Meeting devotees

[leyh]

"As you are remembering our old meeting days on the second avenue, when I first started my lectures there, similarly I also remember the incidents and speak to so many friends and disciples. So our meeting was Krishna's desire. Apparently it was accidental but actually it was Krishna's plan." (His Divine Grace A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada,letter to Hayagriva dasa,Los Angeles 18 November, 1968)

 

Today,I met a devotee unexpectedly.I was walking at Orchard Road (which is one of the most crowded areas of Singapore) with two of my friends and I happened to see that inside one of the buses which was stationary (due to the traffic lights) was a devotee chanting with his bead bag.Upon a closer inspection,I realized that it was a devotee that I had met before once on an MRT (Mass Rapid Transit)journey where he was also chanting,and I had struck a conversation with him.I cannot really remember this devote's name,except that it started with "N" (Neeru?) but I do remember that during our first meeting,he had expressed the desire to take initiation from His Holiness Radhanath Swami.

 

I ran to the side of the bus, knocked on the window and we paid obeisances to each other.It was a nice,transcendental moment.

 

I keep meeting devotees in unexpected times and places.My bead bag and kanti-mala was a gift from a devotee that I met by chance and later I met him on two more occasions (at the place of our first meeting and at the University where I study).I am so happy everytime I meet a devotee.

 

There is this quote from Rabindranath Tagore,I think,and it goes something like:"Everytime a child is sent into the world, it is a sign that God has not given up on the world." (I can't remember the exact words).Well, everytime I meet a devotee, I like to think that it is a sign that Krsna has not given up on me.

 

[This message has been edited by leyh (edited 02-10-2002).]

[Gauracandra]

Nice story. I've had similar experiences especially after meeting old friends. It is also funny, that sometimes I'll meet devotees whom I've never met before. I was recently at a store, and went up to someone to get some information. He must have seen my neck beads, because he folded his hands and said "Hare Krsna, Prabhu", and then helped me out. And many, many years ago, there were several of us devotees who went to a roller coaster park. We were standing in line with our japa beads, when all of a sudden someone pulls us out from way in the back, leads us right up to the front, and we got right in. I could never figure it out, but we all assumed she must have had some connection with devotees, and saw us way in the back.

[kailasa]

Hare Krisna Valaya!

 

You probably from the right wing, left wing it are more rebellious.

 

“A gopé who is always eager to be jealously angered, who is very enthusiastic for that position, who immediately becomes angry when defeated, who is never under the control of a hero and who always opposes Him is called vämä, or a leftwing gopé.”

 

“A gopé who cannot tolerate womanly anger, who speaks suitable words to the hero and who is satisfied by His sweet words is called a dakñiëä, or a right-wing gopi.”

 

“ ‘The progress of loving affairs between young couples is by nature crooked, like the movement of a snake. Because of this, two types of anger arise between young couples—anger with a cause and anger without a cause.’ ”

 

“The sober heroine is very simple in her behavior. She keeps her jealous anger within her heart, but with mild words and smiles she refutes the advances of her lover.

 

“The restless heroine, however, sometimes chastises her lover with cruel words, .....and sometimes binds him with a flower garland.

 

“Although some of the gopés are talkative, some mild and some equipoised, all of them are transcendental and faultless. They please Kåñëa by their unique characteristics.”

 

Dämodara Gosvämé said, “Kåñëa is the master of all transcendental mellows. He is the taster of transcendental mellows, and His body is composed of transcendental bliss.

 

“Kåñëa is full of ecstatic love and always subordinate to the love of his devotees. The gopés are very experienced in pure love and in the dealings of transcendental mellows.

 

“ ‘Kåñëa, the supreme hero, has the most beautiful transcendental body. This body possesses all good features. It is radiant and very pleasing to the eyes. His body is powerful, strong and youthful.

 

“ ‘Kåñëa is the linguist of all wonderful languages. He is a truthful and very pleasing speaker. He is expert in speaking, and He is a very wise, learned scholar and a genius.

