For those unaware, Muktakesh Prabhu, a dear disciple of Srila Prabhupada and resident of New Vrindaban, left his body this past Friday, April 6, 2007, at 9:36pm, in a room filled with over thirty devotees, family, and friends chanting Hare Krsna at the most auspicious moment of his soul's passing.
I did not know Mukta Kesh Prabhu very well, at least on the surface. However, in being able to be one of the many devotees who helped assist him to leave his body in ideal Vaisnava fashion, I've come to understand that perhaps I've been an intimate associate of him for many lifetimes.
I know he's in a better place now, and as soon as he got there, whoever was around to greet him sure got more that what they bargained for.
The first I ever heard of Mukta was that he used to storm into the brahmacari ashram very early in the morning, pounding on doors, yelling out "Jiv Jago!" (wake up sleeping soul!), calling us monkeys, and chanting Hare Krsna in his unique high-volume fashion. I cringed at the thought of having to meet such a person.
Later, I was actually going to ask him to resume this service. I thought it might help me jump out of bed a little bit quicker, but I was told not to ask him because some devotees in our ashram may not appreciate having this extra alarm clock ringing again. Alas...I'm sure I'll get a chance to experience this lila in a more transcendental way in the future.
Mukta was kind enough to gently force me to join his daily 12:30pm Bhagavad-Gita study course. He reminded us nearly everyday that having to use this time for such a consistent study was an austerity any young devotee must undergo. After a few classes, I completely agreed with him.
Mukta's style of giving class was very typical of his personality. Instead of concentrating solely on one verse, as is standard, we would storm through 10-15 verses at a time. This method has so many benefits, for it allows one to see the main themes and lessons of a chapter unfold and connect, and it doesn't take three years of sporadic classes to get through one book.
His class became one of the highlights of the day. I learned that this seemingly intimidating devotee, whose nature of being is very much the polar opposite of my own, actually had a real heart of gold, and I'll appreciate forever his taking time out of his very important duties as head of our Prison Ministry to actually engage the young bhaktas and bhaktins of New Vrindaban in serious, engaging, and very sweet katha.
We had just finished Chapter 2 of the Gita when he fell ill. Some of the last words I spoke to him before he left was a personal vow that I will hold him to finally getting started on Chapter 3 next time I see him.
My other favorite Mukta pastimes was his early-morning habit of pulling a chair to the middle of the temple room, sitting down to chant his japa, and then getting up after about 15 seconds to go chant elsewhere, leaving the chair there for nobody and everybody. He also had a great hop-step dance he would do right before circumambulating Tulasi-devi in the morning.
Being able to be present to help him leave his body, surrounded by so many loving devotees, has given me so many lessons that I will be assimilating for the rest of my life. At least, I can understand that anything and everything we do must revolve around being able to hear the holy name of Krsna at every moment of our life, especially at the time of death.
I'll miss you a lot, Mukta. All of us will try our best to give your son all the support and guidance that you gave him. We'll see you soon.
Showing posts with label New Vrindavan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New Vrindavan. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Friday, April 6, 2007
Srimad-Bhagavatam Meditation: 1:10:3
It is now time for our weekly meditation on a verse from the ripened fruit of all the Vedic literatures, the Srimad-Bhagavatam.
I humble ask you to please first read the Bhaktivedanta translation and purport from the First Canto, Tenth Chapter, Third Verse.
niśamya bhīsmoktam athācyutoktam
pravrtta-vijñāna-vidhūta-vibhramah
śaśāsa gām indra ivājitāśrayah
paridhyupāntām anujānuvartitah
Prabhupada says here "It is the person who rules, and not the impersonal government. If the person is perfect, the government is perfect. If the person is a fool, the government is a fool's paradise. That is the law of nature." On the surface, this is obvious to anyone with any intelligence and interest in the common good, in relating to our current political and social climates.
But in a more complete sense, Prabhupada is calling for us to turn away from democracy (or "demon-crazy" as he calls it) as the ideal form of government. In the ideal Vedic conception, the world should be guided by one state, one rule, one leader. This leader must be a perfect, spiritual individual, who by dint of his piety and compassion, will please God so much that all necessities and desires of the citizenry will fall into line.
If this sounds like an impossible utopia, it is, at least on the material platform. To any modern, Western-educated individual, it may also seem like a regression to the days of dictators and despots. However, billions of people around the globe already are attempting to follow one perfect individual. His name is God, or Krsna, or Allah, or Jesus, etc.
Because we are imperfect beings in a materially conditioned state, we cannot take up the responsibility of attempting to lord over the resources and ideologies of any form of society that can be established on this earthly planet. The history books are full of the folly of this startling misconception. In this age of quarrel and hypocrisy, the perfect spiritual leader does not exist in a human body. Therefore, we must fill this void by trusting in the word, law, and love of God.
