Volume 4, Chapter 28

[Guest guest]

Diary of a Traveling Preacher

 

Volume 4, Chapter 28

 

December 11, 2002 - January 11, 2003

 

 

While leaving the first country on my visit to the Middle East, I was

questioned for some time by immigration officials. Eventually they stamped

my passport and allowed me to board the airplane. On the flight I sat next

to an American businessman, who expressed sympathy for the minor ordeal I

had just experienced.

 

"Forgive me if I'm too inquisitive," he said, "but are you part of a

religious organization?"

 

Taken a little by surprise, I said, "Well, yes. I'm a member of the Hare

Krsna movement."

 

"OK, now I understand," he replied with a smile. "I'm from New York. I know

you people, and if you don't mind, I'd like to give you some advice. You're

too visible. That's the reason they pulled you aside."

 

"How's that?" I said.

 

"You look too happy," the businessman responded. "I saw that at the

check-in. It's unusual and people notice. Another thing is the way you're

dressed. Foreigners here are either doing business or are in the military,

and they dress accordingly. With your casual pants, T-shirt and baseball

cap, you appear to be a budget tourist."

 

During the flight I reflected on his words. While in India recently for two

months I had embraced the mood of a sadhu, which included dressing simply

and trying to renounce unessential possessions. Consequently, I left India

with only one small bag I had purchased for 120 rupees in Vrindavan's Loi

Bazaar and in which I carried mostly books. But the zipper and strap had

already broken and I was aware that it was attracting attention. Also, my

non-devotional clothes were several years old. No wonder people noticed me

in the high-profile, business-oriented Middle East.

 

I meditated on Srila Prabhupada's principle of utilizing the material energy

in Krsna's service. Srila Prabhupada had authorized his disciples to wear

non-devotional dress for preaching, but had emphasised that they should look

like ladies and gentlemen. I resolved that in my heart I would continue to

cultivate the mood of a renunciate, but for preaching purposes I would make

the necessary adjustments.

 

Upon arrival at my next destination, before passing through customs and

immigration I stopped at a duty-free shop and bought a designer shirt and a

smart pair of pants. I also picked up a small Samsonite carry-on suitcase. I

changed clothes in an airport bathroom (my belongings filling only one

third of the suitcase) and approached immigration with a sober look on my

face. The officer quickly stamped my passport, and as he waved me through

said, "Have a nice visit, Sir."

 

Stopping to adjust the collar on my new shirt, I replied, "Thank you. I hope

my business goes well."

 

The nation I was entering is one of the more liberal in the Middle East. I

read in a travel guide that it was the first country to embrace Islam after

the prophet Mohamed appeared, but during the past 30 years its oil trade has

exposed it to western culture. This became apparent as the devotees who

picked me up drove me to the apartment where I would stay for my three-day

visit. On the way I took in the sights of one of the most opulent and

affluent cities I have ever seen. Beautiful hotels, parks, gardens and

high-rise apartments dotted the landscape. The roads were excellent and

almost all the cars were new. Department stores were brimming with western

products, and McDonald's and Pizza Hut outlets were everywhere.

 

The well-to-do scene wasn't what I had expected - and I wasn't impressed. If

there is anything I've learned from years of traveling and preaching Krsna

consciousness around the world, it's that wealthy nations are not

necessarily happier than their poorer counterparts. Last year the BBC

conducted a survey to determine the world's happiest country. To everyone's

surprise, the survey found it was Bangladesh. Great Britain came ninth!

Happiness is not determined by material wealth.

 

In Caitanya Bhagavat it is described that Kholaveca Sridhar, a poor but

great devotee of the Lord, had a similar realization. Once Lord Caitanya

approached him and asked if he was feeling inconvenience due to the simple

existence he lived. Kholaveca Sridhar replied:

 

ratna ghare thake, raja divya khaye pare'

paksi-gana thake, dekha, vrksera upare

 

kala punah sabara samana hai' yaya

sabe nija-karma bhunje isvara-icchaya

 

"A king may live in a house of jewels, while a bird lives in a tree. But

they pass time in similar ways, enjoying the same pleasures of life in

varying degrees. Therefore, I am quite satisfied with the simple life that

I am living."

 

[Caitanya Bhagavat, Adi-Khanda, Chapter 12, Texts 189-190]

 

Just as everyone experiences similar material pleasures, they also

experience similar miseries, because material existence is one of duality.

When I remarked about the opulence of the city, one devotee reminded me that

it was, after all, a desert with temperatures often above 50 degrees

celsius. As a result, everyone lives almost entirely indoors - in

airconditioned apartments, offices, schools and cars. And rain is scarce. In

fact, it doesn't rain for years at a time in the Middle East. The devotees

told me that recently after it had rained for the first time in three years

(for seven minutes) the entire city came to a standstill.

 

"Why in the world did the city come to a halt because of a little rain?" I

inquired.

