The Art of Compassion

I have been surprised with the response to my last blog post (A Lila Without the Amrita). I received comments and emails from many godbrothers, friends, devotees and several persons who are unknown to me personally. The article somehow struck a chord.

Most of the comments i received from godbrothers who had similar experiences were not bitter but supportive and even nostalgic. While many are angry at the unjust treatment they witnessed and received, and suffering from lack of association due to the current situation, what most everyone remembers is the transcendental flavor that Iskcon once had. That mood is what attracted all of us in the first place. That oceanic compassion and crystal clear purity that Srila Prabhupada had somehow managed to transcend and find its way around layers of egos and the abusive behavior of leaders. This compassion is what everyone misses.

Today i was reading a letter Srila Prabhupada wrote to Govinda dasi on a website containing all of Prabhupada's correspondence. (See link, "Prabhupada Letters", on the left of this page). Prabhupada wrote this letter on January 26, 1969. Govinda dasi was with her husband, Gaurasundar, at the time, opening a temple in Honolulu. Prabhupada is responding to a point she had made in her letter, and he makes his own point in return, about compassion:

"So far as my taking botheration in coming to your country, I must take this so-called botheration for Krishna. But what botheration I have taken? You know that the Goswamis were ministers in the government's service and they left their posts for going to Vrindaban and living there just like paupers. They produced such great literature like Sandarbhas, by Jiva Goswami, and Bhakti Rasamrita Sindhu, by Rupa Goswami. Apparently they took so much botheration but they preferred to accept it because they were compassionate for the suffering humanity.

Similarly, Lord Caitanya is Narayana Himself, and His wife, Visnupriya, is the Goddess of Fortune. Lord Caitanya was a very learned scholar, a very beautiful young brahmana, and He had a very affectionate mother, but Lord Caitanya Himself accepted the botheration voluntarily for the good of the human society and all living entities.

We should always follow these footprints--not try to imitate, but to follow the same spirit of compassion for the conditioned soul and try to help them advance to Krishna Consciousness. Actually in the service of Krishna there is no botheration. Rather we feel more transcendental pleasure."

If i there is one thing i could say to anyone who is in a position of authority in Iskcon or in any spiritual group, i would make this point. Learn compassion. It is the most essential of all qualities for a jiva who wishes to get the favor of Krishna. To be compassionate and respectful to other vaisnavas, and to all other living beings, is a prerequisite for any devotee who wants to make spiritual advancement. What to speak of for someone who accepts a position of responsibility.

The leaders of ISKCON should not fool themselves. They may fool others into believing that they are advanced, but they cannot fool Krishna. They should realize that to begin to rectify their foolishness and to minimize the reactions due them, they should publicly apologize to all their godbrothers and godsisters. Apologize for 30 years of lies, hypocrisy, misuse and abuse of the prestige and purity given by Prabhupada to ALL of his disciples. Every guru and GBC should personally apologize for their lack of compassion and inclusiveness towards their godbrothers and sisters. This would be a good way to start to heal the terrible divisiveness and faithlessness created by leaders who are supposed to represent Srila Prabhupada's desires, not their own self interest.

Lest they think this is just one estranged voice in wilderness, they should know that thousands of Prabhupada's disciples, the so-called "senior devotees," feel the same way i do. Not only that, this is the instruction of Prabhupada himself. In Sri Isopanisad, one of the first books he translated and commented on after arriving in America, Prabhupada writes:

"As advised in Chapter 13 of Bhagavad-gita (13.8-12), one should culture knowledge in the following way:
1) One should become a perfect gentleman and learn to give proper respect to others.
2) One should not pose himself as a religionist simply for name and fame.
3) One should not become a source of anxiety to others by the actions of his body, by the thoughts of his mind, or by his words.
4) One should learn forbearance even in the face of provocation from others.
5) One should learn to avoid duplicity in his dealings with others."

