NEWSLETTER of HIS HOLINESS TAMAL KRISHNA GOSWAMI (referred to as Srila Gurudeva)
First sent out on August 21, 2000
(Srila Gurudeva just returned from his trip to New Vraja Dhama, Hungary for Janmastami & Prabhupada's Vyasa-puja. We will present transcripts of his talks in the future. What follows is a newsletter that went out by email just before Janmastami. Sorry for the delay)

Since returning from his preaching tour of parts of the Far East in early July, Srila Gurudeva has gotten very absorbed in writing his Ph.D. dissertation again and has not ventured outside of Cambridge much. On Sunday July 23, however, he was invited by His Holiness Sivarama Swami to join in an ecstatic Sunday kirtan program at the Bhaktivedanta Manor near London. The chanting went from about 5 p.m. until 9 p.m., when the last arati for Their Lordships Sri Sri Radha Gokulananda took place. Sivarama Swami sat with his harmonium, joined on his immediate left side by Srila Gurudeva and then Kesava Bharati Prabhu. On his right side was a melodious kirtan singer & expert mrdanga player; next to him was Gaurangi dasi, who has a very beautiful kirtan voice (she has recorded several CD's both for devotees and the general public), and finally there was Jayadeva dasa, her father and a longtime Prabhupada disciple who was a well known professional musician in the United Kingdom. Sivarama Maharaja began the kirtan and then nodded for Gurudeva and the others to take turns leading. Each devotee had their own unique kirtan style and the effect of alternating from one devotee to another was very sweet. The chanting was attractive to the jam-packed audience of devotees and guests and in fact, when the Deity curtain closed after 9 p.m. the devotees kept chanting. Kesava Bharati Prabhu, however, seemed like he was just getting warmed up then. He and Jayadeva Prabhu were collaborating on some special duets and Kesava Bharati revealed later that he himself had once been a professional musician. Finally Srila Gurudeva had to go home, and as he left, the blissful kirtan was still going strong! Nakula dasa brahmacari, Gurudeva's disciple from Australia, joined Gurudeva at the Manor on this day and then returned with him to begin his service as driver, along with many other duties.

On Tuesday, August 15th Srila Gurudeva was invited by a friend to visit the famous Ely Cathedral, which is located about thirty minutes' drive from Cambridge. It was founded in 673 A.D. by the Saxon princess St. Etheldreda, and in the early 1080's work on the present cathedral building and a Benedictine monastery began. In 1539 King Henry VIII dissolved the monastery and during the reformation the carved forms of Mary, Jesus, etc. were removed from the temple in a similar way that the Muslims tried to remove or harm the Deities in Indian temples. The cathedral is amazing to behold and is one of the most beautiful religious edifices in the world. When Gurudeva and the devotees came into the cathedral, the lady at the desk said, "They are religious people," and let Gurudeva's whole group enter for free. [They charge money to the general public] Within the cathedral were the tombs of some saints, as well as war heroes, princes and other notables. Srila Gurudeva enjoyed the visit. He commented that the tombs were similar in concept to the samadhis in India which honor saintly persons, with notable differences, of course. [the samadhis are generally outside the temples, however, and generally don't honor war heroes or donors]

Recently Savitri Priya Prabhu, a disciple of HH Bhakti Caru Swami, left her body in Wembley, near London. Bhakti Caru Swami (who was not still in England at this time) and many other senior devotees and devotees from the area spent a lot of time chanting with her over the last few weeks. Srila Gurudeva spoke to her several times on the phone & his disciple Kirtida devi dasi stayed up all night several nights with her in recent days. Kirtida advised her to stop taking all the drugs except some pain killers, and this helped her to have a clear consciousness at the time of leaving her body. She left her body at about 9 a.m. Savitri Priya Prabhu is said to have been chanting with the devotees at the time of her death. This was a very auspicious way to leave this world. Sometimes we may forget the importance of Krishna consciousness, but such experiences as this and as reported in the last newsletter by Citra Vilasini Prabhu regarding our godsister Ananda Mataji show how Krishna consciousness and the mercy of the Vaisnavas can benefit us immeasurably at the time of death.

