My India Diary-Part 2

Day 5 12/10 Radha-Gopinath Mandir


Mellow today. Pretty sore from doing the quick-jig with Shyamsundar during kirtan yesterday. Caitanya even got quite a welt on his head. Indian traffic-jam kirtan. Dangerous business. One has got to be greedy in the good way to floing yourself mind, body, and soul into such ecstatic displays of athleticism.


Cracked open Sri-Caitanya Mangala by Locana Dasa Thakur. Downright enchanting so far to this hard heart. Also began Spiritual Warrior IV by Bhakti-Tirtha Swami. As always, practical, real, and dripping with compassion. For example, he writes "we should never think that God has left us alone without any help or guidance and without anyway to get us out of our maya or our problems....the true spiritual warrior can never be captured by excessive anxiety because of his or her constant absorption in giving and recieving love."


Jagannath Kirtan Das is a great devotee here from Vancouver, always happy to see western faces. We discussed "The Great Change" that looms upon this Planet Earth and he related to me his realization that it really doesn't matter which part of the military-industrial-media complex is most nefarious. None of these little demons is actually in control. It's Krsna who is really running the show, and by fearing and dwelling on those who pretend to be in control, we are reflecting our lack of faith in Krsna's personal concern for the sake of all Earthlings.


We also spoke about self-sufficency and how it's an eternal need of the living entity, not dependent on external circumstances like global warming, etc. Modern culture is non-Vedic culture and is nothing new. We truly fight the power by letting Krsna pervade our heart and then giving that gift to all others.



Day 6 12/11 Train to Delhi

Currently riding the Rajdhani Express to Delhi. 18 hours. Not anything like a nightmare, though plenty of weird dreams. No bombs going off. No smells other than the usual Indian odors. Still, you don't realize until coming to India what luxury we have in the West. It's better to realize that austerity is the true wealth of the universe.



HH Candramauli Swami spike in Bhagavatam class in Chowpatty today of life in Krsna consciousness, and of the extra, less-spoken tolerance of the uncomfortable, challenging situations that Krsna places us in to purify us. It is in these situations that the art of devotional service to Guru and Gauranga can develop more and more fully.



I also recieved a lot of encouragement from HG Mahamuni Prabhu, a famed book distributor and preacher who had been on the Radha-Damodar Traveling Sankirtan Party. In his great radio voice, he instills confidence in being an ambassador of Krsna, in being all-attractive, and in being the best because we are giving the best. Keep it simple, he says. Chanting dancing feasting.



As I relate just now to a nice disciple of HH Narayana Maharaja on the train, we make it too complicated with philosophical arguments and too many fine points on what to do/what not to do. All we must do as preachers is give the Holy Name, maintain our own sadhana, and fill bellies with expert prasad. Be open, be friendly, be vessels of Gauranga's mercy. There is nothing finer and I fall at the feet of all Vaisnavas who are expert in the flooding of this mercy on this beautiful blue globe.