There are 13 further points Srila Prabhupada lists in his purport to Mantra Ten of Sri Isopanisad. If the leaders of Iskcon seriously wish to repair their credibility and restore faith in the transparency of the movement, they should immediately apologize and begin to practice the art of compassion with their godbrothers and godsisters. Better late than never.

A Lila Without the Amrita

I hesitate to share this because it is neither transcendental nor tragic. It’s a part of my personal history and the tiniest of footnotes in the story that was Iskcon in the 70’s. I always thought that if i had been gifted to be a novelist, i could have written a classic book based on my experiences in the “good old days.” But this is not where my talent lies. So the reader will need to lower his expectations and forgive my clumsy prose.

This little story is related to my personal encounters with leaders back in the glory days of Iskcon. I met and knew almost all of them, some more, some less. But enough to know, by 1984, that i could no longer keep my personal integrity and remain within Iskcon. That was already 24 years ago, a double yuga of years have passed since. Some of the new leaders like to say that Iskcon has changed, and i agree. But change is not always progress. My impression is that in Iskcon’s case, change is regressive, from a movement flawed by ambitious and sick leaders but which had the pure force of Srila Prabhupada's desire, to a sophisticated institution that has become banal and corrupt. The proof of the pudding, at least in the West, is that the preachers, pujaris and cooks are all imported.

But this is a story about the past. It begins when i first moved into a temple in 1970. It was early winter, in Chicago. That is where i met my first “leader,” Bhagavan das. Even in those days, he rarely used the “das” in the name given to him by Srila Prabhupada. He was always arrogant, but he was also very serious about his role as a leader. He personally drove with me from Chicago to his own temple in Detroit, answering my questions as a new man. At that time the devotees had rented a freezing storefront in Chicago, so Bhagavan took me to Detroit where there was a “real” temple, a heated house filled with incense wafting thru it, transcendental paintings on the walls and Lord Jagannath deities on the altar. It was full of enthusiastic young men and women who were eager to get up at 4 am to chant and engage in austerities. Bhagavan ran it like a boot camp. We had four or five classes per day, with arotiks, prasadam and street sankirtan squeezed in between. We did everything together— like clockwork— from rising to taking rest. Bhagavan participated in most of the activities, except going out on the street. The atmosphere was military-like but transcendental. This was 10 years before the gold plated bathroom fixtures and closets full of cashmere sweaters. Bhagavan was a controller, but a modest one.

It was in Detroit that i shaved my head and decided to give this new philosophy and the path offered by Srila Prabhupada a real try. But the discipline and mood of Bhagavan's was a bit rough on me, so as soon as a chance for a more liberal adventure came by, i took it.

That came in just a few weeks time when Kirtanananda turned up on a brief stopover on his way back from India. He was like a special forces colonel (Marlon Brando in Apocalypse Now?) compared to Bhagavan’s role as an upcoming lieutenant on the front lines. Kirtananda had just returned from India, and his reputation as Iskcon’s first sannyasi (at that time there were fewer than 10 sannyasis in the whole movement) preceded him. I asked him if i could go with him to New Vrindavan. He replied that only a handful of brahmacaris were spending the winter there and they had to chisel ice out of their shoes when they got up in the morning. But, i could accompany him to Pittsburg, where he had a city temple he told me. I signed up, and because he outranked Bhagavan, i was on my way to Pittsburg.

I was a little awe-struck by Kirtanananda when we first met. He played the role of the charismatic ascetic so well. He spoke with power and conviction. He had a grasp of the philosophy that i was just starting to know. He seemed genuinely austere and determined, generating that “first disciple” aura. But as soon as we got to Pittsburg, i knew i was in trouble. The temple was in a giant former Polish dance hall. It was filled with toxic fumes from vats of chemical dyes used for dipping incense sticks. It was the home of Spiritual Sky. I guess it was funding Kirtanananda’s work because he seemed to love the smell. After the trip from Detroit to Pittsburg, i had very few personal dealing with K. He was busy, and it was up to me to find some engagement in Pittsburg. He never did anything overtly evil or suspect, but i never felt completely comfortable around him. He always seemed ambitious, on the make. For a long time, i thought that was his desire to serve. Only much later i understood he had his own internal demons he was fighting. And his ambition had a ruthless, even sadistic quality to it.

