent. My apprehension increased.

“Let’s not come to any conclusions until we have the lab results,” Sunil said. “It may well turn out to be benign.”

“And if not?” I asked.

He paused. “In that case we’d have to begin chemotherapy or radiation immediately,” he said soberly. “But we’ll have to wait a couple days for the result. The lab is closed now and won’t open until Monday.”

On the way back to the temple I was immersed in thought. Suddenly everything in my life paled in comparison with the stark reality in front of me.

“Could this be the beginning of the end?” I thought. I was momentarily stunned.

Then I caught myself. “This is what all the training’s for,” I told myself. “It shouldn’t come as a surprise.”

But it was indeed a surprise, despite all the classes I’d heard on leaving this world and the many that I had given as well.

I continued reflecting for a long time. “Of course, we have to wait for the lab results as Sunil said,” I thought, “but because they all showed so much concern, I’d better prepare myself for the worst.”

When I arrived at the temple, some devotees were waiting to see me outside my room. I didn’t feel like meeting with anyone, so I excused myself, went into the room, and locked the door.

“I wish I’d done more for my spiritual master,” I blurted out as I sat on my bed. “There were days I wasted so much time. And why didn’t I ever go deep into my sadhana, like many of my Godbrothers?”

I picked up my beads and started chanting with determination. Then I paused. “Well,” I said to myself, “are you finally going to start chanting with resolve?”

I looked down. “And?” I said softly. “And where will I go if I die? Back to Godhead?”

I glanced at my Radha-Krsna Deities on the altar. I got off the bed and sat in front of them.

“My Lord,” I prayed, “if it turns out I have a terminal disease and I have to take birth again, please let it be in the home of your devotee. And bless me that I can continue on the path of strict renunciation while always engaged in your loving service.”

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. It was Swarup Damodar, president of the Durban temple. He asked me if I wanted something to eat, but I had no appetite.

That night I tossed and turned. At one point I woke up thinking I had dreamed the events of the previous day. Then I realized it wasn’t a dream. I could not go back to sleep, so I got up and decided I would begin preparing a letter for my disciples and friends.

But first I wanted to write a letter to the GBC asking permission to accept initiation as a babaji and retire to Vrindavan to leave my body. It was not unprecedented. In 1975, Srila Prabhupada gave babaji initiation to my Godbrother, Audolomi das, who had been diagnosed with a terminal illness.

I also wanted to leave this world with no material possessions or designations. In this age the order of sannyasa involves dovetailing much of the material energy in preaching. It also carries with it prestige and honor. Although these assets are useful for service, they always pose a danger for a transcendentalist. When I die, I want to live out the last few months with nothing but the holy name. A babaji owns only the bare necessities of life, and his final service is chanting the holy names.

As Srila Prabhupada said at Audolomi’s babaji initiation:

“Sannyasa has got four stages: kuticaka, bahudaka, parivrajakacarya and paramahamsa. Parivrajakacarya, he travels all over the world. And after that, when he is fully mature, he can chant in one place Hare Krsna. He has no more business. So this is the last stage of mature sannyasa. But because you are thinking that you may not live many years, so you simply sit down, go to Mayapur. You have no other business. Simply go on chanting Hare Krsna mantra, and whatever little prasadam available, you take. And the rest of your life, simply engage in chanting. [Your name is] Audolomi das Babaji … so this is the first time in our institution: a babaji.”

[Lecture, Chicago, July 11, 1975]

After a few paragraphs, I decided to stop writing until Monday, when it would be confirmed whether I had melanoma or not. To continue with the letters would seem like a confirmation of the disease.

The next day I kept myself busy. I found that if I was idle even for a moment, my mind became disturbed speculating on the laboratory results.

That night, I again tossed and turned in my sleep. At 1:00 AM I got up and started chanting japa.

“This is what brought me to Krsna consciousness,” I thought. “This is what has maintained me all these years, and this is what will deliver me.”

I thought about my instructions to my disciple Vraja Lila dasi in Vrindavan as she gradually succumbed to leukemia. “Get into the fast lane,” I told her. Those words now echoed in my mind.

Sunday morning I kept busy again, but towards midday I called Sunil Mohan.

“Sunil,” I said, “I know the lab doesn’t open until tomorrow, but is there any way we can get the test done earlier? It’s very difficult waiting like this.”

He paused for a moment. “Let me see, Maharaja,” he said. “I’ll get right back to you.”

Ten minutes later he called back. “Okay, Maharaja,” he said. “I’ve asked one of the girls from the lab to go in and work on it. We’ll have the results by this afternoon.”

“Thank you,” I said.

In the afternoon I went for a walk in a local park, once again pondering the prospect of death.

