New Volume 4 - Chapter 1

[Guest guest]

Diary of a Traveling Preacher

 

Volume IV, Chapter 1

 

September 16-October 8, 2001

 

 

With this chapter, I begin a new volume of my Diary of a Traveling Preacher.

 

Due to the threat of war in Afghanistan and unrest in the surrounding

region, I decided to postpone my trip to India for three weeks until the

situation became clear. Instead I flew to the United States on September 16.

My main purpose was to visit one or two temples and associate with several

god-brothers.

 

My flight out of London was one of the first to cross the Atlantic Ocean

after the five-day, government-imposed ban on international flights into the

US following the terrorist attacks in New York City and near Washington, DC.

Our flight was delayed two hours because of security at London's Heathrow

Airport, where each passenger was treated as a potential terrorist and

searched three times before boarding.

 

Because of the attacks, and the resulting media coverage, all the passengers

on the flight were nervous and tense. I was sitting next to an African

woman, who started shaking uncontrollably just before take-off. I called an

air hostess, who asked me to leave my seat while she spoke to the woman.

When the air hostess left, I came back and asked the lady if everything was

all right. She said, "They know why I'm so nervous, but they won't let me

tell anyone."

 

Wanting to ally her fears, I said, "It's OK, you can tell me what the

problem is. After all, we'll be sitting next to each other for the next 12

hours."

 

Leaning over, she whispered softly, "Two Arab men tried to hijack the

British Airways flight I was on from Nairobi to London yesterday. They came

aboard just before we left, pulled out guns and threatened to kill us.

Several men jumped up and wrestled them to the ground, and minutes later the

police arrived and took them away. The cabin crew on this flight know about

it and asked me not to mention the incident to anyone. But I'm so scared!"

 

I told her that this world is always a dangerous place, but if we are

conscious of God and pray for His shelter, He will protect us. Seeing me

fingering my japa beads, she said, "Is that what you're doing there?"

 

"Yes," I replied. "I'm chanting God's names."

 

She asked if she could listen.

 

"Of course," I said, and I started chanting louder. She gradually calmed

down, and by the time the flight took off she was peaceful.

 

An hour later, she turned to me and said, "Your prayers are very powerful.

Can you teach them to me?"

 

I then taught her the maha mantra, which she carefully noted on a piece of

paper.

 

As our flight was landing in San Diego, California, 12 hours later, I

watched as she took out the paper from her purse and softly chanted the maha

mantra to herself. Observing her newfound faith in Krsna's holy names

brought back memories of my own experiences while first chanting Hare Krsna,

about 32 years ago. Although at that time I knew little or nothing of the

glories of the holy names, they quickly awakened within me a keen interest

in spiritual life similar to the amazing experience we read about in

Srimad-Bhagavatam, whereby Narada Muni becomes interested in Krsna

consciousness after his first bite of the prasadam given to him by some

merciful devotees.

 

ucchista lepan anumodito dvijaih

sakrt sma bhunje tad apasta kilbisah

evam pravrttasya visuddha cetasas

tad dharma evatma rucih prajayate

 

"Once only, by their permission, I took the remnants of their food, and by

so doing all my sins were at once eradicated. Thus being engaged, I became

purified in heart, and at that time the very nature of the transcendentalist

became attractive to me."

[sB 1.5.25]

 

Seeing the distraught lady's faith in the holy names increased my own desire

to chant more and continue to discover new and ever-fresh realizations in

service to the holy names.

 

I was met at San Diego Airport by my son, Gaura Sakti, who took me to his

home where I rested for several days. His wife had recently given birth to a

baby girl, whom they named Amara Keli, and one evening Gaura and I

reminisced about his own growing up in Krsna consciousness. At one point he

expressed his disappointment that he was born too late to have met Srila

Prabhupada, but was pleasantly surprised when I told him that he had, in

fact, received mercy from Srila Prabhupada in a personal exchange with him

when he was barely 12 months.

 

Srila Prabhupada was visiting our New Mayapur community in France in the

summer of 1974, when one afternoon I was carrying Gaura on my shoulders on a

walk around the Chateaux. At one point Srila Prabhupada looked out his

window at us, and when Gaura saw Srila Prabhupada he started flapping his

arms and kicking his legs, while calling out with eagerness the only word he

knew, "Prabhupada! Prabhupada! Prabhupada!"

