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By Indradyumna Swami<\/strong><\/p>\n DIARY OF A TRAVELING MONK – Volume 14, Chapter 5 – August 17, 2015<\/p>\n “Our Happy Summer Days”<\/p>\n After a month of harinams and festivals and a mammoth three-day Woodstock festival, our tour devotees were exhausted. When I mentioned during a meeting that we had seventeen more festivals to go, I saw many devotees catch their breath and roll their eyes upward. \u201cIt’s our duty,\u201d I said. \u201cWe can’t give up, we can’t give in. We’ve inherited a tradition that goes back five hundred years. Many great devotees have served selflessly for this very moment that we are living: when the holy names of Lord Krishna are being broadcast all over the world. We have to push on for this next month. So much can be achieved.\u201d<\/p>\n There was a loud roar of approval. I felt proud of the devotees. They understood the responsibility we had and the mercy we could deliver. They were ready to push on despite their fatigue.<\/p>\n Krsna\u2019s Village of Peace had been an astounding success at the Woodstock Festival in July, and whatever follows a large memorable event is usually anti-climactic, but not so with our festival tour. The smaller festivals afterwards along the Baltic Sea coast were no less remarkable.<\/p>\n While advertising our first post-Woodstock festival with a melodious and colorful harinam, I was stopped by a middle-aged couple just before we got to the beach. \u201cWe don\u2019t want to take your valuable time,\u201d the man said, \u201cbut we just wanted to thank you for bringing your festival back to our town this year.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt really is the highlight of our summer,\u201d his wife added.<\/p>\n \u201cYou all look a bit tired,\u201d the man said. \u201cMust be because of your hard work at Woodstock.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHow did you know we were at Woodstock?\u201d I asked. They looked like middle-class people, not the kind who would go to Woodstock or even be interested in it.<\/p>\n \u201cYour big chariot was on the evening news,\u201d the man said. \u201cIt looked like hundreds of you were singing and dancing alongside it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cReally?\u201d I said. \u201cI didn\u2019t know.\u201d I felt so happy I almost started laughing.<\/p>\n When we reached the sand, we all stopped to take off our shoes. A few meters away, I heard a father and his young daughter talking as they looked at one of our festival posters.<\/p>\n \u201cDaddy,\u201d the girl said, \u201cwhat is reincarnation?\u201d<\/p>\n I saw the man look again at the poster. I knew there was no mention of reincarnation on it. \u201cTell me, Daddy,\u201d the girl said again, \u201cwhat is reincarnation?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell,\u201d he mumbled, \u201cummm\u2026 you see\u2026 uh\u2026 Let\u2019s go get some ice cream, shall we, darling?\u201d He took her hand, and they started walking away. She looked back at us. \u201cDaddy,\u201d she said, \u201cwhat is karma?\u201d<\/p>\n As they disappeared into the throng of beachgoers, a woman rushed toward us.<\/p>\n \u201cAre you going to sing?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n \u201cYes, we are,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n \u201cOh, wonderful!\u201d she said. \u201cDo you sell CDs of your singing on the beach?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, not exactly of our singing on the beach, but we have CDs of our singing in our centers.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo,\u201d she said. \u201cI am looking for a CD of your singing on the beach.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhy?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n \u201cI have been hearing you sing on this beach every summer since I was a little girl,\u201d she said. \u201cIt has always been a memorable part of my summer vacation. Now I have my own children and they also enjoy it. We want a CD of your singing on the beach so we can remember our happy summer days all year.\u201d<\/p>\n Soon we were chanting and dancing down the beach while a number of devotees passed out invitations. Twenty minutes into the kirtan, three older couples approached us.<\/p>\n \u201cCan we help distribute the invitations?\u201d a man said.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, sure,\u201d I said. \u201cWhy not?\u201d<\/p>\n A devotee pulled a large stack of invitations out of her bag, and the couples began giving them out with big smiles. One of the women walked beside me for a few minutes, and as she handed an invitation to a young mother and her children, she turned to me. \u201cIt would be sad if people didn\u2019t get the opportunity to see your fine show,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019ve seen it every summer for the last three years.