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NEWSLETTER ABOUT HIS HOLINESS Compiled March 19, 2001 On March 9, 2001, the auspicious day of Gaura Purnima, Srila Gurudeva gave class at Bhaktivedanta Manor. Traffic on the motorway from Cambridge delayed Gurudeva's arrival about thirty minutes, but the devotees in the temple kept the kirtan going longer and said it was one of the most ecstatic kirtans in years. After the class, Gurudeva proceeded on to London and participated in a huge hari nama street chanting procession in honor of the Appearance of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Several hundred devotees joined together for the ecstatic chanting, which began from the Soho Street temple and proceeded down some of London's busiest streets. There was a light rain at the beginning of the hari nama, but it soon stopped; thousands of curious people saw the ecstatic devotees and heard the resounding chanting of the holy names. Kripa Moya Prabhu and Tribhuvanath Prabhu, senior Prabhupada disciples and stalwarts of the English yatra, were the main kirtan leaders. Near the end of the procession, which included a chariot carrying Deities of Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityananda, the devotees chanted and danced in a square. A festive official 'town crier' dressed in olde English style approached Gurudeva and asked him a few questions. The town crier told Gurudeva that he remembered seeing the devotees many years ago near the Bury Street temple. Srila Gurudeva told him that he was in London in those pioneering days. In a very charming and skillful way, Kripa Moya Prabhu, who held the microphone and was preaching to the crowd, noticed the crier and asked him to ring his bell in honor of the birthday of Lord Caitanya. Not only did the town crier joyfully ring the bell, but he proclaimed in a loud but dignified manner that he wished Gauranga a most happy birthday! After the harinama Gurudeva went to the Soho temple and met an American Indology scholar who speaks Bengali and has visited ISKCON's temple in Mayapur. At moonrise Gurudeva took the feast with a few of his god brothers and was finally driven back to Cambridge by his visiting disciple from Dallas, Dharma dasa, after a long but ecstatic day of hearing, chanting, feasting and associating with devotees. The last newsletter had a report of Gurudeva's visit to Dallas and the convention of the American Academy of Religion in Nashville, but we missed the report on his visit to Houston. We begin this newsletter with a late report from Houston by Guru Dhyana devi dasi. Then we get a first hand report on the beginning part of Gurudeva's preaching tour in Australasia, written by his companion and servant, Radha Krishna dasa. We are grateful that these devotees took the time to share their well-written reports with us. In the next newsletter we hope to include more reports on the Fiji, New Zealand and Australian tour. Finally, this newsletter concludes with part II of the transcript of Srila Gurudeva's class given on July 16, 2000 at London's Soho Street temple in which he shares some very important realizations about Srila Prabhupada. Saturday, November 25, 2000-ARRIVAL IN HOUSTON: compiled by Guru
Dhyana devi dasi: Earlier in the day announcements had been made that Srila Gurudeva would take lunch prasadam with all the devotees. First, however, there was a short darshan with Srila Gurudeva and all the devotees. Gurudeva talked about the AAR conference, his work in Cambridge, and addressed a few specific devotees - mainly making jokes and teasing. At the conclusion he volunteered Shyamasundara Prabhu's home for a program that evening. Shyamasundara, the dedicated temple president, was busy with lunch preparations and not in the temple, and someone mentioned that he should be called. Gurudeva asked why, saying with a smile on his face, "He gave his whole life, so why can't he give his house?" At this point, Shyamasundara came into the temple room and gladly offered his home for the program. The lunch prasadam, cooked by some of the expert women cooks in Houston, was waiting. Gurudeva took prasadam, seated at the center of a U-shaped arrangement with devotees surrounding him. After finishing, he left to take rest. Because the initiations were to be the very next day, Shyamasundara Prabhu had arranged for the initiates to meet with Gurudeva. Prior to doing so, Srila Gurudeva sat on the back deck, where the Texas weather was pleasant even for a winter's afternoon. The sunlight was mild, but just enough to warm your skin. He had called for a couple of devotees to come to the house, and was joking and talking with them. He commented on how nice the sun felt, given the lack of sunlight in England. The breeze began to pick up soon and to remain stationary was chilling, so he decided to get his daily exercise. He walked in the temple parking lot adjacent to the house for about twenty minutes. As he walked, he noticed the new houses that had been built by devotees in the past five years. There are two or three lots left and he wanted to know who was thinking of buying the land. Upon returning to the house, he found it was full of devotees. While Gurudeva was walking, Gopinatha Prabhu had come to help Srila Gurudeva with his computer. Gurudeva then met with each aspiring initiate for any final questions. He finished speaking with them just in time to have dinner at the home of Krishna Kripa Prabhu and Mother Gurupriya and then go to the program. During dinner, Gurudeva initiated a competition with their children, Gaura and Vamsi, as to who could eat more. Beginning tonight, Gurudeva wanted to begin speaking from Premabhakti Candrika. He led a heart-filled kirtan after the talk and then left to take rest. Sunday, November 26-Houston Initiations: After the initiations, Srila Gurudeva took breakfast prasadam. Lunch was again at the home of Krishna Kripa dasa and Mother Guru Priya. Joining Srila Gurudeva for lunch