 

“ ‘Kåñëa is very expert in artistic enjoyment. He is highly cunning, expert, grateful and firmly determined in His vows. He knows how to deal according to time, person and country, and He sees through the scriptures and authoritative books. He is very clean and self-controlled.

 

“ ‘Lord Kåñëa is steady, His senses are controlled, and He is forgiving, grave and calm. He is also equal to all. Moreover, He is magnanimous, religious, chivalrous and kind. He is always respectful to respectable people.

 

“ ‘Kåñëa is very simple and liberal, He is humble and bashful, and He is the protector of the surrendered soul. He is very happy, and He is always the well-wisher of His devotee. He is all-auspicious, and He is submissive to love.

 

“ ‘Kåñëa is very influential and famous, and He is the object of attachment for everyone. He is the shelter of the good and the virtuous. He is attractive to the minds of women, and He is worshiped by everyone. He is very, very rich.

 

“ ‘Kåñëa is the Supreme, and He is always glorified as the Supreme Lord and controller. Thus all the previously mentioned transcendental qualities are in Him. The fifty qualities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead above mentioned are as deep as an ocean. In other words, they are difficult to fully comprehend.

 

“ ‘Apart from these fifty qualities, there are five other qualities found in the Supreme Personality of Godhead that are partially present in demigods like Çiva.

 

Lord is always situated in His original position, (2) He is omniscient, (3) He is always fresh and youthful, (4) He is the concentrated form of eternity, knowledge and bliss, and (5) He is the possessor of all mystic perfection.

 

(1) inconceivable supreme power, (2) generating innumerable universes from the body, (3) being the original source of all incarnations, (4) bestowing salvation upon enemies killed, and (5) the ability to attract exalted persons who are satisfied in themselves.

 

(1) Kåñëa is like an ocean filled with waves of pastimes that evoke wonder within everyone in the three worlds. (2) In His activities of conjugal love, He is always surrounded by His dear devotees who possess unequaled love for Him. (3) He attracts the minds of all three worlds by the melodious vibration of His flute. (4) His personal beauty and opulence are beyond compare. No one is equal to Him, and no one is greater than Him. Thus the Personality of Godhead astonishes all living entities, both moving and nonmoving, within the three worlds. He is so beautiful that He is called Kåñëa.

[gauraprema]

Haribol leyh,

Dandavats... Jai Sri Sri Guru GAuranga!

 

Just on the topic of meeting devotees, I'm just got back from Australia to Singapore and I'll be here for a couple of days, if there are any programs or meetings between devotees in Singapore, I'd love to come and participate. Let me know!! E-mail me at this address: sfchung79@hotmail.com

 

Thanks!! HareKrishna!!

 

gauraprema.

 

[valaya]

Originally posted by leyh:

 

I like to think that it is a sign that Krsna has not given up on me.

 

[This message has been edited by leyh (edited 02-10-2002).]

 

Radha, Krsna and all the acaryas will never give up on us, even if it may seem like it sometimes. The personal bond has been renewed and it cannot be broken by anything or anyone.

 

That's why we needn't sweat the small stuff or concern ourselves too much with `technicalities`, etc. This can be a brutal path as it requires absolute humility along with total tolerance. One day we're criticizing another, the next we end up seeing the same or worse in ourselves. It ain't easy for any of us!

 

What's going on down in the trenches between the common foot-soldiers is every bit as important as high level this-and-that between `advanced` devotees. In fact, I believe it is even more important to Srimati Radharani, our common Mother whom we are all actually part-and-parcel of. How the children are getting along, alone and together, is Her concern. The others are serving Her, the root, with their love and compassion, not we the leaves and flowers. She is the Heart of Krsna and He is saturated in Her love.

 

These are the topics we should dwell on, alone and together, if at all possible. There is no need to concern ourselves with personal salvation; it's already assured!

 

valaya

 

 

 

[This message has been edited by valaya (edited 02-10-2002).]

[leyh]

Originally posted by gauraprema:

Haribol leyh,

Dandavats... Jai Sri Sri Guru GAuranga!

