New Jagannatha Puri Ratha Yatra 2008!

During July 5 and July 6, the annual New Jagannatha Puri Ratha Yatra in Phoenix, Durban was held. We had the good fortune again this year of having Kadamba Kanana Maharaja, who has become a major part of this festival, as well as other international senior devotees. Here are a few pics and highlights of the events.







Day one: Procession in Phoenix, Durban

"And we are here in the middle of this Ratha Yatra festival; we have relished the whole pastimes of Lord Jagannatha, Who can take so much service. Lord Jagannatha somehow or other knows how to make us work hard and go beyond our limits. So we did go beyond our limits again- I did at least - and I think most of us, but that is the satisfying part. Because gradually we learn that the taste in Krsna consciousness is in making a sacrifice for Krsna. "

For more pics go to http://www.kkswami.com/gallery/gallery.php

On day two, an added first ever Ratha Yatra procession, was held in Kwa Mashu, an African township in Durban.

Q & A sessions with KKS:
...The Krsna consciousness movement immediately, immediately appealed to me, I must say, because there is so much life, there is so much taste. And we are here in the middle of this Ratha Yatra festival; we have relished the whole pastimes of Lord Jagannatha, Who can take so much service. Lord Jagannatha somehow or other knows how to make us work hard and go beyond our limits. So we did go beyond our limits again- I did at least - and I think most of us, but that is the satisfying part. Because gradually we learn that the taste in Krsna consciousness is in making a sacrifice for Krsna. Even in this world it is like that; if you do something for someone else- completely voluntarily and you just really do something nice and you help somebody who needs it, you feel good that you did something good. So in Krsna consciousness, when we are serving Krsna, then everything is for the pleasure and for the glory of Krsna. And that in itself is our reward! There is no reward from the service; we do the service and we don’t get anything. We don’t get any special benefits. “What if you do this yajna? What are you getting Swamiji?” No special benefit. “But there must be something…” No, no, no, what you’re getting is the yajna itself! The yajna was the benefit. “The yajna was the benefit? We thought the yajna was the work and then it starts raining golden coins from the sky or something like that! We find jewels in the garden or whatever may happen…or a beautiful marriage! Whatever…” no, no temporary results. The result is the service itself! But within that there is all the taste and the happiness and that is most wonderful. So in the beginning, like in everything, we take a few hesitant steps… “Well…I’ll try it…” like a toddler trying to walk but very soon we start to dance, because we begin to relish how nice it is to serve Krsna. And with time, you just can’t say no anymore…one cannot say no, ‘No’ is not there in the book of bhakti. When service is asked it is, “Yes!” how? I don’t know! Can you give a donation? “Yes!” pockets emptied! “I don’t know how, but yes, yes, yes, I will give” and then if we have this spirit, Krsna will arrange, Krsna will send, Krsna will send us everything!

...This multi-dimensional existence that we are facing is an important topic and why it is an important topic? Because we are living in it and somehow or other we go from one dimension to another and our aim in spiritual life is to invest some energy to put some towards that spiritual dimension. In the beginning we do that through philosophy, in the beginning we cannot access the spiritual level through direct experience. So we must do it through philosophy…but we tend to become caught up again in the material dimension- in the smaller material world, in the sneeze, the snivel in the price of petrol, in the problems in the world, in the problems in the family, in the problems at work or the little pleasures- “We got a tax return! Party! Let’s have a cake!” so causes for celebration, causes for lamentation in our smaller dimension. So in this way we get so caught up that we forget the bigger picture. It is that bigger picture that is really important. But by hearing we are awoken to the idea and then by chanting we begin to act in that dimension- we begin to glorify Krsna. When we begin to glorify Krsna, then we are acting on the pure spiritual platform. Anything to do with the glorification of Krsna is actually awakening the soul from its slumber here in the embodied stage. And gradually, when the soul becomes completely awakened, it becomes completely blissful and becomes completely alive…so therefore we must chant Hare Krsna to take us to that other dimension, so that we can truly realize the multi dimensional beings that we are and not just remain stuck in this small, little dimension called, our back yard! “My own back yard!” eventually there will be a cross on it and that will be the end! “My own back yard”- No, that little dimension is like a little pool, a little pool. We belong in an unlimited dimension of transcendental bliss!