What follows is a third installment from Srila Gurudeva's visit to Israel written by Alaukika devi dasi, with some nice lectures, question-and-answers, and humorous pastimes with Gurudeva. In some cases she paraphrases Srila Gurudeva: the tapes are available from Srila Gurudeva's tape ministry for those who want the exact words. Please accept our apologies that this is coming to you late, or in case this already got to you via Radha Caran Prabhu.

REPORT ON SRILA GURUDEVA'S VISIT TO ISRAEL: Evening class, Srimad Bhagavatam, 3.6.17:
Our disease is that we want to be the enjoyer. Krsna helps us to overcome our anarthas. They don't give pleasure to us and they don't give pleasure to Krsna. They will go away when we take shelter at the lotus feet of Krsna. Our process is to follow the residents of Vrindavana but we can't jump to that. We have spontaneous parts in our process but we have to follow rules and in this way our attraction for Krsna will become stronger.

The pure devotee wants to serve Krsna and Krsna wants to serve His devotee; Prabhupada wanted to serve Krsna and Krsna reciprocated by giving him so many facilities for service. There is no difference between serving Guru and serving Krsna. One is where the other is. When the spiritual master gives us instruction or affection, we should see it as coming from Krsna. The spiritual master wants us to develop love for Krsna and in order to please him we have to offer selfless service. This is what we are doing on sankirtan. It's not easy to spread Krsna consciousness: we have to constantly look for new ways, but when we do that we get reciprocation from Lord Caitanya by getting taste and attachment for the Holy Name, and from there comes love of God.

We get the dust of the lotus feet of Krsna by devotional service, by the grace of the spiritual master. This is causeless mercy, because we don't feel there is any reason that we get it. [Gurudeva doesn't see any reason in his past to indicate that Prabhupada would use him so much in his service, it was simply Prabhupada's causeless mercy}. We owe our life to the spiritual master. It's difficult to serve the spiritual master when he is gone. [Gurudeva said that Prabhupada entrusted him with the responsibility to bring the movement forward, but now he's not here and it's hard to know what is the right way. We are very lucky that our spiritual masters are still present. But if we don't take the instruction of our spiritual master as our life and soul than we are nonsense and ungrateful].

Krsna is detached. He is not attached even to Laxmi, who never leaves Him, but at the same time He is attached. Krsna left the rasa lila but when His devotee prays to Him He reacts. Even though it seems that to be controlled is lesser, Krsna likes to be controlled by someone who loves Him. If someone loves us very much then we can surrender to that person. In this way we should understand our relationship with the spiritual master and the devotees. Because they love us so much we should give ourselves fully to them. They will never betray or hurt us. It is not like in the material world.

The chanting is the surrendering. Every mantra should bring us to the state of surrender. It's not easy; the mind is wondering, so many thoughts come, but the surrendering is to hear the Holy Name. It takes submission, humility and surrendering. If we chant everyday 16 good rounds and follow the 4 regulative principles strictly, then we will be in a surrendered mood throughout the day. Gurudeva then went around the room asking each of the devotees for questions:

Q: Sometimes it seems that the spiritual master is only encouraging us and not correcting.
A: You go to the advanced devotees. You go to Guna Avatar and Varsabhanavi and they will tell you the real truth. Sometimes it's difficult to take chastisement from the guru and easier from the closer devotees. The guru is not often here and sometimes he is afraid that if he corrects, the disciple will feel so sorry. This is why it is so important to have close relationships with senior devotees that can chastise and then the next day come and say, "really you are also O.K." You shouldn't just wait for the guru. The guru comes through the advanced devotees, just as Krsna comes to the devotee through the guru. We need guru-sadhu-sastra.

Q: We have so much faith that material things will bring us happiness. Where does such faith come from?
A: That means there is still desire for sense gratification. The faith comes because we are expecting for the happiness that comes from these things. It takes time. You should at least try to offer the results of your activities to Krsna and gradually you will have faith in Krsna and not so much in all of these other things. Somehow or other we have to connect everything to Krsna, otherwise we will have to take birth again.

