NEWSLETTER September-November2003

This newsletter is an effort to glorify Guru Maharaj as well as to bring disciples and well- wishers closer to him. All classes given by Guru Maharaj are available at the tape ministry, with Rangadevi mataji in New Goloka and Kisori dasi in Fiji. I humbly beg all the devotees who contributed towards this newsletter to please accept my humble obeisances and my heartfelt appreciation-Rangadevi and Krsangi matajis, Deepak prabhu, Acaryanidhi prabhu, Bilvamangal prabhu, Nandgopal prabhu, Bhaktin Natalia, Govinda Mohini mataji, Gopinath prabhu and Nandarani mataji. Thank you very much!

FINLAND | SERBIA | NEW GOLOKA | AUSTRALIA | FIJI | ENGLAND

%%wppa%% %%album=347%%

FINLAND

Sept 10th 2003. Guru Maharaj arrived at Finland by boat from Estonia. Guru Maharaj always has a hard time with the Finnish officials when crossing the border. Today in answer to the official’s questions, Guru Maharaj said that he was going to visit Captain Kuivanen since the Finland temple president had been an army captain previously!

Just to continue his service of preaching, Guru Maharaj is constantly taking so much trouble, facing troublesome officials over and over as well as battling with the pollution in some countries like Serbia. Just to keep his team of disciples motivated and on the devotional path as well as to save more and more conditioned souls, Guru Maharaj travels constantly visiting all his zones, sometimes as many as four times a year. He is an ocean of mercy for all fallen souls-sri guru karuna sindhu, adhama janara bandhu.

Just as Lord Krishna as king in Dvarka, meets with the city residents every morning as part of his daily activities to expertly satisfy their individual desires, Guru Maharaj is expert in dealing with different people. He takes into account the unique circumstances of every individual and shares Krishna consciousness with them on the level that they are ready to take. As he said on the 26th of Sept. at New Goloka, ” One should not be narrow-minded in thinking how to inspire people to take up Krishna consciousness. The possibilities are innumerable and different methods work best in different places.” Therefore, everyone is satisfied after meeting Guru Maharaj as they can see that he is honestly concerned about them.

Guru Maharaj is constantly showing in his dealings that the main thing is to care about people and after that they may be able to take more, i.e., to help people become situated favorably materially before they can come to the point of spiritual understanding. This he further explained in Serbia on the 21st of Sept. using the story of Gajendra the elephant, saying that the crocodile was properly situated in the water, whereas the elephant was not, therefore the crocodile won. Guru Maharaj spent the night at Radha Kunda mataji and Syama Kunda prabhu’s home.

Sept 11th, 2003. After morning program and a long talk with the Temple President and Kavicandra Maharaj who was also visiting Finland at that time, Guru Maharaj went to visit Bhaktin Natalia who had just had as serious operation and was not allowed to travel. Here is just another example of Guru Maharaj giving his personal attention and care to devotees. Bhaktin Natalia lives in Vihti and on the way there Guru Maharaj tried to pronounce “Vihti”, but did not manage very well, much to the amusement of the devotees present. Bhaktin Natalia was very touched by Guru Maharaj coming to see her.

While still at Bhaktin Natalia’s, a question was raised on how to have children who are like Prahlad Maharaj. At first the devotees were laughing that it was a difficult question, but Guru Maharaj said that it actually was not that difficult. He said that the main thing was HEARING – that an expectant mother should hear sound vibration from the lips of a pure devotee like Srila Prabhupad and that after the birth of the child, he/she should regularly hear Krishna’s names. He also said that the atmosphere at home should always be nice and peaceful and parents should not fight, since this would have a negative effect on the child.

After this visit to Bhaktin Natalia, Guru Maharaj went for dinner at Vairagya Laxmi mataji and Purnaprajna prabhu’s home. During dinner, Guru Maharaj mentioned several times that the prasadam was delicious. The conversation during dinner centered around how some people are very heavy in presenting Krishna consciousness and Guru Maharaj laughingly told of the time he had given a heavy class in Fiji and the devottees had really liked it and asked him to always give classes like that as it reminded them of Srila Gurudev, Tamal Krishna Maharaj.

Guru Maharaj also said that one reason he often takes rest during the day is to overcome jetlag. He explained that when he first started travelling he used to ignore physical exhaustion to give an example of good sadhana, but now could see that this was not good for his health and that it was important to keep a healthy balance. This night, Guru Maharaj spent at Gopinath prabhu’s place, where Gopinath prabhu and Guru Maharaj did kirtan up till 10pm. Guru Maharaj played a guitar while Gopinath prabhu played his djembe drum. At 10pm when Gopinath prabhu was going to set the alarm for the next morning, Guru Maharaj stopped him saying, ‘We’ll wake up even without it.” At the head of the bed, which Guru Maharaj was going to use, hung a painting of Gangamata riding a crocodile. Guru Maharaj took this down saying, “….otherwise it will fall on me and my head will be in the mouth Maharaj spoke about how good it was to have congregational meetings in bhakti-vrksa style. He also said that the physical austerities of being a sannyasi and a guru are not as demanding as the austerity it was to experience someone becoming hostile towards him when he was doing his best to help that person in Krishna consciousness. The devotees had lovingly prepared about 20 different varieties of pradasam for this program.