Madhavi devi dasi (Bhn. Mary), a young devotee from Soweto, received initiation from Maharaja during Ratha Yatra.

Initiation in one sense is a beginning. It is the beginning of making a very serious commitment because at the time of initiation we are committing ourselves to try and become a pure devotee of Krsna…Let us then take advantage and take it in our heart that we take initiation to make a real change in our life; that from this day on we will not be the same persons. We will be walking out of this ceremony like a different person and we are in this spirit going to try to go this path of pure devotional service. It’s not an easy path; it’s not easy at all because it’s not cheap. What we are getting is the topmost. The path is not easy, but all along the path we are helped, helped by the devotees and by our spiritual master. He is there, even if doesn’t answer our e-mails he’s still there. Because we should understand, he is our well wisher. He cannot always sit behind the computer and all day answer e-mails but he is always thinking about our well being and hoping that everything is just going well, and he will be there when we need him. He will be there and take us along the path, take us forward and we are not alone, together we are going forward on this path of pure devotional service…we see that you don’t have to be famous for going back to Godhead but faithful, just faithful in following our vows and in devotional service, and then perfection will be there. So it’s very feasible to go back to Godhead and that is the purpose of this ceremony of avoiding the offences and so on. Let us all go back to Godhead! So let us all take initiation. Those who have not taken initiation should come forward because we need all the blessings that we can get and the blessings that we get from the initiation is very great. Then let us carry on, on the path back to Godhead!

Balancing Balls...

In the Nectar of Devotion it is said too much austerity makes one hard hearted. That is an important point to keep in mind. But you know how it is, you go to the South Coast and you just do it to yourself- you allow them to do it to you- with enthusiasm, you reciprocate fully with whatever is brought and you just pack it in! After the pizza, comes the wafers with the ice creams and surrounded by fresh cream and lots of syrup on top and you go for the seconds then the third and even a forth one- you woof it down- and the next day …you are in comatose condition- if you are not on a drip! Suddenly, suddenly, unexpectedly such and such fell ill! “Just see fate! Just see the nature of karma! The devotee is on a drip now! It’s amazing! We never thought this could…” anyway, even if it doesn’t get to such extreme on both ends- even if it doesn’t get to four wafers and even if it doesn’t get to the drip the next day, then there is something in-between called totally spaced out. It’s called the zombie stage of chanting japa! It’s like where from the first mantra till the very last, not one, not one has properly registered! But somehow or other as if you’re waning through waves of spaghetti that have been soaked in sugar syrup and very sticky, somehow or other you have to wane through that and chant the holy name, “Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna…(dramatic)” you’ve made it through the sixteenth mark round! “Thank God! Let’s have some breakfast and get rid of the hang over of yesterday!”

So at times there are advantages to go for the simple, steamies with a mild chaunce and a few lettuce leaves, not to have all the cream on top in the dressing- “You want some dressing on your salad?” you throw the dressing immediately- the weight of that bowl increases ten-fold! The amount of calories that have entered…for one leaf of salad it was 20 and with the dressing- 4000calories! In this way, “would you like a little dressing?” No dressing! Just a little oil and lemon juice. That’s all, thank you. At one point one actually realizes one can do more preaching if you just take it simple. And that preaching is of course very valuable because that preaching is the one thing that is described as the life of transcendental knowledge. That is one thing that makes this spiritual life adventurous. When we see the mercy going to others, spiritual life becomes an adventure. If there’s no mercy going out, spiritual life can be a little dry at times. But when we actually see people becoming Krsna conscious, to us suddenly we become so Krsna conscious, we surprise ourselves. We think, “Is that me?” That’s what happens when we give out mercy. So this is the one thing we have to do, the one thing we have to do. And if we go too much for all the authorized sense gratification- you know what I mean, all the stuff that’s not outside the four regs- “Is this in the four regs?” yes it is! “Alright, let’s have it!” “Yes, let’s have it too…”