Q: In the Russian army there is a slogan: 1. The commander is always right. 2. If the commander is not right go back to number 1, the commander is always right. Do we have to express our questions and doubts?
A: In B.G 4.34 it says that you can ask questions, not only serve. We shouldn't follow blindly. It's sure that you are going to have doubts and you should clear them. All of the B.G is the clearing of the doubts of Arjuna. If there were no questions there would be no Gita and no Bhagavatam.

Q: How does the disciple show his love for the guru?
A: By following his instructions. If we follow the instructions then we are giving him everything. Usually we take service and not give. Even though we try to serve the guru, he gives us just too much. That is why we are forever indebted to the guru. Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakur says that there is no way we can repay that debt. Prahlad Maharaj was offered liberation but he preferred to serve his spiritual master. Why? Because Krsna explained to the gopis that the service itself is the repayment. You are serving me but I cannot repay you. Therefore your satisfaction will be in the service itself. There is nothing nicer than to give love and to make someone happy. We are searching for love but we will get it by giving. Radha and Krsna are always competing: who will give more love and service to the other? That is why Sanatan Goswami told Rupa Goswami that it's not good to take service from Srimati Radharani.

Q: Is the love for the guru the same as the love for the representative of the guru?
A: Yes, it's the same. Just like the viceroy in India would give everything that he got to the king or queen. That's why it is said: dasa anudasa anudasa.

Q: What was Rupa Goswami supposed to do? [when he wanted to cook a meal for his brother, and Srimati Radharani came as a young girl and brought him the ingredients]
A: He did the right thing because he wanted to serve his brother, but Sanatan thought it was not good because he didn't want to take service. Like sometimes my disciples cook something for me yet they don't offer it. From their part it's not so bad because by feeding the brahmins Krsna is eating, but from my side I don't want that. To receive a gift or mercy is again a way of service (NOI 4). We don't need just to give love, we also need to receive. How will we repay the spiritual master for all the mercy he has given us? We cannot, but we can try forever, I'm the eternal servant because I try forever to return the debt. We don't act deliberately so that the guru will serve us, but if he shows us mercy and affection, then it is his kindness upon us and then we are more indebted. If we don't want to be indebted we have to refuse love. But this is not love, to refuse love. This is why it's never ending, we are obliged and serving, they are reciprocating. This is why some people never get into it. But what more is there in life? The rest is shadows: big buildings, skyscrapers, millions of dollars, Rolls Royce cars. Who cares? Without love it's not worth anything and if you have love than you don't need them. Prema pumartha mahan, the goal of life is to develop love for the supreme Lord.

Q: Will the love remain also in the spiritual world?
A: Yes, we are already in the spiritual world because we are serving Krsna and the devotees, but we don't see that. The love will remain. The body will change but we will know the person. Just like in a dream the spiritual master may appear in different ages, but I know that this is Prabhupada according to the mood, the personality and the feelings. That is why Prabhupada said that we don't see him, we only see his body. There's vani and vapu. This is why we keep the material things, they remind us of the person. This is why Lord Caitanya gave some of his personal belongings to His associates, so that they can remember Him.

Q: When someone goes out on sankirtan, does he go for his benefit of for the others?
A: Both. Everything we do is for both. This is the nature of everything in the world. In sankirtan and when we love someone, it's for us as well as for the person. This is the nature of every exchange. The devotee is advancing through sankirtan. This is the benediction for the devotee and for the person he is speaking to. Sankirtan is repeating the names of God in public. It's good for the sankirtan man and for the public.

Q: Sometimes we don't speak directly about the books. How do we make advancement?
A: By giving the book. The book is purifying the person and yourself because you are giving the book. If you are going to die and I am giving you a medicine I become purified by helping you. Like the brahmin delivered the message to Rukmini. This was a message from Krsna, not from him, but she blessed him in so many ways simply for giving the message.

