BY: ROCANA DASA
Oct 25, CANADA (SUN) — Studying Srila Prabhupada's conversations with ISKCON leaders.
Today's Talks is inspired by Srila Prabhupada's morning walk of July 8, 1975. You can listen to the audio or read the transcript of this conversation here.
This morning walk features quite a cast of characters. It took place when Srila Prabhupada was in Chicago along with several of the Radha Damodar Party buses. There's a famous photograph of Srila Prabhupada posed with members of the Radha Damodar Party and their buses. Visaka devi came along on this walk to take photographs of the big gathering of devotees. As we see by the date, it took place in the middle of the summer, so the weather was nice for a large photo shoot.
Many prominent devotees of the time were in Chicago and attended the morning walk, including Jayatirtha, Jagadisa, Tamal Krishna Goswami, Harikesa, Jaga-jivan, Sudama, and Tripurari prabhus. This point in time was a real heyday for the Radha Damodar Party, and several of these big devotees were heading up the various bus parties. As mentioned in a previous edition of Talks, by the very next Mayapur meeting Srila Prabhupada had shut the whole Radha Damodar Party down.
The actual transcription of this morning walk began in the car before they arrived at whatever location they were going to walk about. During this walk, Srila Prabhupada had many enthusiastic things to say about the preaching in America. His main theme was that America is blind and we are lame, meaning we didn't have all the money or material facility we wished to engage in Krsna's service. Srila Prabhupada emphasized this fact throughout the walk. He said that the Americans had so much material facility, but they had no spiritual consciousness, so we had to utilize everything in Krsna's service on their behalf. We had to be the eyes, and give them all good advice. In this way we could use all the facility in Krsna's service - like all the buses from the Radha Damodar Party.
Throughout this conversation, Srila Prabhupada was emphasizing that it's especially important for us to preach in America and utilize what America has to offer in the service of Krsna. He talked about the philosophy behind this concept, explaining that nothing is Maya if it's used in Krsna's service. Anything that is used in Krsna's service is not Maya, and anything that is not used in Krsna's service immediately becomes Maya. He said:
"After all, your money, my money, your intelligence, my intelligence--everything belongs to Krsna. Sarvasya caham hrdi sannivisthah. Krsna is giving intelligence. We must agree to take His good advice. Early morning till night, we are always thinking, "How people will be happy by Krsna consciousness?" And they are coming here for rowing boat. You see? How blind they are! The human life, so intelligent life, and they are utilizing for rowing boat. How blind they are! Not a single moment to be wasted and they are simply finding out, 'How to waste time?'"
Tamal Krishna was pushing Vishaka devi to take as many photos as possible as he was very anxious to get this particular morning walk into the BTG, and there was a nice feature article in the BTG about the event.
Srila Prabhupada continually hammered home the concept that America is blind and that he, in particular, can give them all sorts of guidance. Throughout the morning walk he emphasized the fact that he had worked for so long and had all these great ideas, all this knowledge, but he didn't have any money or followers. Now he came to America, and all the devotees came, and everything he wanted to achieve was possible.
There was a householder along for the walk, and he was obviously disturbed, being confused about what he should do. He wanted to preach but had household problems to deal with. Srila Prabhupada said just use the money you make for preaching Krsna consciousness:
"Why don't you understand? Preaching cannot be checked by anything--if you want to preach. In any circumstances you can preach. Pranair arthair dhiya vaca. Preaching can be executed by four things: by your life, by your money, by your intelligence, and by your words. You have got so many assets. So you can utilize it for preaching. Dedicate your life."
Srila Prabhupada mentioned the fact that Krsna is supplying everything in abundance, but because people are so blind, they're using land to grow coffee, tea and tobacco. The land could be used for food, which was Krsna's arrangement, but these blind rascals are using it for useless commodities, all to make money. He says that money will push them into hell. This is still the case in America and elsewhere.
Throughout this morning walk, Srila Prabhupada really emphasized the preaching. He said we must take all sorts of risks for preaching, and that people would get angry, but you cannot be deterred by that.
Srila Prabhupada then said people are in dog consciousness, and he expanded upon that, saying they're always running here and there. The American materialists are always running with cars and machines, but their business is running. They don't know where to run to, and that's what we have to show them. We have to teach them to run towards Krsna and utilize everything in the service of Krsna consciousness.
Next Srila Prabhupada uses the analogy that when you're crossing over the ocean of nescience and you have a favourable wind, which is Krsna's instruction, and the captain of a the ship is guru, with this facility you can safely cross the ocean. He also used the analogy of the knife, which can be used to cut up things for offering to Krsna, or it can be used to cut your throat. In other words, we have to stop them from cutting their throat by teaching them to use their money and facility for Krsna.
One of the devotees asks: "Is it because of our impurity that we can't convince them to stop cutting their throat?" Srila Prabhupada says no, that's not our impurity, it's their impurity if they do not take.