In Pittsburg, i got involved in acting in some plays that we performed for guests on Sundays. And trying to keep my sanity at nites from what appeared to be a number of ghosts who frequented the temple. Perhaps some long deceased jilted Polish lovers.

Soon i was again feeling restless. My friend, whom i had been living with before he joined Iskcon, Marz (who later became Atreya Rishi), was now living in the New York temple. They had recently moved from Second Avenue to Henry Street in Brooklyn. So New York was my next stop. Bhavananda was TP, or TA, Temple Autocrat. Bhavananda was always surrounded by beautiful young brahmacarinis. We called them the “gopi club.” It had nothing to do with philosophy: the girls just served Bhavananda’s wishes. Everyone thought he was so renounced to engage these pretty young girls without becoming attracted to them. That was 15 years before he was outed as a flaming gay queen. His choice of decor should have tipped us off, but we were really innocent kids at the time.

Bhavananda’s istagostis and classes were exercises in power politics. It was fear, not love that ruled. No one had the courage to raise an objection without inciting his sarcasm or wrath. In class, if you asked a question starting with “I think,” you were told to go into the closet. It was the beginning of cult consciousness. After a few months in New York, i told my friend Marz, that the movement would fail because the leaders i had seen were all egomaniacs. Marz didn’t disagree with me, but he excitedly told me that we could change Iskcon. Within six months, his desire to lead was recognized by some of the others and he was added to the GBC, only to be removed by Srila Prabhupada (who temporarily disbanded the GBC for acting without his approval). Later, Prabhupada requested him to join the newly reactivated GBC.

Marz, who became Atreya Rishi that summer, was a different type of leader. He was more intellectual and professional than the rest. He was a graduate of Harvard Business School and a CPA working for a multinational company. He was also coming from a different cultural background, from Iran. Because we had been friends prior to joining, i had a different relationship with him than with the other leaders. It was closer and i trusted him more. He took a lot of crap from the others; he was seen as a misfit and an oddball. He made alliances with some of them, but in the end, after 15 years of being marginalized as the class clown in the GBC, he left Iskcon, along with his own doubts. To this day, i think he remains traumatized by his experiences with his godbrothers on the GBC.

My next encounter was with Rupanuga, a GBC at that time. We shared a plane ride. I had left the movement just before Srila Prabhupada returned to the US in the summer of 1971. I had Prabhupada's darshan for the first time in Detroit, then i sat directly behind Prabhupada on a plane going to Boston. Rupanuga sat next to me. I had wanted to meet Prabhupada personally, but i could not find the right words to introduce myself on the flight, so i kept quiet, listening to Rupanuga. He was trying to convince me to rejoin Iskcon. His argument was that Iskcon was destined to become a big organization, and i could get in on the ground floor. It was basically a sales pitch to join a corporate start up and work my way up the ladder. As a musician and semi-hippie, i thought his rationale was way off-base. I was thinking, i'm here because of that pure devotee who is sitting in front of me, not because i want to join a company. But his words show that even way back then, in 1971, the leaders were already thinking about power and success, not about love or even about Prabhupada.

I failed to meet Prabhupada personally that summer, but i did send him a tape of a couple of songs about Krishna i recorded, and he wrote me back a short but inspiring letter, to use my artistic abilities to please him and Krishna. I immediately decided to join a group of devotees who were forming in New Vrindavan, in what was to become known as “The Road Show.” Again, that meant to be under the influence of Kirtanananda, but i didn’t mind, since i would be with a group of talented devotees, doing what i enjoyed most: music and theatre.