 

Just on the topic of meeting devotees, I'm just got back from Australia to Singapore and I'll be here for a couple of days, if there are any programs or meetings between devotees in Singapore, I'd love to come and participate. Let me know!! E-mail me at this address: sfchung79@hotmail.com

 

Thanks!! HareKrishna!!

 

gauraprema.

Gauraprema:

 

Please accept my humble obeisances.All Glories to Srila Prabhupada!

 

I don't normally attend programs or meetings with devotees, but I will inform you if I hear of any Maharaja's arrival...

 

 

[Jahnava Nitai Das]

How is the Singapore ISKCON temple now? I was last there in 1994. I liked it a lot. Many nice devotees were there. I think they have moved since then, maybe even twice.

[leyh]

Originally posted by jndas:

How is the Singapore ISKCON temple now? I was last there in 1994. I liked it a lot. Many nice devotees were there. I think they have moved since then, maybe even twice.

Jndas Prabhu:

 

Please accept my humble obeisances.All Glories to Srila Prabhupada.

 

I really have no idea as to the state of the Singapore ISKCON temple as I have never actually visited it.But it seems to me that the Krishna Consciousness Movement in Singapore is largely limited to the Indian community...

 

 

[Jahnava Nitai Das]

Thank you for replying. Any particular reason you don't visit the ISKCON temple there? I agree that it is mostly Indians involved.

[leyh]

Originally posted by jndas:

Thank you for replying. Any particular reason you don't visit the ISKCON temple there? I agree that it is mostly Indians involved.

Firstly,I don't know where the temple is and secondly,it seems that there are a lot of politics involved with the Singapore Krsna Consciousness Movement.I have even spoken with a devotee who thinks that "Hansadutta Maharaja" is a pure soul and that ISKCON is a "sinking ship".For now,I'd just like to maintain a low profile,associate with a few devotee friends and struggle with my inner demons by chanting the holy names according to my very limited ability...

 

 

[bhaktashab]

Wasn't the Singapore temple one of the ones to be taken over by ritviks?

 

------------------

shab.

[leyh]

Originally posted by bhaktashab:

Wasn't the Singapore temple one of the ones to be taken over by ritviks?

 

 

bhaktashab:

 

Please accept my humble obeisances.All Glories to Srila Prabhupada.

 

Wasn't the Singapore temple one of the ones to be taken over by ritviks?

I really don't know,bhaktashab.Anyway, all these politics are quite irrelevant to one's spiritual life...

 

 

 

[Shashi]

Originally posted by leyh:

I really don't know,bhaktashab.Anyway, all these politics are quite irrelevant to one's spiritual life...

 

 

That one is a queer commentary Ms Leyh.

Was it not you who zeroed in on the politics whaen you went to the Singapore temple and then decided not to go there again because of the politics? The temples are spiritual places.

 

 

[leyh]

Originally posted by Shashi:

That one is a queer commentary Ms Leyh.

Was it not you who zeroed in on the politics whaen you went to the Singapore temple and then decided not to go there again because of the politics? The temples are spiritual places.

 

 

Shasi:

 

Please accept my humble obeisances.All Glories to Srila Prabhupada.

 

I have never been to the Singapore ISKCON temple.But I have heard rumblings of politics and factionalism among local Hare Krishna devotees.

 

And the last time I checked, I am in a male material body....

 

 

 

[This message has been edited by leyh (edited 02-12-2002).]

[leyh]

Yesterday evening,I met two devotees while I was trying to sell a few copies of Krsna,the Reservoir of Pleasure around a bus interchange near where I stay.One of them was chanting on a bead bag and I hailed him with a "Hare Krsna!" It turned out that his companion,a male was also a devotee.

 

The devotees were from Bangladash. (Btw,there are lots of Bangladeshi laboureres here in Singapore) and they seemed amazed and pleased that a Chinese male in Singapore would be a Krsna devotee.One of them affectionately put his hand around my shoulders.

