Hare Krsna to all
Pranams
All glories to Srila Prabhupada
Yesterday, on Sunday, two totally different things happened to me. I was made aware (yet again ) of how powerful are the ongoing words and ongoing presence of Srila Prabhupada.
1. I got an email from an old distant friend of mine who lives in Seattle and is a college professor. He also is a profesional musician on guitar. He once told me a story about how he first met Srila Prabhupada while walking around Green lake in Seattle around 1968, when Prabhupada was first there.
This friend was a hippy then, and somehow or other he found himself walking around Green lake one morning. It is a very beautiful park right in the middle of Seattle and is about 3 miles walk around it. So Prabhupada and some disciples were walking along, and he spotted them and decided to tag along with them. At one point some man was fishing alongside the lake and just caught a fish, then saw Srila Prabhupada and then motioned as if to ask Prabhupada if he wanted the fish he just caught? Prabhupada said no thankyou, then walked on a few steps and then out of earshot, said “No, you enjoy, and then suffer later” All the devotees then had a laugh.This is what my friend told me had happened.
This friend was a hippy then, and somehow or other he found himself walking around Green lake one morning. It is a very beautiful park right in the middle of Seattle and is about 3 miles walk around it. So Prabhupada and some disciples were walking along, and he spotted them and decided to tag along with them. At one point some man was fishing alongside the lake and just caught a fish, then saw Srila Prabhupada and then motioned as if to ask Prabhupada if he wanted the fish he just caught? Prabhupada said no thankyou, then walked on a few steps and then out of earshot, said “No, you enjoy, and then suffer later” All the devotees then had a laugh.This is what my friend told me had happened.
Now so many years later, when we were doing programs every week in Seattle and Hari nama as well, this person showed up for the programs once in a while. I put him on my email list and had been sending him my nectar articles for years on end, never hearing a word back from him. Then a few months ago, sometime in May, I decided to delete him from my list thinking he is long gone and I never hear from him.
Then just yesterday, Sunday I get an email from him asking me is I stopped sending emails back in May ?
The same time I deleted him from my list.! Here I was thinking this man is gone, never reads the emails I send out,so I might as well delete him from my list since I never hear from him. Was I ever wrong !
Prabhupada told us the temples may come and go, but his books will remain, and do everything ! So even though this person practically has no contact physically with any devotees, he still is in contact with the real devotee, Srila Prabhupada and has not lost his attraction to him or the words of wisdom he constantly speaks. My lesson here-never think these words go in vain as Prabhupada once told somebody that you should go on preaching, even to the walls, even if nobody comes !
2. This second story happened also on Sunday, yesterday, but at the tail end of the day when three of our local devotee bhaktas had just returned from their first Ratha Yatra up in Vancouver. They intended to go up to Vancouver early so as not to miss the Iskcon parade, then go somewhere else later in the day to take in our resident ritvik Prabhupadanuga Hari nama , also in a park but on the other side of the bay.
The way they described iskcons ratha yatra was-it was a disaster ! They told me, in no uncertain terms, that the devotees were un enlivened, apathetic, and the kirtan on the main stage was being ignored by practically everyone. It seemed to them to be a place for the living dead as they felt no bliss,and no happiness from anyone there. I am not exaggerating this in any way and do not intend to fault find those Iskcon devotees either. I am just reporting what they saw and felt. Apparantly,not much- to be blunt.
Now after seeing all this, they went to the other Hari nama that made them feel happy to be a devotee of Krsna. This is where Navadvipa and his family of 5 and several other devotees have been regularly on a weekly basis going for Hari nama, book and prasadam distribution. Immediately they felt wonderful, they said to me, just by seeing those devotees who were happily doing the work entrusted to them by Srila Prabhuapda and under his directions. They said, again and again, the difference between the two events, same day, same city, was like NIGHT AND DAY, NIGHT AND DAY, NIGHT AND DAY !!
One can only conclude that the first group (iskcon) was not feeling the bliss of being a devotee of Krsna, otherwise why the lackluster presence they showed? The other group, the ritvik Prabhupadanugas group, were having a ball, and everybody there was happy around them.
Conclusion-Keep Srila Prabhupada , and his sincere devotees, always in the CENTER of your life, and you will be happy, forever !!
Hare Krsna
Damaghosa das
