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Saturday August 16
Lord Balarama’s Appearance day. Half day fast.
An auspicious day which I hope reflects upon this blog, because this is the day I have chosen to beta-test my website. I sent out invitations to visit lotusimprints.com to maybe 50 + devotees and I hope they like it. The whole site was set up for me by a young brahmacari who is now in the Chowpatti temple. He doesn’t want me to mention him by name but at least I can say a very big “Thanks!” and “Hare Krishna” to him here for all his hard work and persistence in putting it all together.
For the Lord’s glorification we had special class this morning, not a reading about His pastimes but a compilation of things I heard Srila Prabhupada say about Lord Balarama. Here’s a couple I always like:
[TD 2] May 4, 1976 — Honolulu
 Balarama is so powerful
Tamal Krishna Goswami and Dhrstadyumna Swami are here. They came in from New York with a written report to give Srila Prabhupada on their China preaching endeavors. Since the Mayapur festival, when Srila Prabhupada ordered Tamal Krishna Maharaja to begin something in China, they have been very seriously studying books like The Religious Policy and Practice in Communist China, and investigating ways and means to establish links there. Srila Prabhupada spoke with them for almost an hour following his afternoon rest. He was eager to hear how things are going in New York under Madhudvisa Swami’s leadership. Hearing their favorable report, Prabhupada complimented Madhudvisa. “Yes, he is the right person.”
Tamal Krishna mentioned that even with no advertising their new restaurant attracts fifty people a day, each paying $2.50.
Prabhupada said it would be automatically advertised. People would hear ‘Oh there is a nice ISKCON restaurant’ and come. He compared it to the Krishna-Balaram Mandir he opened in Vrndavana; he had thought that it was so far away from the center of Vrndavana town that no one would come. But it has proved very popular. “People are coming by thousands. … ” He laughed. “Balarama is so powerful, He’s bringing: ‘Come out here!'”
   
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[TD 3] July 11, 1976 – New York
There was a letter from Bhagatji, Sri Visvambhar Dayal, bringing Srila Prabhupada up to date with the Vrndavana temple affairs. Srila Prabhupada is extremely pleased he has come forward to help us. Srila Prabhupada has gradually induced him to take a more active role in the temple affairs, telling him, “So kindly help the management as Krishna Balaram is your worshipable Deity.” He spoke very encouragingly to him, revealing a glimpse of his own intimate relationship with Sri Sri Krsna and Balarama. “Kindly guide our foreign disciples to manage nicely and increasingly you will be able to please Their Lordships Krishna and Balaram. Although I’ve established Their temple, Their Lordships want me to keep outside the temple for touring.”
 