 

We'd probably never meet again,but I am eternally grateful to them for the transcendental memory.

[gHari]

You definitely have the mercy flowing there, Leyh.

[leyh]

Originally posted by gHari:

You definitely have the mercy flowing there, Leyh.

And your association is part of this mercy,gHari Prabhu.Thank you so much.....

 

I would like to dedicate this verse from Srila Bhaktivinoda's song Ohe Vaisnava thakura to all the devotees that I've ever associated with whether in vani or vapuh (or both):

 

"Krsna is yours.You're able to give Him to me,for such is your power.I am indeed wrteched and simply run after you crying,'Krsna!Krsna!'"

 

All Glories to you all,Prabhus and Matajis!Hare Krsna!

 

 

[This message has been edited by leyh (edited 02-14-2002).]

[bhaktashab]

Originally posted by leyh:

I really don't know,bhaktashab.Anyway, all these politics are quite irrelevant to one's spiritual life...

 

 

Leyh,

I wouldn't use this word 'irrelevant' as you have done. Certainly one's spiritual life is not dependent upon politics within a religious insitution, but one's spiritual life can be affected by politics within a religious institution and therefore there is some 'relevance' there.

 

------------------

shab.

[leyh]

Originally posted by bhaktashab:

Leyh,

I wouldn't use this word 'irrelevant' as you have done. Certainly one's spiritual life is not dependent upon politics within a religious insitution, but one's spiritual life can be affected by politics within a religious institution and therefore there is some 'relevance' there.

 

 

Bhaktashab:

 

Please accept my hunble obeisances.All Glories to Srila Prabhupada.

 

I think you have a point there.Even if you're not part of a religious institution like the Roman Catholic Church or ISKCON,the teachings that you receive could be shaped by the politics of the institution.

 

[atma]

Dear Leyh,

 

thank you for your postings. When I read the verse from Ohe! Vaisnava Thakura, you brought so many nice memories to mind. Every day before going to sankirtan I sang that song in front of Srila Prabhupada's picture to give me strenght to go out in book distribution. I love that song especially that verse:

 

krsna se tomara, krsna dite paro,

tomara sakati ache

ami to kangala, 'krsna''krsna' boli',

dhai tava pache pache

 

In Singapore I had very nice experiences, I was in both temples, with Sundar Gopal when he was in Iskcon and with Bhima who is chinese and had a large chinese following. Now he is in Malaysia. Maybe he was the one who told you that Hansadutta is a pure soul. Bhima is a great cook and he had a very nice feast for Lord Nrisimhadeva in 94. Actually prasada was really good in both temples

 

Whatever Jayaradhe said in her post above I agree 100%. Continue in that wonderful mood prabhu.

 

[JRdd]

Originally posted by leyh:

And your association is part of this mercy,gHari Prabhu.Thank you so much.....

 

I would like to dedicate this verse from Srila Bhaktivinoda's song Ohe Vaisnava thakura to all the devotees that I've ever associated with whether in vani or vapuh (or both):

 

"Krsna is yours.You're able to give Him to me,for such is your power.I am indeed wrteched and simply run after you crying,'Krsna!Krsna!'"

 

All Glories to you all,Prabhus and Matajis!Hare Krsna!

 

 

 

I agree with gHari, that you definitely have a flow of nectar going, leyh. And thanks for distributing it. I have tears running down my cheeks from reading this post. I think I cry with both joy and yearning because to me you consistently show alignment with Srila Prabhupada's mood of love and harmony and respectfulness. Such a wonderful example. Keep spreading it around. This is the mood which can unify the devotees, more than any qualifications of rote or debate or shastric correctedness ever will, on their own.

 

aspiring to be your servant, Jayaradhe

 

 

[kailasa]

Valaya, Forgive me, I know yours the servant, I nothing about the God.

[leyh]

Originally posted by JRdd:

I agree with gHari, that you definitely have a flow of nectar going, leyh. And thanks for distributing it. I have tears running down my cheeks from reading this post. I think I cry with both joy and yearning because to me you consistently show alignment with Srila Prabhupada's mood of love and harmony and respectfulness. Such a wonderful example. Keep spreading it around. This is the mood which can unify the devotees, more than any qualifications of rote or debate or shastric correctedness ever will, on their own.