Rehearsals with the musicians at New Vrindavan went pretty smoothly for a few weeks, until an extremely agitated and pushy brahmacari came to join the band. His name was Harikesa, who later became a Swami and one of the infamous zonal acaryas. His self described style of music was jazz-rock, but in my opinion he was just a terrible musician. Worse, he was a bully, and forced his style on the rest of us. I lasted about 2 months with the “Road Show.” Soon after a letter arrived from India giving me my spiritual name in Hari Nama initiation by Srila Prabhupada, i left Sarasota, Florida where we were rehearsing.

That spring (1972) i went to L.A. It was one of the best organized and largest temples in Iskcon at the time. It had a recording studio and produced a weekly radio show. That was where i met Jayatirtha who was the TP at the time. Jayatirtha was always a gentleman with me. This was a welcome contrast for me. He had a more inclusive style and generally seemed a lot less of a sociopath than the others i had seen. I enjoyed the time i spent in L.A., and the great bonus for me was that Prabhupada spent 4 months there, giving morning Bhagavatam classes that spring and summer. He also gave private darshans in his room in the late mornings, and regularly i was allowed to attend those, and occasionally readings of Krishna Book in his small garden just outside the temple. Looking back, i was foolish to leave L.A. when i did. But i was feeling agitated by all the young brahmacarinis at the time. I went to the Chicago temple and worked with a brilliant artist named Jaya Rama on a newspaper project i named “Easy Journey to Other Planets,” after Prabhupada’s book of the same title.

In the spring of 1973 i left Chicago to return to New York. By then Atreya was making plans to go to Tehran to open the first branch of Iskcon in the Muslim world, and he had asked Prabhupada if he could bring me along. After 6 months of preparations and delays, i left for Iran in September. Tehran was really off the beaten path of Iskcon. There were only 4 of us there at first: Atreya, myself and our 2 wives. We were joined by a young sannyasi, Paribrajakacarya, in 1974. I spent probably the 4 best years of my Iskcon life in Tehran, doing a bit of preaching, selling a few sets of Prabhupada’s Bhagavatams to the Iranian Parliament’s Library, doing street kirtan in the park on Fridays (the Muslim holy day of the week), and best of all, spending 11 days with Srila Prabhupada during his 2 visits to Tehran.

I had to leave Iran twice. Once i left after Prabhupada’s final visit in 1976, to get some career training in the US. I needed to work in Tehran, to maintain my visa, so i left for 18 months. I returned and got a great job as the director of a health club for the elite of Tehran, only to be forced to leave during the revolution against the Shah of Iran in early 1979. I went to London (after spending 24 hours at the Tehran airport trying to get a booking— all flights overbooked, everything on strike, high tension in the air and a possible civil war at any moment). In London i met a Bengali doctor who invited me to go to Calcutta with him. I took him to Mayapur and introduced him to Bhavananda (who was now the King— & Queen— of Iskcon’s World Headquarters) and Jayapataka. This was in the early days of Zonal Acaryaism. The jury was still out as we, the godbrothers were naive and still hopeful that Iskcon would continue with the faith Prabhupada had given us. We were, in retrospect, partially responsible for the inevitable outcome by our ignorance. We were complicit. I certainly was. I needed an engagement. I couldn’t return to Iran. So i asked Rameswar if i could go back to L.A. to become his personal secretary.

He didn’t know me well. I had known him as a super sincere, dedicated brahmacari. Now he was a sannyasi and guru. It was a big mistake for me to work for him. When i got to L.A., I was so emotionally disturbed by what i experienced in his office, i could not eat any solid food for 3 weeks. I lived on buttermilk. Rameswar was a meticulous fault finder. He criticized anyone and everyone. He spent thousands of dollars each month on international phone calls. He had his own private Mercedes which he would use to go to see films. The Godfather was his favorite. He would put on an expensive hair piece and karmi clothes and slip into his Benz at nite. I assumed that watching films was all he did. That’s what the resident president at the time, Dhira Krishna, another sannyasi, told me.