were five of his disciples, including Jaya Baladeva Prabhu, one of Gurudeva's first disciples in America, who took initiation in the late 1970's, and his wife Manjumati, a Houston public schoolteacher. Mother Sakuntula, a professional psychologist (the wife of Pandava Vijaya Prabhu, who organizes a Krishna conscious television show), Manasi Ganga dasi, a successful Hispanic businesswoman, and Yogesh Chandra Prabhu, a diplomat posted at the Peruvian embassy in Houston who has developed a successful yoga center also took lunch with Gurudeva. Through the yoga center he has introduced scores of people to Krishna consciousness. Recently, however, Yogesh Chandra has developed a serious illness and is working hard to improve his health. Gurudeva met with him privately after lunch. Gopinatha dasa returned to the house in the afternoon, working on Gurudeva's computer. In the evening, Gurudeva came to the temple to give the Sunday Feast Lecture. The congregation members have a lot of affection for Srila Gurudeva and are always very happy to see him. Dinner prasadam tonight was late due to a miscommunication. Gurudeva didn't want to wait and ended up being served leftovers brought over from Mother Guru Priya's house. As soon as he finished, he went straight to meet with the Hare Krishna Dham Youth Forum, led by Nilamadhava dasa, Jagannatha dasa, and Bhakta Bharat. They are all young adults, in high school and college, and children of temple devotees. Nilamadhava gathers the youth together for meetings and discussions every other Sunday. About 30 showed up tonight. They met with Gurudeva to ask questions and make suggestions for expanding and strengthening the Youth Forum. Many suggestions were made, ranging from having an older person oversee the youth forum to performing community service as a group activity. Gurudeva was pleased with the meeting - he feels there is a lot of potential in the youth. He stressed that if the youth forum can become successful and strong, then they will be happy and so will the parents. Monday, November 27: Gaura Nitai dasa and his wife Radha Madhava dasi cooked lunch. Srila Gurudeva took at the temple with a lawyer and Mathuranatha Prabhu, who had come from Dallas. This evening he took dinner at the home of Gopal Prabhu and Mother Nanda Priya (and children Nimai and Rohini). Srila Gurudeva and Gopal took prasadam together while Nimai and Rohini served. Gurudeva was joking with Rohini, who is very active in her high school, if she stays up all night and 'parties' a lot. 'Party' is an American slang word for 'having a good time' and Rohini was amused at Gurudeva's choice of words. Gurudeva laid on their couch after dinner and was having such a nice time that he didn't feel like leaving to give the evening program. He later commented on how pleasant and warm the atmosphere was - he had a very nice evening there. The program tonight was at Shyamasundara and Mother Shyamavallabhi's house again, on Prema Bhakti Candrika. Although these programs have been running late into the evening, Gurudeva has been leading amazing kirtans afterwards, going on for what seems like hours. He sings the same tune every night, becoming completely absorbed in the holy name and taking everyone in the room with him. Tuesday, November 28: Wednesday, November 29: He had a short breakfast at the temple while talking to Mayapura
Sasi devi dasi, a Ph.D. candidate in physics at the University
of Maryland. Originally from the Ukraine, she first met Srila
Gurudeva when he was preaching in New York. She had been unable
to come earlier during his visit, but had a strong desire to see
Srila Gurudeva, so flew in just for the day. He asked her if she
wanted to come with him while he went to his appointments, and
she enthusiastically agreed. She accompanied him to the eye doctor
to pick out new glasses and then to the dentist. After Gurudeva
returned from his appointments, he came to eat lunch at the temple
with the temple supporters. Mother Subhadra and her helpers cooked
lunch. Tonight's program was at the home of Dr. Dhingra, who lives a stone's throw away from the temple. Gurudeva spoke again on Prema Bhakti Candrika and again led a heart-softening kirtan. Thursday, November 30: SPECIAL REPORT: FIRST DAYS OF THE FIJI VISIT-compiled by Radha Krishna dasa December 18 and 19, 2000-London to Dallas and on to Los Angeles
Balarama and Advaita Prabhus, Srila Gurudeva's Filipino disciples who are now part of ISKCON's Sri Sri Rukmini-Dwarakadisa temple community in Los Angeles, accompanied Gurudeva to the airport for his departure for Fiji, arriving at 9 p.m. as the flight to Fiji was scheduled for 10:30 p.m. They quickly went to the Business Class check-in where Radha Krishna Prabhu, who had flown in about an hour earlier from Houston, was already waiting for them. Srila Gurudeva was happy to see him and joked, 'Here comes Radha Krishna with his brahmacari orange cap, looking ready to travel.' Radha Krishna paid his obeisances and touched his spiritual master's lotus feet. Srila Gurudeva smiled broadly and patted him on his back. After exchanging greetings, the group moved away towards the departure lounge. They hadn't gone far from the check-in area, however, and had stopped to discuss whether to go inside to the Business Class lounge or to wait near the departure lounge. As they were talking, many other travelers gathered around and started a line, thinking the devotee group was waiting to check-in! Srila Gurudeva quickly told some of them that they were not in a correct line. There were some giggles, laughs and swearing as the group went past the devotees and finally found the proper line. Srila Gurudeva and his disciples moved a little further. Then amidst the many travelers moving around the lounge, a charming young man in a two-piece suite walked towards Srila Gurudeva and pointed his finger at him, saying, "I remember you!" Srila Gurudeva smiled and also remarked likewise. They quickly exchanged greetings