Saturday Lecture for Guests. Srila Gurudeva spoke about the attractive nature of Krsna and the difference between Krsna Consciousness and other religions: The difference between Krsna consciousness and other religions is the loving nature of Krsna. Krsna is all-attractive and has many attractive qualities. Usually we think about the strength of God, his creation, goodness and mercy. But the unique thing about Krsna is his beauty. Krsna is the most beautiful personality. He is compared sometimes to a lotus flower, the most beautiful of all flowers. His eyes are like the petals of the lotus, His feet are like the lotus and the marks on His feet are like the petals of a lotus. There are many lotuses decorating His body. Another way to describe Krsna is that He is like the moon, He is also very brilliant and effulgent and His light is soothing. The body of Krsna is effulgent and His touch is soft and gentle. When the residents of Vrindavana see Him they are attracted and can't give up His sight. It is said that the parents were more attached to Krsna than to their own children. Everyone is attracted to Krsna's beauty and most of all the gopis are attracted to Him. In this world the attraction between men and women is considered the highest relationship--the reason is that everything in this world is a reflection of the spiritual world. Of the loving relationships of Krsna and the gopis His relationship with Srimati Radharani is the highest.

All the senses of the devotee are attracted to Krsna's beauty. The ears are attracted to Krsna's name; Rupa Goswami wishes that he could have millions of tongues and millions of ears so that he can hear and chant with them the 2 syllables Krs-na. Lord Caitanya said that we are unfortunate because even though Krsna's name is so attractive we have no attraction for it. We are still attracted to so many other sounds; actually we are wasting our lives by repeating so many other names except Krsna. It is said in the Srimad Bhagavatam, the eyes that don't see Krsna are no better than the eyes on the feathers of a peacock. But the eyes that see Krsna are like cups, and the beauty of Krsna is like liquid that fills those cups. The eyes drink the beauty of Krsna. We are all looking for pleasant and gentle touch. But there is nothing more beautiful and gentle than the touch of Krsna's Lotus feet. So Krsna's friends and family are worried when they see Him go out, how can He go out barefooted? Krsna doesn't need Nike air shoes, He can fly if He likes. He goes barefooted because the cows are barefooted. Because He goes barefooted the marks of His lotus feet mark the land of Vrindavana. So we can follow Krsna by searching for His footprints. The footprints of Krsna have many signs, not just lines like our feet, there are many signs that show His godliness. The taste of the nectar of Krsna's lips comes to us through prasadam. When Caitanya Mahaprabhu came 500 years ago He went to the temple of Lord Jagannatha and got prasadam, the remnants of Krsna, and by that He was in ecstasy. When we take prasadam, let's see if we are going to be in ecstasy by tasting that nectar.

Bhakti means to use the senses in Krsna's service. All the residents of Vrindavana control their senses completely. Usually it's very difficult to control the senses, different types of meditation try to teach this. One of the meanings for the word yoga, is to control the senses. The word yoga means to link. We are trying to control our senses by giving them a higher taste. It's not easy to give up a bad habit, like many people try to give up smoking. It's difficult to give up a bad habit because we don't have a better habit to replace it with. The beauty in Bhakti yoga is that all the senses are engaged in Krsna's service. We don't say to the eyes don't look, this world is Maya, illusion. The world is real, but temporary. How do we transform the material world to spirit? The process is to engage it in Krsna's service. The simple example of matter becoming spirit is when you put an iron rod in the fire it becomes just like fire and then you can make all kinds of things out of it. When the material world is engaged in the service of spirit it acts like spirit. When we are in this room we don't feel like we are in Tel Aviv, the most materialistic city in Israel, we are like in a bubble. The room is transformed and used… just like our bodies, the body is material, but in service to Krsna it becomes spiritual. Like a mother that has a baby, if she is a devotee of Krsna the child is eating prasadam, is seeing Krsna and hearing His name, very soon he will know about Krsna. That relationship is not mundane. When a person is working and earning money, if he uses part of it for Krsna's service then his work becomes spiritual. You don't have to stop anything, you simply have to add Krsna.

There are, loving relationships between parents and children. But the reality is that sooner or later we are going to have to leave this world, so there is a feeling of suffering that accompanies any relationship. We believe that relationships don't end when we leave the body. Srila Gurudeva gives the example of Prahlada, after Hirayakashipu died he asked for his welfare in his next destination. The Lord told him that his family for 14 generation is already saved. He said that all religions promise more or less the same thing but the difference between Krsna Consciousness and other religions is the way we treat God. Krsna's charm and beauty makes Krsna consciousness different and so special.