After 4 months of being his secretary, i somehow convinced Sruti Kirti to come from Hawaii and take over for me. But during that period, i met all the Zonals who came over for a big meeting. Jayatirtha, one of my few friends amongst the leaders, had started taking drugs. He was going into “trance” while sitting on the vyasasan. One of the 2 gurus who was still a householder at that time, the other zonals brought him to the meeting in L.A., and confronted him. They told him to take sannyas, or they would out him as an LSD user and remove him as "acarya." The poor guy was attached. He put on saffron. That was the end of his marriage and the end of any chance he had to rectify himself. It was not the end of his taking drugs. He later left Iskcon to start his own apa cult, only to be brutally murdered by one of his own disgruntled disciples.

It was at that meeting i met the rest of the Zonals. Of course i knew Satsvarup from BTG days. He was quiet but restless and dictatorial. Hrdayananda was the most blatantly arrogant, like a gifted child who was completely spoiled. He was also a glutton, stuffing himself with chocolate cake whenever he could. (The zonals always had special cooks and the very best prasadam.) Tamal was there as well. He invited me to go with him on a one week visit to Fiji. I accepted his invitation. We ate very well during that visit. Besides the prasadam, all i remember is him arguing with the local devotees about the exact dimensions that was needed for his vyasasan in the temple in Fiji. Everyone of the zonals was playing a role. None of them showed any transcendental symptoms. Rather they acted like Mafia bosses who sometimes cooperated and sometimes fought with each other.

The next year, i left L.A. to rejoin Atreya in San Francisco. By then, the revolution in Iran had forced him to leave as well. He started a small community in S.F., called the Bhaktivedanta Fellowship. The idea was to create an alternative within Iskcon based not on megalomania but on brahminical standards. We had a brahminical council that met weekly, and while our exchanges were more collegial than in the typical temple, none of us really had any idea of how to interact as brahmins. In addition, all of us were already tired from a decade of mismanagement. I noted that Atreya, who was the leader, wanted to do the right thing, but wasn’t fully committed himself. And neither were any of us. The Fellowship was doomed.

During that time i met Hamsadutta. He was across the Bay in Berkeley. I walked into his room one evening while he was going on about the glories of Hitler. I just sat there listening for about an hour. After that one session, i was afraid of visiting the Berkeley temple again until after he left. My instincts were correct. He was soon busted for shooting up an auto showroom in Berkeley with automatic weapons.

It’s been a long time— 30 plus years — and memories fade. But what i do know is that i don’t think i will see such madness, and such disparity between potential and reality again in this life. That was Iskcon then. What it is now does not attract me. As Rocana has written, not a single leader has invited me, over the past 24 years, for any service or association. On my own, i have spent a bit of time with 1 or 2 leaders of the new Iskcon. They were polite to me. I am addressed as a "senior devotee," which in my opinion only marginalizes me. Iskcon appears to be more polished and saner now than it was 30 years ago. But for me, it's also lost its own heart and soul. That is the heart and soul of Srila Prabhupada.

Signing Off

As the year 2007 comes to a sudden end, i'm impulsively thinking to sign off and not write more on this blog, at least for awhile. They didn't renew my contract for next year. (That's a joke.)

Seriously, i have enjoyed writing and sharing a bit of my mood and inspiration with myself and with you, dear readers, most of whom are my friends. But i am not feeling enthusiastic at this particular time, and therefore i don't feel i have anything more significant to say for now.

One thing i would like to say in signing off, is how much i appreciate Srila Prabhupada's love for me, which came in the form of his preaching. By removing the false hopes and dreams of materialistic thinkers-- of scientists, politicians and religionists-- from the altar of my intelligence, he gave me the gift of true knowledge. That light of confidential knowledge still remains a wonderful hope on the horizon of my consciousness.

That understanding is just a glimmer of the dazzling effulgence of Krishna, but it is more beautiful and valuable to me than millions and billions of glow worms from the material sky whose illusory tricks can no longer cheat me. So thank you, Srila Prabhupada, for your gift of transcendental light. A gift you gave to me and others with your love and hard work. And thank you, dear readers, for sharing in this matchless gift.

