Beggar

Dear Gurudev.

On your 59 Vyasa Puja, I wished to make an offering and express my gratitude, but words fail me, and all I can say is HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
You said that we could talk to your picture and you would reciprocate and I can feel the reciprocation every time I do that. Today as I stand before your picture with a begging bowl, begging you that I can make my life itself an offering at your lotus feet, where my actions speak for me. Begging you to always let me meditate on the very same prayer that you wrote to your spiritual master so that I become worthy of meeting you again; I know my begging and pleas are not in vain. I'll save my stories of faith for another day.

I also beg you to give me the intelligence to meditate on these lines of Sri Guru Vandana by Narottama Das Thakura every day, internalize it and make it the very core of my existence.

(1) The lotus feet of the spiritual master are the abode of pure devotional service. I bow down to those lotus feet with great care and attention. My dear brother (my dear mind)! It is through the grace of the spiritual master that we cross over this material existence and obtain Krsna.
(2) Make the teachings from the lotus mouth of the spiritual master one with your heart, and do not desire anything else. Attachment to the lotus feet of the spiritual master is the best means of spiritual advancement. By his mercy all desires for spiritual perfection are fulfilled.
(3) He who has given me the gift of transcendental vision is my lord, birth after birth. By his mercy divine knowledge is revealed within the heart, bestowing prema-bhakti and destroying ignorance. The Vedic scriptures sing of his character.
(4) O spiritual master, ocean of mercy, and friend of the fallen souls, you are the teacher of everyone and the life of all people. O master! Be merciful unto me, and give me the shade of your lotus feet. May your glories now be proclaimed throughout the three worlds.

Preeti bhojanam- Part 1

Common sense tells us that adding too much of any ingredient in cooking is a surefire recipe for disaster. But there is one ingredient which we cannot get enough of. That, which makes the world go around. Nope, its not anything material that I am talking of here. It is LOVE! We cannot buy it from the wholesale club and there is no limit to the number of tablespoons that we can add. This same love is distributed worldwide,free of charge, at all our temples' Sunday feast program. The famed Sunday Love Feasts!

Last January I received a beautifully printed invitation card for my nephew's Upanayanam' (Sacred Thread Ceremony), to be held in Bhubaneshwar, Orissa. As with any other Samskara, this was accompanied by an invitation for lunch or Preeti Bhojan. "Preeti Bhojan", I thought "Isn't that the same as Love Feast?"

Turns out this term is widely in use amongst the North Indian community and dictionary.com also endorses the term as follows:
love feast 
–noun
1.(among the early Christians) a meal eaten in token of brotherly love and charity; agape.

2.a rite in imitation of this, practiced by a number of modern denominations; a fellowship meal.
3.a banquet or gathering of persons to promote good feeling, restore friendly relations, honor a special guest, etc.
Origin: 1570–80

I sighed at my misfortune for being so far away from my family, envisioning the types of pithas, rasagollas and other Oriyan delicacies that would be served at the feast. But wait is that really a love feast? Has the food been offered to the ultimate beneficiary? not the new brahmachari, but to Lord Jagannath. Had I been there would I really have eaten at the restaurant the event was taking place?

A wonderful article that I read once on Back to Godhead (BTG), by HH Sivarama Swami beautifully sums up the transformation of matter to spirit. Here is the link http://btg.krishna.com/main.php?id=929

So, this Sunday as we cooked for the temple Sunday feast I mulled over the questions that I have been asked,"Why is it that prasadam tastes so good? How do we know how much salt to add to a certain prep without tasting?"

The short answer is prasadam is the Lord's mercy and that is why it tastes good and the paramatma within the heart guides us on quantity of salt and spices based on our consciousness at the time of service. My own tiny realization is that Lord Krishna is happy when devotees are satisfied and unless one craves salt due to hormonal or mineral deficiencies devotees can handle only the normal salt content. Thus in order to please the devotees, who accept only Krishna Prasadam, the paramatma within, guides the conscious cook. Moreover, the Lord Himself has promised to accept the offering and will not settle for something unpalatable (of course He can eat by just glancing). Likewise in deity worship Srila Prabhupada mentions in response to a mataji's query that "the deities dress Themselves," being the meticulous dressers that they are. As someone once said Pujaris and deity cooks must hang their false egos outside the kitchen/Altar.

I guess once that rule is followed, paramatma will direct us suitably. So hang out the false egos before tying those apron strings.

Mahaprasadam Ki Jaya.

Check back for pictures of our fun cooking session past Sunday:-)

Rare opportunity.

Last year around this time, when my daughter suffered with pneumonia, I was grounded and having nothing much to do, I started listening to classes (with more seriousness),by HH Bhakticharu Swami. The very first class that I chose was the Brhad Bhagavatamrta and I got hooked to hearing about the Lord and His devotee, Gopa Kumar. Today, again I was hearing about the rarity of human life and made this collage as a reminder to myself when faced with taking appropriate actions (karma) in the crossroads of life. The times when transcendence or Krishna takes a backseat and the modes take over the reins.