\u201d<\/p>\n A little further along the beach, a young man selling popcorn started making fun of our singing. He chanted the Hare Krsna mantra going between falsetto and low tones to make people laugh. I tried to move him along, but it was obvious he was enjoying the attention he got mimicking us. He followed us for an hour and a half, chanting Krsna\u2019s name a thousand times, albeit in jest. At one point he even began dancing. Because he was in front of the kirtan party people thought he was one of us and asked him where and what time the festival was. I decided to stop trying to intervene because he began speaking respectfully. \u201cThe festival is just off the beach over there,\u201d he said. \u201cIt starts at 5:30 pm. Be on time. You don\u2019t want to miss it.\u201d<\/p>\n I smiled and remembered a verse by Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya:<\/p>\n sankirtanarambha krte pi gaure \u201cWhen the Golden Lord\u2019s congregational chanting of the holy names had only just begun, the transcendental qualities of the name cleansed the ears of the living entities. Thus, astonishingly, those of impure mentality became pure in mind, and as they continued to hear, became intoxicated and began to dance.\u201d (Susloka-Satakam, Text 32)<\/p>\n During our two-hour harinam, we covered the whole beach and gave out over seven thousand invitations. Towards the end of the kirtan, a rough-looking young man rushed in front of the kirtan party.<\/p>\n \u201cShut up!\u201d he screamed. \u201cShut up! Just shut up and get off this beach!\u201d He shouted at us again and again, his speech peppered with obscenities. When he took a swing at one of the boys playing mridanga, our security men jumped on him. After a short tussle, he was pinned to the ground, his face in the sand. I could see he was going to have a big black eye soon.<\/p>\n \u201cLet me up!\u201d he screamed. A crowd had gathered to watch the harinam, and some of the people shook their heads as if telling us not to let him up. One of the security men held him still for another minute or two until he calmed down.<\/p>\n \u201cOK,\u201d he said. \u201cHare Krishna. Now let me up.\u201d<\/p>\n The security man holding him loosened his grip. \u201cNo!\u201d I called out to him. \u201cNot just yet!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHare Krishna!\u201d the boy yelled. \u201cHare Krishna! Krishna Krishna Hare Hare! Please let me go!\u201d<\/p>\n The security man looked at me. \u201cNot yet,\u201d I said with a smile.<\/p>\n \u201cHare Krishna!\u201d he screamed. \u201cHare Krishna! Hare Krishna! Hare Krishna! Hare Krishna! Hare Krishna! And Hare Rama too!\u201d Then he looked at me. \u201cPlease,\u201d he said softly.<\/p>\n \u201cOK,\u201d I said. \u201cLet him go.\u201d He got up, brushed off the sand and walked away.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy did you wait so long to let him get up?\u201d one of our boys asked.<\/p>\n I smiled. \u201cIt says in sastra:<\/p>\n eka hari name yata papa hare \u201c\u2018One recitation of the Hare Krsna mantra is so powerful that unlimited sinful reactions in the heart are immediately removed.\u2019 That was the most important moment of that boy\u2019s life because he was chanting. I thought we should let him chant as much as he could.\u201d<\/p>\n By the time we returned to the festival site it was almost time for the program to begin. The crowd got larger and larger, and I saw a woman who had been the mayor of the town many years ago. She was a good friend of ours.<\/p>\n \u201cSo nice to see you again,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n \u201cWouldn\u2019t miss it for the world,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cYou still remember us after all these years?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHow could I forget you?\u201d she said. \u201cMy daughter and I often wear the beautiful saris you gave us. And this year we\u2019ve brought my new grandchild to your festival for his first time. Just imagine! Three generations of followers. I guess it\u2019s a tradition in our family now.\u201d<\/p>\n After speaking to her for some time I wandered over to one of my favorite spots at the festival: the book tent. I was surprised to see a furious argument going on between a mother and her teenage daughter.<\/p>\n \u201cJust buy the book for me, Mom!\u201d screamed the girl. \u201cBuy me a Bhagavad Gita!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut it\u2019s not the Bible!\u201d her mother shouted back.<\/p>\n \u201cMom, I don\u2019t understand you,\u201d the girl said, shaking her head. \u201cI\u2019ve been an atheist most of my life, and now finally after speaking to the Hare Krishnas I think there may actually be a God. I thought you\u2019d be happy about that. How can you deny me the chance to read their book where they say God explains himself? Do you want me to continue being an atheist?\u201d<\/p>\n The mother took a deep breath. \u201cWe\u2019ll take one Bhagavad Gita, please,\u201d she said to the devotee at the book table.<\/p>\n Another woman walked over to the book table. \u201cI would like to purchase the Srimad Bhagavatam,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n I turned to her. \u201cMaybe you\u2019d like to start with the Bhagavad Gita?\u201d I said. \u201cThe Bhagavatam is more advanced.