while the rest of the devotees moved out a little to give them privacy. After Srila Gurudeva said good byes to him, he told his waiting disciples about the man. The man's name was Dimartino. Shakuntala Mataji from Houston had brought him to the devotees many years ago and he has met Srila Gurudeva. Back then he was a chiropractor and had helpe d Srila Gurudeva many times with his back problems. Nowadays he is a world traveler giving motivational lectures. He currently lives in Sydney, Australia and was flying back to his home. He said Dimartino had read all of Srila Prabhupada's books and likes them so much that he has used the teachings in his lectures to help people. Srila Gurudeva also told them that just today Dimartino had mentioned Srila Gurudeva to his audience! What a coincidence!?! Srila Gurudeva added that Dimartino was a very special and intelligent man. Then Srila Gurudeva queried again about going to the Business Class lounge, as we had nothing else to do at the Check-In lounge. But just as he asked, he then quickly decided that both Balarama Prabhu and Advaita Prabhu should go home to their families as they had already spent a long time together and that it was indeed getting late. The time was 9:35 p.m.; boarding was scheduled for 9:30 p.m. but they had not called for boarding then. Having been convinced by Srila Gurudeva, the group made their way to the Departure lounge. At the gate, Srila Gurudeva thanked both Balarama and Advaita for all their nice association and assistance and arrangements they had made for him. It was an emotional exchange for the two disciples. Then Srila Gurudeva quickly went through the gate followed by Radha Krishna Prabhu. After passing through the immigration checkpoints and going down the escalator towards their departure gate, Srila Gurudeva turned to Radha Krishna and told him that during this visit to Fiji he wanted Radha Krishna to allow the Fiji devotees do as much service for him as possible. He added that only when Srila Gurudeva calls him should he come forward. He also told him that in Australia and New Zealand, Radha Krishna's assistance might be more needed, since there were fewer disciples there, and they may be busy with their services and work. As they walked towards the departure gate, Srila Gurudeva commented on the changing makeup of the population in Los Angeles. He pointed out that there were more Mexicans and Filipinos than white Americans working in the airports these days. Srila Gurudeva is very observant and notes many such details to use for preaching purposes. The two made their way to Gate 101 where they were to board Air Pacific airline to Nadi, Fiji. It was a full flight as they were indeed many people lining up to board. The flight took off at 11 p.m., thirty minutes later than scheduled. Srila Gurudeva's Australasian tour had begun! December 21st Since Srila Gurudeva was in the Business Class, he got out first and went through customs quickly. As he was waiting for his luggage to come out, Radha Krishna dasa joined him. After Srila Gurudeva got his luggage and quickly went through customs he was greeted by many disciples, friends and well wishers. A big kirtan resounded, and he was very pleased to see all of them. The devotees gave him many garlands, which he graciously accepted and also gave some away to his disciples. Vamanadeva Prabhu, the Temple president, took Srila Gurudeva in his car together with Parasurama Prabhu and they left for the Lautoka Temple. A little while later Radha Krishna Prabhu came out and was greeted by Maha Vidya Prabhu, who took him to the temple. The drive from the airport to the temple was very scenic and pleasant. Except for the political scene, not much has changed over the years. When Srila Gurudeva arrived at the temple, Vamanadeva Prabhu took Srila Gurudeva to his home. His home was next to the temple. Gurudeva quickly went to his room and got ready to take his shower and go to the temple to greet the Deities and his disciples and Godbrothers, who were all eagerly waiting outside. Srila Gurudeva had asked Viswanatha Prabhu to be his personal servant during his visit to Fiji. At around 6:45 a.m., Srila Gurudeva went to the temple. All the eagerly awaiting devotees also ran up to the temple with him. He paid obeisances to Srila Prabhupada's murti and then started chanting some rounds. At the same time, Viswanatha Prabhu began setting up the vyasasana for Srila Gurudeva. When everything was ready Srila Gurudeva set down at the vyasasana. The devotees then started singing Guru Vandana prayers. Srila Gurudeva's feet were bathed. Devotees came up to him and offered many fragrant garlands. There were over a hundred garlands that were offered to Srila Gurudeva! As the devotees kept putting garlands around him, Srila Gurudeva took a garland from his neck and offered anyone who offered him a garland one in return. Those who gave him a bouquet of flowers received a different bouquet that he had received earlier. In this way there were sweet exchanges between Srila Gurudeva and his disciples and well-wishers. After a lengthy time it finally ended and Srila Gurudeva began to speak. First he thanked all the devotees for giving him such a good reception. He thanked them even more so for the prayers they had offered to Krishna for his protection and care. Srila Gurudeva told the devotees it was due to their fervent prayers that today he was living. He told them that he was not sure whether he would have ever come back to Fiji: but due to the strong desire of the devotees in Fiji, Krishna saved him and therefore he had been able to come again to Fiji. He felt that he was alive due to their prayers and therefore it was their life and not his! He then promised that during this visit their desire to associate with him could be fulfilled, as they are all his near and dear family members. He encouraged everyone to come and see him wherever he was staying. He told them that he would stay in a