Different religions have different ways to remember God. The devotees of Krsna remember Him by chanting His name, singing dancing and feasting. Srila Gurudeva also said that the purpose of life is not to struggle hard simply to become old and die, but to develop love for God. If we don't develop this love then we will have to take another birth.

PASTIMES WITH GURUDEVA: Chili Lila
Venu Gita Devi Dasi came one morning with a cold. Gurudeva wanted to help her recover and also to have a little fun with her, so he gave her an Indian Grandmother medicine. He asked that we attach a peppercorn to a pin, set it on fire and then wave it so it smokes. Syamananda quickly arranged for everything. Then he asked Venu Gita to breathe the smoke in through the nose… As an obedient daughter she did it but was choked and stopped. Gurudeva was very amused by the situation and all the devotees that were there laughed and were happy to see him having fun. But he wasn't pleased with the performance. He told her: "You have to breathe it in with one nostril and then do the same with the other. Let's do it again". So Syamananda enthusiastically prepared another peppercorn for the second performance. This time she let the smoke in for more time and again she choked, tears came from her eyes and she started to cough, but gradually the congestion in her nose was cleared. This time Gurudeva was pleased, especially seeing the devotees there laughing and enjoying the situation. Gurudeva liked this trick so much, that a few days later when I sneezed during a lecture Gurudeva stopped in the middle of the sentence and said in a joking tone, pointing to Venu Gita, "did you get it from her?" I said "no, no" and he said, "if you continue you'll have to do the same treatment"… Of course I stopped immediately.

One morning Gurudeva wanted to have a burned dry chili like Gopal Raj makes for him in Cambridge. The cook, Syamananda Prabhu put a few of the red dry chillies on the pan and started to roast them. After a few minutes all of us Western devotees in the kitchen, Venu Gita, Syamananda and me, started to cough, laugh and cry at the same time. It was so unbearable, but we had to continue in order to finish the breakfast on time. Within a few minutes the chili effect and the smoke spread throughout the house. Guna Avatar Prabhu and Varsabhanavi Mataji also started to cough. When Gurudeva heard us laughing he came out of his room and into the kitchen. He was amused and laughed to see us suffering from the chili and still cooking and laughing at the same time. He said, "look at them they're laughing and cooking", "how can you stand this smoke and still continue cooking?" It seems that this process takes out the hot taste of the chili, because when we tasted it, it was burned but almost sweet… Afterwards Gurudeva said that in hot countries people eat hot food and in cold countries people eat more cold food because the hot food helps the person perspire and thus cools the body temperature.

At one of the darsans the brahmacaris told Gurudeva about the different names they have for the chilies. If the chili is not hot enough they call him chili-bandhu. The big red hot chilies are sannyasi chili, because if a sannyasi is not hot he is not a sannyasi, and the small red dry ones are babaji chilies because they look small and dry (they don't eat anything) but actually they are the most concentrated. Gurudeva liked it very much and all the devotees laughed.

Israel is a Jewish country so during his visit Gurudeva joked with us about the Jewish country and customs. Gurudeva asked us if we think ourselves Jewish. Most of the devotees said that they don't. Only Madhurya Lila said that outside her body is Jewish but inside she is different. He joked with us and said, what am I going to do, I came here desperately looking for some Jewish association and you all say that you are not Jewish. He said that we all look Jewish and he doesn't know why we think that we are not and that he suspects we got it from Guna Avatar and Varsabhanavi. He told me that I practically look like an orthodox Jew and only Madhurya Lila answered truthfully.

Gurudeva was amused to hear how the 'fanatic Jews' throw dirty diapers on people who drive their cars against the Sabbath laws. We told him that once religious people from a fanatic organization kidnapped one devotee who was Jewish before and tried to brainwash him. They said to him that he was worth 200 other converts to them, because he was thinking to become a devotee and if he changed it would be a great victory for them. He would be able to convince others that Judaism is better than Indian beliefs. Gurudeva said that Guna Avatar must be worth a 1000 converts and we should make a deal with them, they should give us a 1000 people of theirs and we will give them Guna Avatar. After a few years he could come back to us. Everyone laughed. We told him that Jewish tourists are buying 'Jerusalem air'. They take a bottle and seal it in Jerusalem, so it has the air of Jerusalem inside. People put the bottle in their home to make it auspicious. Gurudeva suggested we should send the devotees to sell these bottles around New York.

