Poet, singer and songwriter Leonard Cohen has passed away at 82. Mr. Cohen visited the Festival of India in Montreal in 2006. Viswambhara das wrote:
“On the occasion of this year’s Rathayatra festival in Montreal however, this tender and gentle man of considerable fame and influence seemed content and at ease as he wandered through the various exhibits and activities organized in the framework of the Festival of India. Later, he sat discreetly with friends on the grass at some distance from the tent where Lord Jagannatha, Balarama and Lady Subhadra were being worshiped.
In person, Mr. Cohen proved to be a modest, unassuming man, unimpressed with his own fame, and a respectful listener. In conversation he proved to have a sharp inquisitive mind. After the usual introductions, Mr. Cohen seemed eager to state with evident pride that he had met His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada in 1967, in New York’s lower East Side (a search of the Vedabase Folio yielded no record of this encounter and one cannot help but wonder what transpired at the time). He further said he has been practicing Zen Buddhism for the past thirty years and that he often goes to Mumbai, to hear from a certain advaitist guru of some reputation. He also seemed proud to say that he also regularly reads Bhagavad-gita. By good fortune, a devotee timely and discreetly came to offer him a copy of Srila Prabhupada’s original Bhagavad-Gita As It Is. He accepted the book with respect, inspected it briefly and showed it to the man and woman who accompanied him. Surprisingly, the gentleman friend said that the cover illustration of Bhagavad-gita As It Is has been gracing his refrigerator door for more than twenty years. He promised to dig out his copy of the book from his library shelves and read it.
Mr. Cohen expressed appreciation for the work that ISKCON is doing for the people in general by the distribution of song, music and food. He seemed particularly impressed that a new generation of young devotees seemed ready and enthusiastic to take to Krishna consciousness seriously.”
In the film, “I’m Your Man,” a documentary about his life and music, Leonard Cohen said the following:
“There is a beautiful moment in the Bhagavad Gita. Arjuna. The general. The great general. He’s standing in his chariot. And all the chariots are readied for war. And across the valley, he sees his opponents. And there he sees not just uncles and aunts and cousins, he sees gurus, he sees teachers that have taught him; and you know how the Indians revere that relationship. He sees them. And Krishna, one of the expressions of the deity, says to him, ‘You’ll never untangle the circumstances that brought you to this moment. You’re a warrior. Arise now, mighty warrior. With the full understanding, that they’ve already been killed, and so have you. This is just a play. This is my will. You’re caught up in the circumstances that I determine for you. That you did not determine for yourself. So, arise, you’re a noble warrior. Embrace your destiny, your fate, and stand up and do your duty.’”
May Krishna please bless Mr. Cohen with further progress in devotional service.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrlNILWslc0
( I was there when Leonard came to the RY. I was sitting with Laksminatha and Visvambara. VIsvambara noticed it was Leonard Cohen and said “ I’m going to give him a Bhagavad Gita ” and he got up and got one and gave it to him. Leonard was with his daughter ~ Gaura das )
Thank you to Padmapani prabhu for passing this on to us.
Recently, Leonard Cohen was profiled by the editor of The New Yorker. He is quoted about halfway through the article:
“I participated in all these investigations that engaged the imagination of my generation at that time,” Cohen has said. “I even danced and sang with the Hare Krishnas — no robe, I didn’t join them, but I was trying everything.” (https://goo.gl/htj21r)