By Sukhayanti Devi Dasi
In July of 2005, I met the devotees for the first time. I was a young hippie girl, looking for something else that life could offer without really knowing what it was. I went travelling in Europe thinking maybe it could be found there. The East Germany rainbow festival had about 3000 people attending that year, I was there too. By the end of 3 weeks in that festival I was getting tired of it. It felt so fake. All those so called transcendentalist, I felt like I was being cheated. You would see young and old westerner man walking around calling themselves “babji” while having 10 ladies following them and smoking chilom most of the day. I was just thinking how I would really like to get out of that place and go find somewhere where I can really dive deep into spirituality. I was considering asking around where I could attend a Buddhist silent meditation retreat. That is when the devotees appeared. I was in charge of the kitchen that morning and out of no where these monks walked into the kitchen asking me if I can look after their bags as they put up their tent. They were all dressed in their devotional clothes (or at least that is how I remember them), they had their shaved heads and a unique effulgence. I was drawn to them because it was clear that they were true spiritual practitioners. Devotees like Sadbhuja, Dvarakadisha and Keshava as well as others who joined them later such as Saradvan, Pradyumna, Tulsi Priya (Sonja) and others. My own spiritual master Kadamba Kanana Swami eventually also came there. They were all so special, they all stood out of the crowed of 3000 people who attended the rainbow gathering that year.
I remember that what I liked about them the most was that they were real to themselves and to what they were practicing. They were not trying to hide it. They did not try to dress (or go naked) like the rest of us, they did not try to chant all the Durga and Kali mantras that we were all chanting at nights by the bonfire, they were not trying to blend in. They were in your face Hare Krishna’s. They had their own tent and they did their own thing and they invited all of us to join them instead of trying to join us. They had bhajans in the evenings, classes in the mornings, they cooked prasadam and invited others to eat with them and they chanted their rounds without fear for all to hear. I loved that about them.
I know for a fact that if they would have been anything else but themselves I would have never found them of any interest. I would have just grouped them with all the rest of the gathering attendees and gone on to look for my Buddhist retreat. If they would have tried to blend in, they would have just disappeared in the crown and I would have most likely never been a devotee today.
When I look back at that experience, my first encounter with the Hare Krishna devotees, I learn a valuable lesson for my own devotional life. Never be ashamed of who I am. Never be ashamed of wearing my devotional dress wherever I go. Never be ashamed of having my tilak shine on my forehead, of chanting my rounds even if others can hear me, of being an “in your face” Hare Krishna. Or in short, never try to blend in, because when one blends in that is when one disappears.
“Our presentation of Krishna Consciousness must be always very bold – if we are king, we must act like king.”
>>> Ref. VedaBase => Letter to: Lalita Kumar — Delhi 15 November, 1971
Thank you for your article. Some people assume that the public is completely unintelligent and that if somehow hide our intentions of sharing Krishna Consciousness they won’t notice. However, most people can pick up on hidden agendas. Better to be forthcoming about our purpose and our presentation and at the same time use good intelligence.
My initial attraction to Krishna Consciousness was my 13-year-old friend’s boldness in chanting with kartals without fear even though hoodlums would sometimes drive by and yell aggressive slurs at her.
“As long as the living entity remains pure, he is proud of his constitutional position. He proudly considers himself a servant of Krsna. As soon as he becomes contaminated due to contact with maya, his pride as a servant of Krsna becomes diminished and his pride takes different forms. The pure state of the living entity becomes covered with gross and subtle bodies when he is in contact with maya.” – Jaiva Dharma Chapter 2/14-1
>>> Ref. VedaBase => 3. What are the constitutional and conditional states of the living entities?
“The cowherd boys were so proud of Krsna’s wonderful activities that, while entering the village, they all sang His glories. ”
>>> Ref. VedaBase => KB 14: Prayers Offered by Lord Brahma to Lord Krsna
Some devotees were chanting in Asheville in karmi clothes, and the karmis began criticizing them for not being shaved up and wearing dhotis. The devotee who told me this said he learned a lesson. That the public are not so stupid and they know who we are and how we should dress and expect us to stick our own standards or they lose respect for us. The public may not want to dress like us but they respect us when we do and deplore it when we compromise and don’t have the courage of our convictions.