Sept. 14th, 2003. Just before catching the boat back to Estonia, at the harbor, Guru Maharaj said that it was very important to see why you were doing what you were doing. He gave the example of raising a child and it being so difficult sometimes especially when the baby was crying non-stop, but if the parent realized that the child was being raised as a service to Krishna, then it was much easier to tolerate.

Guru Maharaj spent the next 3 days in Estonia before going to Serbia on the 17th of Sept.

top of page

SERBIA

Sept. 17th, 2003. This is Guru Maharaj’s second visit to Serbia this year and as usual he has to check in at the police station before he can enter the country. Guru Maharaj was very concerned as there was a hurricane about to hit New Goloka/North Carolina and he called there several times during the day giving instructions to devotees on how to prepare themselves for it.

During evening class at Radha Yogini mataji’s place, Guru Maharaj speaks about the importance of the bhakti vrksa program saying that it is one form of preaching which is very empowering. He advised on how to facilitate the meetings, ” Facilitating means asking open-ended questions, questions which cannot be answered with just a yes or no. Facilitating means without pushing and helping devotees solve their problems.” He also spoke about the meaning of the word “sannyasa’- ‘san’ means to accept and “nyasa” means to give up, therefore “sannyasa” means to accept everything favorable to Krishna consciousness and to give up everything unfavorable to it. Then for the first time, Guru Maharaj mentions that bhakti vrksa program is meant to develop gurus, even lady gurus and that it must be spread by empowering everyone to become a leader. Many devotees are shocked to hear ladies being included in this category as well, but Guru Maharaj is serious about this. He encourages the devotees saying, ” Practice bhakti vrksa with faith, spread it and share it. If we don’t preach, we don’t have life. The most satisfying thing in this world is to become Krishna conscious.”

One devotee asks if people who have never heard about Krishna consciousness can be part of the bhakti vrksa group and Guru Maharaj answered, ” Yes, that is very good that people come and get to know our movement in that way because the temple is not always the right way.” He gave an example from his own life being shocked when he first saw devotees at the temple bowing down before a plant (Tulasi Maharani) all the while mumbling something.

He said that another important part of preaching via bhakti vrksa groups is that people form friendships with each other. However, he stressed the importance of there always being preaching, otherwise the bhakti vrksa group simply becomes a social club.

Sept. 18th, 2003. Guru Maharaj is in Belgrade, Serbia right now. He is having a hard time as he is allergic to many things and the polluted air is making him sneeze a lot. He also did not sleep well last night due to sneezing and difficulty breathing. He wants to go soon to Novi Sad, which is another less polluted part of Serbia.

Today’s morning class was at a pizza café, where Guru Maharaj first sings prayers to Lord Narshingadev, then ‘Jaya Radha Madhava” before giving class on “The Best Devotee” from the Brhad Bhagavadmrta. Every so often, Guru Maharaj asks the devotees questions to test their knowledge and to see it they are reading. It is interesting that none of the devotees know what the first thing is that Krishna does in the morning when he wakes up in Dvarka! The conclusionof this story was that devotees in ISKCON are meant to be servants in Vrindavan and that is our goal.

During dinner at Bali Sadacari prabhu’s place, Guru Maharaj mentions that the first book he read was the Krsna book and he was specially attracted to the little blue boy stealing butter and eating it and that afterwards he always thought about the little blue boy stealing butter from the gopis and eating it.After dinner, Guru Maharaj travelled with some devotees to Novi Sad. He is happy with the way his room is prepared here with water and fruit in the room and everything very clean.

Sept. 19th, 2003. Before morning class, Guru Maharaj asked Bhaktin Natalia and Bhakta Boyan, who had traveled with him from Belgrade, how many rounds they had chanted. Bhakta Boyan had chanted 4 rounds and Bhaktin Natalia 2. Guru Maharaj was surprised and decided that everyone needed to sit down and chant before class.

For morning class, Guru Maharaj asks the devotees which particular verse they would like him to speak on-Bhakta Boyan chooses SB 2:1:12. Guru Maharaj makes many important points in this class, which was on the chanting of the maha-mantra. The first thing he said was that japa should be seen as a personal relationship with Krishna. He then spoke about the meaning of nitya-seva, saying it meant serving both internally as well as externally, as for example when dressing the Deities, then one should be internally meditating upon it and not just letting the hands do all the work. That meditation, he said should be maintained 24 hours a day.

Guru Maharaj then actually demonstrated chanting under the influence of the three modes and the devotees find the examples of ignorance and passion a bit funny, but as he demonstrates Srila Prabhupad chanting for the mode of goodness, everyone finds it incredible, as it is so similar to Srila Prabhupad’s. Guru Maharaj makes a practical point about how to encourage people to chant. He said that this should be done without forcing until gradually a little taste develops and then the person starts wanting more and more. He directly quotes Srila Prabhupad as he very often does,” Voluntary spiritual devotion is how we have to encourage people.”