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In the evening we had a full house, about 50 devotees packed into the tiny temple room to see two short dramas and then hear me continue with my Chanting seminar.
The first play was unusual, at least I found it so. In short: Lord Balarama begs a peacock feather from Krsna, and Krsna also gives Him His flute. Kamsa sends the Kesi demon to Vrndavana to find Krsna and kill Him. Kesi sees Balarama with peacock feather and flute and thinks He is Krsna. Kesi gives Balarama an almighty kick and knocks him flat. Kesi goes off thinking he has killed Krsna in one simple kick. Balarama meets up with Krsna again and gives back the flute and feather because they are attracting too much trouble from the demons. He tells Krsna all about Kesi. Krsna goes out looking for Kesi and this time the demon is finished.
I hadn’t seen this version before but the devotees assured me it was in the writings of Srila Visvanatha Chakrovarty Thakur. I guess I had better get reading.
IÂ spoke till 9.30 PM and then there was a delicious feast, all cooked by Vaideha prabhu, who was my contact for coming here. The prep. I liked the best was a pizza-like dish, but made in strips about 6-8″ long x 1-2″ wide rather than the usual disk shape. Very tasty. I complimented Vaideha that he was the Kurma of Macedonia. He liked that.
Friday August 15
Its hot here, over 100 deg. F. I like hot weather and I can’t function in the cold. That was one of my prime motivations for emigrating from England in 1971. When me and my two old school friends, Chris and Bob, landed in Australia we went to the north west and got jobs for six months on the mining camps. For the first six weeks we didn’t see a single cloud in the sky. I felt like I had been liberated.
Saturday August 16 2008
WELCOME!
On this auspicious day of Lord Balarama’s Appearance I would like to welcome you dear reader to the preliminary launch of LotusImprints.com
I hope you like this new website. This is a humble attempt to keep Srila Prabhupada in the forefront of our consciousness and provide a forum for expanding the glories of our beloved spiritual master.
This is my first photo with Srila Prabhupada, April 1, 1972.
From the left: Bhakta Harry aged 21 yrs. 4 months (c’est moi), Ajita dasa, Mohanananda dasa (temple president, 19 yrs. old – those were the days!) and Srila Prabhupada.
If I may, I recommend the ‘Audio’ section for lots of Prabhupada nectar, in particular the downloads from my seminar series “Srila Prabhupada The Living Bhagavatam” (SPLB) which I have been presenting in various countries around the world since 2004.
Based on my multi-volume book “A Transcendental Diary” (TD), the SPLB series is a thematic rather than chronological presentation of Srila Prabhupada’s lilas and philosophy. I have taken particular aspects of devotional life, such as Chanting, Prasadam, Writing, Cleanliness, Living in the Dhama, Health, Deities etc. and whatever His Divine Grace said or did on each particular topic I have compiled and categorized into some kind of order.
The result is a focused look at the different activities of devotional life, from many different angles of vision, all with Srila Prabhupada at the center.
I have not tried to present everything Prabhupada ever said or did on each topic, but just drawn from the period I was personally traveling with him, with a few exceptions. SPLB is a synopsis, but something I hope will give sufficient insight to inspire and educate the listener and bring them closer to understanding Srila Prabhupada’s desires and intent.
This ‘Blog’ is a running commentary of my travels and interactions with devotees around the world with particular focus on Srila Prabhupada. Its interactive — you can post comments, ask questions and join in with the Prabhupada katha.
In ‘Books‘ you will find the various volumes of Transcendental Diary for sale, and later on other items will be added.
‘Videos’ of the SPLB are just now coming! They will be added shortly, as available.
‘Links’ provides access to other useful websites.
Any feedback is welcome. Feel free to share your Prabhupada stories with other readers and ask questions.
Your humble servant,
Hari-sauri dasa
This one’s from krsna.ru, Dravida das:
“Hare Krishna, Hari-Sauri Prabhu. I have a question about relationships between devotees. Sometimes devotees criticize and insult each other. I would like to know how Shrila Prabhupada reacted and treated such situations. What was Prabhupada’s attitude to situations when devotees complained about each other and produced gossips. Maybe you can give some instructive story.
Answer:Â
Srila Prabhupada didn’t like it when devotees complained against each other. His mood was that in Kali-yuga noone is without fault. Our only hope is to chant cooperatively together and be purified. Two examples to illustrate this come to mind:
Transcendental Diary Vol 1
March 10, 1976 – Mayapur
[At the time there was a strong debate going on, the sannyasis criticizing the grhasthas and vice-versa. The debate came to a head at the Mayapur festival. This is a morning walk in which this was discussed.]
“It was like a seesaw, one party accusing the other. And the last thing Srila Prabhupada wanted was the formation of different factions. He said that the whole world is full of different isms, one party against another. We should not bring that attitude into our Society. He said the accusations of one side against the other are all fanaticism. He gave the solution.
“Real unity is in advancing Krsna consciousness. In Kali-yuga, you cannot strictly follow; neither I can strictly follow. If I criticize you, if you criticize me, then we go far away from our real life of Krsna consciousness.
“You should always remember that either grhastha or brahmacari or sannyasi, nobody can strictly follow all the rules and regulations of them. In the Kali-yuga it is not possible. So if I find simply fault with you, and if you find fault with me, then it will be factional, and our real business will be hampered. Therefore Caitanya Mahaprabhu has recommended that harer nama, chanting Hare Krsna mantra, should be very rigidly performed, which is common for everyone — grhastha, vanaprastha, or sannyasi. They should always chant Hare Krsna mantra. Then everything will be adjusted. Otherwise it is impossible to advance. We shall be complicated with the details only.”
On the whole, throughout the discussions, Prabhupada has naturally leant his support to the more renounced position. Yet he obviously wants everyone to have the chance to develop their Krsna consciousness.