I wish to each of you a new year that brings new realizations, closer connections with saintly persons, and more feelings of love for Sri Krishna in your heart. Somehow the mercy of Patita Pavana shall shine on us. Where there is Godhead, there is no darkness.

all my good wishes,
nava jauvana das

Politics of Assassination

In my previous blog entry of 25th December, i wrote about the distance between rhetoric and reality when it comes to peace in our world. How songwriters, politicians and popes talk of peace, yet it remains always beyond our reach. And how Srila Prabhupada cited a famous verse in Lord Sri Krishna's Bhagavad-gita (Ch. 5.29) as the "Peace Formula." Without following this formula, he told us, peace shall remain a dream.

Today's breaking news is from Pakistan. Opposition political leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated at a rally. A suicide terrorist fatally shot her and then blew himself up along with 20 innocent persons. The details and analysis of the assassination you can find on any news site. What is striking to me is how easy it is in this kali yuga to destroy hope. It takes just a few madmen to destroy the hopes of millions.

I'm old enough to remember how hope was crushed when JFK was assassinated. Then a few years later, it was Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy whose hope giving presence was darkened by assassins' bullets. Then John Lennon, the world's most influential songwriter, was violently killed. Anwar Sadat of Egypt and later, Yitzhak Rabin of Israel, were struck down by their own countrymen. Both leaders courageously tried to move their country away from conflict towards peace, and both paid the price with their lives. Today it was Benazir Bhutto's turn. She had twice been Prime Minister of Pakistan and was a voice against the barbaric Taleban and for the rule of reason.

It seems that the personality of Kali yuga is not disposed towards peace. He appears to sacrifice leaders who represent hope and peace. I guess when sacrifice to God (Sankirtan, the Sacrifice of the Holy Names) is not performed in society, one way that Kali makes the population suffer is by letting madmen and killers sacrifice the public's most hopeful leaders. Mediocre and repressive leaders remain while the politics of assassination kills off the best and the brightest. Kali yuga is tough.

Give Peace A Chance

From Associated Press, this wire story today:

ROME, December 25- As the faithful marked Christmas Day, political and religious leaders called for peace and reconciliation, and hope flickered in places long plagued by conflict.

In Iraq, Christians made their way past checkpoints on Tuesday to fill Baghdad churches in numbers unthinkable a year ago. And in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, where tradition says Jesus was born, Christians celebrated in an atmosphere of hope raised by the renewal of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

For them, and for all those in the "tortured regions" of the world, Pope Benedict XVI prayed that political leaders would find "the wisdom and courage to seek and find humane, just and lasting solutions."

Peace is one of those words that defines Kali yuga by its absence. Conspicuous by its absence. In this age of conflict and cruelty, every day hundreds of human beings are murdered by the urges of passion or hatred. Hundreds of thousands of children die of malnutrition while billions of animals are needlessly slaughtered for the pleasure of human palates. Even the ice glaciers are melting at alarming rates due to uncontrolled greed.

We would all like to see a world that is just and peaceful. But no one knows the formula for peace. Peace is a song by John Lennon. Peace is a slogan by politicians and popes. But the formula for real relief is still a secret.

"The sages, knowing Me as the ultimate purpose of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods, and the benefactor and well wisher of all living beings, attain peace from the pangs of material miseries." Bhagavad-gita As It Is Chapter 5.29

Paramatma is the final controller of all. He is the super subjective person behind all endeavors and the unprejudiced friend of all beings. Realizing Him with knowledge and satisfying Him with loving service, a person becomes a perfect yogi. When a critical mass of yogis who practice God consciousness arrives, this earth will experience a just and lasting peace. Anything less is no more than a well-meaning song or a religious slogan. True "shanti" is much more than a sticky melody.