 

"Because people were so curious to see the rain that they stopped what they

were doing to go outside and look," the devotee replied. "Even traffic

stopped, because no one had experience of driving on wet roads. And there

are also the occasional sandstorms which whip up in the desert and spread

sand everywhere. In cold countries people have to shovel snow after

snowstorms. Here people have the arduous task of shoveling sand after

sandstorms."

 

After settling into my apartment I was taken to a congregational member's

home for a program. Like the first country I had visited, my preaching here

would be entirely to an Indian congregation. Even if local Muslims express

an interest in Krsna consciousness, devotees do not encourage them, being

fearful of resprisals from the Islamic government. At one program I did in a

small village in the previous country, a local Muslim farmer walking by

stopped and stared at us for some time. That was enough for the devotees to

stop the program and whisk me away. "Someone may report that a Muslim was

taking an interest in us, " they said. "We don't want to take any chances."

 

The Indian families I visited and did programs with in the Middle East were

all educated and cultured. Many come from south India, mainly Kerala, and

strive to maintain their spiritual culture away from home. Ironically,

living in an Islamic society helps them in this regard. Pornography is not

tolerated and Muslims are not allowed to drink liquor. All Internet sites

are scrutinized and controlled by the government. I was unable to access the

new devotee website (www.dipika.org) where my diary chapters are now

published.

 

The families reminded me of those I met while accompanying Srila Prabhupada

on some of his house programs in India in the early 1970s. The etiquette

they showed Srila Prabhupada and the excellent foodstuffs they served him

left an indelible impression on me. Throughout my visit to the Middle East

I often remembered Tamal Krsna Goswami, who learned from Srila Prabhupada

the same standards of Vaisnava etiquette in dealing with cultured Indian

people. As a result I dreamt of him several times. One night I awoke

feeling strong separation from him. Like all relationships in Krsna

consciousness, friendships do not end with death but become even more

relevant with the passing of time. I got out of bed that night to read so as

to console myself, but the pain only increased when I came across Srila

Narottam das Thakur's feelings of separation from Srila Rupa Goswami, which

mirrored my own feelings towards Goswami Maharaja:

 

se rupa madhuri-rasi, prana kuvalaya sasi

praphullita habe nisi-dine

 

"Your absence from my vision is like a dose of strong poison, and I will

suffer until the end of my life."

 

[sri Rupa Manjari Pada, Text 4]

 

Every day I preached to the Indian congregation, but in the back of my mind

I was always wondering what Lord Caitanya's plan was for the Muslims in the

Middle East. Obviously, that plan has not yet fully manifested, but surely

will in the course of time. Just as Lord Caitanya sent Srila Prabhupada to

New York at the perfect moment in American history, when much of the youth,

dissatisfied with material life, were seeking a spiritual alternative, that

moment will also arrive in other parts of the world.

 

Curious to know more about Muslims, one day I asked a devotee to drive me to

a market in the old part of the city, where I walked around alone for

several hours. The bazaar seemed like something out of the Arabian Nights -

small winding streets teeming with people shopping in old stores. There were

fruits and vegetables of all descriptions, merchants displaying colorful

bales of cloth, and shops selling all shapes and sizes of hookahs, an

oriental tobacco-pipe used by men at streetside cafes, the smoke being drawn

through fruit-scented water in a vase to which the tube and bowl are

attached. And in every nook and cranny there were merchants plying dates.

 

Noticing a store selling oils and perfumes, I walked in and inquired about

aguru, the most precious of oils. I once bought some in India for my

deities, although only a tiny amount as it is more expensive than gold! But

in the bazaar I was pleasantly surprised to find the oil affordable. I

purchased a small bottle and thought to myself, "For now, this may be the

only way to engage these people in Krsna consciousnes - using their products

in the service of the Lord."

 

Thoughts of how Lord Caitanya's mercy would manifest in the Middle East

remained with me during my stay. As I boarded my flight back to New Delhi, I

reflected how it will be a monumental event in Gaudiya Vaisnava history when

the holy names of Krsna freely resound throughout the Persian Gulf. It could

only be compared with Krsna consciousness spreading across Russia. By the

mercy of my spiritual master, I had the privilege of being a part of those

historic events. The risks and adventures involved in preaching in the

former Soviet Union were among the best years of my devotee life.

 

Are there other such challenges ahead? One cannot see the future, but I pray

to Srila Prabhupada and our previous acaryas that if any such opportunities

emerge, I'm ready and willing to go at a moment's notice.

 

na dhanam na janam na sundarim

kavitam va jagad-isa kamaye

mama janmani janmanisvare

bhavatad bhaktir ahaituki tvayi

 

"O My Lord! I have no desire to accumulate wealth, nor do I want to enjoy

beautiful women, nor do I want any number of followers. I only want Your

causeless devotional service, birth after birth."

 

[sri Sri Siksastaka, Verse 4]

 

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