SB 5.13.21:King Rahugana said: This birth as a human being is the best of all. Even birth among the demigods in the heavenly planets is not as glorious as birth as a human being on this earth. What is the use of the exalted position of a demigod? In the heavenly planets, due to profuse material comforts, there is no possibility of associating with devotees.

INI MINI MAINI MO: WHICH WAY SHOULD I GO?

I have 4 choices:

• Take birth as an animal

• Go back to Goloka Vrindavan, Spiritual World

• Take birth as a human being again

• Go to the higher planets and enjoy a higher level of sense gratification.
  

I vote for devotional service in this transit lounge of life, trying to make myself qualified or deserving before I can desire to reach my final destination.

The basic principle of devotional service is detachment from material activities and attachment to the transcendental service of the Lord.(Bhagavad Gita As it Is 15.1 purport).
http://www.asitis.com/15/1.html

Lessons from Bhaktin Hima.

She had visited us many times this year, but I knew we would get private time with her this time round. So, after a hectic weekend of mixed feelings of happiness, anger and sadness, I was ready to meet with Bhaktin Hima come Monday Morning. The brightness seeping in from the windows signalled that she had arrived. My daughter and I welcomed her with Maha Flowers, a woollen scarf to protect her from the wind and made her feel at home. After all she had met Srila Prabhupada, here in 1965-1966 and again, in the subsequent years and would definitely have memories to share. I hastily proceeded to the kitchen, leaving my daughter to regale her with her childish banter. Grinding the soaked urad dal, I peeked from the kitchen to see that they were having darshan of the deities. Knowing that time was of the essence I moved quickly, adding the spices and frying the vadas. Yes, Hima would get to taste some authentic South Indian Rasam Vada prasadam. The soupy, spiced Rasam would provide her succour from her long and arduous journey, and comfort food that it is soothe us all.

Though she has been around from a long time, she looked no older than a little girl with shiny black eyes and a cheery smile. Wearing a white gown dotted with flowers and with the Mahaprasadam flowers tucked in her hair, she polished off the vadas with gusto and then narrated the following story of how she had the chance to obtain the dust of Srila Prabhupada on her head and how she was humbled by this pure devotee of the Lord, in a conversation with his disciples.

" Srila Prabhupada was walking in St. James’s Park, tapping his cane on the ice that had formed overnight. At one point he asked, “What does this mean?” We looked at each other and wondered what we should say. Prabhupada asked again, “What does this mean?” We couldn’t fathom what Prabhupada meant. Suddenly he said, “Ice is maya. The original constitution of water is liquid, but when it comes in contact with freezing weather it becomes hard ice. And when there is ice, there is the possibility that you may slip.” Prabhupada may have been breaking the ice because he didn’t want anyone to slip. He continued the analogy, explaining that the heart becomes hard, but just as the sun rises and melts the ice, in the same way the continued chanting of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra softens the heart and reinstates the individual in his natural constitutional position."

Finishing her narration she smiled at us, a kindly wise smile full of compassion and knowing. Waving us goodbye, she continued on with her journey, leaving us wiser and enriched.

"Goodbye Hima (Snow), hope you bring us many more valuable lessons next year".

I hate the prospect of shoveling piles of snow, but what started off as a drudgery became something therapeutic, the nature of devotional service, through the mercy of Srila Prabhupada's analogy. Jaya Srila Prabhupada!

Blame it on Bimbo Gami.

I was just trying to check my yahoo mail and this caught my eye " Japanese "poverty god" beats economic woes, stress". Curious as I am I decided to take a peek into it and see what it was. Turns out that a former banker has been doing good business by blaming the current economic situation and poverty, on the Japanese God of Poverty - Bimbo Gami, by building a shrine for him and living off the income generated by the visiting tourists.

Here is the link.Don't miss the video.

http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSTRE51P1XW20090226

I wish they could have a date with Purusha, Prakriti, Kala, and most importantly Karma .

The following story from Upakhyane Upadesha frequently used by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura sums up this mentality of blind following.

A Fallacy of Custom
Every morning some brahmanas would take their bath in the Ganges and offer their daily prescribed prayers to the Lord. All of them were taking their own copper vessels for offering water to the Lord. But through oversight, all the copper vessels invariably changed hands everyday.
Finally an elderly brahmana, in order to differentiate his own copper vessel from others, put a lump of sand on his own copper vessel and went to take a bath. Observing this practice, all the other brahmanas assumed that this must be a holy custom and imitated the said elderly brahmana by putting the a lump of sand on their vessels.
After taking bath, the elderly brahmana came out of the river and found that it was impossible to identify his own copper vessel, because each and every vessel had a lump sand on it. At this, the elderly brahmana said to himself, How over-attached to rituals these fellows are! Without realising the real purpose of anything, they just imitate others. If they had applied their common sense, they would not have marked their copper vessels in the same way.
PURPORT
In modern society, practice of religious performances is quite often like this. There are so many customary practices in the field of literature and social conduct in respect of usages and performances that most of the people follow them blindly without making assessment of their validity and authority.
Lord Nityananda is the supreme controller of all wealth and He has no want whatsoever. Those who suffer from want, are known as daridra or paupers. Poverty is one of the three types of sufferings undergone by living entities. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is never influenced by any of the three modes nor by any sort of poverty or want. But common people, without considering this, quite often regard a pauper to be Lord Narayana in a customary fallacy, and the modern usage of the word daridra-narayana has been coined.
Some people may argue that Lord Narayana may not be a pauper, but still He exists in every living being and the said popular word has been coined in order to remember Him. This argument is also based on fallacy. The fact is that Lord Narayana is not at all poverty-stricken persons; and that no living entity is Lord Narayana Himself in any circumstances.