Yuletide Greetings

Yuletide now refers to Christmas, but the word originally comes from Old English or Old Norse. It refers to a pagan festival that lasted for twelve days. Paganism is a polytheistic and hedonistic value system practiced in Northern Europe before Christianity.

It seems everything that goes around, comes around. So the Christians borrowed a pagan holiday to celebrate the birth of Christ (whose actual birthday is unknown). And after one or two millenia of lies, hypocrisy, misuse of power, episodes of intolerance, violence and gross exploitation (e.g. the inquisition, crusades, conquistidors and colonialism, to name just a few) the prevailing mood of this now Christian holiday has again become pagan--in the form of commercial hedonism. Christmas has become the iconic symbol of consumption capitalism. The glorification of "I, me, mine"-- spirit covered by matter, universal love co-opted by global greed. Merry Christmas!

John Griffin 1927-2007

I just heard that my former father-in-law, John Griffin, passed away in Honolulu a few days ago. John was a gentle and generous man. He had been a journalist and editorial page editor of the largest newspaper in Hawaii. Materially successful but soft spoken, he was liked by many.

He had no particular interest in Krishna consciousness, but no aversion either. When his daughter (Manjari) joined a group of devotees when she was only 16 (in 1969), he told Manjari's mother, Helen, that he admired her for following her convictions. That was more than liberal in those days when "Hare Krishna" was a complete unknown. He also made sure she got vitamins and proper medical care when she was living austerely in the temple as a teenager. Later, he traveled thousands of miles out of his way on a trip to Asia, to see his daughter in Tehran, to make sure she was OK.

I got to know him as a son-in-law, typically not a very comfortable relationship. But he was always relaxed, never making me feel judged or pressured. He seemed to accept my choice of lifestyle, whether it was as an ashramite or entrepreneur. He never imposed his own values or opinions on me, to the point where i was never sure what his own ideas were. We never had any conflicts.

In later years after i left Hawaii, i saw him infrequently. He lived comfortably with his second wife, Susan, in a middle class neighborhood not far from the famous Diamond Head Crater. After he retired he wrote and published a novel. I heard he had an interest in certain new age authors such as Deepak Chopra. Try as she did, Manjari, who has been a resident of Vrindavan for the past 11 years, was never able to convince him to visit the dham. But she would bring Vrindavan with her when she visited Hawaii-- including a Kesava saligram sila named Braj Kishore, 3 Govardhan silas and brass Nitai Gauranga deities. They were all there, along with Tulasi devi, in John's home, at the time of his passing last Sunday evening at the age of 80.

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur mentions that when one becomes a kanista vaisnava (neophyte devotee), 3 generations of his or her relatives are elevated by the mercy of Krishna. When one reaches madhyam vaisnava, 14 generations of ancestors are elevated, and for uttama vaisnavas, so rare in this world, 100 generations receive special mercy.

In the end, all of our conceptions about life, our identity and our place in this world are either buried or burned with our bodies. Only our consciousness and our luck (good and bad karmas) go with us. If we are really lucky, by our practice or by some special grace, we will attract the mercy of the Lord. That mercy, however unseen it is to us, is our real capital. It gives us a visa that allows us to take a birth to associate with a real sadhu, one of the liberated associates of the Lord. That is perfection. Everything-- until that point-- is merely a rehearsal of unlimited scenes of temporary happiness and suffering. It is an endless loop in the theatre of maya.

I hope that Krishna was especially merciful to John. I hope he got his visa and is now somewhere on his way to joining the eternal play, the pastimes of the loving vaisnavas with Krishna, reality, the beautiful.

Incarnation of Sound

"So in this yuga, this Kali-yuga, incarnation is Lord Caitanya, and the process of worship is this sound vibration. That is mentioned. In every avatara, every incarnation... Just like Lord Buddha. His name is also mentioned. And there will be another incarnation, Kalki. That is also mentioned. So they are mentioned, yugavatara. And saktyavesavatara. Saktyavesavatara.