But this trust is lost, the law is warped, and this love is perverted into so many diluted forms. This isn't because of any defect in God's nature, contrary to so much popular belief. It is because of our own conditioned state, our own choices, and our own helplessness in what is being imposed upon us by the demoniac forces covering up the goodwill of this globe.
The only revolution that will truly create any tangible, positive change is a spiritual revolution, with the word of God at the center. This revolution will only take place when the different faiths of this world learn to see beyond the superficial differences that exist at the expense of the common cure, the common foundation.
However difficult it may be, and whatever comforts we are attached to, we must give it up and work together, because us spiritually-minded people are this planet's only hope.
"But a king like Mahārāja Yudhisthira had no ideology of his own. He had but to follow the instructions of the infallible Lord and the Lord's representative and the authorized agent, Bhīsmadeva. It is instructed in the śāstras that one should follow the great authority and the infallible Lord without any personal motive and manufactured ideology." We must give-up all temporary, materially-based ideologies and become channels for the revolution of the Lord, who supplies all answers and all sense.
Democracy can ideally work on a local scale, but we must realize that man cannot rule man alone. Until then we will suffer and stumble and perhaps wipe ourselves clear away. This is the most serious, pressing matter we face, and I beg of you to heed it with thought and action.
I humble ask you to please first read the Bhaktivedanta translation and purport from the First Canto, Tenth Chapter, Third Verse.
niśamya bhīsmoktam athācyutoktam
pravrtta-vijñāna-vidhūta-vibhramah
śaśāsa gām indra ivājitāśrayah
paridhyupāntām anujānuvartitah
Mahārāja Yudhisthira, after being enlightened by what was spoken by Bhīsmadeva and Lord Śrī Krsna, the infallible, engaged himself in matters of perfect knowledge because all his misgivings were eradicated. Thus he ruled over the earth and seas and was followed by his younger brothers.
It takes only a few passing glances at a newspaper, blog, or television set to see that the practice of democracy in our current age is being exposed as a web of deceit. For those who choose to dig deeper, or have been a victim of the widespread voter fraud of the last two American presidential elections, the reality of what is going on is frightening to think about.
Prabhupada says here "It is the person who rules, and not the impersonal government. If the person is perfect, the government is perfect. If the person is a fool, the government is a fool's paradise. That is the law of nature." On the surface, this is obvious to anyone with any intelligence and interest in the common good, in relating to our current political and social climates.
But in a more complete sense, Prabhupada is calling for us to turn away from democracy (or "demon-crazy" as he calls it) as the ideal form of government. In the ideal Vedic conception, the world should be guided by one state, one rule, one leader. This leader must be a perfect, spiritual individual, who by dint of his piety and compassion, will please God so much that all necessities and desires of the citizenry will fall into line.
If this sounds like an impossible utopia, it is, at least on the material platform. To any modern, Western-educated individual, it may also seem like a regression to the days of dictators and despots. However, billions of people around the globe already are attempting to follow one perfect individual. His name is God, or Krsna, or Allah, or Jesus, etc.
Because we are imperfect beings in a materially conditioned state, we cannot take up the responsibility of attempting to lord over the resources and ideologies of any form of society that can be established on this earthly planet. The history books are full of the folly of this startling misconception. In this age of quarrel and hypocrisy, the perfect spiritual leader does not exist in a human body. Therefore, we must fill this void by trusting in the word, law, and love of God.
But this trust is lost, the law is warped, and this love is perverted into so many diluted forms. This isn't because of any defect in God's nature, contrary to so much popular belief. It is because of our own conditioned state, our own choices, and our own helplessness in what is being imposed upon us by the demoniac forces covering up the goodwill of this globe.
The only revolution that will truly create any tangible, positive change is a spiritual revolution, with the word of God at the center. This revolution will only take place when the different faiths of this world learn to see beyond the superficial differences that exist at the expense of the common cure, the common foundation.
However difficult it may be, and whatever comforts we are attached to, we must give it up and work together, because us spiritually-minded people are this planet's only hope.
"But a king like Mahārāja Yudhisthira had no ideology of his own. He had but to follow the instructions of the infallible Lord and the Lord's representative and the authorized agent, Bhīsmadeva. It is instructed in the śāstras that one should follow the great authority and the infallible Lord without any personal motive and manufactured ideology." We must give-up all temporary, materially-based ideologies and become channels for the revolution of the Lord, who supplies all answers and all sense.
Democracy can ideally work on a local scale, but we must realize that man cannot rule man alone. Until then we will suffer and stumble and perhaps wipe ourselves clear away. This is the most serious, pressing matter we face, and I beg of you to heed it with thought and action.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Srimad-Bhagavatam Meditation: 1:10:4
Once a week, I will be sharing a meditation on a verse from the ripened fruit of the tree of Vedic knowledge: the Srimad-Bhagavatam, translated and with commentary by His Divine Grace Swami Srila Prabhupada.