“But what if the results show I don’t have the disease?” I suddenly thought, allowing a glimmer of hope I hadn’t considered. I stopped walking.

“If that were the case,” I said to myself, “I would wake up every day grateful for another chance to serve my spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada. And I’d redouble my efforts to assist him in spreading the glories of the holy names all over the world.

“And I’d take advantage of every spare moment to go deeper into chanting the holy names myself. And I’d read more. Every day, I’d drink the nectar of the Bhagavatam, and all the books left by our previous acaryas.”

I paused. “And I’d also try to become a lover of Krsna before I die,” I said.

Then I remembered the doctors’ reaction upon discovering the mole. “Better not get my hopes too high,” I concluded with a touch of hopelessness.

I continued walking. Fifteen minutes later my cell phone rang. From the number on the screen I could see it was Sunil Mohan. I hesitated to answer. Whatever was the report, I knew my life would never be the same again.

I let the phone ring a few more times, and then I answered.

“Hello, Maharaja, this is Sunil Mohan.”

“Hare Krsna, Sunil.”

“Maharaja, I have results of the lab test on that mole,” he said.

Then there was a long pause. Resigning myself to the worst, I took a deep breath and waited.

“Excuse me,” he said, “I just dropped the paper and had to pick it up. Maharaja, it’s okay. There’s no melanoma. It was just an ordinary mole that somehow became agitated. There’s no problem whatsoever.”

I was speechless.

“Hello?” Sunil said. “Maharaja, did you hear what I said?”

“Yes, I did,” I said. “Thank you.”

“I’m sorry if we caused you any worry,” he continued, “but we couldn’t take any chances.”

“Yes,” I said, “I understand. You did the right thing.”

“Okay, Maharaja. See you tomorrow.”

“Hare Krsna,” I said.

I put my cell phone in my pocket and went to sit under a tree. I joined my palms and began to pray. “Thank you, Lord,” I said. “Thank you for giving me a second chance.”

I shook my head. “It’s amazing,” I continued. “There was never any real danger at all. Yet somehow I feel that You’ve given me another chance.”

I looked up. “Sometimes it’s hard to understand Your plan,” I said.

I reflected for a moment. “My Lord,” I said, “I know that one day a lab report will come back with news of my demise or that one day a fatal accident will befall me. Therefore, I beg You, help me remember all the valuable lessons I’ve learned during the past two days.”

When I arrived back at the temple, the devotees were lined up waiting to see me.

“It’s nice to see you happy, Maharaja,” a devotee remarked. “You looked a little down the past couple of days.”

“Did I?” I said. “Well I’m all right now.”

“How’s that?” he asked.

“I got a second chance,” I replied with a smile.

Srila Prabhupada said:

“So those who have taken to Krsna consciousness, it is a chance. You had previously some advantage of executing this Krsna consciousness. Somehow or other, you could not. So Krsna has given another chance. Don’t miss this chance. Make it complete. Make it complete and go to Vaikuntha or Krsnaloka. We should always pray to Krsna that, ‘Krsna, You have given this chance. Please have your grace upon me [so] I may not miss it. By maya’s influence I may not miss it. You have given me so great chance.’ This should be our business.”

[Lecture, Tokyo, April 27, 1972]

indradyumna.swami@pamho.net www.traveling-preacher.com Official website for Diary of a Traveling Preacher