different house every day. Whichever house he was in was an open house and all were welcome. Since it was school holidays they should have no problems. They can all come into one room and when that is filled up they can go to the next room etc. In this way, Srila Gurudeva said he would move from one room to the next to see all his dear devotees. He also promised that he has come to be with them and that he will not be doing any kind of work except to associate with them. Srila Gurudeva then went on to describe his work at Cambridge. He told the devotees about the book he is writing for his Ph.D. thesis. He said that it was about Srila Prabhupada and that him being a sannyasi in Cambridge was a first in the history of the 800-year-old university. He also explained to all present that he was not compromising anything like his sadhana or his association with non-devotees. He said that his writing is on Srila Prabhupada's contribution to the Gaudiya Vaisnava sampradaya. The purpose of it is to be able to make the intelligent and learned persons throughout the world appreciate Srila Prabhupada more by writing in a style and language which even someone who is not a follower of Caitanya Mahaprabhu will still be able to appreciate Srila Prabhupada and our philosophy. That is the only reason why Srila Gurudeva went to university. He simply does a lot of research and they are all based on scriptures and books on Gaudiya Vaisnavavism. Srila Gurudeva does not attend any kind of classes. He simply writes on our Gaudiya siddhanta. Then Srila Gurudeva explained to all the devotees that he had the good fortune of meeting Kesava Bharati Prabhu, a dear godbrother and well-wisher of Srila Gurudeva, in Cambridge before flying to Fiji. Many Fiji devotees also know Kesava Bharati Prabhu as he preached in Fiji and made many devotees years ago. Now he lives in Govardhana and is currently editing the Brhat Bhagavatmrta. The BBT is about to publish this book. Kesava Bharati Prabhu has given Srila Gurudeva an electronic copy of the book for him to speak about it to the devotees of Fiji. He said that for the next ten days he would speak from this book. Srila Gurudeva explained to all the devotees that prior to his coming to Fiji, he had a telephone conversation with Parasurama Prabhu and had asked if it was okay to read it from his computer while sitting in the vyasana. Srila Gurudeva did not want to create any problems with local people questioning why a sadhu is sitting on a vyasana and using a computer. Parasurama Prabhu had replied that nowadays in Fiji everyone uses computer so there was nothing wrong if Gurudeva was going to use. He then said that to print out would waste so much paper and so he did not want to waste so much paper. He said by doing so the trees in Fiji will appreciate his gesture as that would mean fewer trees needed to be cut. Everyone laughed heartily as Srila Gurudeva was joking like this. Then he said he would speak from Chapter 6 of the Brhat Bhagavatamrta, where Narada Muni enters Dwaraka and before he leaves Fiji he will finish Chapter 7 - the last chapter. Then Srila Gurudeva spoke a little about his trip to L.A. He said that two weeks earlier he went to L.A. to see his mother. This was before his Fiji trip. His mother had insisted that he come to see her. Srila Gurudeva explained that since the time when he was a brahmacari, he never went home. He had taken shelter of Srila Prabhupada and depended on him as his father and mother (the scriptures). He said he never once went home and that his mother would come and see him from time to time. Srila Prabhupada would give her garlands and she became friendly with so many devotees. In this way over the years she has become very close to several of Srila Gurudeva's disciples also. She has been to Vrindavana parikrama, and Govardhana Parikrama. And if anyone asked her if she believes in God, she replies 'No!' And when anyone asked her to chant Hare Krishna, she will just smile. But she has even gone to Radha Kund! He said though she appears to not accept Krishna etc., all the devotees who know her have said that she is a devotee of Krishna in her heart. So this time when Srila Gurudeva went to see her it was her 80th birthday. She told her son - Srila Gurudeva, that now her husband has died and she has no one except her only son, but he never comes to visit her. So Srila Gurudeva told her that it was because he was a sannyasi and had taken a vow and had become a servant of the guru, so he could not come. To this, Srila Gurudeva's mother asked him if in the event if she died he will come back to fulfill his duties. Srila Gurudeva replied that being a sannyasi he has no more connection like that. Because she has heard our philosophy so much she then asked him if he would come to take whatever she had (after she passed away) to use for Krishna. He had said yes. Then she told Gurudeva that when she is dead, he will come to get some things from her home but when she is alive he will not come. So she queried Srila Gurudeva what kind of religion is this that teaches this kind of philosophy. Srila Gurudeva told us that when his mother asked him this question he was stuck! Everyone in the temple room just laughed. He then explained that he was defeated by her arguments and therefore agreed to go to her house. Then he added that in any case he visited her in a new house, not the one he grew up and left for Krishna consciousness. In that way he did not feel he went back to the old house. So Srila Gurudeva had not visited his mother for 35 years and two weeks ago was the first time! Then he told all the devotees another interesting story. After his visit to his mother's, while he was waiting at the airport to fly back to London, some of his disciples living in L.A. came to see him. One elderly Gujarati lady disciple, Manjari devi dasi, came to see him. Gurudeva asked her where her husband, Vidura dasa was. She replied that he was busy taking care of the