Running for Krishna

It is very difficult to understand the Lord. Krsna even says so himself in the Gita.

Whenever I seem to be at a low point, Krsna always seems to turn
things around for me. I went to the doctor for a checkup on my leg injury and he said “You’re ready to start running. You can’t hurt it anymore.”

I was elated. Exercise is critical for my well being. When I feel physically energized, I feel inspired to use that energy productively. I wasn’t expecting to hear this news for another couple of months. But it was another kickstart from Krsna to keep me enthused about serving.

My friend M. Shyama gopa-rupa called it “running for Krsna”. So I ran the most grateful 1.25 miles ever.

Rescued From the Muck

Yesterday, we celebrated Janmastami (Krishna’s appearance day) at the Philly temple. Although it rained like crazy (which washed out most of the outdoor activities), it was an awesome celebration. I don’t know how many guests came but it was in the hundreds. And the kirtans! We had a special surprise when my godbrother Kalpa-vrksa Prabhu and his friend Bhakta Kevin from New Jersey showed up. They simply rocked it.

Typically on birthdays, we give gifts to the particular person we’re honoring. But on this Janmastami, Krishna gave me the biggest gift–He allowed me to serve Him.

One devotee came up to me and said, “Can you break coconuts?” I said “Yeah, sure.” Guests were purchasing thali plates, which are plates with fruit and small candles to offer to the Lord. Basically, I was to sit on the floor near the altar and break the coconuts to give to the pujari (priest) before he offered made the offering to the Lord. However, Janmastami is a crazy day and the pujari had other service to tend to, so he asked me to take his place on the altar and make the offerings. So I sat on the altar, and as the guests came by the altar to offer their respects, if they had a thali plate, I would make the offering for them and set up their candle to offer to the Deities. Or if they had their own food to be offered, I would offer that. After the (brief) offering, they would take the maha-prasadam (food that has been offered directly to Krishna).

Now, this awesome devotee Amit Prabhu, agreed to be the “official-coconut-breaker” while I was dealing with the other puja duties.  This proved to be quite interesting because some of the coconuts were a little tough to crack, but then they would burst open and coconut milk would go flying everywhere. By the time we were done, he was soaked.

The pujari in charge of the celebration told me “your train will really begin moving around 6:30,” meaning that the line for making offerings was going to get really long. He wasn’t kidding. We were there until about 9:15, making offerings, distributing maha-prasadam, and collecting donations. We had to be quick about everything, because people were getting impatient.  Coconut milk, incense, fruit, and candle wax were flying through the air. It was transcendental mayhem, and I loved every second.

Normally, I don’t have to “get hyped” for Janmastami. It’s Janmastami! But for the past few weeks I was bit preoccupied with other things so I was feeling a bit melancholy. So out of the blue, I was practically dragged onto the altar (to sit at His feet) to serve the Lord and His devotees—while hearing some otherworldly kirtans. Melancholy erased! Surely this was no accident.

ananyas cintayanto mam
ye janah paryupasate
tesam nityabhiyuktanam
yoga-ksemam vahamy aham

But those who worship Me with devotion, meditating on My transcendental form–to them I carry what they lack and preserve what they have.

This Janmastami, I was certainly lacking in a lot of areas, and Krishna carried me to His altar and basically poured a bucket of water (in the form of coconut milk) on my head. It’s as if He was saying, “Snap out of it man!”  And so I did. At least for now.

Children Are Not Innocent

Last week, my daughter wanted to go downstairs to the neighbor’s apartment to play with their kids. We told her she had to wait for us so we could go and see if they were home. She asked a couple of times but finally gave up and said “OK” and sat on the steps for a minute. Then she said, “I have to go potty. I’ll be right back.” And she headed downstairs to the neighbor’s apartment.

This simple story alone proves that we have had previous lives, as there is no way at age 3 Priya picked up the propensity to scheme “out of the blue”. She only watches educational television and Krishna movies and she doesn’t see this behavior at home. If I ever try to weasel out of some household duties, Priya is not around to see it (LOL).

So the next time someone argues that there is no such thing as reincarnation, tell them this story.

 

 

We’re All We’ve Got

“In Bhagavad-gītā (2.62) it is stated, sańgāt sañjāyate kāmaḥ: one’s desires and ambitions develop according to the company one keeps” (NOI Verse 4).

Recently, my wife was sharing a point which was constantly stressed by our Gurumaharaja that, ultimately, our lives and activities are built on relationships. Our association is critical in determining our thoughts, actions, and character. Birds of a feather flock together, as they say. How many times did we “change” friends in our youth, only to also completely change our style of dress, talking, and attitudes? As we grow older, we tend to become less whimsical in selecting our association and more concerned about having quality relationships. But who is “quality” association?  Is it someone who will just tell us what a great friend we are? Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur brilliantly stated that we should thank our enemies and reject our friends because our so-called friends will usually just tell us pleasantries that we want to hear (which inflates our false ego), while our “enemies” will honestly share (albeit harshly) what we really need to work on in order to grow in spiritual life.