Source: http://m.dandavats.com/?p=18327

Becoming One!
“Friday, 7 April 1972 - Melbourne Temple, 14 Burnett Street, St. Kilda
Although Prabhupada took it as his primary business to work solidly on his writing, he was generally always available to talk to guests. But whenever someone would come to see him, he wouldn’t waste time - he talked philosophy and logic. He constantly argued against atheism and impersonalism and, to prove the existence of God and the universality of Krsna consciousness, he often spoke strongly.
Later in the morning, he was visited by a group of followers of the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The spokesperson of the group, the manager of a well-known Melbourne vegetarian restaurant, seemed preoccupied with the concept of merging into the Absolute.
With impeccable logic, Srila Prabhupada patiently explained that the concept of merging was not only unappealing, but also particularly impractical.
"You are all individuals. Every one of us is individual. So how [can] you conceive of merging? Suppose, just like we are here - one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. How we can merge? You just study philosophy. We are here, eight persons. How we can merge into one? Have you got any idea how we can merge? These eight persons, how we can merge into one?”
“To realise ourselves.”
“Well, if suppose you have realised, now, how to merge?”
“In realisation, there is that. In realisation there is merging.”
Prabhupada shook his head. He held up his right hand, his fingers extended. “Now, there are five fingers, one, two, three, four, five. How they can merge into one?”
“By realising this.”
Prabhupada patiently repeated his example. “No. These are five fingers - one, two, three, four, five. So these … there are different, five fingers. How they can merge into one? What is the process?”
“The name of the process?”
“No. Name or not name, how these five fingers can become merged into one? Tell me.”
Prabhupada answered his own question. He reached down and touched the microphone that was sitting on his desk. “Just like here is a thing. All the five fingers capture it.” He picked up the microphone with his fingers. “It becomes one. Although they are five - one, two, three, four, five - they are one.”
“Becomes one?”
“Yes. If the interest is one - to capture this - then it is one.”
Srila Prabhupada replaced the microphone on the table. “That means you cannot lose your individuality. But if your interest is one, then you merge into. Do you understand? Just like you are all Australian. How do you merge into the Australian conception? Because as Australian, you have one interest. So individuality cannot be killed. That is not possible. You are all individual. But when you make your interest one, then you merge into that thing.
"Your personality is different from his. His personality is different from him. He is different from you. But because you have got one interest, therefore you [are] one. Just like us. We are so many individuals. But our interest is Krsna. Therefore we are one.” “
From "The Great Transcendental Adventure” by Kurma dasa

Source: http://m.dandavats.com/?p=18333

New Raman Reti: Vegetable Gardens in the Winter.
Dvarkadisa das: For those of us from up north growing vegetables in the winter takes some mental adjustment. For Janamejaya das and Sanka das it’s part of the program. The produce they produce on the farm throughout the year is all for the Deities’ pleasure. It is used for Deity offerings, the devotee lunch at the temple, Sunday Feasts, and occasionally for the Santa Fe College Krishna Lunch program. It is never for sale.
Of course, the winter rotation calls for different crops. Right now various kinds of lettuce lead the way—Iceberg, Romaine, Bib and a Spring Mix. Kale, collards and cabbage are also being harvested. Broccoli and more cabbage are being put into trays for the spring planting, and tomatoes and flowers will follow around the first of February. According to Janamejaya das, the deer have been more curious and less of a nuisance during the fall than they were in the summer. Still, part of the plans for the gardens is to raise the fences from a height of six feet to eight.
The gardens at the temple are an easy place to see devotional service in action. The service is done directly for the pleasure of our Deities and the devotees. It takes patience, perseverance, detachment, humility and dependence on Krishna. Devotees who have some interest in gardening and might want some advice, can feel free to ask Janamejaya das (if he doesn’t have some chores to do). If anyone wants to help directly a large bag of Cottonseed Meal would be appreciated, (available at Alachua Farm & Lumber), which will be mixed with various crushed rocks to amend the soil and support healthier plants.

Source: http://m.dandavats.com/?p=18331

Preparing Ourselves Spiritually. 
Question: How can an aspiring spiritual practitioner prepare for something disastrous that can happen at any moment, and how can he or she tackle the situation of uncertainty?
Radhanath Swami: Our whole life should be prepared for each moment. If we have a strong foundation, when a storm comes you will have strength. If we have the wisdom and intelligence that is coming from hearing the great scriptures like Bhagavad Gita, Srimad Bhagavatam, and Chaitanya Charitamrita, if we are properly nourished with philosophy and if we are chanting the holy names properly and not committing offense to others, we get spiritual strength and intelligence, and then when these moments come we will be prepared.
If we are not prepared when the moment comes it is just like….when I was in Vrindavan, India, in 1971, there was a war between Pakistan and India. At night everyone was told to stay inside; they would cut out all electricity for the whole of Vrindavan, and if you had a candle or something you had to put a black covering over your window. The idea is that when the enemy planes come over and when they see light they will bomb. There was preparation. If you know that you are going to be attacked then you have to prepare yourself to be safe. It is not that just do anything you want and it does not matter.
So we know that maya (illusion) is going to attack. Definitely, she will attack you every day in so many ways from within and without. So we should prepare ourselves. We prepare ourselves by chanting attentively, hearing Srimad Bhagavatam, avoiding offenses to others, sincerity of our prayers of feeling helpless and crying out for Krishna’s mercy. Then when the storms come and the attacks come, we have some preparation.

Source: http://m.dandavats.com/?p=18337

Happiness that is unending, increasing, interesting, and pure: Is it possible?

By HG Urmila Devi Dasi

Can one find happiness in this world? For most of us what we call “happiness” is the temporary mitigation of distress, or sadness. Without sadness, there is practically no meaning to happiness in a material conception of life.

