Hare Krishna chanting

"'You are a fool,' he said. 'You are not qualified to study Vedānta philosophy, and therefore You must always chant the holy name of Kṛṣṇa. This is the essence of all mantras, or Vedic hymns.
PURPORT

Śrī Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Mahārāja comments in this connection, "One can become perfectly successful in the mission of his life if he acts exactly according to the words he hears from the mouth of his spiritual master." This acceptance of the words of the spiritual master is called śrauta-vākya, which indicates that the disciple must carry out the spiritual master's instructions without deviation. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura remarks in this connection that a disciple must accept the words of his spiritual master as his life and soul. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu here confirms this by saying that since His spiritual master ordered Him only to chant the holy name of Kṛṣṇa, He always chanted the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra according to this direction ('kṛṣṇa-mantra' japa sadā, — ei mantra-sāra).

Adi 7.72

All auspicious sankirtan

Srila Rüpa Gosvami has given a definition of auspiciousness. He says that actual auspiciousness means welfare activities for all the people of the world. At the present moment groups of people are engaged in welfare activities in terms of society, community or nation. There is even an attempt in the form of the United Nations for world-help activity. But due to the shortcomings of limited national activities, such a general mass welfare program for the whole world is not practically possible. The Krishna consciousness movement, however, is so nice that it can render the highest benefit to the entire human race. Everyone can be attracted by this movement, and everyone can feel the result. Therefore, Rupa Gosvämi and other learned scholars agree that a broad propaganda program for the Krishna consciousness movement of devotional service all over the world is the highest humanitarian welfare activity.
How the Krishna consciousness movement can attract the attention of the whole world and how each and every man can feel pleasure in this Krishna consciousness is stated in the Padma Purana as follows: "A person who is engaged in devotional service in full Krishna consciousness is to be understood to be doing the best service to the whole world and to be pleasing everyone in the world. In addition to human society, he is pleasing even the trees and animals, because they also become attracted by such a movement." A practical example of this was shown by Lord Caitanya when He was traveling through the forests of Jharikhanda in central India for spreading His saìkértana movement. The tigers, the elephants, the deer and all the other wild animals joined Him and were participating, in their own ways, by dancing and chanting Hare Krishna.

Sravanam - bonafide hearing

As from wood, fire can be manifested, or as butter can be churned out of milk, so also the presence of the Lord as Paramātmā can be felt by the process of legitimate hearing and chanting of the transcendental subjects which are especially treated in the Vedic literatures like the Upaniṣads and Vedānta. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the bona fide explanation of these Vedic literatures. The Lord can be realized through the aural reception of the transcendental message, and that is the only way to experience the transcendental subject. As fire is kindled from wood by another fire, the divine consciousness of man can similarly be kindled by another divine grace. His Divine Grace the spiritual master can kindle the spiritual fire from the woodlike living entity by imparting proper spiritual messages injected through the receptive ear. Therefore one is required to approach the proper spiritual master with receptive ears only, and thus divine existence is gradually realized. The difference between animality and humanity lies in this process only. A human being can hear properly, whereas an animal cannot.

SB 1.2.32

Keeping up with an image

I met a very young exchange student and initially was staying aloof not admitting any interest in the books. I asked him if he was the 'cool guy' not wanting to be seen with this stuff. He immediately backed off and said he was a simple guy not a cool guy and as we talked a little more - his expressions changed a little. I could see he was struggling with something so I inquired politely what the matter was. A few minutes later he told me he was struggling to keep up with the expectations people and friends have of him - the burden of keeping up with an image. It seemed to me like his eyes were teary so I handed him a Bhakti Yoga and showed a picture of Prabhupada encouraging him to read it. I explained that the body changes so no point trying to keep up, he should raise his consciousness. He then explained he was an exchange student and would leave in a few months. He took the book and I showed him the temple address for Mexico City in his home country. Praying he reads it.