The final point that Guru Maharaj makes is that we should always try to see Krishna in everything, we should try to look for something in connection with him-” Don’t look for something material. Aim for something which is in connection to compassion or with the purification of our hearts.”

After class, Guru Maharaj meets with many devotees. Life is hard in Serbia for many devotees with the very poor economic situation as well as religious restriction and many want to move out of the country. Guru Maharaj makes this possible for many devotees by enabling them to come to New Goloka and do fixed service there or to go to some other country. He does this by practical as well as spiritual help, an example of practical help being him sending papers for visas, etc. Bhaktin Milica was given the opportunity to go to New Goloka and teach music in the gurukula. Bhaktin Natalia and Bhakta Boyan will be moving to Germany soon and Guru Maharaj assures them that he will visit them. They are very happy to hear this, as they had feared that they would not be able to see him in Germany. Guru Maharaj also assures them that they can come to New Goloka very soon as well.

Sept. 20th, 2003. Today, Guru Maharaj travels to another place in Serbia called Subotica, where he is greeted by caran abhisek and arati. Guru Maharaj spends the day meeting with devotees and engaging in kirtan. In the afternoon he goes for a walk after instructing Bhaktin Natalia to stay in his room all the while to keep an eye on it. Bhaktin Natalia writes, ” He instructs me that I have to be in the room all the time and not go anywhere else outside of the room. I am so happy to do that. I bring my notebook with me to write me diary and time passes quickly. Guru Maharaj comes back and when he comes into the room, he says to me, “okay, you’ve done your service nicely.” I feel so happy having done that, something little, but for me, so big.”

At dinner, Guru Maharaj is very pleased with Ivesvara prabhu and Teja Gaurangi mataji as they have cooked wonderfully and he compliments their knowledge of Indian culture as Teja Gaurangi mataji is constantly placing hot chapattis on his plate. He specially likes the hot chillies, saying they are very good for digestion and for the circulation of the whole body. While Guru Maharaj does not take any salt, sugar or oil, he likes chillies and does take ghee as a little side dish.

After dinner, there is a grain ceremony (anna-prasanna) for little Jayananda, who is 6 months old. On one side gold is placed and on the other 2 Krsna books. After some time, Jayananda chooses the Krsna books. All the devotees’ shout “Haribol” and Guru Maharaj feeds him some sweet rice with a little spoon. Following this, there are kirtans and Guru Maharaj explains that actually the guitar is more of a Vedic instrument than the harmonium as the harmonium comes from Germany, but Narada Muni himself plays on his vina.

Sept. 21st, 2003. Morning class is from SB 8:2:32, a verse about he liberation of Gajendra the elephant. He makes an important point saying that not only do we feel separation from Krishna, but Krishna also feels separation from us and wonders, ” when will these rascals come back to me?”

He then told of how he was stealing maha prasadam one day after the Sunday feast when he heard footsteps behind him. Turning around, he saw Satsvarup Maharaj standing there and even though Guru Maharaj was ashamed, he still asked Satsvarup Maharaj if he would like a little to eat. Guru Maharaj and Satsvarup Maharaj then took the maha prasadam together!

In the evening program, Guru Maharaj shows the devotees a slide show of Gangotri in India and Fiji. He talks about the hospitality of the Fiji devotees and says the best food in the world is in Fiji, laughingly commenting that he gains about 10kilos every time he visits there!

Sept.22, 2003. Guru Maharaj leaves early for the airport and gives final instructions to the devotees present. He explains to Maha-ratha prabhu bow to preach via bhakti vrksa and Maha-ratha prabhu says he is now clear on how to fulfill Guru Maharaj’s instruction. He thanks Bhaktin Natalia for calling him to Serbia and says that her and her husband’s service in Serbia is now over and they should leave. He says that he had never thought to come to Serbia let alone become GBC there. Guru Maharaj then hugs all the male devotees and tells everyone he’ll be back soon before leaving.

top of page

NEW GOLOKA/NORTH CAROLINA

Sept. 26th,2003. Guru Maharaj arrived here for only one day as he was going to Atlanta the next day. Krsangi mataji had cooked his dinner and brought it to his house and just after this he arrived. The devotees greeted him with a garland in front of his house and carried his luggage inside.

Guru Maharaj then rushed off to take darshan of his beloved Deities.

Morning program was very blissful, and Guru Maharaj spoke about the influence of Kali and how one could overcome it by performing sankirtan. He said that we should get to know the enemy Kali and defeat her and that we should feel the same compassion that Lord Caitanya felt in inspiring people to take up Krishna consciousness.

Sept. 29th,2003. After spending a few days in Atlanta, Guru Maharaj returnedto New Goloka just a few days before his Vyaspuja on the 5th of Oct. The devotees of New Goloka were very happy that Guru Maharaj was once again celebrating his Vyaspuja in New Goloka.

Sept. 30th, 2003. Today was a Tuesday and as usual Guru Maharaj cooked for the Deities. The devotees of New Goloka cherish this opportunity of being able to taste prasadam cooked by a pure soul very much.