Srila Prabhupada emphasizes that you have to learn the art of preaching, learning how to use every circumstance and being very expert. We must be like Lord Nityananda, who in a seemingly hopeless situation with Jagai and Madai, took the risk of preaching to them. Because of his humility and his preaching, he was able to convert them. As a result, many people who observed this pastime became devotees themselves, because he had taken the most fallen within their community and converted them. So although America may be very materialist, if we can convert Americans, not only will they bring a lot of facility along with them, but they're also very intelligent in terms of using that facility. This has certainly proven to be the case in ISKCON's history. Even though the preaching has been successful in other parts of the world, many Americans have led the preaching.
If you think about it, what would the movement be today without the Americans? It's so unfortunate that the Americans themselves have lost interest in preaching in America. This is an endemic problem in the movement, and it is exacerbated by the attitudes of some of our leaders. I recently told the story of HH Bir Krishna das Goswami, who said he believes it is now difficult to effectively preach in America due to some change in the sociological climate or mood here. But Srila Prabhupada says we have to become expert at preaching and find the proper things to say at the proper time and place. He says we have to be like a snake charmer, and he uses the example of Lord Caitanya in the forest, getting even the tigers, elephants and snakes all dancing to the Hare Krsna maha-mantra.
Tripurari said to Srila Prabhupada that he has charmed all of us, and Srila Prabhupada humbly replied, "Well, I am not going to imitate Caitanya Mahaprabhu. (laughs) I have come to New York, not to the jungle." Sudama remarks that New York is worse than a jungle, to which Srila Prabhupada replies, "my Guru Maharaja said that "You go to the western country." If he had said that "You go to the jungle," I would have gone." Jungle or city, the preaching is the same.
So Srila Prabhupada has been talking throughout this morning walk about preaching in America. While it may require effective preaching, he clearly demonstrated the ease with which we can get the westerners to chant and dance. They are not wild animals, although sometimes it may seem there's little difference. Srila Prabhupada says:
"Yes. First of all he must know what to preach. If he does not know what to preach, what he will preach? You have got a preaching capacity, provided you learn the art of preaching. But everyone can preach. That's a fact."
Another devotee brought up the point that the devotees are leaving ISKCON also, and Srila Prabhupada says this is due to the fact that they were wrongly initiated. If someone is leaving, they're wrongly initiated and we have to be very careful about the initiation process in this regard. He states that this is a defect of the informer. In other words, someone has informed him that a person is qualified to be initiated when they really weren't, as evidenced by the fact that they left.
Srila Prabhupada's system was that he relied on his siksa preachers to train newcomers in the temple, and to advise him when certain individuals were ready for initiation, being very serious and strictly following. In other words, if they leave later, it's because they weren't serious enough, and because they weren't properly taken care of and preached to. When we look at the way initiations and recommendation of candidates are handled today in ISKCON, we can see there's now an even greater risk of "informer defect".
Srila Prabhupada then mentions that we think success is having a lot of money and getting a lot of prestige, but that's not success. This is actually a fallen condition -- material opulence means fallen condition.
Tamal Krishna points out that the demigods are very opulent, but Srila Prabhupada immediately replies, "Yes. But they are devotees." Then he said they're devotees, but they can fall - everyone call fall.
Tripurari brings up a point that's somewhat prophetic, saying that sannyasis should not be anxious for disciples, but should only take those who are highly qualified. Srila Prabhupada says yes, this is taking a risk and that's the risk of preaching -- you take disciples that are willing to help you preach, and they may fall down. But due to the fact that they're ready to help you preach, you may take the risk of initiating them.
In the case of Tripurari Swami, after Srila Prabhupada left all the 'big' sannyasis became gurus and their main emphasis was accumulating disciples. Because they didn't allow Tripurari to become a guru, he left Srila Prabhupada's service and went over to Sridhar Maharaja's camp, where Sridhar allowed him to become a sannyasi/guru. At the point at which Tripurari Swami took up this path, he essentially gave up distributing Srila Prabhupada's books, which had previously been his service, and instead adopted activities compatible with Srila Sridhar Maharaja's mood.
Tamal Krishna reminds Srila Prabhupada that he didn't compromise in coming to America and taking risks. Srila Prabhupada says, "No, what is the use of compromise if there is no good result?"
Srila Prabhupada then ends the morning walk by saying that Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu decried the principle of just taking followers when he said: "a dhanam na janam, "I don't want these followers." What is the use of follower if he does not follow?"
The morning walk ends with Srila Prabhupada again returning to the original theme, saying that everyone is trying to adjust thinking that everything's incomplete, but actually everything is complete. The only thing that's incomplete or lacking is knowledge. As he's presumably walking up to the car to leave, and he says:
"The car is complete. One who does not know to drive, he will find it incomplete, "Where to push on, this way, that way." He does not know how to drive the car."
On this note, Srila Prabhupada reinforces the point that has been his theme throughout -- we'll be the eyes; Americans can provide the car, and we'll drive it.
Let us hope that in the very near future, the GBC will fix what's broken in America, so all the trained up preachers here will be encouraged to drive all these American cars.
