Expressing Devotion To Sri Krishna In Different Ways

~ the huge gathering of iskcon's devotees after the curtain is pulled open, many dances through the kirtan ~

Day 48

6.4.2024
Saturday

Paharganj, Delhi

I feel I want to stay longer in India. I have spent nearly 50 days in India. Next thursday Jasmine and I will fly home. I have no idea when I would come to India again because in the recent ten years, I have travelled a lot to India very constantly. At times, I go India three times in the span of two years. India gives me a transformational travel experience and I am regaining my mental health very slowly that I have missed out in life. The white collar job sitting in the air-conditioned room is already wiped out from my path several years ago. I feel I need to work for some money when I return home from this trip. I need to figure out what I should do next.

We took the metro to Kalkaji Mandir station yesterday after lunch. We intended to go to both the Krishna Temple of Iskcon and Lotus Temple of Baha'i faith. Both the mandirs, the abode of gods were not far apart. I suggested to Jasmine, after we visited the lotus temple, we should go to krishna temple. In my heart, the highlight of yesterday's itinerary was visiting krishna temple. I had wanted to sit quietly for several hours in the presence of lord Krishna because I wished to tell him, in evidencing how my personality had changed a little at a time in these ten years, my devotion to god had not changed. My sadhana got heightened and I felt a deeper maturity every time after I returned home from backpacking in India.

India has given a platform to me to grow spiritually and mentally. As I feel grateful to my family for giving me so much of spiritual support at the phase of life when I am at a low consciousness, I have an equal thankful to this spiritual land of India for giving me a platform to walk my sadhana without restricting me under any obligations to pay my indebtedness while I am in India. I feel free to choose the path of my sadhana in India.

At Iskcon, Jasmine bought a bottle of ointment and a small bottle of attar oil. At the shelve near the ointment counter, I noticed the bhagavad geeta had a series of worldwide languages. The bhagavad geeta in its origin of sanskrit was translated into the languages of many countries. I found one of them, at the upper shelve, printed on its cover a title of the indonesian language. I wanted that book immediately. When I asked the caretaker of the counter to bring it down for me to peruse, he had said, those versions of translated bhagavad geeta were not for sale. They were for display only. He asked me, whether I read indonesian. I told him, the malay and indonesian were one of the same. We were only different in the accent.

The caretaker of the counter told me, they have only one copy each of the bhagavad geeta translated in foreign languages. That explained, these books were not for sale. I told him I was very much in a great relish wanted to own it. He responded with a suggestion, he asked me to get that book in Iskcon of Vrindavan because those books came from there.

Several days ago, I was thinking where would I find the books printed in malay sanskerta. Now, I found the title. I may need to get it from elsewhere if not from Vrindavan. I did not have time left to go Vrindavan in this trip. In my mind, perhaps, I may find this book in Indonesia. Anyway, I was not in hurry to own this book.

Learning a classical language may take a lot of patience till I find a suitable reading material. I may need to wait till I am ready to absorb the knowledge. If I wish to learn a language, then I should just go ahead and do it. But sometimes, I do believe in destiny. If I am not destined for those things to realise, I would not succeed anyhow I strive for it. At 50, I aware there are plenty of things I could not put in control. It is the destiny that will take above. I tell myself, if the book comes to me that easily, I may lose the full meaning of acquiring that knowledge in it.

The first time I encountered hare krishna was at 10. When I was still a boy, I had a dream. At that time, I did not know what was krishna and the movement of hare krishna was about. I lived in the small town when at that time there was totally no computers and internet. In the dream, I saw five brothers, the gopis of hare krishna arrived with a chariot at the intersection of the streets near the house where I stayed. I called them gopis because they had a very weird hair fashion. I found they were very odd because they almost had a clean shave but maintain a shikha, or a ponytail at the back of their heads. I felt the gopi brothers were some people not ever found in my community where we did not shave our head like that. I did not see any oxen pulling the chariot. The gopi brothers were pulling that chariot. I had a very vivid image of the chariot because there was a gold statue of krishna sitting in it. Then, I saw the gopis giving prasadam to the people as they pulled the chariot.

There was a reverential feeling to the chariot but at the same time, I felt very scared seeing the gopi brothers because they looked strong, sturdy and serious. They came to our neighbourhood with a task, when everyone could feel their presence. They had wanted to introduce krishna to the people in our town. At that moment, I saw an indian man came to me with a short message. He spoke to me in malay. I still remembered what he had said, "This is krishna's chariot. This is the abode of krishna. When you grow up one day, you have to return to him. You belong to him. Remember he is krishna!" After saying his piece of message to me, he left. Looking back now, at 10, I was not able to comprehend his message. I only understood one, and that was the highlight he brought to me. He had asked me to devote to that hindu deity when I grew up.

In my mind, there were too many hindu deities and I found difficult to remember their names. So at that young age, any hindu deities in encountering, I called them - the gods belonged to the indian people. My school was very near to an old hindu temple. When I was listening to that indian man who came to me in the dream, immediately I felt the hindu temple near my school was a divine abode to krishna. Everyday there were many hindu devotees came to worship and offer prayers for the manifestation of divinity by the hindu gods. Until I was 35, I had a very strong belief that the temple was a krishna temple. Only later I found out that the hindu temple was a seat and body of lord muruga. Anyway, every time when I returned to my hometown, I will visit that temple and I deeply carried a notion in my heart, krishna was sitting in the sanctum of that temple.

In recent year, one day, I remember someone whom I could not see with my eyes but audible to me, he could have come from else spiritual world, he talks to me with a lack of understanding why the devotees of hare krishna in expressing devotion to krishna, they would do it through dancing into the songs. He says, in their krishna mandir, bliss comes from transforming material energy to spiritual energy in complete silence through prayer and meditation in their guru's presence. They observe total silence and always be in meditative mood. So, they do not dance but sitting in strict vajrasana in the mandir. This is our sankirtan, he says to me.

~ photo is taken from the pathway after the entry gate of the lotus temple of baha'i faith ~