Volume 4 - Chapter 31

[Guest guest]

Diary of a Traveling Preacher

 

Volume 4, Chapter 31

 

March 5 - 27, 2003

 

 

The war in Iraq began just days after my arrival in America for a two-month

preaching tour. As a result, I found a people very receptive to Krsna

consciousness. Bhagavad-gita describes four classes of men who turn to God:

the curious, those seeking material success, those seeking knowledge, and

those in distress. Whether encountering peace activists or advocates of war,

I noted an anxious atmosphere pervading America as people grapple with fear,

doubt and apprehension about the conflict overseas and the possibility of

terrorist retaliation at home.

 

With America's initial missile attack on Baghdad, intended to kill Iraqi

president Saddam Hussein and his closest advisors, the administration raised

the homeland terrorist alert from yellow (medium) to orange (high).

Consequently, security was increased at all airports, obliging passengers to

undergo rigorous checks. All luggage was subject to x-ray and personal

searches were conducted on each passenger. This was especially true for

myself and Sri Prahlad (who had joined me for the tour), for our devotional

attire attracted attention and suspicion. As much as I am an advocate of

devotees wearing traditional clothing, I almost capitulated in favor of

non-devotional dress after being singled out numerous times for security

checks on every flight.

 

However, an incident involving a security guard in charge of a luggage x-ray

machine at Los Angeles Airport kept me true to my values. Arriving from

India with Sri Prahlad were two big steel trunks containing beautiful 3ft

nimwood Deities of Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityananda carved at Ekacakra, the

appearance site of Lord Nityananda in Bengal. Sri Prahlad had brought the

Deities for Yajna Purusa das and his brahmacaris, who oversee the preaching

in the Lower East Side of New York. As we put the heavy boxes on to the

conveyor belt for x-ray at the check-in for our flight to Seattle, the first

stop on our tour, the eyes of the security guard at the screen lit up as he

saw the unusual forms inside. I cringed, expecting an interogation. But when

he saw myself and Sri Prahlad in our robes with shaved heads, he said, "Oh,

it's Hare Krishna. What's in the boxes, gentlemen?"

 

To my surprise, Sri Prahlad calmly answered, "God."

 

The guard reflected for a moment, looking back and forth at the images on

the screen, then said, "But we're dealing with two figures here. People say

there's only one God."

 

Sri Prahlad replied, "That's true, but the Lord has many expansions. The

second box is His first expansion."

 

That proved a little too philosophical for the official, who nevertheless

smiled and waved us on without further questioning. Wondering about the

source of his trust in us, Sri Prahlad inquired as we passed by, "Do you

know about our movement?"

 

"Yes," the man replied. "I live in Culver City. You have a temple there. I

never went, but I once ate a sweet from there that was cooked in ghee. It

was delicious."

 

Pausing for a moment, he then said, "Can you tell me, what is ghee?"

 

By that time other luggage was coming through the x-ray machine and he had

to turn his attention to his work. I prayed that the small service he

rendered us and his inquisitiveness about ghee would somehow bring him in

contact with devotees again, ensuring his gradual progress in spiritual

life.

 

After a three-day visit to the Seattle temple, Sri Prahlad and I were at the

airport on our way to board a flight to New York when we came across a booth

by the walkway piled high with Srila Prabhupada's books. A young lady was

speaking with some interested people who had stopped to look at the books.

We waited until the people left and approached the young lady, who

introduced herself as Tapta Kancani dasi, a 25-year-old disciple of

Jayapataka Maharaja. She told us that she had moved to Seattle a few years

ago, after hearing that people in the Puget Sound area were inclined towards

Krsna consciousness. She had rented a small flat and traveled every day at

5am to secure one of the three booths the airport allots to charity

organizations in the departure lounge. For years she has dedicated herself

to this service, with little time for other activities or a social life.