 

Seeing his enthusiasm, Srila Prabhupada's eyes opened wide and he waved at

Gaura, causing the boy to become so excited that he almost fell off my

shoulders.

 

That night in a darsan with the devotees, Srila Prabhupada referred to the

incident, saying, "Today one young boy become so excited when he saw me,

that it was as if we were old friends!"

 

After my rest in San Diego, Gaura drove me north to stay a few days in the

Laguna Beach temple. On the way we stopped at a roadside stall next to a

farm to buy some fruits and vegetables. As Gaura was picking out the items

he wanted, I noticed the lady who owned the farm watching me as I slowly

paced back and forth chanting my rounds.

 

Gaura took time to pick out a large supply of vegetables, and when the lady

totaled up his purchase it came to $120. But as he reached for his wallet,

the woman said to him, "Take everything home for free. These fruits and

vegetables are a gift for the man you're with."

 

Surprised, Gaura said to the woman, "That's my father."

 

She said, "I've been watching him carefully. The world needs more people

like him."

 

I was embarrassed by her remarks, which caused a number of other shoppers to

look admiringly at me, but was aware that the recent events in New York had

made many Americans more conscious of God and respectful to spiritual

traditions and values. In the few days I had been in the US, a number of

people had approached asking me to explain why such terrible things had

happened. I generally experience such philosophical inquiries only in

trouble spots where I preach, like Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia and the Muslim

republics of the former Soviet Union, but suddenly many Americans were

inquiring about the temporary and miserable nature of this world and

searching for a positive alternative.

 

I wondered if their interest would last? One has to be careful, because the

material nature can quickly cover whatever minute spiritual knowledge we

glean. There is a saying to this effect, smasana-vairagya, which means the

detachment from worldly affairs that one feels upon attending a funeral, but

which quickly disappears as soon as one leaves and begins one's activities

again.

 

It's unfortunate that it often takes a tragedy to wake us up to the purpose

of our existence. It's a fact that people are generally more pious in times

of distress. Once Haridas Thakur was sharing a prison cell with some

criminals. Knowing the ability of a saintly person to bestow mercy, several

criminals approached Haridas Thakur and said, "O great sadhu, please give us

the blessing that we may quickly be released from this miserable place!"

 

Reflecting for a moment, Haridas Thakur replied, "My blessings are that you

remain in this prison cell for many years to come."

 

The prisoners were shocked, and said, "Dear sadhu, what kind of blessing is

that?"

 

Haridas Thakur replied, "I have given you this blessing because generally

you are all disrespectful to saintly persons. But here in jail, as a result

of your miserable condition, you are humbled in the presence of a sadhu and

thus your chances for spiritual emancipation are quite good. So better you

remain in this miserable condition for as long as possible!"

 

While in Laguna Beach I had the opportunity to thank the temple president,

Tukarama prabhu, for all the help he has given our festival tour in Poland

during the past year. It was he who organized our fund-raising drive in the

US last spring, which for all practical purposes gave us the opportunity to

put on festivals for a full five months.

 

During my visit to Laguna Beach the Lord instructed me in a most unusual

way. One evening as I sat in my room, I overheard a conversation among

brahmacaris in the next room. They were speaking about several sannyasis,

including myself, who had recently visited the temple, and going over the

merits of their classes. When they came to me there was a brief silence,

until one boy said, "I like his classes - but he's not very erudite."

 

The boy's words pierced my heart, but after several moments I swallowed my

pride and admitted to myself that had I put as much time over the years into

studying Srila Prabhupada's books as I had into spreading Krsna

consciousness, the boy may have spoken differently. The secret is in finding

the balance between bhajan and preaching. The boy's words served to deepen

my resolve to hurry to Vrindavan to focus on hearing and chanting.

 

A few minutes later Tukarama came into my room and asked me to give the

Sunday Feast lecture. Reflecting on the brahmacari's words I hesitated for a

few moments, but then agreed. When I went downstairs to give the lecture, I

found the temple room packed with hundreds of devotees and guests. Preaching

to non-devotees comes easily to me, if only because I've been doing it for

most of my life as a devotee. So relaxed and confident I presented the basic

philosophy of Krsna consciousness, quoting simple verses and telling stories

to illustrate my points.