“And yes some exercise is needed, so sooner or later in this modern society we have to do some exercise- we sit too much. So, some do yoga and others play cricket! I mean what’s wrong with it? I mean, it’s for the cholesterol! So it’s our duty to preserve our health so that we can prolong our service to the Lord! Hare Krsna! ‘Out! Out! Out! (cricket match)’” So these things are all part of spiritual life. It’s a matter of being balanced you see, one has to find balance. All right, that’s very good. When I speak about balance, I present it like three balls that we are juggling around. And these three balls- one is the ball of personal well-being. So personal well-being is if you never have that pizza and you never have the ice cream, then the mind becomes sour- more sour than a lemon! What is more sour than a lemon? “The mind of a devotee who never has pizza!” Well done, good answer! So that must be there- personal well-being. We spoke about the “aerobics” required for the cholesterol! So something must be part of the whole personal well-being. If you’re mentally fried- difficult to apply yourself with love in serving Krsna. “Love Krsna…” it’s difficult. So, okay the first ball- personal well-being. Second ball- good sadana, really being absorbed in it, bhajan, being absorbed in hearing, chanting, remembering Krsna, and nice. And then the third ball- do something for the mission, something, something. So I like to compare it to balls that are being juggled because that means that when you have the balls, sometimes you have one ball in the hand, other times you have another ball in the hand. Sometimes one ball is in the air and then it is in the hand. So sometimes the ball of personal well-being is in the air. It means like, “To hell with all that. Let’s just push beyond the limits because we have the ball of preaching and bhajan in the hand and ecstasy is there and it’s all going on! And personal well-being and mind and body- nah, who cares about that! That ball is in the air!” But then we catch that ball and crash on our bed and realize, “Well maybe, a little bit of personal well being is appropriate at the moment; let’s invest a little bit in this ball…”

So the three balls of preaching, personal well-being and sadana must be given attention- all of them, some attention and all the time. We always have our eyes on them but some might get a little more attention than the other, depending on the situation. This is balance…

(H.H Kadamba Kanana Maharaja, 2 July '08, Durban, South Africa)

Cleansing the temple of the heart

The ffg. are parts of a class given by H.H Kadamba Kanana Maharaja during the Bhakti Yoga Society student retreat in Durban, South Africa (1 July 2008):

So we can see that there are unwanted qualities in our heart. How to become purified from such unwanted qualities in our heart? How to overcome them? There are two ways that we become purified from such obstacles in the heart: one is the automatic purification through devotional service…The other aspect is the conscious effort; is that we ourselves must try to change our mentality. We cannot just wait, “I’m doing my service now, I’ve done everything- I’m chanting 16 rounds, following the principles, I’m living like a devotee- everything- I’m doing devotional service, so now I’m waiting till the heart’s pure…” no, no. still one more thing to do- now we have to try to give it up…old habits sometimes come back- very strong- the urge is there. “Yes but I’m doing everything right! I am now following the process. So why are these desires coming?” It will still come, but one must consciously say, “No! no, I choose now, I know now that this is my lower nature. I know that within me there is a higher nature and a lower nature. The higher nature is the devotee and the lower nature is the materialistic person. And this lower nature, I have to let it go, I have to say goodbye, I have to just say farewell…can I? Do I really want to? I mean, we’ve been together so long, how can I leave my old friend?” yes, the animal within us. “How can I leave him? He’s been with me so long.” The lower nature. But we must leave this lower nature behind and we must make a conscious endeavor. So that’s a fight. So in this way there is an element of fight in spiritual life- a fight with one’s self.