Oct. 1st, 2003. In morning class today, Guru Maharaj explained what to do if one was fearful. The basic answer was to take shelter of hearing the Holy Names and of Srimad Bhagavatam. If one is not hearing their chanting properly and does not have good sadhana, then they are not taking shelter of the process internally. He emphasized that the hearing process actually developed the mood of hankering for Krishna.

Two very nice devotees arrived from Germany, Radharadhya prabhu and Srinitamba mataji. They had arrived for the Vyaspuja celebrations and Guru Maharaj had asked for them to be brought straight in to him. Guru Maharaj very affectionately asked them if they had taken prasadam and if there had been any problems during the flight, a genuine father.

Oct 2nd, 2003. After morning class, Guru Maharaj gave out sweets to all the children. He is very close to the children and shares a special relationship with them, often playing with them. He has been known to send up firecrackers with them!

Oct. 3rd,2003. In morning class, Guru Maharaj spoke about the different signs that occur before auspicious and inauspicious events. He said that we should not become overwhelmed by seeing these signs, but should internally take shelter of Krishna in a prayerful mood. We should also take some practical precautions. We should be afraid of Maya, of forgetting Krishna, because even if we give Maya a little, she will take full advantage-she will go in like a needle but come out like a plough.

Many devotees from different parts of the US started arriving today for Vyaspuja celebrations.

Oct. 4th, 2003. As it was Sri Madhvacarya’s Appearance, Guru Maharaj spoke about his glories. He also mentioned that the secret of entering Vrindavan was to please guru and Krishna and that one could not jump there by material ambition.

In the evening, there was a home program at Kardama Muni prabhu’s and Devahuti mataji’s, devotees who live in the community. Guru Maharaj was received by a foot-bathing ceremony then gurupuj was done with the kirtan being led by Srinitamba mataji, who is actually a singer by profession.

Oct 5th, 2003-Vyaspuja Day. All the devotees at New Goloka had worked very hard for the pleasure of Guru Maharaj. Everybody cooperated with each other to make the celebrations a success. The celebrations actually lasted over 2 days and were meticulously planned and much prepared for over many weeks.

The New Goloka devotees had heard that the Fiji devotees had big plans for Vyaspuja and Guru Maharaj had mentioned in today’s morning class that the vaisnava culture in Fiji is such that they would be cooking so many preparations for him. This further spurred the New Goloka devotees and they decided that they would make 108 preparations for Guru Maharaj. They all prayed to be able to accomplish this.

In morning class Guru Maharaj also made the point that the spiritual master does not think that he can independently save the disciple. Rather, just a s the brahmana delivered Rukminidevi’s letter to Krishna, the guru delivers the disciples offerings to Krishna.

After morning class, the Vyaspuja celebrations started. First of all, Guru Maharaj performed Srila Prabhupad’s gurupuja. Foot-bathing ceremony then followed and Guru Maharaj spoke firstly glorifying his godbrothers, then Srila Prabhupad. Individual devotees then read out their offerings. Puspanjali and a roaring kirtan that lasted until the 5pm arati followed this!

Oct. 6th, 2003. In morning class, Guru Maharaj mentioned that devotees should not become depressed and think that they cannot do anything. Instead they should always remember that they are eternal servants on the Lord and pray to Lord Nityananda for spiritual strength.

Today, Guru Maharaj visited at Rangadevi’s home, which is located just next to the temple. As soon as Guru Maharaj arrived, everyone offered him obeisances then individual devotees again started reading out their offerings. For some devotees, Guru Maharaj read their offering directly from his Vyaspuja book, if the devotees so desired. Then Guru Maharaj sang a kirtan, saying that no program was auspicious without the chanting of the Holy Name. During this time,
Radharadhya prabhu was counting all the preparations in the kitchen. He counted them many times just to be sure then Mayapur-candra prabhu annopunced in a loud, clear voice that for Guru Maharaj’s pleasure all the devotees had worked hard and prepared 174 varieties altogether!

Gayatri mataji had made 4 differentflavors of ice-cream sweetened with stevia and Guru Maharaj really seemed to enjoy them. He took more than half of each one. Afterwards, everyone enjoyed Guru Maharaj’s maha-prasadam.

Tulasi mataji, Guru Maharaj’s faithful servant since 1978 read her offering last. Last year, Guru Maharaj’s mother had sent him some of his old papers and photos and Tulasi mataji had been keeping this safely. Now, for the pleasure of the devotees, she read some of Guru Maharaj’s writings as part of her offering. First she read a letter that Guru Maharaj had written to his mother when he was a new brahmacari and then she read a very nice poem that he had written before joining ISKCON. The poem was a very thoughtful piece comparing the people of the world to animals encaged in a zoo. In the poem, he was lamenting his inability to set them free.

After Tulasi Mataji had read the poem, Guru Maharaj told the devotees that it actually was a song that he had written for music class in college. He said that he had presented it as a multi-media presentation, showing slides of people engaged in eating, sleeping, etc, along with slides of animals at the zoo doing the same thing while he sang the song.

