Loyalty to Prabhupada

Last Sunday we had a special sanyasi giving class. It was HH Bhakti Nrsinga Swami. Why is he special? ... Well for one thing I got to see Maharaja receive sanyasa at the Durban Ratha Yatra this year making him the first sanyasi from South Africa - Haribol! Despite maharaja being from South Africa I never really heard Maharaja speak before and, man, was I blown away!!

Because we have Gaura Nitai deities Maharaja gave class from the CC, the beginning where it describes how Lord Caitanya appeared like the sun rising from the ocean.

Maharaja read the purport from Ādi 1.102 where it is described that “and it is predicted that as the sun and moon gradually move west, the movement They began five hundred years ago will come to the Western civilizations by Their mercy.” And the person that was chosen to do this great service was HDG Srila Prabhupada! Actually Srila Bhaktisiddanta Maharaja was giving the same instruction to all his disciples and when Srila Prabhupada came along Bhaktisiddanta Maharaja gave the same instruction, “Preach to English speaking world” it was Srila Prabhupada who had the mercy and the compassion in his heart to fulfil this desire of Bhaktisiddanta Maharaja.

Nowadays there is a feeling among some devotees that Srila Prabhupada didn’t give us everything that perhaps we need to get more information from other places. But actually the special nature of Srila Prabhupada’s books is that each time you read it, if you reading carefully, newer and newer levels are reached each time creating more and more realisations. It’s amazing! Maharaja said that his been on 3 Nectar of Devotion courses and each time he felt like wow!

Maharaja was describing that he went to the Ratha Yatra in Newcastle where one devotee mother, standing with her 10 month old baby, was explaining that children at this age are very sensitive that they can not see clearly but they can smell, so they maybe passed from one lady to another but they are not happy until they come back again to their mother. They recognise there mother by the smell. So Srila Prabhupada is like our mother giving us milk since the time of birth.

Maharaja also spoke on the Caitanya tree, ISKCON being one the main branches that is actually producing the most juiciest fruits.

During the question and answer session, one devotee asked: the main activities that Prabhupada wanted were preaching, book distribution and harinaam. What if a devotee feels that the temple is not doing enough of this and that (like how Prabhupada left the gaudiya math) they would like to branch of and create there own centre and just get on with the mission.

Maharaja’s answer was brilliant: wherever one goes there has to be authority. There are different GBCs and perhaps we may get along with the temple president in Lenasia then we can go to a place where we do get along with the authority. We can not, not get along with all authorities. Just like Maharaja travels to different places in each place Maharaja has to check with the local GBC. Then Maharaja said you can try doing something on own but it won’t last. Maybe for a few years but after a while it will just dry up. Others have tried .. In terms of the Caitanya tree you maybe one branch that is not so firmly attached and gradually after a while that branch will dry up.

Happy birthday, Sitala!

Yesterday was not a good day for me. Since Saturday I lost my bead bag! That is the bead bag with the beads I received at initiation, the same beads that my guru Maharaja had chanted on.

I felt it was a direct result of really bad chanting and that Krishna was telling to catch a wake up or loose more than what I have already. Fortunately, Krishna’s grace, I found it this morning as I was preparing to leave home for work, the one place I didn’t check struck me and there was my bead bag. shoo! close call…

Yesterday was also my birthday, not birthday into this material body but spiritual birth of formally receiving the holy name from my spiritual master. Yep, it’s been 5 years and as I sat at the initiation ceremony yesterday listening as the initiates got their new names I though about the sacrifice the spiritual master takes in accepting a disciple. Even if it takes several births to save a disciple the guru takes that risk.

My spiritual master is especially merciful, taking risks to save a fallen soul like me. Even at the time of initiation Maharaja knew I wasn’t hundred percent. But over the years since then maharaja has given me many opportunities to somehow gradually improve myself. I am forever grateful for that and I offer my deepest, most humble obeisance to Gurumaharaja, and I beg forgiveness for the multitudes of sin I commit daily at his lotus feet.

I beg the Lord to help me to overcome these offences and to help me become a good devotee.

All glories to Jagat Guru, Srila Prabhupada!
All glories to Srila Gurudev!

Hiranyakashipu’s school

I know 'The Apprentice' has been showing on TV for a long while now, but somehow I never ended up watching it until couple of weeks ago. Every time I watch it though I am filled with disbelief that grown people and so called upper class people could behave so churlishly and so childishly.

One of the weeks, while I was watching one episode, I had a flash in my mind of a scene from the Nrsingadev plays that are often shown. You know the part where Sananda and Amarka, the school teachers of Prahlad, are trying to instil some demonic qualities in to Prahlad. And on 'The Apprentice' Donald Trump was showing approval to one of the teams who did some real shifty stuff that had me quite horrified! At that point I suddenly thought this is just like Hiranyakashipu’s school!

This made me understand why we are warned against getting too close with materialistic people. Here, where I work, there are nice people. But I also get plenty of exposure to back-stabbers and the like. Of course you learn how to block those kind of people out so that they don’t get too close. But still their behaviour and the behaviour of the ‘nice' people can influence you on a subtle plain. To counteract that effect, I need to hear (nicely) plenty of holy names of the Lord and I need to associate on a deep level with devotees.

The holy names one I’ve got to work on. For the association I also need to work on but this Monday night I had a really nice time at book club. We discussed Krishna Book and it was just great! If some how we can do more things like this hopefully at the time of death, that is what will shine instead of all the materialistic things I am involved in.

Jai Sacinandan Gaura-Hari!