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Hare Krsna

Please accept my humble obeisance. All glories to Srila Prabhupada

"Krsna is situated in everyone's heart, and if one desires something, Krsna fulfills one's desire. If the living entity by chance or fortune comes in contact with the Krsna consciousness movement and wishes to associate with that movement, Krsna, who is situated in everyone's heart, gives him the chance to meet a bona fide spiritual master. This is called guru-krsna-prasada. Krsna is prepared to bestow His mercy upon all living entities, and as soon as a living entity desires the Lord's mercy, the Lord immediately gives him the opportunity to meet a bona fide spiritual master. Such a person is fortified by both Krsna and the spiritual master. He is helped from within by Krsna and from without by the spiritual master. Both are prepared to help the sincere living being become free from this material bondage." (Purport,Caitanya-caritamrta Madhya: 19:151)

Due to his association with the modes of material nature, the living entity falsely considers himself to be independent of God. He does not realize that there is nothing in existence besides the Supreme Lord and His energies. Rather, he chooses to maintain a separate vision, seeing everything only in relationship to himself. Under such illusion he tries to manipulate the material energy, and according to his success or failure feels himself relatively secure. Krsna, as the all-knowing Supersoul, does not interfere with the minute independence of the living entity. However, if someone desires the Lord's help, then the Lord, being the all-merciful well-wisher of everyone, immediately reciprocates by making the necessary arrangements for restoring that person's original Krsna consciousness.

Krsna-prasadam, food offered to Krsna, was an essential part of Srila Prabhupada's rehabilitation program. Whether it be a large Love Feast or just some cut pieces of fruit, no one visited the temple without receiving prasadam. Since that first Love Feast I had come on a number of occasions to take lunch at the temple. I began to find that whatever I prepared on my own seemed bland and unattractive in comparison with the FDIC recipes followed by the devotees, and it was at this point that Krsna made an arrangement to help me surrender.

The upstairs tenants, who were allowing me the use of their kitchen, decided that they were tired of being vegetarians, and after they began cooking meat again, I sensed that they felt my presence to be an intrusion on their privacy. With the loss of my cooking facilities, I was forced to come to the temple every morning for breakfast-a bowl of hot cereal with fresh fruit and milk. Once at the temple, I would stay for the rest of the morning, reading the Srimad-Bhagavatam or chanting on the large wooden japa beads made available to any guest who wished to chant for a while. All the devotees would engage in their various duties, and I was left alone with the entire temple room to myself. Sitting against the wall I would chant softly, fingering each bead, enjoying the peaceful atmosphere. Chanting japa was a wonderful experience. It brought to mind a book I had once read, Hesse's The Bead Game. It described the meeting in a far distant retreat of powerful, great-minded souls who by playing the bead game received the wisdom by which to guide the future of the world. Unfortunately, the author never revealed the secret of how to play the game. It was intriguing to think of whether such a game could actually exist. Now, chanting Hare Krsna on the one hundred eight beads of the japa-mala, I smiled. Had Hesse known about chanting?

  For myself, the chanting seemed to resolve all problems. I was amazed at how this could be so. The more I chanted, the more I found my mind freed from any doubts or uneasiness. I looked for a long time at the paintings of Prabhupada, his Guru Maharaja, and Radha and Krsna. In their presence I felt a happiness and security as never before-that this was where I belonged. As the days passed, I began to get to know the different devotees In exchange for taking my meals at the temple, they asked me to help by doing some service, and they engaged me in washing the cooking pots. My favourite pot was the largest of all, used for cooking the dal. The yellow split peas would be hardened onto the bottom in a thick crust, which required forceful scrubbing and even scraping to remove. But I enjoyed every minute of it, for the devotees had told me that by scrubbing Krsna's pots I was cleansing the dirt from my heart. Sometimes, when I had done the pots, I would help in cleaning the kitchen floor, and I was impressed at how much emphasis was given to keeping everything spotlessly clean.