And then to everyone’s surprise, Guru Maharaj did something really special and decided to pick up the guitar and sing the song for the devotees! The devotees felt that Guru Maharaj was especially reciprocating with them for their enthusiasm in serving him. Everyone could feel the special mood of love and cooperation among the devotees. All glories to the special devotees at New Goloka! All glories to Guru Maharaj!

Guru Maharaj had actually appeared on the day of Pasankusa Ekadasi 54 years ago and after many years, his Vyaspuja tithi in Fiji coincided with Ekadasi.

Guru Maharaj left for Australia one day after Vyaspuja celebrations and spent a few days there before arriving in Fiji on the 15th of Oct.

top of page

AUSTRALIA

October 9th 2003. Gurudeva arrived in Sydney today and rested for a while at Krishna Vijay Prabhu’s before going for evening prasadam at Sandipani Muni Prabhu’s home, where a few very fortunate devotees were able to take prasadam with him.

October 10th 2003. There was a program at the Sanatan Dharam Cultural Centre this evening. The hall there has many different deities of all the demigods. Gurudeva pointed out the Krsna was the only one enjoying, that all the others were doing work of some variety, but Krsna was just playing on His flute with his girlfriend, and that therefore Krsna must be God. He told stories from the Ramayana and particularly about Jambavan the King of the Bears. All the people listened intently. He then led an ecstatic kirtan, which everyone joined by clapping and singing.

October 11th 2003. After morning program at Krishna Vijay Prabhu’s home, Gurudeva spent the day visiting various devotees in their homes.

October 12th 2003 Midday class today-Gurudeva sang ‘Jaya Radhe, Jaya Krsna, Jaya Vrindavan’ and then explained the meaning of each verse. All the devotees were ecstatic to hear Gurudeva’s amazing voice singing such a wonderful kirtan.

In the evening, Gurudeva gave the Sunday Feast lecture at North Sydney Temple. Since Damodarastaka had started only the day before, Gurudeva spoke about the meaning of Damodarastaka and told the story of Lord Damodara and Mother Yasoda trying to tie Him to the grinding mortar. Afterwards all the devotees commented on how nice the class was and many asked for copies of the lecture.

October 13th 2003. Gurudeva gave morning Srimad Bhagavatam class at the North Sydney Temple. During the class he spoke about rising above the lower modes of material nature and becoming self- motivated in our devotional service. Then he led the Damodarastaka prayers and all the devotees were ecstatically chanting and offering the flame to Lord Damodara. Again after the program so many devotees asked for copies of the class because they had learnt so much and also for copies of Gurudeva’s CD’s because they loved his kirtan so much. Gurudeva then spent the entire day in a meeting with Atmarama Prabhu, the temple president. In the evening, although he was tired, Gurudeva gave Srimad Bhagavad Gita class because so many devotees were waiting to hear from him. He spoke about how we can see Krishna everywhere, and also how we can see that everything that happens is Krishna’s arrangement.

October 14th 2003. Gurudeva gave the morning SB class at North Sydney Temple. He spoke about attraction and aversion and how they’re two sides of the same coin, that aversion is the same as attraction, and how we should not cultivate aversion, but rather disinterest. We should be having so much fun serving Krishna that we’re not interested in anything else. After the morning program, Gurudeva went to visit various devotees in their homes again, and continued on into the night.

October 15th 2003. After the morning program at Krishna Vijay Prabhu’s house, Gurudeva left for his favorite place in the whole world- Fiji. He was very eager to return to his beloved Fiji, and had been talking about it so much while in Sydney.

top of page

FIJI

Oct. 15th, 2003. Guru Maharaj arrived at 7:15pm at Nadi airport. He arrived wearing a business suit, a first for Fiji! This was because he had traveled in the business class section of the plane and for him to be there, he needed to be in a suit. Bhakta Deepak, an employee of one of the major airlines, had made Guru Maharaj’s travel arrangements possible and Guru Maharaj was very pleasedwith him, as he had managed to upgrade Guru Maharaj’s seat from economy class at no extra cost. This meant that Guru Maharaj could travel in comfort and have a lot of space for chanting in business class. Conditions are quite cramped and uncomfortable in economy class. Bhakta Deepak had also enrolled Guru Maharaj in a group called the Tabua Club, which allowed Guru Maharaj to be one of the first passengers on and off the plane with his luggage each time he traveled to and from Fiji. These were very satisfying arrangements as it eased to some extent, the difficulties that Guru Maharaj has to face in traveling to preach. (Editor’s note- I was very strongly reminded of Srila Gurudev, Tamal Krishna Goswami Maharaj saying that Srila prabhupad was writing so many books and even if he could make on stroke of Srila Prabhupad’s pen easier, then his life was successful. Similarly, if we can make even some contribution to ease Guru Maharaj’s difficulties in his service of traveling and preaching, surely Krishna will smile down upon us.)

Guru Maharaj spent the first part of his visit to Fiji in Lautoka, giving classes from the Nectar of Devotion on offenses in Deity worship. These classes were continued in Suva as well.