"All avataras, their mission is to preach the message of God. Avatara has no other business. The message of God. Saktyavesavatara. This Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, this is also considered saktyavesavatara, the incarnation of sound. Incarnation of sound.

"It is described by Lord Caitanya that kali-kale nama rupe avatara: "In this Kali-yuga, in this age, this incarnation of name -- Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare -- to give facility to the conditioned soul." They cannot do anything. It is very difficult to perform any other religious rituals. This, the best anywhere, everywhere -- you can chant Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna.

"Namnam akari bahudha nija-sarva-sakti. Sakti, this word is used, sakti. And from sakti, that energy, saktyavesavatara. So this name is also saktyavesavatara."

Srila Prabhupada lecture on Caitanya Caritamrita, 16th Dec. 1966, NY.

Eternal Race of Women

My meditation today comes from a lecture given by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur on 25th September, 1925. I read his words in the English book, Prabhupada Saraswati Thakur, published by Mandala Publishing.

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Thakur spoke about women:

"All of you please perceive everything in this world as ingredients for serving Krishna. Everything of this world is actually meant for Krishna's service. Please see the whole race of women as beloved consorts of Krishna, and help them to always engage themselves in the service of Krishna....They are to be enjoyed by Krishna; they are never to be enjoyed by the living entities."

Later in the same lecture, the Thakur mentions that he wants to build a "Visnupriya Palli" (palli means neighborhood and Visnupriya Devi is the wife of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu) in Sridham Mayapur, for women who have been impeded in their devotional practices by bad association. He wanted them to have a place in Mayapur where they could live peacefully near Yogapith (Mahaprabhu's birthplace) and practice devotional service free from exploitation.

Walking down the street today on my way to buy groceries, my meditation as i passed women was to see them as part of "an eternal race" who were meant for Sri Krishna's enjoyment. It is a novel way to process familiar sense impressions. It is not easy to override my conditioned response system. Every man subconsciously looks at women as objects of attraction or aversion. And women are tuned in with a kind of internal radar to pick up any signals of interest. So this exercise (of seeing women as an eternal race belonging to Krishna) is counter-intuitive to the normal dance between the sexes. But that dance is actually a hallucination, a trip. Maya always promises to take you to a mystical, wonderful world. And in the end she brings you mediocrity and misery. Always.

Of course, our Srila Prabhupada also taught us these essential truths: to see that everything belongs to Krishna, and is meant for His service. By his example also, Prabhupada taught us to always respect women, as he respected his own female disciples. He never exploited them in even the slightest way. He offered them protection as brahmacarinis and he also respected them when they married. He rarely engaged his female disciples directly; rather he encouraged them to accept their temple authorities or husbands as spiritual guides. This is in contrast to less advanced gurus who take on a subtle but intimate role in their women disciples' lives. This has become quite popular these days, with some gurus acting as 'surrogate' husbands. That is distasteful and dangerous and disturbing, as it upsets the already difficult balance of household life.

Much worse, however, are those false gurus who grossly exploit their female disciples. Incest between guru and disciple is even more abominable than the ordinary brand of incest. It is beneath all moral codes, what to speak of spiritual etiquette. Amorality of that kind is for animals. Guru is the spiritual father for progressive members of the human race. If he acts like an animal for personal sense gratification, he is not guru at all, but a 'shmuru', a bogus cheater. The Isopanisad says such a rascal is headed for the darkest regions of the universe-- animal or plant life.

For the rest of us who are aspiring to be progressive humans, our responsibility is mostly to ourselves. If we want peace, we must develop the vision to see all women (or men) in this world as expressions and energies of Sri Krishna, meant eventually for His company. They are His creation, His race, meant for Him to maintain and enjoy, eternally.

Maha Vishnu Animation

A kind of Christmas tree-like animation created by a devotee in Canada, now on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzQWRPlQKUQ

And from the same devotee artist, a tribute to Govinda, sung by George Harrison:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7eFQMakhDE&feature=related