Monday, July 16, 2007

Darshan

My trip to Chicago is now winding down; tomorrow is my last day here. This morning i visited the Sri Sri Kishore Kishori ISKCON Temple which is located on the North Side of Chicago. I first joined Iskcon 37 years ago in the Chicago winter, when the devotees there were renting a tiny unheated, frozen storefront. I stayed for only one weekend; the conditions were so austere, i was invited to move to the temple in Detroit were things were more organized and there was some heating. I returned to the Chicago temple in 1973 (which by then had moved to a former YMCA in Evanston). At that time the beautiful white marble deities, Kishore and Kishori, had just been shipped from the murti walla in Jaipur to Chicago, but had not yet been installed.

Every time i visit Chicago, i try to go at least once to the temple for darshan. By the grace of the Lord, this morning i had the chance. Krishna (Kishore) looked especially beautiful to me, with an enchanting smile and graceful figure. How mystical he is: the transcendental Lord appears before us in a material form so that we whose senses are now material, can see him, be seen by him, and benefit from that exchange. It is reality, not idolotry, and anyone whose heart is open can appreciate this.

The Deities also remind us of another dimension beyond the three dimensional mental/intellectual/emotional world we live in. It is the
fourth dimension of service, acceptance and love, devoid of dualities.
Although they don't seem to move, they possess the ability to move us thru their presence. This is another remarkable feature of the supreme truth
who resolves all contradictions and solves all problems without any
apparent effort. Sri Sr Kishore Kishori ki jaya!!!

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