Hare Krsna
Please accept my humble obeisance. All glories to Srila Prabhupada
Mark was taking Krsna consciousness as seriously as I was. We decided that we would make a final visit to Ron Lamerick and his followers, and we arrived to find a group meditation in progress. At the end of the meditation, when the people there opened their eyes and saw us, they were eager to know where we had been for the last weeks. Sometimes, when Ron was not present, Mark and I had led the sessions, so we were looked up to by the others. Now we began to tell them about the new process we were following- the chanting of Hare Krsna. We explained to them how chanting accomplished everything that this bogus meditation was supposed to, but which it in fact did not. Then we led a kirtana and got them all to join with us in the chanting, and after the chanting ended we distributed simply wonderfuls, inviting everyone to the Sunday feast at the temple.
Ron was obviously not pleased by our visit, but we did not care. Hearing Srila Prabhupada speak and reading theSrimad-Bhagavatam had within a short time made us more qualified than he to help these people. Although he was angry with us, I was unconcerned. Now I had found a real guru.
Many of the devotees were taking a keen interest in helping us to advance in Krsna consciousness. Both the brahmacaris and the householder men would preach to us, and sometimes, when we worked in the kitchen, the women would also give us instructions. There was only one problem. One of the women was spending too much of her time associating with us, especially with Mark. Her husband, Gargamuni, was naturally upset, as were all of the other devotees. The brahmacaris explained that according to the Vedic system, men and women are not to intermingle freely. Other than one's wife, all women should be seen as mother. Especially for brahmacaris, association with women was strictly forbidden-for a brahmacari to associate with women meant ultimately to court spiritual falldown.
The Krsna conscious view of sex life was a vast departure from American social mores, what to speak of those of Haight-Ashbury, where such traditions as marriage and "the family" were virtually scorned. Nevertheless, I tried to take seriously whatever I heard from the devotees. Perhaps Mark, who still maintained a friendly relationship with his wife and two children, could not see the point so clearly. But the real problem was Gargamuni's wife. She was in maya and was using our presence merely as an excuse to leave Krsna consciousness.
As the matter prolonged, the devotees became divided over whether we were actually sincere and being harassed by a loose woman or whether we were in fact demons inciting her to leave her husband. One evening, on an off night when Srila Prabhupada was not giving class, we went to attend darsana at his apartment. But at the door we were refused entry and told that Srila Prabhupada did not want us to come because of our activities. Although we did not know whether or not Srila Prabhupada had personally been involved with the matter, Mark was very disappointed. As far as I could gather, he had innocently associated with the woman only to hear about Krsna consciousness from her. I tried to encourage him by telling him that I had once read that the guru will test a student to see how sincere he is.
However, a few days later I became convinced that Prabhupada had indeed been informed of the matter and was not at all pleased. It was the appearance day of Lord Ramacandra, and Prabhupada, along with all of the devotees, was spending the entire day at the temple observing a fast. When Mark entered along with his wife, two children, and Gargamuni's wife, the scowl on Prabhupada's face plainly indicated his displeasure. Seeing this, I made it a point to sit far away from Mark, to avoid being identified with him.
Fortunately, Srila Prabhupada's mood quickly changed. He asked one of the devotees to hold up a large white board on which the words to a new chant had been written: Raghupati Raghava Raja Rama Patita-pavana Sita Rama. Prabhupada explained that these were all different names for Lord Ramacandra-the Lord of the Raghu dynasty, the ideal king, the deliverer of the most fallen, and the husband of the goddess of fortune Srila Prabhupada said. The devotees followed Prabhupada, chanting responsively, though at first hesitatingly, being unfamiliar with the new song. Gradually they chanted along easily and followed him as the melody ascended on the refrain of Sita Rama Jaya Sita Rama.
After the kirtana and Srila Prabhupada's lecture, the devotees sat in two long rows from the altar up to the front door. While Srila Prabhupada remained sitting on his vyasasana, a huge feast was distributed. I had brought with me my set of Srimad-Bhagavatam, which I hoped to have Srila Prabhupada sign. At the right moment, just as Srila Prabhupada finished respecting prasadam and had washed his hands, I walked over to the vyasasana and asked if he would autograph my Bhagavatam. Without a word, he took the first volume in hand and signed.
The signing of the Bhagavatam had great significance for me. It was the second personal exchange I had had with Srila Prabhupada, and I sensed that he had recognized me as the same person who had asked the question the night of the Unitarian Church meeting. I felt that my personal relationship with him was becoming established, that I was no longer just a casual member of the audience. I considered the Srimad-Bhagavatam to be the most valuable book I had ever read, and Prabhupada's signature made it still more valuable. More than simply signing my book, I felt that he was inscribing his name upon my heart, that he was my guru and I his disciple.
Mark and I were sitting in our small room when suddenly there was a loud knock at the door. To our surprise, Gargamuni entered, without invitation, obviously in an angry mood. The previous evening his wife had come to our residence looking for shelter. She complained that Gargamuni had broken her beads and thrown her down the stairs. Because she had nowhere else to go, we had let her spend the night in the front portion of the basement.
Gargamuni was very agitated. He explained that to associate with another's wife was directly against the scriptures and an offense to Krsna. He stated that the Vedas allow one who steals the wife of another man to be killed. He had always maintained his wife, working honestly, and his only interest was to serve his spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada. Why were we giving trouble to him and to ourselves as well? Frankly, he said, his wife was not worth it. She had never been much use, and now he wanted nothing further to do with her. Why should we get entangled with such a woman? We should take up Krsna consciousness seriously.
Mark explained to Gargamuni that there had been no intimate exchange between Gargamuni's wife and himself. Actually, all we wanted was to become devotees. The whole matter had gotten out of hand.
"Then don't have any more to do with her," was Gargamuni's reply. And with this he walked out.
Later, I found out that Gargamuni had had a knife in his pocket, and he had intended to attack Mark. Instead, however, he had ended up preaching to us. And his words had had effect: Mark decided that without further delay we should join the temple. I was a little taken by surprise. True, I had thought in terms of becoming Krsna conscious, but not this suddenly. When he saw my hesitation, he asked what was the use of putting off what I intended to do eventually. We both laughed. Within minutes we had packed all our belongings in duffel bags and had left the room to Gargamuni's wife, who had been hiding from her husband in the front of the basement. We walked down Frederick Street to the temple.
But the devotees did not welcome us in. Due to the incident involving Gargamuni's wife, we were considered mischievous persons, permitted to visit the temple but not to live there. The brahmacaris gave their judgment in unison: "Absolutely not!"
We had made the decision to surrender our lives, and yet we had not been accepted. What was the meaning? we wondered, and what to do next? In the morning we attended the temple as usual. Then after breakfast prasadam one of the brahmacaris approached me and explained that the devotees had discussed our joining and had reconsidered. We could move into the temple after all.
Biographies and Glorifications of Srila Prabhupada-Servant of the Servant-The West Coast Days-"Your Name Is Tamal Krishna"-Tamala Krsna Goswami
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