Lord Krishna or Lord Rama

I met a girl at University of Toronto and when I was showing her a book; she reminded me that she had already taken a Bhagavad Gita from me before. I was happy to hear that and inquired if she had read it. She explained that her elder sister had taken the book from her and was reading it as she herself wasn’t as religious. I told her I wasn’t religious either but it was a matter of genuine experience and handed her a Science of self realisation. I explained to her the topics in there and she agreed to take it. I asked her more about her life. She revealed she was more into Lord Ram and wanted the Ramayana. She said Krishna was her sister’s interest but she wanted to know about Ram. Just that morning I was reading in Chaitanya Caritamrita
“yei yei rüpe jäne, sei taha kahe
sakala sambhave krishna, kichu mithyä nahe
In whatever form one knows the Lord, one speaks of Him in that way. In this there is no falsity, since everything is possible in Krishna. Adi 5.132”
Remembering what I read and knowing that I did not have a Ramayana, I handed her a Krihsna book. I tried to explain to her that this was the last day of Kartik (she really did not know what it was) and that she should read it. So somehow she agreed to take it and we exchanged numbers so I could get her a Ramayana later. Later that day she texted me asking for Ramayana and another copy of the Bhagavad Gita. We now plan to meet on Thursday and I wonder Lord Caitanya has in store for this young girl.

Mysteries of the space - a sankirtan learning

A few days ago I met a student at University of Toronto who at first maintained his distance saying he was not really into yoga and related stuff. I asked him where his interests lay and said he was into Ice hockey. I knew nothing about Ice hockey so I showed him a Beyond birth and death trying to explain how rare the book is. He listened as I told him that the body changes, mind changes but something about us remains the same and yoga is not only the process of keeping a healthy body but realising we are more than the body. He agreed to take the book so I wanted to know him better and asked him about what he was studying at University. He started to explain that he was a PhD student of Astrophysics and instantly I thought Vedic Planetarium project in Mayapur and how it would be nice to have him serve. He started to explain about Supernova explosions he was researching and I asked if he had heard about Vedic Cosmology. I tried to describe briefly what Prabhupada explains in Bhagvatam and he described it as classical Astrophysics. I then asked him if he could explain why 99% of matter astrophysicists study is dark matter. He corrected me and said that actually “75% of the matter was dark matter while 25% was observable matter. This dark matter is expanding very rapidly and some force is propelling it out but that is a great mystery no one knows about.” I told him how Krishna explains material world is ekamsha and that there is so much more that cannot be observed by material body. I asked him to keep in touch and come sometime to see Srimad Bhagvatam. Speaking to him I was realising if we just studied Bhagvatam properly it gives us thorough information about everything without having to go through the grills of modern education.

An interfaith discussion

Submitted by : Yogendra das

I was distributing books at Dundas Square a few days ago, when I stopped one young man on vacation from Germany. I showed him a copy of Beyond Birth and Death, and said a little something to garner his interest. I wasn't sure if what I was saying would keep him for very long. In the middle my speaking, an elderly man distributing free copies of the Quran walked over from the corner and tried to hand him some books on Islam. Here is how we sometimes receive an opportunity to analyse our crisis management skills:

The Islamic representative encouraged the German to take his books, saying "You should research all religions." Rather than getting angry at his unscheduled behaviour, a second option presented itself: try and sympathize with where this older man is coming from; having a desire to share spiritual and cultural values for the benefit of others is purifying for any heart. Then came the reply from the German side, "No thanks, I am fine with this one [referring to Prabhupada's book]." Rather than becoming proud of having won the bout of the books, a second option presented itself: quickly try and use whatever compassion you have to minimize the rejection that this person could be feeling; I prayed for a swift end to any agitation he might have suffered." When the dejection hit the elderly man, the German boy gave me 10 Euros and walked away. I turned away from the elderly man, silently trying not to acknowledge his defeat. I had a few moments to reflect on how often I have tried to go out on a limb to present Krishna consciousness to someone and have received a big lump on the head in return.

At that time Joseph walked right up to me. He introduced himself as someone who has visited our temple on 243 Avenue Rd in Toronto. He was eager to purchase a few books. I was curious about how funny the flow of interactions on book distribution can sometimes be. As he was explaining his interest, he let his true intention slip out. He had come as an ambassador for the Islamic man. Joseph told me that the Islamic man asked him to approach me; according to Joseph, the Islamic man wanted to know what exactly we were all about. Rather than be cold about the situation, a second option presented itself: go over yourself and bring the book to him yourself, and make him your friend. He took a Bhagavad-Gita As It Is, on Joseph's donation. I walked away with some books on Islam. It was a cultural exchange and a successful, real-time interfaith dialogue.