Chapter 38

[Guest guest]

Diary of a Traveling Preacher

 

Volume 3, Chapter 38

 

May 31-June 3, 2001

 

 

For many months, due to my busy schedule, my disciples have been worshipping

my Laksmi-Nrsimha Deity. Here on the tour they placed Them on the altar in

our temple room while upstairs, in my room, I have been doing puja to a few

of my salagrams. However, after a dream I had last night, I brought Their

Lordships back to my room.

 

I hesitate to share the dream, because Srila Prabhupada has warned that only

very advanced devotees can take instructions from the Lord in dreams:

 

" . . . one must be a very elevated devotee in order to be able to speak

with the Supreme Lord. Sometimes the Lord informs the devotee through

dreams. These exchanges between the Deity and the devotee are not

understandable by atheists, but actually the devotee enjoys them.

[Teachings of Lord Caitanya]

 

In a letter to a young disciple, Srila Prabhupada states, however, that the

Lord may sometimes appear in dreams even to one not so advanced, as myself:

 

"So far your dreams are concerned, it is very nice that you are thinking

about Krsna consciousness even while sleeping. Krsna is so nice that we want

to remember Him even more than twenty-four hours daily . . . Lord Jagannatha

is very kind, and He can also appear in mind in His own form, so why not in

your dream?"

[Letter to Bhaktin Linda - February 19, 1970]

 

I dreamt I was chanting my rounds in a small house in Vrindavan, when a

devotee approached me excitedly with a letter. Not wanting to be distracted

unless it was urgent, I asked him from whom the letter came. Looking at me

with a smile on his face, he replied, "It's from from Laksmi-Nrsimha!"

 

I immediately took the letter and gazed at the beautiful Sanskrit-like

handwriting on the cover. It said: "To Indradyumna Swami." On the back, in

the same ornate lettering, was written, "From Laksmi-Nrsimha."

 

I thought, "My gosh. My Deities have written me a letter!"

 

With great care and attention I tried to open the envelope, but was unable

to do so. Bhakti Bringa Govinda Maharaja was present and said to me, "You'll

have to take it to a sadhu who can help you."

 

So I walked into the Vrindavan forest where several sadhus were sitting, and

respectfully asked one if he would help me open the letter. In a sober mood,

he took the envelope and easily opened it. Impatient, I asked, "Your

Holiness, what does it say?"

 

Looking up at me he replied, "They want you to worship Them."

 

All the devotees on the tour are grateful that Laksmi-Nrsimha protected them

from serious injury the night our festival was attacked. They are also

grateful to the many devotees around the world who responded to our plea for

capital to hire the professional security team that now guards each of our

programs. Half the amount of laksmi required to keep the security team with

us until mid August, when our festivals end, has been raised. Yesterday

at istagosthi, when I informed the members of the tour how help is coming

in, one boy, his head still swathed in bandages, raised his hand and said in

appreciation, "Now I know what Srila Prabhupada meant when he said 'your

love for me will be tested by how you cooperate amongst yourselves.' "

 

Yesterday, the biggest newspaper in the region ran a front-page article on

the attack with a picture of the 12-year-old girl who was injured. In big

bold letters it said, "DISGRACE!" and described the incident as religious

intolerance. As a result, public response has been extremely favorable.

Everywhere we go people come forward and offer us words of sympathy.

Yesterday on harinama in Loch, a motorcycle gang slowed down as they

approached us on the road. I thought, "Oh no, here we go again," when

suddenly all the gang members simultaneously gave us the thumbs-up signal

and started yelling, "Bravo Krishna! Bravo Krishna!"

 

During the last 10 days, time has flown by due to the intensity of events.

Yesterday morning, as I sat chanting my rounds, I had the realization that

despite the fact that I was busily engaged in full-time devotional service

these past days, my remembrance of the Lord was flickering. I lamented,

feeling far from the goal of being able to remember Krsna constantly.

 

sa hanis tan mahacchidram

sa mohah sa ca vibhramah

yan muhurtamksanam vapi

vasudevam na cintayet

 

"If even a moment's remembrance of Vasudeva is missed, that is the greatest

loss, that is the greatest illusion, and that is the greatest anomaly."

[Visnu Purna]

 

I prayed to come to the stage of being able to remember Krsna at every step

in life, either in happiness or distress. As if in response to my prayer,

later that day on the Internet I chanced upon the poem of a little girl

dying of cancer in a New York hospital. The essence of her poem was that we

should take time to be conscious of the nice things around us and not be

oblivious to them as life races by. Although her sentiments deal with the

material world, I read into her poem my own desire to remember the Lord and

become fully conscious of Him at every moment.

 

Slow Dance

 

Have you ever watched kids

On a merry-go-round?

Or listened to the rain

Slapping on the ground?

Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight?

Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?

You better slow down.

Don't dance so fast.

Time is short.

The music won't last.

 

Do you run through each day

On the fly?

When you ask, "How are you?"

Do you hear the reply?

When the day is done

Do you lie in your bed

With the next hundred chores

Running through your head?

You'd better slow down.

Don't dance so fast.

Time is short.

The music won't last.

 

Ever told your child,

"We'll do it tomorrow"?

And in your haste

Not seen his sorrow?

Ever lost touch

Let a good friendship die,

'Cause you never had time

To call and say, "Hi"?

You'd better slow down.

Don't dance so fast.

Time is short.

The music won't last.

 

When you run so fast to get somewhere

You miss half the fun of getting there.

When you worry and hurry through your day

It is like an unopened gift . . .

Thrown away.

Life is not a race.

Do take it slower.

Hear the music

Before the song is over.

 

For devotees of the Lord, the "music" is contained in the enlightening

words of great saints like Narottam das Thakur:

 

"O Lord Hari! I have spent my life uselessly. Although I have obtained a

rare human birth, I have refused to worship Radha and Krsna, and in this way

I have knowingly drunk poison."

[ Prarthana ]

 

After discovering the girl's poem, I chanced upon my own notes from my stay

in Vrindavan last Kartika. In those pages I was appreciating the calm and

peaceful atmosphere of the holy dhama, so conducive to study and learning.

There I wrote of Vrindavan's temples, sadhus and sacred cows. How far away

that all seems from the battlefield I'm on now - but I know that desiring to

live in Vrindavan and preaching in the terrible cities of Kali-yuga are

intricately connected. To attain eternal residence in Sri Vrindavan Dhama

one has to get the blessings of the Lord, and preaching, as difficult and

dangerous as it can be, is an important factor in that calculation.

 

". . . There are many examples in history of devotees of the Lord who risked

their lives for the spreading of God consciousness. . . . Why such risk?

Because they wanted to spread Krsna consciousness, and it is difficult. . .

Now, we can imagine how merciful Krsna is to those engaged in His service,

risking everything for Him. Therefore it is certain that such persons must

reach the supreme planet after leaving the body."

[bhagavad-gita 11.55, purport]

 

Surely, despite all opposition, if we continue preaching our budding desire

to one day reside in Vrindavan will mature, and by the mercy of Lord

Caitanya we'll gradually become qualified to enter that eternal abode.

 

yatha yatha gaura padaravinde

vindeta bhaktim krta punya rasih

tatha tathotsarpati hrdy akasmad

radha padambhoja sudhambu rasih

 

"To the degree that we surrender to Lord Caitanya's service, to that degree

we acquire qualification for the service of Radharani's lotus feet in

Vrindavan."

[Prabodhananda Sarasvati]