Deities at the temple. Then she asked why he had not come to see her and her husband at the temple. Srila Gurudeva replied he had to visit his mother. But Manjari insisted if he had come all the way he could have still come to visit the temple. So Gurudeva told her that his mother was getting old and that he had to see her and that she was 80 years old. Manjari Mataji told him that she too was 80 years old and that her husband was 82! When he heard her say this Gurudeva said he felt that even though they were his disciples actually they were like his own mother and father. So he told her that he was sorry and that when he went through L.A. in two weeks time he will come and see her and Vidura at their house. By now, everyone in the temple room was deeply absorbed in what Srila Gurudeva was saying. Gurudeva then described his second visit to L.A. in which he spent time with his disciples at Vidura and Manjari's house. Four or five of Srila Gurudueva's godbrothers also came to take lunch. Manjari cooked a feast by herself and served with Vidura. After the feast, Srila Gurudeva took some rest in a room and Vidura came in and massaged his feet. While massaging he began to explain to Srila Gurudeva what he has been doing and wanted him to check whether he was doing everything correctly. Each morning he gets up at 1 a.m. Manjari gets up at 1:30 a.m. He massages his limbs with oil for half and hour (Vidura was in a wheel chair for many years but now he walks.) to get the circulation going and to become active, since he is old. Then gradually he takes bath. By 3 a.m. he is in the temple. Together they prepare everything for the pujaris. Manjari works for four hours making all the different kinds of ghee wicks and Vidura does the aratis and other services throughout the day. In fact the story Srila Gurudeva told about Vidura and Manjari was so moving and heartfelt that many devotees in the temple room could not stop tears from welling up in their eyes while others tried not to show it by looking down. The entire opening address by Srila Gurudeva and the subsequent talks about his visit in L.A. is all captured on tape. When Srila Gurudeva ended he got up and together with devotees went to greet the Deities. After the greetings, he performed the aratik for Srila Prabhupada's Guru Puja. Thereafter, he went back to Vamanadeva Prabhu's house for breakfast. Since Gurudeva had invited the devotees to be with him, many of them came to Vamandeva Prabhu's house. Gurudeva invited his senior most disciples to sit with him at a table and the rest sat around the lounge area. He asked them how they were and what they were doing. There were many affectionate dealings as he joked with them and recalled how they met, etc. Gurudasa Prabhu was one of the senior devotees taking breakfast with Srila Gurudeva. Gurudeva told all of us how he (Gurudasa Prabhu) was such a tough nut to crack! Even though Gurudeva had him convinced, he was still not willing to take up Krishna consciousness. Then it was by the mercy of Vasudeva Prabhu that Gurudasa Prabhu finally took it up seriously. Through his association and affection towards Gurudasa Prabhu, Vasudeva Prabhu won him over. In this way Srila Gurudeva spoke to whoever was there in a very sweet and intimate way. After breakfast, he went to take a short rest. Due to the time difference between London and Fiji, Srila Gurudeva was feeling the jetlag intensely. He also felt very tired and had to rest. Srila Gurudeva did not rest long and came out after a short while. He wanted to go for a walk. Jaya Rama Prabhu, the Temple President from Suva center-and others with him-suggested that all of us go to the nearby park just a block away. So with bead bags and umbrellas (as it started to rain ever so lightly) a group of twenty devotees with Srila Gurudeva leading went to the park. The five-minute walk brought the entire group to a large park where there were many native trees. There was a building available for people to rent for parties, etc. And it was exactly what was happening: a few native Fijians were using the building and were having a BBQ. When Srila Gurudeva noticed this he moved towards the left, walked a hundred feet away and found a nice spot for all of us to sit and take association. There were breadfruit trees, neem trees and other floral and native plants hugging the surrounding area. Just another hundred feet to the south of the group was the road that by which we came through the park. Srila Gurudeva asked about the political situation in Fiji and listened to all the different answers the devotees gave him. He also asked about other devotees as to their work and how they were managing. Then a little boy, one of the devotees' sons, wanted Srila Gurudeva to see the fishes in the pond. Srila Gurudeva obliged and asked him to lead the way. The boy brought Srila Gurudeva and the entire group of devotees towards the BBQ building and then to the back of the building. At the back, we found a small pond and in it were several fishes. Srila Gurudeva smiled at the little boy and thanked him. Then he said we have to go back. Again all the devotees walked proudly with their spiritual master back to the temple and Vamanadeva Prabhu's house. Back at Vamandeva Prabhu's house, Srila Gurudeva spent time with Vamandeva Prabhu. Lunch was at 2 p.m. It was served at the temple. Srila Gurudeva wanted to take lunch with all the devotees. When he went to the prasadam hall, there were hundreds of devotees waiting to see Srila Gurudeva and to take prasadam with him. Srila Gurudeva smiled and waved them to sit down. He sat with Parasurama Prabhu and Vamandeva Prabhus and others. In front of him sat Bhuvan Mohan Prabhu, his godbrother and other senior disciples. Parasurama Prabhu then sang the prayers for honoring prasadam. The cooks in Lautoka cooked so many different varieties of sweets, subjis, dhal, rice and rotis. They kept bringing them to Srila Gurudeva who affectionately took some