I humble request you to first read today's verse, from Canto 1, Chapter 10, Verse 4..."Departure of Lord Krsna for Dvaraka."
kamam vavarsa parjanyah
sarva-kama-dugha mahi
sisicuh sma vrajan gavah
payasodhasvatir muda
During the reign of Maharaja Yudhisthira, the clouds showered all the water that people needed, and the earth produced all the necessities of man in profusion. Due to its fatty milk bag and cheerful attitude, the cow used to moisten the grazing ground with milk.
In Prabhupada's commentary, he says that "the basic principle of economic development is centered on land and milk." This is the very foundation of our Krsna conscious motto of "Simple Living and High Thinking." All of our farm communities strive to live wholly by this ideal. The earth provides all we need naturally, especially when we are aligned spiritually with the dictates of the Absolute Truth. But, as individual spirit souls who have a tendency to want to believe that we are the Absolute Truth, we misuse our God-given free will and are always attempting to live in a world that is bigger, better, and faster.
No matter how much you and I love our MP3 players, they are not essential to our survival. This can be extended to any technological or extraneous mechanical device, even this very computer. The Internet can be a wonderful communication tool, but if some crafty Korean hackers yanked the whole show down this afternoon, your physical survival would most likely not be threatened.
It is this drive to create artificial comforts and standards of sense gratification that distracts us from true realization of the nature of our self, and of how we can relate in the best possible way to all the souls who surround us as well. I'm certainly no luddite, but the future of humanity depends of finding a balance between the land and the mechanical invention. Right now, the see-saw is leaning heavy in the direction of the machine, and the machine might just want to eat us whole.
Getting to that correct balance means first and foremost respecting those cheerfully fatty cows. Prabhupada pulls no punches when he says "Why should men kill cows for their selfish purposes? Why should man not be satisfied with grains, fruits and milk....Why are there slaughterhouses all over the world to kill innocent animals?...Is this humanity? Are not the animals of a country citizens also? Then why are they allowed to be butchered in organized slaughterhouses? Are these the signs of equality, fraternity, and non-violence?"
Have you ever seriously asked yourself these questions before? The answers that are provided with some good old-fashioned thinking will hopefully enlighten you well beyond what you choose to put onto your dinner plate. There are deep environmental and spiritual benefits that come with a conscious change to a vegetarian or vegan diet.
No less an authority than Albert Einstein says that "nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet."
Becoming a vegetarian is, from my own personal experience, one of the most rewarding choices you can make in your personal practice of existence.
We have to listen to more than just our guts. I pray than anyone who reads this can at least try to understand your own individual responsibility to your own health, and the health of all living entities that surround you, including animals big and small. The happiness you will feel is guaranteed to help you see reality much clearer than you ever have before.
Check out the Veggie Hub (www.veggiehub.com). They'll explain it much better.
I humble request you to first read today's verse, from Canto 1, Chapter 10, Verse 4..."Departure of Lord Krsna for Dvaraka."
kamam vavarsa parjanyah
sarva-kama-dugha mahi
sisicuh sma vrajan gavah
payasodhasvatir muda
During the reign of Maharaja Yudhisthira, the clouds showered all the water that people needed, and the earth produced all the necessities of man in profusion. Due to its fatty milk bag and cheerful attitude, the cow used to moisten the grazing ground with milk.
In Prabhupada's commentary, he says that "the basic principle of economic development is centered on land and milk." This is the very foundation of our Krsna conscious motto of "Simple Living and High Thinking." All of our farm communities strive to live wholly by this ideal. The earth provides all we need naturally, especially when we are aligned spiritually with the dictates of the Absolute Truth. But, as individual spirit souls who have a tendency to want to believe that we are the Absolute Truth, we misuse our God-given free will and are always attempting to live in a world that is bigger, better, and faster.
No matter how much you and I love our MP3 players, they are not essential to our survival. This can be extended to any technological or extraneous mechanical device, even this very computer. The Internet can be a wonderful communication tool, but if some crafty Korean hackers yanked the whole show down this afternoon, your physical survival would most likely not be threatened.
It is this drive to create artificial comforts and standards of sense gratification that distracts us from true realization of the nature of our self, and of how we can relate in the best possible way to all the souls who surround us as well. I'm certainly no luddite, but the future of humanity depends of finding a balance between the land and the mechanical invention. Right now, the see-saw is leaning heavy in the direction of the machine, and the machine might just want to eat us whole.
Getting to that correct balance means first and foremost respecting those cheerfully fatty cows. Prabhupada pulls no punches when he says "Why should men kill cows for their selfish purposes? Why should man not be satisfied with grains, fruits and milk....Why are there slaughterhouses all over the world to kill innocent animals?...Is this humanity? Are not the animals of a country citizens also? Then why are they allowed to be butchered in organized slaughterhouses? Are these the signs of equality, fraternity, and non-violence?"