First, all that we term “happiness” depends on some sort of prior suffering. We enjoy eating because we feel the pain of hunger; without any hunger or appetite, eating will bring us no pleasure, no matter how tasty and well prepared the food. We find pleasure in sleep due to the distress of fatigue; a child who isn’t tired will be told to “go to bed” as a punishment–not a reward. Sex is pleasurable because of the urgency of lust. Those who wish to increase their sexual pleasure therefore also desire to increase their lust. On the emotional level as well, company is meaningful when we have experienced loneliness. If we examine any type of material pleasure, we will find that the experience is enjoyable only in proportion to the amount of pain it alleviates. If there is no prior pain, the so-called pleasure will be meaningless or even perceived as distress also. On a full stomach, more food is painful, and to a well-rested person time in bed is an irritation. “Happiness” can therefore be defined as the temporary absence or mitigation of pain.

We need to have the lack of pleasure to experience pleasure for yet another reason than definition. Pleasure in this world diminishes with experience. If we eat our favorite food–say pizza–for breakfast, lunch, and dinner–in a few days, or certainly weeks, we will not only cease to gain happiness from it but will, in fact, abhor it. One who is constantly surrounded by even good friends will gradually cease to enjoy their company and will desire some time alone. All material pleasures, therefore, demand a “break” from them in order to experience their absence. This cycle is termed in Sanskrit as “bhoga-tyaga” or enjoyment and then renunciation of that enjoyment.

The cycle of enjoyment and renunciation of that enjoyment is seen in our patterns of work and vacation, eating and not eating, and so forth. There is simply not one type of pleasurable activity that will continue to give the same kind and degree of happiness continuously–there must be times of abstention in order to revive the original thrill. Even with breaks, the pleasure tends to diminish unless there is some time of prolonged or intense depravation of the happiness.

However, the type of happiness described above is not the only type in existence. Evidence for the fact that another type of happiness exists is there in the fact that we humans desire happiness that doesn’t require distance from it and is not based on suffering. We write and sing and dream of a happiness that will go on forever, increasing in intensity and pleasure with no concomitant suffering at all. Our love songs are full of promises of eternal bliss that grows by the hour, and we imagine that as we progress through life, gathering education, family, money, and various items and accomplishments, that our sense of satisfaction and happiness will grow.

Why do we desire a never-ending, ever-increasing happiness, a happiness not dependent on any experience of sadness, in a world that doesn’t seem to afford such a phenomenon? In other words, if such happiness doesn’t exist, why would anyone look for it?

The answer is that we are not of this world, but rather, are eternal spiritual beings unnaturally encased in a body of matter in a world of matter. We have as our spiritual heritage varieties of loving exchange with the Lord, exchanges that are, indeed, full of ever-expanding ecstasy which continues forever without a tinge of suffering. We search for and glorify such a state because it is our nature, although not visible here. Just as a forest dwelling animal in a desert will crave shade and water, though some desert animals can do without either (some animals get all their water from the plants they eat) so we spiritual beings crave the happiness that is our birthright in this land that conspicuously lacks it.

Of course, with our experience of happiness that is fleeting and dependent on sadness, some have concluded that all types of happiness will be boring and dull without periods of either lack or distress. They cannot imagine, however much they may want it on some level, that a world which is perpetually happy would be able to exist or be interesting. They consider the talk of spiritual happiness either a myth or to imply something insipid.

Actually, however, there are many saintly persons who describe spiritual happiness as dynamic and variegated. This happiness is based on an individual loving relationship with a personal yet unlimited Lord, Sri Krishna, who reciprocates with each devotee in an inexhaustible array of ways, in an endless variety of transcendent activities. In fact, there are many types of spiritual bliss, some of which appear externally to be what we would consider suffering–fear, grief, anxiety, and so on. Because of the similarity in superficial appearance between these advanced stages of ecstasy and material suffering, many of the most elevated activities of the Lord and His devotees are subject to misunderstanding because of our projection of material experience.

But don’t we have experience of different varieties of the same material happiness? For example, one can eat many flavors of ice cream. Pistachio ice cream is quite different from butter pecan, which is radically different from strawberry. And when one combines the various flavors with toppings, there are so many ways to enjoy ice cream. The variety of spiritual pleasure is something like those ice cream flavors and toppings.

Types of pleasure in love of God can also be somewhat understood if we examine ways that people try to be happy within material life. It is not at all unusual for people to pay for movies and books which they know will make them frightened or sad or even horrified. Somehow, in those emotions we generally associate with a lack of happiness, they find some sense of pleasure. Truly, their pleasure is not in those “negative” emotions themselves but simply in a forgetting of their own life’s difficulties or in the sense of a great rush of feeling, no matter what the type.