He said that we should neither neglect the regulations, nor pursue them so fanatically that we miss the point of actual spiritual advancement. He repeated the real formula for success. “If we advance in Krsna consciousness, simple method, chanting twenty-four hours, kirtaniyah sada harih, then things will be automatically adjusted. You cannot find in Kali-yuga everything is being done very correctly, to the point. That is very difficult.”
He recalled with amusement his own experiences in establishing his movement in the early days in New York. “Just like our poet, Allen Ginsberg. He was always accusing me, ‘Swamiji, you are very conservative and strict.’
“Actually, I told him that ‘I am never strict, neither I am conservative. If I become conservative, then I cannot live here for a moment. So I’m not at all conservative.'”
We all laughed as Srila Prabhupada described what he had to tolerate. “I was cooking, and I saw in refrigerator of Yeargen, [a young man he was staying with] he kept some pieces of meat for his cat. So still, I kept my things in that refrigerator. What can be done? I had no place at that time.”
[end]
The other example that comes to mind is:
Transcendental Diary Vol. 5
October 23, 1976 – Vrindavana SB class:
“Briefly describing each of the four basic miseries, Srila Prabhupada gave a nice example of what it means to live in Kali-yuga. “A man is suffering from itches or sores all over the body. So where he shall give ointment? He should be dipped in the ointment. This is the position. Similarly, how much you will find out, ‘This is faulty, this is faulty, this is faulty.’ The life in the Kali yuga itself is faulty. Everything is faulty.”
And he stated the solution. “But still, Krsna is so kind. He has given an opportunity that by chanting His holy name one can become free from this faulty position. Kirtanad eva krsnasya mukta sanga param vrajet [SB 12.3.51]. It is possible.” [end]
Finally, once in Allahabad in 1977 at the Kumbha-mela it was reported to Srila Prabhupada that a gurukula student had been found committing very serious offences against the other students. The teachers wanted to kick him out and send him home. He was 14 years old at the time.
Srila Prabhupada however said that the teachers should “reform, not reject” the student. By close supervision they should attempt to rectify his deviant behaviour. He said, “If we kick out everyone who has some fault, there will be noone left.”
Your humble servant,
Hari-sauri dasa
Thursday August 14
I am staying at the flat of Bhavana das and his wife Irena. They have a nice place just inside the city. After a short rest, bath and setting up Srila Prabhupda, we headed out to the new temple in the city center.
Macedonia yatra is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year and they just paid about 60,000 euros for a small two story building in the city. Its the first place they have owned outright. Tucked in behind a restaurant its hard to spot. But it has a nice vibe to it, and the small wooden Deities of Nitai Gaurasundara are among the most beautiful I have seen. You can fit about 60-70 persons in the temple room and they are painting the walls with beautiful murals of Caitanya and Krsna lila. Read the rest of this entry »
August 14
Up at 2.45 AM, did my puja and then off to the airport at 4.30 AM for a 6.00 AM departure to Munich. No hassles this time. A couple of hours wait in Munich and another flight put me into Sophia at exactly midday. Ananda Caitanya and one brahmacari picked me up and we immediately set out for the Bulgarian/Macedonian border. I confess I was a bit dismayed when I saw the transport–a battered old Lada that sounded a bit like a tractor on a race track. It was over 90 degs. F outside and there was no air conditioning in it. Ah well, whatever the Lord supplies. Actually the passenger seat was quite comfortable and three hours and one speeding ticket later we arrived at the border. Read the rest of this entry »
August 13
 Back for an overnight stay before moving on to Sophia Bulgaria this afternoon. We did two more seminars on Prasadam last night and this morning. Its always a popular topic. Especially when I get talking about cooking for Srila Prabhupada.
 Upendra learning how to use Prabhupada’s three-tiered cooker:
Here’s something that sometimes puzzles newer devotees. I got this from Bhakta Ilya on the Krishna.ru forum:Â
 “Many sannyasis left the movement and I heard that Shrila Prabhupada had known that this would happen. Where did he speak about that? Or was this an assumption made by his disciples?”Thank you. Your servant Ilya.”
My answer:
Srila Prabhupada was well aware that he was giving sannyasa to young, untrained men. It was a risk that he took for expanding the preaching. Read the rest of this entry »
August 6Â
It took about 3 hrs. easy drive to get to Prostejou and the small summer camp they hire every year in the midst of a pine forest. Kadamba Kanan Swami arrived just after me, and Danavir Maharaja in the evening. Mahadhutyi prabhu, now an itinerant monk after serving many years as TP of Soho St. temple, is also attending.
About 250 devotees have gathered from Czech and Slovakia. They have been putting this festival on for 8-9 years now. Association is the most important feature of spiritual life and Europe has a proliferation of these small festivals during the summer. Its a chance for the devotees to get together and celebrate, and hear from senior devotees and just perform congregational chanting of the holy names.
 August 7-9
We have a pretty easy schedule. I am speaking from 10-12 noon and we settled on the topic of Health. About a hundred attend the seminars, so it’s a nice group.
Kadamba Kanan Swami left on the 8th afternoon and was replaced by Lokanath Maharaja and Bhakti Vaibhava Swami. I was surprised to see Lokanatha M. with a few days growth on his face and head. His hair is pure white and he reminded me a bit of Santa Claus on his day off. He grinned and explained that B. Vaibhava M. is making a new movie called Lost Village. Its about the loss of natural living and local village life in the midst of our ecologically challenged planet. Lokanatha M. has already done some filming with his family members in his village in Maharasthra.
I was surprised when B. Vaibhava M. asked me to shoot a short segment also. The reason? He arrived just as I was giving Srimad Bhagavatam class yesterday morning. I mentioned how I heard that in America, a couple of weeks after the 9/11 attacks, the govt. made an appeal to everyone to go out and start shopping. Apparently everyone was so depressed in the aftermath that noone was buying anything. The whole economy was threatened so the govt. prescribed shopping therapy to relieve everyone of their depression and save their economy.
Are we happy? Are we really, really happy?
 