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo,\u201d she replied. \u201cIt\u2019s not for me. It\u2019s for my son. I bought him a Bhagavad Gita twenty five years ago at your festival. He\u2019s read it at least fifty times and he wants to move on to something deeper now. He even has a website where he teaches Bhagavad Gita As It Is.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cReally?\u201d I said.<\/p>\n \u201cOh yes,\u201d she replied. \u201cIt\u2019s very popular. He says it\u2019s because he never says anything different than the author, Swami Prabhupada.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMy thanks to him and to you,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n Passing by the gift shop I saw a woman coming out clutching a CD to her chest.<\/p>\n \u201cI am so grateful to him,\u201d she said to me.<\/p>\n \u201cTo who?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n \u201cTo Mr. Das,\u201d she replied. \u201cI can\u2019t say his whole name.\u201d<\/p>\n She held up a CD by Bada Haridas Das. \u201cI bought another one of his CDs last year at your festival. When my father passed away later that year the CD gave me some solace. It was the most difficult period in my life. I played that heavenly music day and night, and that man\u2019s soft voice gave me the comfort I needed. And today I was so happy to find a second CD by him.\u201d<\/p>\n A short while later I gave my talk from the stage. For me it\u2019s the highlight of every festival because it is where I can share the wisdom of Krishna consciousness. The large crowd listened attentively, even while sitting in the summer heat. When I finished, a man was waiting for me as I came down from the stage.<\/p>\n \u201cGreat talk,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThank you,\u201d I said. \u201cWhatever I know, I learned from my spiritual teacher.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMy family and I have attended a number of your festivals over the years,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re special because all the entertainment has a message behind it. Most events these days have little meaning. Just today the hairs on my body stood on end several times during the singing at the beginning of the event.\u201d<\/p>\n At the outdoor restaurant across the way, I suddenly saw the man who had had the tussle with our security men at the beach. He was sitting at a table eating a large plate of samosas and talking to a devotee. His eye was beginning to look badly bruised.<\/p>\n The devotee waved for me to come over. \u201cMaharaja,\u201d he said, \u201cI\u2019d like you meet Krzysztof. He\u2019s had a hard life but he says things are changing now that he\u2019s met us. He really likes the chanting.\u201d<\/p>\n I smiled and pointed at the black eye. \u201cThat\u2019s quite a shiner you\u2019ve got there, Krzysztof.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah,\u201d he said with a little smile. \u201cI got into some trouble earlier in the day.\u201d As I walked away, he winked at me with his black eye.<\/p>\n The rest of the festival went on like this: one surprise after another. Actually, though, in one sense it\u2019s not at all surprising: Our festivals are part of Lord Caitanya\u2019s sankirtan movement and His business is turning sinners into saints. I again remembered the prophetic words of Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya who envisioned the mercy of Lord Caitanya spreading all over the world:<\/p>\n \u201cOut of His spontaneous compassion He restored all people back to consciousness, and through the means of His holy names enabled them to pass beyond the impassable ocean of the age of Kali, the age of quarrel. Thus news of the names of Krsna was told from person to person.\u201d<\/p>\n[ Srila Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya, Susloka Satakam, text 46 ]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" After a month of harinams and festivals and a mammoth three-day Woodstock festival, our tour devotees were exhausted. When I mentioned during a meeting that we had seventeen more festivals to go, I saw many devotees catch their breath and roll their eyes upward. \u201cIt’s our duty,\u201d I said. \u201cWe can’t give up, we can’t give in. We’ve inherited a tradition that goes back five hundred years. Many great devotees have served selflessly for this very moment that we are living: when the holy names of Lord Krishna are being broadcast all over the world. We have to push on for this next month. So much can be achieved.\u201d There was a loud roar of approval. I felt proud of the devotees. They understood the responsibility we had and the mercy we could deliver. 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\ndhavanti jiva sravane gunani
\nasuddha cittah kim u suddha cittah
\nsrutva pramattah khalu te nanartuh<\/p>\n
\nkono paper sadhya nai tato papa kare<\/p>\n![\"Hare](\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/-yqK98wCdXuc\/VdHPZ9j4qDI\/AAAAAAAASZ0\/15w6a6doh18\/s0\/2015-08-17_14-11-20.jpg\")
By Indradyumna Swami<\/strong><\/p>\n