On the 17th, Guru Maharaj traveled to Sigatoka, about 2 hours away from Lautoka for an evening program and on the 18th, there was an evening program at the home of Bhakta Pradeep in Ba. This was a very successful program as Bhakta Pradeep had actually organized a week- long festival at his residence with Hamsavatar prabhu giving classes form the Ramayana all week and on the 18th, Guru Maharaj gave the concluding class. Guru Maharaj also conducted initiation ceremony right at his home and Bhakta Pradeep emerged as Pandu das Adhikari
with his good wife Kunti devi dasi. This was very special as it was the first time in Fiji that Guru Maharaj had given any devotee initiation in their very own home!

Oct. 19th, 2003. Today, Guru Maharaj traveled to Taveuni, one of the smaller islands of the Fiji group, where Visvanath prabhu had been doing intensive long-term preaching work. Many devotees were there at the airport to greet Guru Maharaj and Visvanath prabhu was crying openly, as he was so glad that Guru Maharaj had finally come to Taveuni.

Guru Maharaj spent his time in Taveuni at a hotel just 20 minutes away from the airport, as there was not much time to visit the village. Instead, all the village devotees came and also stayed at the hotel! Just next to the hotel is a Vishnu temple where all the programs were held.

At the hotel room, gurupuj was conducted and this was followed by a short lecture and everyone being introduced to Guru Maharaj in turn as it was the first time he had visited Taveuni. Later in the day, a picnic had been scheduled.

The clapping is done a bit differently than in regular kirtans, but noone had any difficulty in catching this new beat and clapping and chorusing enthusiastically like they had been practicing for ages!

At the evening program, the Vishnu temple was filled to capacity. The devotees had constructed an asan and decorated the temple very nicely. As it was Radha Kunda Appearance, Guru Maharaj spoke on this as well as a bit about Hanuman. A lot of non-devotees also attended this program and everyone was extremely impressed. Many of the businessmen, who rarely contribute, gave donation to Guru Maharaj and the local hotel manager even gave free rooms at the hotel after the program!

The next morning, at mangal-arati, many devotees were present and Guru Maharaj was very happy. Visvanath prabhu had taken the Sri Sri Radha Gopinath Deities from Suva to Taveuni and mangal-arati was conducted at the Vishnu temple with Guru Maharaj leading kirtan. The kirtan actually went on for very long as everyone present was dancing in ecstasy! In class, Guru Maharaj mentioned how nice it was that devotees had gotten together in such a manner.

After breakfast prasadam in the hotel room, Guru Maharaj left for the airport at 10am only to find that his flight had been delayed for 2 hours. He chose to stay at the airport instead of going back to the hotel room. The devotees had come prepared with guitar and Guru Maharaj led kirtan. After a few kirtans, Guru Maharaj again sang the Maha mantra to the “La curacaha” tune and by this time policemen from the airport police post as well as security guards, attracted by the music, had gathered around. Guru Maharaj stopped playing for long enough to ask for something to play the guitar with his fingers had started hurting and Gandharvika mataji (visiting from Australia) promptly handed him her business card! The kirtan continued for about an hour and devotees started dancing right there at the airport!

Guru Maharaj then stopped playing but to everyone’s surprise the native Fijian policemen and security guards that had gathered around requested him to continue, specifically requesting for the Mexican melody! Guru Maharaj was happy to oblige and they joined in with the coordinated clapping and chorusing! Later Guru Maharaj said that Krishna had delayed his flight so that this could happen as prominent in his heart is the desire to make the native Fijians devotees.

The Taveuni devotees were very impressed with Guru Maharaj, more so as he was the first white sannyasi to visit the island. Many aspiring Indian devotees were saying that they should be ashamed as an European person knew “their religon” better than them. Guru Maharaj left behind many aspiring disciples. However, he re-emphasized his decision not to travel to any more new places, as he wants to “boil the milk and make it sweeter” as Srila Prabhupad has said, i.e., he wants to spend more quality time with the devotees in a particular area and make them better and better rather than collecting devotees in quantity from a large number of areas and not being able to spend much time with them.

After spending a few days in Labasa, Guru Maharaj arrived in Suva on the 23rd of Oct.

Oct. 23rd, 2003. This evening there was an official reception at the temple. The temple had been decorated with blue and yellow balloons and cloth as well as leaves and flowers. Two young devotees throwing flower petals before his lotus feet and the auspicious sound of the conchshell greeted Guru Maharaj. Guru Maharaj spoke for a while and gave three reasons he visits Fiji often saying that the devotees were very nice, the prasadam was very nice and the
temple construction was in progress and there was a lot to be done about this.

Guru Maharaj was then presented with 4 big cakes, each one decorated with blue and yellow icing and bearing a word each, which when put together read, ” Happy Belated Vyaspuja Maharaj”. The 4th cake was the largest and in the shape of a guitar complete with guitar strings! The cakes had been baked and decorated very lovingly by Jaya Radhika mataji and her mother. Guru Maharaj was also presented with gifts and one big gift which everybody had contributed towards-this was very obviously a guitar as evidenced by its shape. However, as
Guru Maharaj took it on his lap to unwrap it, he said, ” Hmm, I wonder what it is….” And half way through unwrapping it, ” Still don’t know what it is.” This was very funny, as all the devotees knew very well that Guru Maharaj had known from the time he had landed in Fiji that there was a guitar waiting for him. Actually, it was supposed to have been a surprise but somebody had mistakenly let the cat out of the bag.

