When In Tennessee

Before going to India this year I decided to take some time and visit some amazing Devotees I've known over the  years. Our great teacher Sri Krsna Caitanya stressed that association is very important for a person's spiritual growth, and that even a moment of association with saintly persons can put one on the path of Spiritual perfection. The devotees in Nashville are a group of families who meet twice a week- Friday and Sunday for reading together, chanting Hare Krsna and of Course eating food cooked with deep love for Krishna.
The saying "mother's cooking" is definitely a reality in Tennessee since a huge percent of the devotee ladies here are moms.
For a monk austerity is absolutely necessary, but coming to Tennessee shows a different side of monastic life for me- allowing others to care and give their love. It's come to a point now where I can recognize who cooked what simply by taste.
With the permission of one of the families I stay with I took some pictures of their garden and some surrounding areas of Nashville, and would like to share it with my bloggers. Next stop will be New York, and after that India next Tuesday. I do ask that you all say a little prayer for me, so that I may continue this service of sharing Krsna Consciousness wherever I go and with whoever I meet :)

Prayer For the Dying

Just a song I heard on a friends Ipod. Pretty cool


Fearless people,
Careless needle.
Harsh words spoken,
And lives are broken.
Forceful ageing,
Help me I'm fading.
Heaven's waiting,
It's time to move on.

Crossing that bridge,
With lessons I've learned.
Playing with fire,
And not getting burned.
I may not know what you're going through.
But time is the space,
Between me and you.
Life carries on... it goes on.
Just say die,
And that would be pessimistic.
In your mind,
We can walk across water.
Please don't cry,
It's just a prayer for the dying.
I just don't know what's got into me.

There is a light through that window
Hold on say yes, while people say no
Life carries on

For the dying.

Base to Recharge

Imagine your favorite action packed movie- the one that leaves you in disarray when the hero or innocent persons die, or make you jump for joy when the bad guy gets taken out. Say Tom Cruise or whoever the favorite of the day may be the lovable actor. Well directed films capture the mind and involves the viewer's full attention. A funny memory of this was watching a martial arts film where the bad guy drew out such hate from the audience. So much that in the final fight scene, as he was about to be decapitated, a guy sitting in front of us in the theater jumped out of his seat screaming “ Finish Him”! Great film. But in reality, bad guys and good guys are still alive somewhere in Hollywood or Bollywood sipping on mango shakes or being shaken up by some other drink high in shake-up content.

So why did I wake up so early to write this? Because I can relate on two levels, and hopefully share both clearly thru this blog.
Bhagavad Gita explains that for the soul there is neither birth nor death at anytime. He has not come into being, does not come into being, and will not come into being. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain. As our actors in films die over and over again, and attend premiers over and over again, similarly, the soul (us), having eternal qualities, never die or takes birth. We are spiritual entities in a sort of virtual reality set up by material nature under the Supreme direction of Krsna. Based on our desire and actions, material nature outfits us in specific forms to experience those desires, praising or lamenting as we reap our various orders from nature. Simple explanation of how this works: we put on our virtual goggles called false ego, and equipped with intelligence, mind and senses, we act out various thoughts and desires. Now, best of all, this whole thing is free of charge, and as we act, mother nature accommodates or actions by giving us matching results. Thus we take on different bodies and enjoy or suffer in different situations. Birth can be compared to a recharge station where the soul gets a fresh VR suit to continue with action and reaction in the material realm. Level one, simple explanation.

Next level
In real time, far form Hollywood, as we all identify with our bodies we find that to maintain these bodies we must work. After work we require some recreation or rejuvenation- which the weekend, or specific days off for vacation brings. Naturally we want such moments to last forever- best friends should stay over forever, romance should last eternally, etc etc. But to survive here, we are obliged to work. Vacation allows us to recharge, to reanalyze, to reinvent our motives and desires. And so it is even for monks.
As an aspirant teacher, living and sharing Krsna Consciousness can be very intense. This is the material world and so from one point of view, Spirituality does not belong here. The embodied spirit soul here is apt on enjoying matter and forgetting spirit but the very nature of matter is that it cannot satisfy a spiritual entity. Spiritual practitioners make an effort to reconnect each person to their natural habitat- the spiritual world. Such efforts can be compared to going against the natural flow of things- while everyone goes to external involvements, you turn inwards to experience subtle realms. As Srila Prabhupada puts it, being spiritual in the material world means declaring war on the material energy. War means opposition, casualties, etc. As a spiritual warrior fights, material nature retaliates with weapons like sense objects, mind games (desire for honor and prestige), intellectual and false ego thingies (couldn't find a word to describe it).
To successfully win this battle, good training and good association are most important. Good training involves diligently following the orders of spiritual superiors and good association means mixing with those whose aim is similar and who have similar, or greater resolutions to fight and conquer the mind and senses, and go back to the realm of eternal bliss and knowledge.
Like every battlefield, Hollywood or Material Nature, there is a base; a place where warriors may retreat and regroup, strengthen and recharge. Spiritualists have various stations according to their intensity of involvement in the battle against illusion. For me, that base is Vrindavan; not just a landmark, but also a place in the consciousness rich with spiritual booty gathered by bygone teachers. Booty gained through loving relationships, individual, spontaneous and voluntary service, and reconnection to the ultimate proprietor of both material and spiritual worlds, Krsna.
My hope is to be in Vrindavan for a few months and render wholehearted service to superior generals in this Army. By their grace, some shelter seeking souls may, thru my small efforts, share in the spiritual bounty I may bring back to the battlefield.
We are all invited to take part in this adventure- whosoever will, “Welcome Aboard”.