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Here’s a couple of recent inquiries from devotees in the CIS about Lord Visnu and the situation of the souls in the universe. Â
Q1:Â
1) Who and how impregnates the material nature?
 It is stated that this is Lord Maha Visnu who is always sleeping in yoga-nidra. But also stated that Lord impregnated material nature with a glance. On a painting by Jadurani dasi (Trancendental art, painting 47)
 Lord Maha Visnu is not sleeping. Is it means that He awakes? Or may be this a picture of Lord’s dream?
 
Read the rest of this entry »
August 2Â
I never re-confirm my tickets because most airlines say there is no need. But when I arrived at Berlin airport at 7.30 AM after a two and half hour drive, I found out my flight for 9.10 AM to Munich had been cancelled. No warning, no emails, nothing.
They had re-booked me for 10.30 AM but I had a connecting flight from Munich to Bratislava at 11.10 AM. Fortunately there was an earlier flight leaving for Munich at 8.30 AM and I was just in time to make it. Maybe I should start re-confirming.
August 3-6 The devotees have rented a different place from last year. Its on the outskirts of the city, in a fairly new housing development in the hills. It’s a much better place, with a back garden about 75′ X 300′ and a few apple trees, grape vines and flower beds already established. The house is nice, with a pleasant frontal aspect across a small valley and friendly neighbors. The landlord allowed the devotees to remove a wall so that they could create a temple room big enough for 60 people. Best of all it only costs the same as what they were paying before.The yatra here is small, about a dozen full time devotees to run the temple, sankirtan and a popular restaurant downtown. But I like visiting. The devotees are eager to hear about Srila Prabhupada and do their best to make my stay pleasant.
I presented my new seminar on Association morning and evening and completed it on the last session on Wednesday 6 morning. Good timing because we all set off for the annual Czech Rep. summer festival at midday.
  
  
  
 
July 28 – travel to Poland Woodstock festival
Yet another full day of travel. I think I will have to plan my travel better next year. These full day treks are getting a bit difficult. Chanakya Pandit says that a horse grows old by standing still and a man grows old by traveling:
 
