377. The Deity interacts

Many people think that in the Hindu tradition, worshipping a deity or an idol is imaginary and superstitious. Why worship a stone, they ask?

However, the ancient Vedic texts and the Lord Himself states that one should not think in such a way. They boldly declare that the Deity form of the Lord is a merciful incarnation of the Lord for the benefit of the common people. If God is present everywhere, why not in a stone too? Infact, everything single thing in existence, whether they be a living entity or a non-living entity, are energies of the Lord. They are all part & parcel of the Lord. Everything in existence belongs to Him. This is one of the reasons why He is the greatest.

The Hindu devotees understand that the lord allows us to approach Him and showcase our love to Him through the via medium of a Deity while we are still conditioned in the material world. The Deities are installed through a very rigorous process of mantras and by qualified priests & devotees. The Lord enters such a setup and infuses the “stone” with His energy which in turn helps us put the fire of material existence from our hearts whenever we come in contact with that Deity. There are thousands of temples around the world visited by millions of people – why would they visit just to gaze upon a stone? No, they have experienced wonderful reciprocation with the Lord and they feel protected and satisfied.

Below is a wonderful read from the Mayapur Academy’s recent newsletter, of a Hare Krishna devotee from South Africa who shares her experience of Deity Worship. I found her stories of interactions with the Lord very interesting. Of-course, this is not surprising at all because a devotee knows that the Lord will reciprocate based on your reciprocation with Him, whether it be through the means of the mind, through a Deity, through His books or His devotees. Hope you will visit a temple in the future with a different frame of mind 🙂

341. Final Kartik month day 2013

Today was the final evening of the Kartik month where devotees offer a candle to the Lord and sing the damodarastakam prayers for a month. Of all the ones I have attended over the years, this year was the one I took more seriously and sincerely. Was at temple everyday and got a chance to worship the Lord directly without fail. The evening todaywas accompanied by plenty of guests, devotees and kirtaneers! Sucharu Prabhu gave it all tonight 🙂 My ears are ringing from the kartalas though….

199. Mayapur Trip – Katwa Trip (Part 2)

3 months later, I am back at my writing desk. Career can take a toll on everything ! Anyway, let’s continue…

We reached one of the most important destination in our trip to Katwa. This is where i need your help. I cannot recollect the name of this holy site and the pastimes associated with it. I am attaching a few photos below and maybe one of the readers can educate us.

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We had a long queue from the bus to the deity room area. Honestly, I do like waiting lines at pilgrimage areas. Once i waited for 6 hours to have darshan at Tirupati temple and perhaps 4 hours at Guruvayoor temple in Kerala. It shows some level of austerity. And also a great chance to watch the devotion and boredom in other people’s eyes.

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Those 2 sketches were just outside the temple room and I thought they were beautiful. Looks like the Lord is instructing in one picture and listening to us in the other.

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What a packed altar ! Many of us didn’t feel like moving from the place where we stood gazing at these deities. As we looked at them, pastimes and purports flooded our minds. There were photographers of many other sanyasis and guru maharajas as well.

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Right outside the temple area was this hall with openings on all walls. The walls were white with shades of dirt. The sunlight seemed to join the gathered devotees  and the floor was simple. To be filled in this room on a holy site with all devotees of the Lord and listening to the pastimes was so special. I couldn’t help thinking, “Why am I so lucky?”

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What do you  think about that picture? As I waited in line to see what was in the adjoining room, I had no idea about what I was going to see. When it was my turn to enter this little room, I was shocked to see Lord Chaitanya sitting there in such a strong pose. His garments were well worn, the fingers were well placed and the sandals in front. I immediately paid my respects and said, “wow !”.

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I must look at this footwear everyday. Can anyone tell me if they were the actual ones that Mahaprabhu wore or are they symbolic ones?

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And finally, prasadam was served to all who had boarded the bus. It was hot khichadi and to sit underneath such locations, far far away from everything material that one was connected to, was a great joy and satisfaction in itself. Are’nt we all so lucky to be a part of these kind of experiences?

……….to be continued (again…)

198. Mayapur 2010 – The Katwa trip (Part 1)

My apologies to all my regular readers. It’s been a long 4 weeks since I last wrote an article. It’s just been a crazy month at work, home programs, bit of service here and there and internet taking hours to upload photos at night. So, I am back at writing something as it rains outside, a cool 9 degrees wandering about in the air and a hot heater next to me. I continue where I left off.