Self Medication

Doctor Doctor,

I swallowed a pill

Cure my cold I thought it will

Three times a day was my dosage

Now my nose is like a big sausage.

Sitting in the crowded doctor's office in Bangalore, delirious with high fever, this rhyme pasted on the wall there, instantly brought a smile to my face. This rhyme sums up the effects of self medication in a light way. From a philosophical angle, it is a reminder of the disastrous effects of our own efforts to understand things in spiritual life. Just remembered this while listening to the pastimes of Lord Brahma by HH Bhakti Charu Swami, where Brahma is trying to trace his origins on his own, succeeding only after years of meditation. Thankfully for us, the prescription and prayers are already available. All we have to do is just follow the instructions and constantly flood our ears with the pastimes of the Lord morning, noon and night, from a bonafide source.

SB-1.3.29

janma guhyaḿ bhagavato
ya etat prayato naraḥ
sāyaḿ prātar gṛṇan bhaktyā
duḥkha-grāmād vimucyate

Whoever carefully recites the mysterious appearances of the Lord, with devotion in the morning and in the evening, gets relief from all miseries of life.

Our transcendental, family Psychiatrist!

Free Rider.

Yesterday being Siva ratri, I was trying to follow HH Mahanidhi Swami's words by painting the canvas of my mind with pastimes of Lord Shiva. Hearing the pastimes of Aasheshwar Mahadev in Vrindavan,I was trying to tune into the message in it for me. Maharaj kept reiterating about how the devotee of the Lord, in this case Lord Siva, has hope against hope or 'Ashabandha.' Though considering himself unqualified, he still hoped to attain the lotus feet of Krishna upon his head and ultimately succeeded

Further; this morning On an impulse, I opened the pages of 'Vraja-Lila' (A 118 pages, Vrindavana lecture series book by HG Deena Bandhu Prabhu), and found this: "Bhuta means ghost. This is Lord Siva as the leader of ghosts. I don't know if you've ever seen a picture of Sivaratri, the night when Lord Siva got married". "Has anybody ever seen the bharat of Lord Siva? Bharat means wedding procession".

He goes on to mention how they visit a temple near Delhi in a place called Renukoot every year,where there is a beautiful Radha Krishna temple. Talking about one of the dioramas there, he says " On the side there are are many dioramas, and one of those dioramas is Lord Siva's wedding procession with the strangest personalities you would ever dream about. Think of your worst dream.Whatever monster you saw, it's even worse than that. The most obtuse, strangely shaped creatures are there, some with big long necks and all of the bones in their necks and ribs sticking out. Lord Siva takes care of these because he is very easily pleased. If Lord Siva is pleased with them, then they can get birth in a human body, so they are all his followers".
With prasadam in hand I was musing over the words in the following paragraphs and realized how much of a free rider I am; happily living off the beneficial actions of others. Lord Shiva, Gopiswara Mahadev is at home, worshipped every single day with Charanamrita from the salagram silas and is offered Their Mahaprasad, yet I make no effort to please him knowing that he is easily pleased! I just hastily put together the Bhoga offering, without even meditating on his position. Talking of prasadam, I just eat it up instead of honoring and savoring it as Maha-maha prasad. As for chanting the names of the Lord, the most pleasing activity to Lord Siva,mine is full of distractions and can be best described as abysmal!

Yes, I need to be mindful of my actions, my surroundings, my thoughts and my existence and stop being a free rider. Otherwise, even though in a human body it is just a ghostly, shadow existence that I am leading.

Gopiswara Mahadev and Maha maha Prasad.

As Chanakya Pandit states:

One indeed becomes blessed by having darshan of a devotee; for the devotee has the ability to purify immediately, whereas the sacred tirtha gives purity only after prolonged contact.

I can only repeat the prayers given by our Acharyas and beg for mercy from this greatest Vaisnava and hope to better my chanting.

vrindavana-vani-pate jaya soma-maule
sanaka-sanandana-sanatana-naradedya
gopishvara vraja-vilasi-yuganghri-padme
prema prayaccha nirupadhi namo namaste

“O Gatekeeper of Vrindavana! O Soma, All glories to you. O you whose head is decorated with the moon, and who is worshipable for the sages headed by Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanatana and Narada! O Gopishvara! Desiring that you bestow upon me love for the lotus feet of Radha Madhava who perform joyous pastimes in Vraja, I offer my obeisances unto you again and again.”