Gurudeva Tells A Joke
While on a walk, Gurudeva told Acarya Sakti a Jewish joke. Once an American Jew and a Chinese man were sitting in a restaurant. Suddenly the Jew punched the Chinese right in the face. The Chinese said why did you hit me? And the Jew answered, because you bombed pearl Harbor. But we didn't do it, it was the Japanese who did it. Japanese, Chinese, it's all the same. After a while the Chinese punched the Jew in the face. The Jew said, What was that for? Because you sank the Titanic. That wasn't us, it was an iceberg. Iceberg, Goldberg, it's all the same.

One time Gurudeva went out on a walk with Acarya Sakti and Bhaktin Noa. It was a spring day and the sky was clear and blue. Suddenly the sky became cloudy and in minutes a hailstorm broke. Gurudeva and the devotees were out without even an umbrella. I went out with an umbrella looking for them. After a few minutes I found them under a tree waiting for the storm to subside. Gurudeva was very pleased that I came and he was in a very sweet and fatherly mood towards us. He said half jokingly that now everything was O.K because we had an umbrella and that it was just like Krsna-l ila, we are standing in the rain under a tree in the forest. He said that he didn't get wet because it was hail and not rain. When the storm stopped we went home.

Once on a walk Nagapatni tied her shoelaces. Gurudeva asked who taught her to tie them. She couldn't remember and he said he doesn't remember either, probably it was one of his parents. Then he said we should be grateful to our parents for what they have done for us. We should acknowledge the fact that what they didn't give us was something they didn't have themselves and therefore they were incapable of giving it to us.

Once in the evening darsan Gurudeva saw that Alaka Mataji seemed sad. The devotees said that she is not sad but she simply lost her glasses. He asked her what she was going to do. She replied that she is going to pray to Hanuman to help her find them, he always helps her. Gurudeva was amused by the reply and asked the devotees if this happens to her often, everyone began to laugh and said yes. After a few days Gurudeva saw that she had them and asked her how she had found them. She said that she prayed to Hanuman, and immediately she found them. Gurudeva and all the devotees laughed again. Later he said that it's typical for an Indian girl to think like that (She looks very much like an Indian, but actually her parents are from Yaman).

There are some friends and devotees who wait all year to meet Srila Gurudeva. He gives them strength and inspiration to continue practicing Krsna Consciousness for the next year. This year Srila Gurudeva met for the first time Varsabhanavi's sister, Sari. Sari is a very gentle lady who lost her beloved husband, who was a devout Christian, about a year ago. She made an effort and came from very far and wanted some spiritual guidance from Gurudeva. She asked him how she could put God more into her life. He told her that first she has to choose a spiritual path. He taught her to chant Japa and told her that her husband is watching after her and that she should pray for his guidance. Whenever she finishes a round she should put the Japa to her forehead and pray for her husband's mercy. He told her to start chanting 1 round a day and then move to 2 rounds, but not more because she doesn't have the time for it, she has to take care of 3 children. She was very grateful and satisfied after the darsan and said that Gurudeva gave her a process to follow that was exactly right for her, like a tailor that makes a suit exactly according to size.

At the last evening in Tel Aviv Gurudeva said goodbye to most of the devotees. As he stood by the door surrounded by his loving disciples and followers, he was completely transcendental and effulgent. He said a few words of farewell to different devotees and then went out the door leaving everyone for another year of separation. Early in the next morning Gurudeva was going to the airport. He was very tired, but happy that the devotees came to say goodbye. Before he left he asked some of the devotees what we think about his visit. Nagapatni said that we will miss him and I said that we got so much from him, even more than we can receive. Gurudeva said that we should keep everything that he has taught us very carefu ay.lly, then it will grow. Then he went out and we all offered our obeisances. We couldn't bear the separation.

This ends this edition of the newsletter. By the time you receive this Srila Gurudeva will be at New Vraja Dhama, Hungary to celebrate Janmastami & Srila Prabhupada's Vyasa-puja. Reports of that will be forthcoming.

Home