Feb/Mar 2010

I had signed up for a road trip to Katwa starting from the Mayapur temple. In my last few visits to Mayapur, I seldom wandered out of the temple complex. But this visit, I was wanting to be more adventurous. To go and discover parts of Nadia district that were infused with Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition. I had read about some of these places from the translations in Chaitanya Caritamrita. Now, I would see them ! So, one evening, I put my name down for the day long tip and I was asked to report sharply at 5:00am the next day. I was already excited as I left the registration table. Going to the place where Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu took sanyasa would be a memorable thing. But then, any trips on Indian roads would be even more memorable.

Shakti? - Names can be so misleading !

Almost all those who had signed up for the bus ride must have been as enthusiastic as me since they were all there on time. Except, of course for the bus drivers and the organisers. As the clocked ticked to 6:30am, there was still no progress and devotee temper was rising. Our emotions came in the way of our chanting. When the organisers arrived, a few of the Russian matajis approached them and shared their views on the importance of arriving on time and leaving on time. To which, one of the indian devotee organiser said, “Yes mataji…you are so right…but its all Krishna’s will“. What can you say? We all accepted that as a good enough reason for the late start. All women were packed into one bus and the men into another.

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After being used to excellent bus conditions in Australia, getting into and settling into one of the Indian buses was a pastime in itself. From the outside, it looked as if the bus belonged to treta-yuga generation. It probably went through many incarnations before it was bestowed the body of a bus. It was more like those old fashioned tin biscuit box. The seats probably came from a bankrupt movie theatre and the windows were something they remembered to add before handing it over to the new owner.

By the way, what does that sign mean anyway? – “Video No Risk”.

I took a seat right up in the front. My knees came up to my chest, the windows came up to my shoulders and the smelly curtain separating the driver from me, somewhere near my nose. The driver slid into his seat from nowhere, yelled something in Bengali to his mates in the other bus and almost in unison, the 4 odd buses started their motors. Seemed like a F1 racing track preparation. I could see the fumes from the exhaust reaching the front. So much for prevention of global warming matters here.

As we rolled out of the temple, one bus after another and on to the narrow streets of Mayapur, the devotees began to sing Lord Narasimha prayers. I guessed it was more of a plea to get us to Katwa in time rather than a prayer of remembrance and blessings.

No breakfast to full break down !

As we turned around the railway track and onto the main road, the bus came to a halt. In broken Hindi and some English, the driver declared that the bus had broken down. As a devotee following all the regulative principles, chanting 16 rounds, associating with devotees and reading Prabhupad’s books, I just about managed my anger. This trip to the place where Lord Chaitanya took sanyasa would end in me taking up sanyasa, I thought.

The drivers of all the other buses came out, spoke to each other, kicked the tyres a bit, formed their circle again, some laughter, lit their cigarettes, finished it, looked at the buses again, took leave of each other, boarded the bus, turned on the ignition key and voila ! – the bus started. Mayapur is a place where anything can happen and bus drivers are living examples of miracles taking place in front of your eyes.

The audience, I mean the passengers were happy. Cool air was gushing in now, no traffic holding us up and the rice fields with early morning cows on their morning walks reminded many of the non-resident indians in the bus as to why they left the tranquil region of India to cold places in the west. Many of us felt deeply patriotic. A few minutes later, the driver yelled to us that he was running low on petrol and he had to fill the vehicle up. He assured that there was nothing to be worried about.

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………… to be continued (soon, I promise)

193. Mayapur 2010 – Dayal meetup

Meeting up with devotee friends

Fresh from his return of the Australian leg of the Le Carnival Spirituel show of His Holiness Indradyumna Swami, Dina Dayal prabhu was soaking up the sun, enjoying the transcendental nature of Mayapur and excited about his constant association with devotees at the holy dham. Unfortunately, he had sprained his ankle during practice around the time I met him. Nevertheless, the pain was put aside and we enjoyed a superb conversation on life, serving vaishnavas, the urgency of taking Krishna Consciousness to everyone and how fortunate we were to be at Mayapur. Both of us felt great at the end. Few days later he gave me many mp3 lectures to listen to. Looking forward to seeing him return to Melbourne next year.