Living on the profits from her book distribution, she thus passes her days

happily at the airport. A devotee can be so content simply by sharing Krsna

consciousness in this way. As we settled into our seats on the plane, I told

Sri Prahlad that I had also experienced so much satisfaction from

distributing Srila Prabhupada's books in the early years of my devotional

service, that if required I could easily return to that service full time.

Carrying a book-bag over my shoulder and going door to door for the

remainder of my life would be a great pleasure.

 

At a ceremony we attended in our center in New York's Lower East Side, the

beautiful deities of Gaura-Nitai were welcomed by a large congregation from

the surrounding area. The event culminated in a harinam of 240 devotees in

Times Square. The devotees had secured a permit to chant in an allocated

spot in the middle of the square, but when we arrived we found another group

occupying the area. We were left with no option but to take the kirtan group

on to the streets. Due to the enormous size of the kirtan party and the fact

that the police and security personnel throughout the city were nervous with

the hightened alert, I seriously doubted we would get away with a harinam.

But when Yajna Purusa approached a group of policemen, they agreed to our

proposal. As we started moving through the huge crowds on the streets we

literally took over the area. Even the bright lights, flashing neon signs,

and other attractions of Times Square couldn't compete with the size of the

kirtan party and the sheer enthusiasm of the devotees and the groups of

young people dancing with us.

 

Two days later in Boston on Gaura-purnima day we had a similar experience.

Sri Prahlad and myself led a group of 15 devotees on a kirtan party out of

the temple and into the city. This time we didn't have numerous devotees to

attract public attention. We didn't even have an accordian for Sri Prahlad,

and the mrdunga I played sounded like an old cardboard box. Nevertheless, we

had the most important ingredient: the holy name. And as our little band of

devotees chanted through town on that sunny day, people stopped in groups

and listened. I was amazed - I thought things like that happened only

outside America these days. Even more people stopped when Sri Prahlad gave a

short talk and mentioned the war in Iraq, and how Krsna consciousness could

bring peace to the world by helping us to realize we are all part of one

spiritual family, with God as the father. People took notice, and some

businessmen even nodded their heads in approval. It does seem that America

is riper than ever for Krsna consciousness.

 

Back on the West Coast, on the second leg of our journey, I gave a lecture

to the devotees at a festival at the Laguna Beach temple. I said that

although we are aspiring transcendentalists aloof from the so-called

happiness and distress of the material world, we cannot help but be

concerned with the recent upsurge of violence at home and abroad. But our

interest in these matters should not be of the same nature as common people,

who pour over reports from the front with rapt attention, tuning into CNN

three to four times a day. Rather, understanding that such conflicts are the

result of impious deeds on both sides, we should spend our time taxing our

brains (as Srila Prabhupada once said) how to spread Krsna consciouness,

knowing that it is in fact the peace formula and of the utmost urgency.

 

A woman we met later on sankirtan in Laguna, who was on her way to the

desert to meditate and fast to stop the war, agreed to come back with us to

the temple and chant Hare Krisha at the arati instead. I was happy at the

end of the evening to see her feasting for peace in a spiritual context

rather than fasting!

 

Devotees must take advantage of the winds that favor and assist the

spreading of the holy names. America should not be renown simply because it

is the most powerful and wealthy nation, but because it is where Krsna

consciousness took root in the West. The war in Iraq is unfortunate, but it

can act as a catalyst to inspire the devotees in America to preach to their

countrymen.

 

"Fortunately, ... the Hare Krsna movement has come to America, and many

fortunate young men are giving serious attention to this movement, which is

creating ideal men of first-class character, men who completely refrain from

meat-eating, illicit sex, intoxication and gambling. If the American people

are serious ... they must take to the Krsna consciousness movement and try

to create the kind of human society advised in Bhagavad-gita ... If they do

so, they will be happy, and theirs will be an ideal nation to lead the

entire world."

 

[srimad-Bhagavatam 6.7.12, purport]

 

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