I saw a straight-edge punk magazine which was called, “War on illusion.” War on illusion as a slogan for a devotee, of what spiritual life is all about. It’s true. You can put it on your T-shirt- “War on illusion!” it is a fact, you can put out in your university. It is a fact, the world is going for illusion…I was also, in my early days when I was getting involved in Krsna consciousness, I had not yet really joined, and on one occasion I was with this group of all young people and we had guitars and we were taking turns in singing songs. So I was doing something and then someone else, who was a good musician, and he had a song, and people loved his song- except for me! The song was describing the miseries of this world- everything that can go wrong- and then the chorus was, “But fortunately I have the key to escape reality,” smoking certain things- drugs. And I was thinking, “But that’s stupid!” because the reality hasn’t really changed. You’re just taking something and then it looks good but nothing has changed. What’s that? That’s not a solution. So I hated the song. But many people liked it, because in the world- illusion; people want to be illusioned. “War on illusion” is the motto of a devotee who is saying, “No, we accept the facts as they are.” So war on illusion is not only outside of us; not only that we point the finger at others but war on illusion also the fingers come back, here! War on illusion inside- that’s tough, that’s tough, that takes more time and that goes through different levels. And we see that in the association of devotees- together with devotees- that’s where we need to be if we want to do that. We can’t do it alone; nobody is so strong that he on his own can make changes, such drastic changes. It’s very hard. We grew up in a certain family, in a certain environment, but by being together with others who are also doing, then we get the conviction and strength. So it is for that that actually temples are there. It is for that, that we live together in temples- or if we don’t live in temples that at least we come together in temples. The temple is a facility for us to come together. Together we can do it, we can get some strength. Together we can understand better what to do. First we understand what to do, how to do, then we try to do and together we find strength. This is the meaning of the retreat; it’s not just about checking it out and having a good experience but it is also for the purpose to understand what is the deeper meaning of it all…

Embracing the mood of Spiritual Master

Anukara means to imitate and anusara means to follow in the footsteps. I think that embracing the mood of the spiritual master does not mean that we exactly try to get in the same frame of mind of the spiritual master but that we hold in high esteem whatever he holds in high esteem. So whatever is important to our spiritual master becomes important to us. And as a servant of spiritual master we begin to pay attention to things that he has pointed out are important; that are important to him. And before we never paid so much attention to these things. And in this way our mood changes, our mood begins slowly… we begin to get some of his mood because the things that are important to him become now important to us. In this way it comes by serving, and by holding in high esteem what is important to him. In this way we embrace the mood of spiritual master without imitating.

Because we are a different person- completely. We cannot, we have a different nature, and it is also not right to follow someone else’s nature. We all have a different living- some people need a little more sleep, some people need a little less sleep; some eat more some eat less; some eat fast, some eat slow; some talk a lot, same talk a little; some need to really sit down a bit more than others just to sort of ( relaxing sound)… I think that we cannot deny that in our nature, and that may be different. There is a difference between us and the spiritual master. But we have faith in our spiritual master, that he is really dedicated in serving Krishna and that he has brought down Krishna consciousness to real life. Because the spiritual master must do more that just repeat the books.

Spiritual master must bring the transcendental knowledge to real dealings; it must translate to actual activities of life, than it is realized knowledge, otherwise it is in some sense only book knowledge. So that is what made Srila Prabhupada such a wonderful personality, because he is so exalted; so otherworldly; a resident of the spiritual world; someone who is seeing Krishna- whatever He wants; someone who has a glimpses of the spiritual world; and than at the same time someone so very much there with the people he was with; and someone very human and also very concerned with the human experiences and so on; kind and considerate; but no going for any compromise; somehow or other coming down and working with people who were so entangled, and slowly, slowly bringing them up to higher standard- never compromising anything. Nice how he functioned at all these levels, I really like that. I am thinking about that, so I am looking at him than as my example. I cannot imitate that, you see. I can also try to keep my chin up, but people might be saying- so arrogant, he walks with his nose up in the air. Prabhupada walked with his chin up… so I will not try to imitate that. If we imitate we always fall short.

But if I try to; if we try to serve than it can be done. In this way than we embrace the mood of spiritual master and spiritual masters. We are the one we are, we are the servant. Just like Hanuman was a great, surrendered servant of Lord Ramacandra. Lord Ramacandra was a prince and Hanuman was a monkey; he could not be like Lord Ramacandra. But his glory was his service. By service we embrace the mood of spiritual master, by serving what is dear to the spiritual master.

