Wishing You A Hare Krishna
BY: KURMA DASA
Dec 17, AUSTRALIA (SUN) — It is with great interest that I read Hrishikesh dasa Prabhu's article, "Krishna Christmas Carols. There are many not so well known genius devotees within the Hare Krishna Movement, and Hrishikesh dasa is one of them. The Maestro did such a wonderful job of capturing the essence of Krishna Consciousness in song and music by utilizing every tool possible in God's service.
Just like Nrsimananda dasa who created and captured the essence of Srila Prabhupada perfectly in the New Dwarka DVD (everyone should see this DVD), there are so many un-sung heroes of Krishna Consciousness.
In this part of the world we were Kirtanananda's experiment in adopting the practices. Hare Krishna devi dasi made up robes that were simple and easy to wear, and a few of the other devotees experimented with recipes that were vegetarian, but not Indian, as Kirtanananda had told us that prasadam simply had to be vegetarian, not that it had to be Indian.
I attended other churches, mosques, and a synagogue and met with quite a variety of religious people at the time, who could easily understand what we were attempting to do, because there was no language barrier. My parents could finally understand me, too.
After following the traditional process as taught by Srila Prabhupada for many years, I am being thoroughly honest in saying that these practices that we had adopted still had the same rasa. In fact, they brought about some very deep spiritual experiences or feelings. As has been the case within ISKCON all along, problems arise when people become ambitious.
After reading in Hrishikesh prabhu's article that Ravindra Svarupa was involved in the demise of the practices, I am convinced that he, like many others were simply jealous. Unfortunately it was Ravindra Svarupa prabhu who gave us the bogus guru system, and where has that got us?
Even though more animals are killed at this time of the year (Xmas), and contrary to some negative experiences or perhaps jealousy, all is not lost and we should not let the baby be thrown out with the bathwater. It is the greater intention of these things that matter most, and if we can reach the people and get them to read Srila Prabhupada's books with an organ or a guitar rather than kartals, then personally, I believe Srila Prabhupada would be more than pleased.
All glories to Hrishikesh dasa. May he continue his great work.
[Ed. We've now added a few pictures to "Krishna Christmas Carols" article that were missed with the original posting.]