Guru Maharaj liked the guitar very much and he started playing it straightaway. The devotees, not missing an opportunity and having heard about “La curacacha” requested this at once. Guru Maharaj seemed to have a hard time putting down the guitar and after 3 more kirtans it was time to go.

Oct. 24th, 2003. Both morning and evening class were on offenses in Deity worship. In morning class, Guru Maharaj mentioned that devotees must be very careful to pull out the weeds of material desire, which grow alongside the devotional creeper before these weeds choke the devotional creeper, such weeds being pooja(wanting adoration by material people), laabh (material profit), etc.

As the month of Kartikk was in progress, Guru Maharaj would sing the Damodarastakam every morning in a very sweet melody, which had the devotees swimming in ecstasy.

Oct. 25th, 2003. Today is Diwali and the morning class today was especially nectarean, with Guru Maharaj making many important points. The first thing he mentioned was that it was very easy to build a temple but maintaining it was the hard part as maintenance required the mode of goodness. In a world in which people do different things each day to keep happy, it was very easy to become bored and find temple worship a burden if one was not situated in the mode of
goodness, as it would be the same Deities, the same temple everyday. He then mentioned two ways by which to get out the mood of finding temple worship a burden:

1) Develop a whole new internal life with each personality on the altar, i.e., develop and nurture internal personal relationships with them with the ultimate goal of coming to Krishna prema.

2) By preaching as it was by this that a person got realizations as well as remembering what he had read. He quoted the slokh, “svranam kirtanam…”saying that these nine devotional services were like the rungs of a ladder each on higher than the last, therefore only after kirtanam (preaching what one has heard, would one be able to remember perfectly (Visnu smaranam).

This class was extremely thought provoking and instructive, a few points are mentioned here;

· Everytime we offer obeisances, we should not do so silently, we need to say something, either the full pranama mantra or even just “Jaya Gurudev”, otherwise it is an offence. Srila Prabhupad used to call silent obeisances “hatchet obeisances.”

· Guru Maharaj said that the colors blue and red are not allowed in the temple, but he clarified that the color red referred specifically to the shade of red that the Mayavadis wore, which is a very bright shade of red.

· It was an offence to worship or offer prayers while sitting on the bare floor. There should be carpet or mat underneath.

· That generally devotees are not authorized to recite the Narshinga kavaca or Narayan kavaca, Vishnu sahasra, etc. he said that these are very nice prayers, but he spiritual master had not authorized the disciple to recite them as a regular function. The only mantras that the disciple was allowed to recite were the maha-mantra and Gayatri mantra if one was a brahmin.

· Another clarification was that the Nectar of Devotion says that Ganpati should be worshipped. However, Guru Maharaj said that Srila Prabhupad had modified this and said that we in ISKCON should not worship Ganpati.

Oct. 26th, 2003. After the usual morning program, Govardhan puja was celebrated in a big way. First of all there was a procession in which Sri Sri Radha Gopinath was taken to the upcoming temple and a joyous kirtan was conducted here. The temple is largely complete and it was wondrous to hear thesound of the mrdanga and kartals resounding off the temple walls!

Afterwards, everyone went to a large hall hired for the purpose of the celebration in which a huge Govardhan hill was constructed very beautifully of soil, rocks and plants with the Deities situated on the hill itself.

There was also a smaller hill of laddoos. As this was a public program, the hall was filled to capacity. Guru Maharaj gave a short lecture in which he told the Govardhan katha. One interesting point he made was that when the flood waters were rising and all the Vrajbasis turned to Krishna for help, the kirtan they sang was, “He govinda, he Gopal”. Guru Maharaj also encouraged everyone to read the Krsna book.

Oct. 27th, 2003. In today’s morning class Guru Maharaj stressed the importance of always wearing tilak and tulasi beads. He said that the act of putting on tilak should not be ritualistic, but one should actually concentrate on Krishna while doing so and that Bhaktisiddhanta Goswami had said that one looked like a slaughter-house if he did not have tilak on.

Another very important point Guru Maharaj made was that the only thing that we are allowed to steal in Krishna consciousness was mahaprasadam.

Today, one mataji asked Guru Maharaj that once he had told her to be tolerant but now he was saying that such things should not be tolerated-what did he mean by this? Guru Maharaj replied that generally we should be very tolerant and tolerate people getting angry with us, or trying to show us that they are superior, etc, but we should not tolerate illicit sex life, smoking or drinking intoxicants, gambling and meat eating at all.

Guru Maharaj and his godbrother in Fiji, Vasudev prabhu, had been discussin gways and means by which the native Fijians could be made devote Guru Maharaj was very much occupied with this thought throughout his visit and had discussed it with various devotees many times. As a result, a few amazing things happened. The first was that he gave initiation to two native Fijian disciples, one mataji in Labasa, now Madhuri dasi and a prabhu in Suva, Isaan Thakur, both
of them qualified people for initiation. The other amazing thing was the spontaneous joining in of the Fijians in kirtans on 2 separate occasions around thew country. It seemed as though Krishna was giving Guru Maharaj reassurance that such a seemingly impossible task was indeed possible!