and gave the rest away to his disciples. Harinama Prabhu was running up and down the rows of devotees with hot pakoras and started distributing to all the devotees challenging them to take some more. In this way all the devotees had a very nice and sweet time taking lunch with their beloved spiritual master. Gurudeva thanked all the ladies who had cooked. He was very pleased with their efforts and praised them for their expertise in preparing such tasty cuisine for Their Lordships. He begged them to allow him to go back and 'recover' from this feast! The ladies in their shy ways thanked their spiritual master for honoring and accepting their service and said that he was free to go. Later in the afternoon Srila Gurudeva again sat in the lounge and many disciples came to see him. At one point Srila Gurudeva told Vamanadeva Prabhu to take a certain cassette that he brought to play for all the devotees. He especially wanted Vamanadeva Prabhu to listen it. Vamandeva Prabhu is a musician and Srila Gurudeva wanted him to appreciate the songs sung by one of Srila Prabhupada's disciples. The tape was by Krishna Premi devi dasi. When Vamandeva played the tape everyone listened with rapt attention and when one song was over, they all said that the singer was very good and the music was very well done. At around 5 p.m., Srila Gurudeva decided to call London. At that point, his disciple Kirtida devi dasi was in a hospital waiting to undergo surgery for a throat cancer. Mother Kirtida had helped Srila Gurudeva through his surgeries and helped him all the way through his recovery period. She had stayed up with him all through the many nights sometimes without prasadam and at other times without even sleeping a wink. For this magnanimous service to her spiritual master, Srila Gurudeva also told her that he will be always praying for her recovery and that he will be there during her surgery. But in the meantime whilst he was traveling he wanted to keep in touch with her. When he called, the nurse told him that she was sleeping and Srila Gurudeva left a message for Mother Kirtida. After the evening aratik at 7 p.m., Srila Gurudeva gave his class on the Brhat Bhagavatamrta. He spoke from Chapter 6 of the book. In it he described Narada Muni's quest to find out who is the recipient of Sri Krishna's full mercy. Narada Muni is coming to Dwaraka, whereupon he finds the entire palace in disarray and confusion. It seemed that Lord Krishna was sleeping and would not get up from His slumber and everyone was worried as to what is/was happening. All the Dwarkavasis were giving different versions as to what was wrong with Sri Krishna and what they might do to elevate the predicament. Srila Gurudeva at one point commented that everyone is lamenting and crying in Dwaraka trying to figure out what to do. He said that if people think spiritual life is 'Shanti! Shanti!' then they are in for a shock, as this story clearly reveals that even the eternal servitors of Krishna are in great grief in trying to help Their Lord! He said relationship with Krishna is always dynamic (active) and ever fresh, with ever-newer combination of events that are both ecstatic and seemingly unhappy-but always laced with pure devotional sentiments. He then told the devotees the reasons for the present condition of Sri Krishna, as will become evident as we progress further in the chapter. The class ended at 9 p.m. with a huge kirtana that Srila Gurudeva personally led. Everyone got up and danced and sang loudly until 9:30 p.m., when Srila Gurudeva retired for the evening. Before taking rest Srila Gurudeva asked Radha Krishna Prabhu to massage him and thereafter Srila Gurudeva rested! (End of first part of the Fiji visit, by Radha Krishna Prabhu) Continuing his talk on Prabhupada Lilamrita 16th of July 2000, at Sri Sri Radha-Londonisvara Temple "If you want to get inspiration to spread the Krishna consciousness movement, just meditate on Srila Prabhupada's example. It's such a perfect example; a perfect example in all respects. And it should encourage us and inspire us. That's why reading of the Lilamrta is done on a regular basis. It's amrta. It's nectar; it's immortal. It's immortal nectar, this Prabhupada-lila. It will always be glorified. We can imagine Prabhupada's satisfaction in sitting in that large, skyscraper building. [as explained in the last newsletter, this was his first visit to the then new temple in a skyscraper building in the prestigious area of 55th Street in Manhattan, New York] You know from the time that he came there, he would wander in the streets… And later on I took him on a car ride, and we were driving around and he showed me the building on 72nd street that he had lived in [when he first came to New York]. It is mentioned here [in this part of the Lilamrta] where his tape recorder was stolen. Imagine the condition that Prabhupada was in living in an office: it was not a normal apartment, it was an office within an office building. That's where he was living, and there was not even a place to bathe. He had to go to an Indian yoga teacher, Dr. Misra's partner, in order to take his bath and cook. There was no place to bathe, no place to cook, just an office. One time the electricity went off; another time his things were stolen. His only possessions, a tape recorder and typewriter that he needed to make his books, were both stolen. And if you start to feel despondent in your spiritual life, just think about these things. From that position to come back ten years later to see six hundred devotees, a twelve or thirteen story skyscraper building in Manhattan which the movement owned and to be driven in a limousine-you can imagine how Prabhupada felt: deep satisfaction in seeing how Krishna had cared for him. That's what he must have been feeling, how nicely Krishna had cared for him. And he appreciated 'I have always been loved by others,' because how can we feel Krishna is caring for us? [We don't always experience that