Have you ever seriously asked yourself these questions before? The answers that are provided with some good old-fashioned thinking will hopefully enlighten you well beyond what you choose to put onto your dinner plate. There are deep environmental and spiritual benefits that come with a conscious change to a vegetarian or vegan diet.
No less an authority than Albert Einstein says that "nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet."
Becoming a vegetarian is, from my own personal experience, one of the most rewarding choices you can make in your personal practice of existence.
We have to listen to more than just our guts. I pray than anyone who reads this can at least try to understand your own individual responsibility to your own health, and the health of all living entities that surround you, including animals big and small. The happiness you will feel is guaranteed to help you see reality much clearer than you ever have before.
Check out the Veggie Hub (www.veggiehub.com). They'll explain it much better.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Hit the Asphalt!
Being an aspiring celibate monk in the Gaudiya Vaisnava (Hare Krsna) tradition, I often get the impression that people have no idea what I actually do. What exactly does actual spiritual life look like, sound like, taste like, and feel like. Actually, I'm not sure. I'll think I'll try to figure it our after I get up from my nap....we do arise at 4am in these parts.
To give you, dearest reader, a small example of this devotee life, I present a photo essay of our journey northwards to Pittsburgh and Michigan that occurred last weekend (3-16 to 3-20-07). I traveled with my fellow former Michigan homeboy and good neighbor Caitanya Das, along with His Grace Yugal Kishore Das, one of New Vrindaban's most delightful traveling salesmen, engaged in the helping spread the marketplace of the Holy Name. Also repping the New Vrindaban contingent in Detroit this weekend was Her Grace Mother Malati, who is one of the original Western disciples of our Hare Krsna movement and of the man himself, His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada. Caitanya and I were mainly traveling doing college programs of musical meditation (kirtan) and spiritual discussion, while Yugal and Malati were in Detroit to preside over a Deity installation at the local home of one of our congregation members.
So, with my whole life being experimental, I'm gonna throw up a bunch of pictures here so you may get some kind of jist. I've been told by knowlegable sources not to overload on the photography, because it overloads the load time for people of lesser CPU capacity. To those people, all I can say, like the human beings will say, is "sorry." Please enjoy to the best of your capacity anyway...
Caitanya Das prays for rain
A neon kirtan for the neon age, live from the University of Pittsburgh
Yugal Kishore dresses and bathes the New Arrivals
Our man Bhakta Joe Swift doing what he does best.
Back to the roots...a college program-East Quad-U. of Michigan-Ann Arbor
"Take the pacifier out of your mouth, and just fill your mouth with harinama instead.."
Detroit Rock City!
The kindest enlightenment from Her Grace Mother Malati.
Heating up the asphalt and catching a cold-Kirtan at Michigan State University
The ideal way to end the trip-organic raspberry popsicles.
His Divine Grace A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada-ISKCON Devasadan-Detroit
To give you, dearest reader, a small example of this devotee life, I present a photo essay of our journey northwards to Pittsburgh and Michigan that occurred last weekend (3-16 to 3-20-07). I traveled with my fellow former Michigan homeboy and good neighbor Caitanya Das, along with His Grace Yugal Kishore Das, one of New Vrindaban's most delightful traveling salesmen, engaged in the helping spread the marketplace of the Holy Name. Also repping the New Vrindaban contingent in Detroit this weekend was Her Grace Mother Malati, who is one of the original Western disciples of our Hare Krsna movement and of the man himself, His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada. Caitanya and I were mainly traveling doing college programs of musical meditation (kirtan) and spiritual discussion, while Yugal and Malati were in Detroit to preside over a Deity installation at the local home of one of our congregation members.
So, with my whole life being experimental, I'm gonna throw up a bunch of pictures here so you may get some kind of jist. I've been told by knowlegable sources not to overload on the photography, because it overloads the load time for people of lesser CPU capacity. To those people, all I can say, like the human beings will say, is "sorry." Please enjoy to the best of your capacity anyway...
Caitanya Das prays for rain
A neon kirtan for the neon age, live from the University of Pittsburgh
Yugal Kishore dresses and bathes the New Arrivals
Our man Bhakta Joe Swift doing what he does best.
Back to the roots...a college program-East Quad-U. of Michigan-Ann Arbor
"Take the pacifier out of your mouth, and just fill your mouth with harinama instead.."
Detroit Rock City!
The kindest enlightenment from Her Grace Mother Malati.
Heating up the asphalt and catching a cold-Kirtan at Michigan State University
The ideal way to end the trip-organic raspberry popsicles.
His Divine Grace A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada-ISKCON Devasadan-Detroit
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