 

Afterwards, Tukurama approached me and said that it was the best Sunday

Feast lecture he had ever heard. His words of appreciation eased the pain of

my not being "erudite." The back-to-back condemnation and praise reminded me

of Srila Prabhupada's advice to the gurukula teachers in Dallas, Texas, many

years ago. He said that a good teacher knows the art of chastising and then

encouraging his student. If a child makes a mistake, Srila Prabhupada said,

then the teacher should first chastise him, but afterwards quickly smother

the student with love and attention. On this occasion, Krsna scolded me for

my negligence in study and then quickly embraced me with Tukarama's kind

words.

 

>From Laguna Beach I traveled north to the home of my dear god-brother,

Giriraja Maharaja, who is still in the process of fully recovering from

major heart surgery almost two years ago. Maharaja is one of my closest

friends and I look to him for inspiration in many ways - most notably his

deep love and attachment for Srila Prabhupada. I also admire his unique

ability to draw from memory personal stories about Srila Prabhupada to

illustrate philosophical points he makes during his preaching. He merits the

most prestigious title any ISKCON devotee can achieve, that of being "a

Prabhupada man."

 

On October 1, I flew to London and quickly caught a connecting flight to

Moscow. The next morning I flew with my disciple, Jananivasa, to Dinamorsk

in southern Russia to attend a big festival for devotees. On the flight, we

sat next to an officer in the Russian Army who had recently returned from

fighting guerrillas in Chechnya. The officer sat observing us silently for

some time, and then suddenly exclaimed, "I am sorry that I killed so many

men in the war."

 

An intense discussion ensued, during which Jananivasa explained the law of

karma and how suffering is a result of our past impious deeds. With me

coaching, he told how we can become free from such karma by engaging in

devotional service to God. The officer listened carefully, and at the end of

Jananivasa's discourse thanked us for the knowledge he had received.

 

In Dinamorsk, a resort on the Black Sea coast, 3000 devotees were attending

a huge festival along with 12 ISKCON sannyasis. Due to jet lag I missed much

association and many seminars, but made it a point to spend time with the

many children who had come to the festival just to see me. Each morning, 30

of us walked along the beach as I told them stories of my travels and

listened to the problems they experience growing up. Helping ISKCON children

and inspiring them in their Krsna consciousness is another thing that I like

to do, perhaps as a result of seeing the lasting effect Srila Prabhupada's

act of mercy had on my own son when he was young.

 

But during the relaxing days in Dinamorsk my mind kept projecting to my

Vrindavan pilgrimage, when I will have to meet the challenge of disciplining

myself to sit and study for many hours a day. I had already decided that in

order to get maximum time for hearing and chanting, I will have to cut down

my eating and sleeping to the minimum and spend most of my time in

self-imposed solitude. I also had plans to decrease my social life. For some

devotees, such things come easy, but such an austere lifestyle may well

prove a challenge for a preacher like myself, who's constantly on the move.

I pray I will succeed.

 

I have a vision of myself further down the road, giving class to the young

brahmacaris in the Laguna Beach temple, quoting Sanskrit verses which easily

flow from my mouth as I elaborate on Srila Prabhupada's purports. I use

numerous analogies, replete with commentaries of the previous acaryas, all

the fruit of many months of disciplined study, watered by the critique of an

unknowing boy and culled by time well spent in the holy abode of Vrindavan.

The moment for change is at hand, for in 24 hours I leave for that sacred

dhama.

 

"If people criticize me, what is that? If I become the poorest of the poor,

barely able to eke out a living for my family, what is that? If all

calamities befall me, what is that? If I do not serve the Supreme

Personality of Godhead, what is that? I will patiently remain in Sri

Vrindavan. My greatest desire will be fulfilled.

 

"Dressed in a kaupina and kantha, living by eating fruit fallen from the

trees, not speaking useless words, not passing time in useless deeds,

abandoning all pride, going to each house to beg a little alms, and

following those for whom Sri Radhika is their entire life, I will live in

Vrindavan."

[Vrindavan Mahimamrta, Chapter 1, Texts 64 and 65]