 

aspiring to be your servant, Jayaradhe

 

 

Jayaradhe mataji:

 

Please accept my humble obeisances.All Glories to Srila Prabhupada!

 

I think I cry with both joy and yearning because to me you consistently show alignment with Srila Prabhupada's mood of love and harmony and respectfulness. Such a wonderful example. Keep spreading it around.

Jayaradhe Mataji:

 

Please accept my humble obeisances.All Glories to Srila Prabhupada!

 

I appreciate your encouragement very much,Mataji.I am still far from the high standards set by Srila Prabhupada,and have much to learn from you and other devotees.

 

May I always be able to think of myself as a mangy dog outside the camp of Lord Caitanya's army,waiting for left-overs fed to me by the merciful soldiers of Lord Caitanya's army.

 

Thank you so much for the mercy! I will endeavour to spread this mercy that I have received from the Vaisnavas.

 

 

[leyh]

Originally posted by atma:

Dear Leyh,

 

thank you for your postings. When I read the verse from Ohe! Vaisnava Thakura, you brought so many nice memories to mind. Every day before going to sankirtan I sang that song in front of Srila Prabhupada's picture to give me strenght to go out in book distribution. I love that song especially that verse:

 

krsna se tomara, krsna dite paro,

tomara sakati ache

ami to kangala, 'krsna''krsna' boli',

dhai tava pache pache

 

In Singapore I had very nice experiences, I was in both temples, with Sundar Gopal when he was in Iskcon and with Bhima who is chinese and had a large chinese following. Now he is in Malaysia. Maybe he was the one who told you that Hansadutta is a pure soul. Bhima is a great cook and he had a very nice feast for Lord Nrisimhadeva in 94. Actually prasada was really good in both temples

 

Whatever Jayaradhe said in her post above I agree 100%. Continue in that wonderful mood prabhu.

Atma Mataji:

 

Please accept my humble obeisances.All Glories to Srila Prabhupada.

 

I don't think that the devotee who told me that "Hansadutta Maharaja is a pure soul" is with ISKCON.It was a man who I spoke with on a phone some years ago.I had gotten the telephone number of a center (which I shall name here) from a copy of Science of Self Realization and he called ISKCON a "sinking ship".It was probably the most bizzare conversations that I've ever had with a devotee.That's all I'll say.

 

Thank you so much for your words of encouragement.

 

 

[Tarun]

Meeting devotees should NOT be like this:

Positively 4th Street (Dylan, 1965)

(Same year, same place PrabhupAd began his Western preaching)

"you've gotta lotta nerve to say you are my friend

when i was down you just stood there grinnin'

you've gotta lotta nerve to say you have a helping hand to lend

you just want to be on the side that's winnin'

(Flip-flop Prabhu)

you see me on the street, you always act surprised

ya say "how are you?", "good luck", but ya don't mean it!

when you know as well as me you'd rather see me paralyzed

why dont you just come out once and scream it!

i know the reason that you talked behind my back

i used to be among the crowd you're in with (which branch?)

but do you take me for such a fool, to think i'd make contact

with the one who tries to hide what he dont know to begin with?

you say i've let you down - ya know its not like that

if you're so hurt, why then doncha show it? (passive retentive)

you say you've lost your faith, but thats not where its at

ya have no faith to lose - an' ya know it (Guru-kRpA's very words)

no, i do not feel that good when i see the heartbreaks you embrace

if i was a master thief perhaps i'd rob them (be my guest)

and tho i know you're dissatisfied with your position and your place

don't you understand, its not my problem? (I'm 2 busy)

Now i wish that for just one time you could stand inside my shoes

and just for that one moment i could be you (seeing the seen)

yes, i wish that for just one time you could stand inside my shoes

you'd know what a drag it is to see you (bhajanAnandI?)