While a lot of people know me as outgoing, I have a tendency to be introverted and aloof at times. I realize that I have missed out on quality relationships due to this aspect of my character. I have a wish to be social, but it’s as if I’m expecting a great friendship to just fall into my lap. But all relationships take work, and I can’t expect to have strong sanga if I keep an unhealthy distance from others. I have to seek it out and take advantage of the opportunities when presented. And like a delicate flower, consistent care and attention must be given for the relationship to grow. This can be quite risky, as one makes themselves vulnerable when opening up to another. However, the reward is worth it, as I seen firsthand the types of loving exchanges amongst devotees who take the plunge. To use a sports analogy, there is no “I” in the word team, and bhakti yoga is the ultimate team sport, and maya is the most formidable opponent we will ever face. It is our own individual responsibility to see that we are seeking the proper camaradarie and guidance as we inch our way back to Godhead because, in the end, we’re all we’ve got.

3 Cheers for Krishna!

Sometimes I need to have Krishna consciousness simplified to remedial levels.

I was trying to “evaluate” Krishna’s greatness in terms of examples that any common person could relate to so I came up with a simple exercise.

Pick any material activity and think of the person considered to be the greatest performer of that activity.  “So-and-so is the best _________.” Now think of how much better Krishna would be at that activity and multiply it by a trillion again, and again, and again… You get the point. We can’t even come close to describing Krishna’s expertise. It’s inconceivable of how inconceivable it is!

The fact is, Krishna is/would be the best at everything. He’s the greatest musician, as His melodious flute completely melts the heart of His beloved Srimati Radharani. He’s the greatest dancer, which is portrayed in His dancing on the hoods of the serpent Kaliya. He is the greatest architect, as evidenced by His palace in Dvarka.

Whenever I do this exercise, my false ego can’t help but shrink because I am immediately able to recognize my position as 1/10,000 of the tip of hair (the size of the atomic soul). Unfortunately for me, within 10 minutes, my ego is back on the rise because of some accomplishment that “I achieved”. I suppose would behoove me to do this exercise more often.

Never Satisfied

This past winter, the east coast of the United States was hit with unprecedented amounts of snow. Practically everyone was begging for spring to come. And so, spring came and went, and summer arrived and most of the country has been hit with record-breaking heat. And you guessed it, people are begging for relief. In my attempt to be a voice of reason, I’ve asked, “Don’t you all remember the winter we just had? I’ll take the 95 degrees any day.”

This made me think about how we can never really be satisfied in the material world, unless we go beyond looking for mundane happiness and avoiding mundane distress. Krishna says Bhagavad-gita 2.14:

matra-sparsas tu kaunteya
sitosna-sukha-duhkha-dah
agamapayino ‘nityas
tams titiksasva bharata

O son of Kunti, the nonpermanent appearance of happiness and distress, and their disappearance in due course, are like the appearance and disappearance of winter and summer seasons. They arise from sense perception, O scion of Bharata, and one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed.

Now, I am not one who complains about summer (I love it), but I can never actually enjoy it. Why? Because I am in too much anxiety about winter looming around the corner. I get so distressed, that I even forget about autumn, a beautiful season in itself.

Satyaraja Prabhu (Steven Rosen) described material happiness perfectly:

1. We look for it, and we don’t attain it, so we’re unhappy.

2.We look for it, and we attain it, but it’s not what we thought. So we’re unhappy.

3. We look for it, we attain it, it’s what we thought it would be, BUT we’re so anxious about losing it, we can’t enjoy it. So we’re unhappy.

Sound familiar? Looks like a no-win situation. The idea of tolerating is looking better all the time. Meanwhile, I’m getting my snow gear ready–even though it’s July.

The Bhakti Rocket

I remember one time my godbrother Bhuta-Bhavana Prabhu telling me, “I’m trying to accelerate in my Krishna Consciousness. I don’t want to keep going up and down, up and down. I want to just keep going up like this.” He moved his hand in a motion like a rocket taking off. I’ve never forgotten that statement, particularly now when I find myself putting off KC activities because “I just HAVE to get XYZ done.”

As a householder, I understand that I have many responsibilities which have to be taken care of. But I will always have responsibilities. One will simply be traded for another. While I may not be able to increase the amount of service I am doing right now, I think an attainable goal is to improve the quality of my service. What good are my rounds if they are all just Gish Gish Yam Yam?

I moved about the yoga circles for a number of years and the greatest lesson I took from my experiences was the idea of “being present”. Simply focus completely on whatever I am doing at the present moment. That’s damn hard. If I can do that with my sadhana (and everything else), my spiritual life will start to look less like jagged peaks and valleys and more like that rocket that Bhuta Bhavana was describing.

Word of the Day: Tolerance

Just when I think I have Krishna figured out, he throws the inevitable curve ball. I was all set to register for the Philadelphia Half Marathon, when I tore my achilles tendon playing basketball–3 weeks before we were supposed to move to Philadelphia. Then my wife became sick around the exact same time. THEN, I got the flu right after my surgery. Actually, I wasn’t laughing. I was on the verge of tears. Yet, we all made it through and I lived to tell about it. Srila Prabhupada said when we feel we cannot tolerate anymore, THAT is when we must tolerate.

How Did I Get Here??

To tell you the truth, I’m not really sure.  I became a part of a forum for people who have suffered achilles tendon injuries, since I also snapped mine back in June. I thought it would be helpful to connect with people who were dealing with some of the sames things I was, since the recovery is sooo long. The forum had an option to start a blog–so I did. It has been quite therapeutic for me to be able to express thoughts about the injury. I have gotten alot of support and I have also been able to support those who have the same injury. This blog is an attempt to share exchanges and network with those traveling on the spiritual path. While I am a follower of a particular religious tradition (see About Moi), I realize I can learn from anyone. I’ll be creating new pages in attempt to get this thing off the ground and we’ll see how it unfolds. Wish me luck.