directly] It comes through the caring of devotees. Devotees sometimes think that to treat each other with love and affection is a sentiment-that it is a sentimental idea and it is materialistic. But it's not materialistic. I mean, what does it mean when Krishna shows love to His devotees? Like we see that nice picture of Gopa Kumar [from the Brhat Bhagavatamrta]: there is a picture of Gopa Kumar being welcomed back by Krishna [to Goloka Vrndavan] and they are in each other's arms-there is a very nice painting like that. So, the point is that relationships between devotees must be very loving and affectionate also. Otherwise, we are going to be waiting a long time for Krishna's love and affection. How do we know if Krishna is affectionate? One way is through reciprocation with devotees. So Prabhupada felt this reciprocation. His disciples, he said [were like] so many fathers. [He felt as if] Krishna sent him so many fathers. And devotees also feel this need, that we want to have some loving protection.What does a father mean? Someone who protects. Everybody wants to be protected because the material energy is very fearful, it is very nasty. When I was driving here today, out of the two routes to go from Cambridge to Soho, unfortunately we went by the nasty route. There is one scenic route you can go through; it runs past the river Thames and is very scenic. On that route you go past the museums and it's very beautiful that route. But there is an advantage to the nasty route, which is, you get to see the faces, the grimacing faces of the materialists as they trudge to work or whatever it is. And you can see these people's faces are twisted: they are always twisted. Every time I look at their faces and see how unhappy and twisted they are. And you know what that says to me? That this person has no shelter, they don't have any shelter-because a person who has shelter has no anxiety. Such a person is very peaceful. You can see it in their face. So when you have a father, like when Prabhupada says when a dog has a master it has no anxiety. He said this means we have a master, this [Tulasi neck beads] is a dog tag. He said [it means that] 'this dog has a master.' Prabhupada said, 'I am the dog of my guru.' So, that may be a lowly position, but when you have a very wealthy master, even a dog lives nicely, right? I remember seeing this movie called something like 'A dog's life.' And it really was a dog's life-it was the scene of the material world. But, a dog's life can be very good if that dog was born in Hollywood to a wealthy movie star. Some of the funerals for the dogs in Hollywood outdo state funerals in other countries. I remember when some devotees were selling paintings [to raise funds for temple projects] and they wore a sweatshirt that said something like 'Art dogs;' they were their guru's art dogs. They were selling art like a... they were going door to door, [like] beggars. But we are also going door to door, to beg. Prabhupada gave a lecture in Bombay on a rooftop, when we first came there. There were many well-to-do people. He said, "I am coming to you. I take straw between my teeth, and I am begging you. You are all learned persons; I am begging you. Please take the mercy of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu." So this is a devotee preacher. A sankirtan devotee has to be in this mood of humility. And we can be in this humble mood because we feel sheltered. We feel sheltered by the powerful care of guru, Vaisnavas and Krishna-ultimately Krishna. Prabhupada was certainly feeling that. Here [we're reading in the Lilamrta how] Prabhupada drives around in the Cadillac version of Ford (which must mean that it was either a Lincoln Continental or a Lincoln town car), and another taxi driver looks on and says, 'You've got a nice car!' At this Ratha-yatra in 1976-when we had our three chariots-Prabhupada instructed me because we had about six hundred devotees there, and of these, at least two hundred of those devotees were from the Radha-Damodara party. He told us to bring all the vehicles from our party and to line them up in our parade. We had three raths and also six buses then-you know, those huge Greyhound buses, lined up three across because we had the whole street. Our buses blocked the whole of 5th Avenue. 5th Avenue, you know (with all due respect to England and Oxford Street), makes Oxford Street look like a minor lane, as far as I am concerned. 5th Avenue is very broad and it's very grand; and they blocked off the entire 5th Avenue from 59th Street down to 8th Street. Fifty blocks: it made the biggest street in the world. So we had three raths and three buses times two, and we had our forty maxi vans…five across, eight deep. And Prabhupada had us go in procession. His idea was like the army-like when the army parades, they have all the guns and everything go on parade. So Prabhupada had such a vision. Now I am writing a chapter of my dissertation, and I have to point out in this chapter all the things that influenced Prabhupada. Now, from where did Prabhupada get that idea? You have to realize that certainly the primary understandings that Prabhupada got are from the scripture, but he also drew so many ideas from things [unclear]… He must have thought about the military parades and how they would proceed and how this would show the strength of Krishna-because people need to see the strength of God. By the grace of the Lord one can get facilities. Of course we see, and we have seen, how that can work in an adverse way. The scripture tells how someone like Indra sometimes becomes bewildered due to his opulence. He gets so much opulence that he becomes proud. And within the Krishna consciousness movement, we have one example after another of how pride makes someone offensive. Because of pride you think yourself better than others and begin to criticize other devotees and then you fall down. You wind up falling down, and then what happens? Punar mustika bhava, you