Among the first initiates was Isaan Thakur prabhu as well as -a first for ISKCON- young Bhakta Krishnan, who was currently chanting four rounds, but by sitting at the fire sacrifice, he was vowing that he would chant 16 rounds by the time he was 16 years old!

Oct. 28th, 2003. In morning class today, Guru Maharaj made a very important point, something he had also mentioned in Serbia. He told us that there was an old lady in Labasa who used to put aside a dollar per week in an envelope for him which she used to give to him when he visited. She also used to walk to the temple everyday. Guru Maharaj said that the old lady had past away recently and now that she had gone he missed her and her little service so much. He said
that he thought about her while doing his rounds and “I pray to Krishna to help her to go back to Godhead.”

Guru Maharaj then went on to say that whenever we chant, we should have a spiritual desire in our hearts and chant prayerfully towards this. He said that there are endless spiritual desires that one could have and one should be careful about the way he words his prayer to Krishna. He said that chanting prayerfully was a very effective means of prayer and it covered the devotional service of vandanam.

Guru Maharaj left for Lautoka today and celebrated Srila Prabhupad’s Disappearance there on the 29th before leaving the country on the 30th via a late night flight. The events occurring at the airport before Guru Maharaj’s departure are also very special.

Even though Guru Maharaj’s flight was at 11pm, he was at the airport by 7.30pm with the Lautoka devotees. To Guru Maharaj’s surprise about 20 minutes after his arrival at the airport, Suva devotees also arrived to see him off. Guru Maharaj had not expected this at all and was extremely happy and overwhelmed at the love expressed by the devotees. Altogether, there were about a hundred people there to see Guru Maharaj off!

Guru Maharaj was again dressed in a business suit and he looked very nice. Many devotees were amazed to see him dressed like this. A few devotees asked some questions and pictures were taken. Vasudev prabhu, Guru Maharaj’s godbrother was sitting next to Guru Maharaj all the time and Guru Maharaj said that every devotee was so important in Srila Prabhupad’s mission to make Fiji Krishna conscious. Then Guru Maharaj took out his video camera and shot a video clip of everyone around him.

Then he stacked up his prasadam containers before him and pictures were taken with devotees surrounding him, amidst much laughter.

At 9pm, Guru Maharaj said that it was time for “vancha kalpa..” and onlookers witnessed all the devotees bowing as on to offer their respect and love to Guru Maharaj. As Guru Maharaj walked towards the departure area, a group of 5 native Fijian men who had been hired by the airport to greet and farewell passengers with traditional Fijian songs, spontaneously started singing the maha-mantra accompanying themselves with their guitars! Everyone was shocked to see this, the fact that the men had so quickly learnt the maha-mantra and were now singing it so joyously. It turned out that they had asked Bhakta Deepak the words just before bursting out singing. Everyone stood paralyzed for some time, then Guru Maharaj took out his camera again and took pictures of these fortunate men. He also took off his garland and put it around the neck of on eof the men. Some devotees also gave these men money, as is the Fijian custom.

Guru Maharaj then went inside and as many devotees possible congregated at the glass barrier to get a last view. This glass barrier has opaque stripes at every half inch and through the small amount of clear glass remaining, devotees strained to catch a last glimpse. Guru Maharaj somehow figured out what was happening from inside and he took out his camera yet again to take a picture of everyone from inside.

Just before turning to leave, he dragged his fingers along the glass barrier from inside, a final goodbye to everyone, etching the lines made by his fingers in the soft hearts of the devotees.

top of page

ENGLAND

Sweet pastime in England.

Back at New Goloka, Guru Maharaj went to Mexico for a few days for the Rath-yatra festival then on the 26th of Nov. he went to England for a few days. Here is a very sweet pastime that occurred while Guru Maharaj was in England.

Bhakti Caru Maharaj had called England all the way from South Africa to instruct on eof his disciples in England to make a pair of glasses for Guru Maharaj. He sternly told his disciple, who is an optician that he simply must make glasses for Guru Maharaj.

Guru Maharaj was staying at the Bhaktivedanta Manor and Bhakti Caru Maharaj’s disciple looked all over the Manor for him for two whole days before finally finding Guru Maharaj in the gym with another sannyasi! (Guru Maharaj has become even more health conscious after a recent blood test has revealed slightly high cholesterol levels). So approached Guru Maharaj and explained the situation. Guru Maharaj happily granted his request and his eyes tested fully before being made two pairs of glasses-one for reading and far vision and the other for
reading and medium vision, like looking at the computer, etc.

Afterwards, Bhakti Caru Maharaj called up Guru Maharaj just to ask if he had indeed received the glasses and if he liked it!

There is a lot of love between Guru Maharaj and Bhakti Caru Maharaj, with each competing to touch the other’s feet when they are together. Each also competes to glorify the other, calling out “Bhakti Caru Maharaj ki jaya!” or “Bir Krishna Maharaj ki jaya!” while paying obeisances.