We're Back in Business

CAN I GET A WITNESS?

Been traveling through the US all summer and so had little time to write. lets just say it was an amazing time and leave it at that!
But wait...
Kesh is off... back to India which was the reason this blog started in the first place. So in two weeks, I'll have something fun for everyone once a week. For six months.....

Will You Be There ?

"He looked beyond my faults and saw my needs."

a line from a song I learned as a kid and have actually begun to realize daily. As I learned about the Death of two big superstars in today's world, Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett, a sense of awe and reverence for the vows I've taken arose.

Vaisnavas are naturally unhappy when they see others unhappy, and in order to direct the general populace to substantial happiness, may risk their own lives even to the point of dying.

Not that I can claim Vaisnava status, but when we come in contact with the knowledge of the spiritual world and all its varieties, its only natural to want to share it with others. The world is definitely saddened by people who entertained them for decades; I'm saddened that they weren't introduced to this knowledge to help them achieve deeper peace at the end. This material world has a way of disillusioning us and if we're attentive, we can get out of its grips and proceed to the eternal abode- not religious sentiment, but a place with actual existence that can be experienced in this life without waiting for death or afterlife. The deeper question is who is willing to do such a service of enlightening a world of people who truly believe that matter can make them happy? I pray to learn from the example of our dear teacher Srila Prabhupada and his sincere students of how to tolerate many inconveniences and give Krsna consciousness to people. Such acts are done out of a deeper sense of love and not of fanatic fear of uncertainty due to attachment to the bodily conception of life.

I must admit it's not easy to try to uplift someone. I experience on a daily basis that people will take to spirituality and use it for their own benefit; their God given right to do so. To associate with the saintly and get their blessings is the most wonderful thing but often when such people are put in testing situations... .

We all love a good party, but what happens when the life of the party, the host, or some other figure is in trouble? We leave them hanging. Very few brave men will try to pull someone out of their ruts; especially someone who may have been in a more elevated position than they. In risking oneself to rescue another, real love develops- a deeper gratitude than can ever be experienced. As the saying goes, we know who our friends are in the time of need.



I'll take the liberty to be sentimental, since I'm only a wee lad on the path of self realization, and post a song that inspired me to be a monk. A song by the King of pop. May he be awarded better privileges in his next life.

There's A Place InYour Heart
And I Know That It Is Love
And This Place Could Be Much
Brighter Than Tomorrow
And If You Really Try
You'll Find There's No Need To Cry
In This Place You'll Feel
There's No Hurt Or Sorrow

There Are Ways To Get There
If You Care Enough For The Living
Make A Little Space
Make A Better Place...Heal The World
Make It A Better Place
For You And For Me
And The Entire Human Race
There Are People Dying
If You Care Enough For The Living
Make A Better Place For You And For Me

If You Want To Know Why
There's A Love That Cannot Lie
Love Is Strong It Only Cares For
Joyful Giving
If We Try We Shall See
In This Bliss We Cannot Feel
Fear Or Dread
We Stop Existing AndStart Living
Then It Feels That Always
Love's Enough For Us Growing
So Make A Better World
Make A Better World...
Heal The World
And The Dream We WereConceived In
Will Reveal A Joyful Face
And The World We Once Believed In
Will Shine Again In Grace
Then Why Do We Keep Strangling Life
Wound This Earth Crucify Its Soul
Though It's Plain To See
This World Is Heavenly
Be God's Glow
We Could Fly So High
Let Our Spirits Never Die
In My HeartI Feel You Are All
My Brothers
Create A World With No Fear
Together We'll Cry Happy Tears
See The Nations Turn
Their Swords Into Plowshares
We Could Really Get There If You Cared Enough For The Living
Make A Little SpaceTo Make A Better Place...

BACK TO THE START

I took a walk with a friend yesterday through Point Pleasant Park and while talking to him, I had an interesting realisation about the Spiritual path. He is a very intelligent young man and has been searching for spiritual guidance for some time now, so his questions are quite deep and well thought out. Krsna consciousness gets exciting for me when people genuinely want to understand the subject matter. As I answered each question step by step, more and more questions came up and so the conversation got a little lively. But then I noticed that some of the same questions re-emerged so I suggested to him that in order to grasp the conversation more deeply, he should explain to me what we had just discussed.

For a new person learning our philosophy and associating with monks on a daily basis, this culture can be overloading and due to our instant gratification nature, this is just the place to be- each question answered without a long wait.

However, our teacher His Divine Grace A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami has informed us that Krsna consciousness is not an artificial imposition on the mind- cram it in there and get a grade point, heaven or hell. Krsna consciousness is practical action in the foreground of spiritual life. This knowledge has to be digested just as one meal has to be digested before another meal is taken.

Back to my realisation.

When I first came in contact with this philosophy, My goal was to read as much as possible and catch up with those monks I lived with, especially those who were my age, or who were junior to me. I thought if i just read these books immediately, I would fit in and not be seen as a newbie.

It worked to some extend as far as theoretically, but over the years I have learned to go back and read slowly, in small segments, in order to grasp the subject matter- Krsna, the supreme person, my eternal friend. Quality learning is what Krsna conscious training offers and anyone in the world, regardless of cast or creed should take advantage of Srila Prabhupada's books and there find deep treasures, especially that nectar for which we're always anxious. (HOLLYWOOD)

Oh wait....

Ear to Heart

I know, I know,

as Jackson would put it... you're not writing much Kesh. What's up

I've been busy.. as the pictures show......

I'm formulating a little series of topics, so it'll be up soon, one after another.

Until then, chant and be happy :)