Remembering Srila Prabhupada - His Regular Schedule

[Guest guest]

Srila Prabhupada NectarHis Regular Schedule

 

Prabhupada followed his own schedule and only

occasionally departed from it. He was supposed to

take massage at about eleven or eleven thirty in the

morning, but if he had guests and was preaching, he

would not stop for the schedule. Or at night, he

would keep talking, especially with some life member

or solicitor in Bombay. But he was never whimsical

about time, or about where to be for Krsna's service.

Once, after walking along Juhu beach for half an hour,

Dr Patel, one of his friends who joined us to walk,

suggested that we return back. Prabhupada looked at

his watch and said that it was too early, the Deity of

Radha-Rasabihari would not give darsana for another

hour. Dr Patel said, "If you come back early, since

you are a pure devotee, Krsna can give darsana early"

Prabhupada said: That was out of question; we cannot

change the Deities' schedule to suit our own.

He never went off alone without devotees accompanying

him. It was unheard of that he would say, "I am

leaving for a few days," or "I am going on some

private business," or "I am going on a vacation."

Everything was done at the right Krsna consciousness

moment. Even his solitude (one could overhear it) as

he produced the Bhagavatam or when he was chanting

Hare Krsna mantra on beads. The silence of his pure

consciousness we could not try to understand, but

there were glimpses of it, when he would sometimes

tell us of a dream he had, or he would reveal

something he had been thinking of alone.

In New York City, in 1968, after staying up very late

at night, Prabhupada rose and travelled early in the

morning to Boston. He then wrote back to his temple

president in New York city, who had not been able to

rise on the morning of Prabhupada's departure to

Boston. "Don't just praise me," Prabhupada wrote,

"but do as I do." Prabhupada followed his schedule

with considerable strictness. Events would crash down

on him, news of a demon's attack might make him grave,

yet he would go off gravely to his bath, or take

prasadam, unless it became too much, then out of

anxiety he would not attend to his eating. Once he

stayed up all night worrying when a leading disciple

showed signs of serious deviancy. One time when shown

colour photos of the first Ratha-yatra in Los Angeles,

he stared in transcendental pleasure for hours and did

not take his massage. Promptness was the steady

factor, punctuated by these departures which showed us

something beyond the schedule, usually however,

everything was taken care of, absorbed into his

routine.

He did not fit the stereotype of any Indian who was

always two hours late for every meeting. Prabhupada

regularly glanced at his watch, and sometimes when his

servants were not ready to leave, he would walk out of

his room and head for a waiting car, prepared to leave

them behind. Yet he did not appear like a karmi,

bound hand and foot to following an imposed schedule

that gave him no freedom.

The Bhagavad-gita describes the "regulated principles

of freedom,". Prabhupada was liberated, but to show

us, and to live in the most effective way for

accomplish his service, he organised twenty four hours

of the day and night. There was a best time - when

the air was cool and the neighbourhood quiet - for

taking a morning walk. There was a best time to greet

the Deities - according to Their time. There was a

best time for devotees to gather, a suitable time to

eat for health, and a reasonable time to answer

letters. To regulate his men so they would rise

early, he rose early. He preached to his guests at

times convenient for their schedules. Thus he

scheduled his transcendental acts, not for the rule's

own sake but for performing constant, optimum service

to Krsna, for spreading and solidifying his ISKCON

movement in this world.

From the Nectar by HH Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami

 

Please Chant: Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna

Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare

Hare And Be Happy

 

 

 

_________

ALL-NEW Messenger - all new features - even more fun!

http://uk.messenger.