Doing these services gave me an opportunity to associate intimately with the devotees and hear about Krsna consciousness from them. More and more, the temple was becoming my home, and I would return to my small room only to sleep at night. I acquired my own japa beads, and whenever I left the temple I would chant on the beads, feeling that they kept me connected with Krsna. Sometimes I would go to Golden Gate Park and sit in the bough of a tree chanting japa to the small, cardboard-framed photographs of Prabhupada, Bhaktisiddhanta, and Bhaktivinoda that the devotees had given me. I was beginning to appreciate that by chanting Hare Krsna, I could be Krsna conscious anywhere, at any time.

Apart from the regular evening classes, the devotees sometimes arranged outside engagements. These were aimed at audiences who, while open-minded, would not ordinarily come to the Haight-Ashbury district to hear a swami speak. Public schools and Unitarian churches seemed to be the most ready to invite Srila Prabhupada. On the nights that Prabhupada was not giving class, I would usually go back to my room, but one evening, hearing that Prabhupada would be speaking at a nearby Unitarian Church, I decided to attend. The church was large, with high arched ceilings-a very good facility-but the many rows of pews remained empty that evening. However, although only five or six persons came to hear him speak, Srila Prabhupada was not disturbed. With the devotees sitting on the floor in the area between the pews and altar, Prabhupada sat above them, on a raised area. Just as in the temple, he began by chanting the prayers to the disciplic succession and then led a long kirtana. I felt more closely identified with the devotees than with the few persons in the audience, and I sat nearby on the floor. After the kirtana, Prabhupada gave a lecture explaining the Krsna consciousness philosophy and the movement he had begun in America. When he called for questions, there was silence. The small audience had listened respectfully, but they did not seem interested enough to make any inquiry.

One doubt had been lingering in my mind. Seeing that Prabhupada was asking for questions, I thought that this would be a good opportunity. I raised my hand, and when he nodded in acknowledgement, I stood up and asked, "If someone takes to Krsna consciousness but is not completely successful-not perfect-what happens? What will be his fate?"

Prabhupada nodded his head, understanding my question. He seemed pleased with the opportunity to speak more about Krsna. He again explained that, as eternal spirit souls, we do not die at the time of passing away from our body. Unlike the body, which is only an external covering, consciousness is an actual extension of the soul. Krsna consciousness is our original, eternal conscious-ness, and it can never be lost. Once it is revived, it becomes a permanent asset. Whereas in the material world, unless one is one-hundred-percent successful, his business may fail, in Krsna consciousness whatever we do for Krsna is our success. Even one percent done in devotional service is never lost, and one will begin from the point of two percent in his next life.

Prabhupada was looking directly at me. Smiling, he asked, "Is that all right?" I was satisfied and thanked him for this reassurance. I had already tried so many paths and never persevered in any one of them. And despite all of my labour, what had I gained? I knew from years of experience that practicing any discipline was not easy. I was not sure if I could be successful in Krsna consciousness, and I wanted to be certain that by taking up the practice, I would not be left emptyhanded at the end.

As I later found out, Srila Prabhupada had appreciated my inquiry. It was the same question that Sri Arjuna had placed before the original spiritual master, Lord Sri Krsna. Now, five thousand years later, Srila Prabhupada had delivered to me the same knowledge Krsna had spoken to Arjuna, and which is recorded in the Sixth Chapter of the Bhagavad Gita. Hearing from Prabhupada had been as good as hearing from Krsna Himself because of Prabhupada's qualification as a pure devotee repeating without change the message received in disciplic succession from Krsna. On his way home from the meeting, Prabhupada had told his servant, "That boy will become a devotee" Srila Prabhupada said.  He had appreciated the sincerity of my question.

Biographies and Glorifications of Srila Prabhupada-Servant of the Servant-The West Coast Days-"Your Name Is Tamal Krishna"-Tamala Krsna Goswami