I had to fly down to Heathrow, spend 2 hrs in transit, take another flight of a couple of hours to Stockholm, run the length of the airport terminal, check in on a different airline, then another flight to Berlin where I was picked up and driven for another two hours to the small town of Kostrzyn just over the border in Poland where Woodstock is held. Read the rest of this entry »
Another question from Gaura Karuna dasa in CIS:
Some statements are attributed to Srila Prabhupada (such as “books are a basis, purity is strength…”) which he never spoke or wrote. Should this be paid attention to, if this happens?
Answer:
Its always good to verify if possible any important statement attributed to Srila Prabhupada. “Prabhupada said…” is an often quoted phrase when devotees want to justify a particular instruction or understanding they have. But whether Srila Prabhupada actually said it, and in what context he said it, that should be verified. Srila Prabhupada once complained that “They are saying ‘Prabhupada said’, ‘Prabhupada said’, but Prabhupada never said.” Read the rest of this entry »
I often get devotees writing to ask what Srila Prabhupada said or thought about a variety of topics. I can’t claim to know his mind, but where I can I try to share what I have heard or observed from His Divine Grace. Here’s a recent question about ISKCON’s history and its relevance to new devotees. Read the rest of this entry »
This picture was taken by Amogha prabhu in Sydney April 1972. It has not been published before. Srila Prabhupada was staying at the home of one of his grhastha disciples, a university professor who became initiated as Vyasadeva dasa.
Monday July 21
I sent off from Trollhatten at 8.30 am, flew to Stockholm, had a couple of hours stopover to take lunch with Yogindra and pick up Srila Prabhupada and my suitcase, then a flight to London, another 2 hrs. transit and another flight to Glasgow. I arrived at the temple at Leshmahagow at 10 PM so it was a whole day just traveling. Needless to say I was a bit wiped out. And a throat infection I picked up in WDC has come back, so I hope it doesn’t impair my speaking in the seminars.
July 22
Now I am settled in and begin my seminars this evening. Things here seem to be quite stable. They have had some major leadership changes in the past two years and just recently changed temple presidents but now things are going fine. Prabhupada Prana, the new TP is a gentle and serious devotee and the rest of the devotees are enthusiastically maintaining their book distribution activities. They have about 16 houses in the immediate vacinity, and the temple property stretches over three plots up a hillside. Its all nicely maintained and the community is solid. The unusual feature of this temple is that they have 12,000+ (yes, that’s thousands) of saligram-silas!
Its a pretty amazing sight to see the Lord in his multiple forms in one big stainless steel tank. The devotees don’t worship each shila individually of course, they have one or two that get bathed and decorated each day. The others are simply washed en masse so to speak. Then periodically there is a one week marathon when each and every shila is picked out, washed, cleaned and oiled before being returned to the tank. Now there are few less devotees in the temple this has become a bit of a strain for the pujaris (not surprisingly).
One bummer: I sent a letter to Kesihanta in Alachua with $620 worth of cheques in it to be banked in my account there. These were from book sales in Dallas and Houston. The letter hasn’t arrived, so it seems lost. And I have no record of who sent me the cheques. Now I have to try and find out who gave me the cheques and get them to re-issue them. I knew I should have insisted on cash…
We drove to Edinburgh in the late afternoon for a weekly program in a new age bookstore situated underneath the main Edinburgh Cathedral. We had a good turn out, about 20+ guests, some regulars and a few new ones, and I also sold a couple of books so everyone was pleased with the attendance.
July 23-27
My throat got worse as the week progressed. After the Edinburgh program it was really sore. So I ended skipping a couple of the morning sessions and just doing the evenings. I felt bad about it, its my standard to speak morning and evening at whatever temples I visit unless their program is different. I feel I should justify the help I get with my ticket by speaking as much as possible.
Wound up a pleasant visit to Karuna Bhavan with a Sunday feast talk and then a showing of the ppt. presentation on the Archives. It went over well. Everyone who sees it is surprised to see how much work has been done, and still needs to be done, to preserve and disseminate Srila Prabhupada’s legacy. Its one of the most important projects in ISKCON.
Karuna Bhavan has been noted in the past for their generosity in supporting various projects (they gave me $5,000 to help publish my first book in 1992) and Prabhupada Prana indicated that he would approach their temple council to see if they would like to give some financial support to the Archives so I am happy about that.
I also saw one nice gentleman, a retired Indian doctor Dr. Prem Pancham, who spontaneously offered some substantial financial support last year when I visited and he bought a full set of my books. He is an avid reader of Srila Prabhupada’s books and although we didn’t get to spend any time together this visit, he did kindly drive over an hour to get to one of the programs. May Krsna and Srila Prabhupada bless him with more and more realization and advancement in devotional service.
July 19-20 – Cousin Alf’s
Alf and Chris have a pleasant little two story house out in the country, about 12 kms. from Trollhatten. They have been together for 32 years now and still find pleasure in each other’s company. They are generous hosts and eager to please. Chris is a social worker and Alf is a teacher’s help at one of the local schools, so they are both open-minded and receptive to new ideas. Â
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July 11
I set off early for Heathrow, expecting a lot of traffic on the M25, the London ring road. But I had a clear run and after taking the car back, I had four hours to kill before the flight. I don’t mind being early. Traveling is enough anxiety and stress without the tension of being late.
I bought another set of Bose headphones, the in-ear variety. The on-ear are great, but still a bit bulky to put in your pocket when you are flying. The in-ear buds are excellent and the sound quality is brilliant.
I also bought a 600 page biography of Harry Houdini.
 
 
 
I like biographies, its interesting to see what motivates the famous people of the world. Read the rest of this entry »
Tuesday July 8
I flew overnight from WDC and arrived in London around 10.30 AM. I hired a car at the airport and drove straight up to see my mother, still living just outside the small town where I was born, Scunthorpe, about 180 miles north east. Â