can 'again become a mouse.' There is a story of how a mouse became a lion, and after becoming a lion, by the power of the yogi, [he began to think] 'Now I am going to test out my lion strength: I am going to eat you! And then the yogi said, 'Again, you become a mouse!' So Krishna can make us very opulent and grand if we always understand everything is always meant for his service. But as soon as we confuse what He gives us as our own, punar mustika bhava, you become a mouse and you get out very little. Prabhupada's mood when he first came [to New York]: he said he was walking on the street, sitting under the bridge at the riverfront, thinking, 'When will I go back to India?' It means, this is a hopeless mission, I am not going to be able to succeed. Sometimes people paint a picture, I always call it sort of like a plastic picture, a Styrofoam picture of Prabhupada in which Prabhupada is a pure devotee and where everything was [as if] guaranteed to happen. They sort of take away the glory of Prabhupada by not recognizing his humanness. I think Prabhupada is a million times greater because of his humanness, and if you just make him into this plastic mould of perfection where he just sort of walked through the world and the rivers parted, it didn't happen like that. Here he is saying I was dejected, I was hopeless. I met with so many reverses…Prabhupada told me once in Vrndavana that 'Now I understand that all the reverses I experienced were actually my greatest assets.' Krishna was strengthening Prabhupada by these failures. I mean, you look at Christianity, you know the whole greatness of Jesus is because, according to their theology, he is human. That's what makes him great- that God becomes in the human form and accepts suffering as a human being would accept suffering. For them, that's the meaning of reincarnation. So I think that Prabhupada's greatness is that given the fact that he is human, he did superhuman activities. If you did, if you take away his humanity, you see, you miss a great deal about what Prabhupada is because he is not extraordinary if everything is already guaranteed. It's more extraordinary that it wasn't guaranteed; it's more extraordinary because it is a question of his faith and devotion. That is, he transformed a situation that would not otherwise have happened. Prabhupada said any one of his godbrothers could have done what he did, but they didn't. Just like he gives the story about Christopher Columbus sailing around the ocean, around the world. Someone once asked Columbus to stand up an egg on its side. So Columbus took the egg and smacked it a little so it was flat [partially breaking it] and then stood it up. And they said 'We could have done that also, but he replied, 'But you didn't.' So anyone can say we could have done that, but did they? Prabhupada's speciality as far as I can see is that he did. He was a human being, [but] he wasn't an ordinary human being because Krishna transformed him into a totally spiritual personality. Now if you say he was never ordinary, I didn't say he was ordinary, but he was human. He took a human body, a human birth and Krishna made that human birth glorious in every way. Now, where did Prabhupada come from? Our sentiment is that he came from the spiritual world. Prabhupada himself doesn't say that personally. He said to me in one letter, 'As far as I was told by one astrologer, in my last life I was a doctor and my life was sinless. And as far as I know in this lifetime, I had many opportunities to sin but Krishna always protected me, and I never remember a moment where I was ever forgetful of Krishna.' What that means is cent-percent pure devotee, so we take it that Prabhupada is a liberated personality. Whether we can prove that or not is based on our faith. But at the same time he is human: you have to see both things. If you don't, then the danger of not doing that, as far as I can see, is that if you put Prabhupada in a special category that nobody else can ever enter into. Practically nobody else enters into it, and therefore this becomes a means of saying everybody is fallen and will always be fallen. That is the danger, that only eternally liberated persons like Prabhupada can really be Krishna conscious, and everybody else has to simply depend on them because we are all fallen souls. That's not our philosophy; that's Christian philosophy. And that's not a bad philosophy, it's worked for Christianity, but it's not Gaudiya Vaisnava philosophy. Our philosophy does not teach that everybody is always completely conditioned; you know, and there are some liberated persons, and the conditioned persons have to just depend on those liberated persons, and by special mercy they can get liberated. That's not entirely our philosophy. We don't say that. We say that there's a practice of sadhana-bhakti, and by the mercy of liberated persons and by practice of sadhana-bhakti, we can become liberated also. And when you become a liberated person, you can help other people, and when you are on the path you can also help other people. So I like the Lilamrita. Sometimes people criticize especially
Volume One. They don't like Volume One of the Lilamrta. They say
it really showed Prabhupada in too much of a human way. Many people
have criticized Volume One, but I personally think it was the
best volume of all. Because you get to hear and see Prabhupada
in ways you never hear about. You get to see him in the world,
whereas in the later part, you sort of see him [primarily] in
the ISKCON world. The thing I like about Volume One is that in
it Prabhupada is seen going out into the world, while in the rest
of the volumes Prabhupada is seen in the ISKCON world, surrounded
by devotees. And most devotees only live in the ISKCON world,
but some of [us] we go out into the world, [and] we really relate
to volume one: how to be Krishna conscious, even in so many ordinary
circumstances."
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