In regards to service The Nectar of Devotion describes two types of service. It describes general service and it describes service in the mood of personal attendant. And it says that the mood of the personal attendant is higher. And it is obvious that the personal attendant is not just serving, the personal attendant is seeing- well what is needed now; general servant- well what can we offer; we can offer milk; we can offer water, juice; all these things that are offerable; general service- all accepted- Thank you very much. But the personal attendant is looking what is the need now and according to conditions make the offering. The personal attendant is very sensitive to do the needful.

The disciple who becomes like a personal attendant of the spiritual master begins to serve the need of the spiritual master. Such a disciple becomes like an extension of the spiritual master. Than the spiritual masters influence in the world is increasing. If he has a thousand of such disciples than he has thousand wings by which he can fly! -and in this way the mercy of Krishna can spread throughout the world. Than the spiritual master has- even if he has one such a disciple he would be very pleased with such a disciple who is helping him in the mission.Such a disciple may never ask so much- but always do (my ask of course, but may not); but that disciple would be recognized, that would be… he really embraces the mood of the spiritual master. Because the spiritual masters mood is ultimately- he works to bring Krishna’s mercy to the whole world, what else is he got to do?

Part of the lecture given by HH Kadamba Kanana Swami, 11th of July 2008, Sockholm

"It's so difficult..."

H.H Kadamba Kanana Maharaja was here in South Africa from June 28- July 9. We will try to send as much nectar of Maharaja as we can. Here's a little drop from Maharaja's first class in Durban:

(see also www.kkswami.com for upcoming pics)

It is said the senses are like snakes, many hooded faces, many hooded snakes biting us.

What to do when the senses attack, when the senses push very hard? What to do? We say, “No, how can you?” For how long? So therefore spiritual life can be difficult and we are on the slippery deck. And when you are board on the boat, the waves are not nicely behaving, the waves are not just staying under the boat- oh no- the waves, they come over the edge as well, from the front and the roll over the deck. And that’s where you are! So in the same way, in the midst of our spiritual life, suddenly a big wave of passion comes and suddenly the Bhagavad-Gita looks different! Suddenly, we know it’s still true but it looks so far away. Like, “Yes, the Bhagavad-Gita, I know…” we look with binoculars trying to see the Bhagavad-Gita but it seems to be so hard to really bring it to your heart. At that stage what do we do? What do we do?

So the mercy of Lord Caitanya is obviously our savior and how to sufficiently get the effect of the mercy of Lord Caitanya is maybe the question. We know the mercy is there but our problem is that we are not taking shelter of it, we are not serious about taking it. It is there, “Yes, yes, yes…” we chant but casually, we eat but not always prasadam, like that we could go to the temple but we don’t go, we couldn’t do so much more to spiritually stay in the fire so to say. We all know the analogy- iron in the fire, iron becoming hot, iron acting like fire- that we know. But there is the other side of the story- iron out of fire, iron cooling down! And iron stopping to act like fire and iron having to be put back into the fire! And then we go, “Ooooh, it’s sooo difficult! Ooooh…” this is our problem. And that part is really up to us and that is the part called surrender! That is the part called surrender because although Lord Caitanya’s mercy is very elaborate and there is unlimited variety of maha prasadam, there is still one complication with maha prasadam…and that is this- you have to go and open your mouth! It doesn’t automatically fly into your mouth! It’s not that you just open your mouth and the rasagulla flies in! You actually have to take the trouble to get it! And that is where the problem is- that we have to ourselves make the endeavor. That is the one difficulty that we have, that’s the part where we lose out, that is the part where we drift away, that is the part where gradually weakness sets in, that is the part where Maya catches us, that is the part where in spite of the mercy of Lord Caitanya we don’t do it!

So this is the part where we have to be conscious, where we are actually aware, where every devotee has to struggle. This is the part where we have to fight. There’s no such thing that spiritual life is without the fight, that it comes just to those who are spiritually weak, to those who have no strength and then boinggg… “I’ve got the mercy of Caitanya Mahaprabhu….!” No, that you read sometimes in the Caitanya-caritamrta but we don’t really see that happening here in Gandhi park...