Yet, however misguided and unfortunate the search for happiness that drives one to see, for example, a gristly horror movie, the point is that there are a great diversity of ways in which even materialistic people seek happiness. Why should spiritual happiness be devoid of such variation? In fact, because the material is a reflection or shadow of the spiritual, spiritual happiness has far more permutations and nuances, all of which dynamically increase the thrill of those who love the Lord. Indeed, love of Krishna, even in this world, can bring us to a life that is a thrill at every moment, and where sadness has no definition or trace.

Today is Makara-sankranti, the date of the opening of Sri Sri Radha-Rasabihari’s temple and cultural complex at Hare Krishna Land, Juhu, Mumbai. The following is adapted from a talk by Radhanath
Swami.

I am grateful and honored and happy to be with all of you this evening. This event is traditionally held on Republic Day, and one of the reasons Republic Day is remembered and celebrated is the challenges, the sacrifices, even the sufferings that people had to endure for India’s independence.

As much as anywhere in the world, the place where Srila Prabhupada was challenged and had to make tremendous sacrifices was in Juhu, to build a home for Sri Sri Radha-Rasabihari. In those days the site was kind of a swamp that was so far from the city that devotees couldn’t understand why Srila Prabhupada had chosen it for a temple. In New York the temple was in the Lower East Side, in the middle of the city, and the second temple, in San Francisco, was right in the middle of Haight Ashbury. In London the temple was just a few blocks from the British Museum. A temple was usually in the middle of a city, and then, if there was going to be something a distance from there, a satellite project would be established in the countryside. But in Bombay Srila Prabhupada wanted to build the temple in a place that seemed far away, and most of his followers couldn’t understand.

But the types of faith that Srila Prabhupada demonstrated and the struggles he endured over many years were extraordinary. He was in his mid-seventies. He didn’t have money, he had only a few followers from the West, who really didn’t know that much about dealing with situations in India, and the odds against him were insurmountable—powerful parties trying to cheat him, exploit him, and stop the progress. But Srila Prabhupada promised Radha-Rasabihari that he would build them a temple in Juhu. They were in a crude hut on this swampy land, with mosquitoes and rats and snakes and many antagonistic neighbors, but even when everything seemed hopeless, Srila Prabhupada had total faith: “I made this promise to Krishna, and it will be fulfilled.”

It was impossible by all material calculation, but when someone tried to tell Prabhupada that something was impossible, he would say, “Impossible is a word in a fool’s dictionary.” He wasn’t seeing it from the perspective of material ability, and by the grace of Krishna everything was possible.

The opening of the temple and the installation of the deities also happened in January, Makara-sankranti time. So this is like Republic Day for Radha-Rasabihari. And it’s a special day for us to remember Srila Prabhupada’s sacrifice, faith, and compassion, and all those who were at his side, helping.

The person who was at Srila Prabhupada’s side more than anyone else throughout those years—from the beginning till the glorious conclusion—was His Holiness Giriraj Swami Maharaja. He is now in the process of writing a book about that era of Srila Prabhupada’s devotional service and the pastimes of Sri Sri Radha-Rasabihari. He not only witnessed what took place; he was a crucial part of it. So of all the people living in the world today, there is no one more suitable and more empowered to share the story of the Juhu temple, which is truly an important story.

Srimad-Bhagavatam is the literary incarnation of Krishna. But up until the tenth canto, most of its stories focus on the devotees and culminate in their relationship with Krishna. Ambarisa Maharaja, Dhruva Maharaja, Prahlada Maharaja, Pariksit Maharaja, Rantideva, the Pracetas, the Vrajavasis. Mahajano yena gatah sa panthah. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu cited this verse from sastra, that the goal and essence of all the scriptures of the world cannot be understood through study alone. Neither can it be understood and realized by our sacrifices, our tapasya, or our charities. The true path is mahajano yena gatah sa panthah, to follow in the footsteps of great souls, through their prayers, through their teachings, and through how they applied them to their lives, in both sunny and stormy weather.

This book that His Holiness Giriraj Swami Maharaja is writing is going to tell about our beloved paramahamsa acarya Srila Prabhupada—about his personal, intimate, loving relationship with Radha-Rasabihari and how in service to Them through all the challenges he was courageous, he was fearless, even when he was going against governments. His success wasn’t due to his physical strength or mental intellectual abilities; it was because he surrendered completely to the grace of Krishna—everything comes from that. It is an important story for the world, for all time. My humble request is that we all do everything we can to help Giriraj Maharaja complete this book. Hare Krishna.

[Adapted from a talk by Radhanath Swami, January 31, 2015, Juhu, Mumbai]

Source: http://www.girirajswami.com/?p=10554