The Hare Krishna Movement, The Positive Alternative

It was at 83 Hereford Street Glebe Temple near the Sydney Uni in April 1972, we began our preaching mission up to the North where devotees had previously never been. There were 14 of us on the double Decker Bus, eleven boys and three girls. We had painted in big letters on the side 'The Hare Krishna Movement, The Positive Alternative' that Srila Prabhupada very much appreciated when he first saw the bus. We were now on our way to spread the mission of Lord Caitanya for the first time on Australian soil to every town and village, as predicted by Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

In April 1972 we left Sydney Temple for the trip of a lifetime, innocently we believe it had probably taken us thousands of life times to achieve such a privilege to be part of Lord Caitanya's pioneering preaching mission.

The great transcendental high tide of Krishna Conscious bliss, experienced in the mid sixties and very early seventies, we all experienced, was truly amazing. Our transcendental bus trip, in the winter of 72, was surfing high up, right on top of that transcendental wave of Krishna Consciousness bliss and ecstasy that only a very few rare souls have experienced since this period of Prabhupada's presents on this planet. Some older devotees say, that if you look hard enough, especially in New York, San Francisco, London and Sydney, where it all began, you can still see the high tide mark of that transcendental ocean of bliss Srila Prabhupada carried with him".

We were all so fortunate to be on the very first preaching mission for Lord Caitanya to every Town and Village around Australia. The devotees on this first travelling preaching mission were

Madhudvisa Swami

Caru (only came part of the way)

Balarama,

Chittahari,

Yasamatinandana,

Dvaipayana,

Krsna Caitanya (Ted Spencer who the previous year was the world champion for surf board ridding),

Kuntiboja,

Kainaram

Srngi (now Muralidhar_das) (meet up with in Cairns)

Krishna Prema (meet up with in Cairns)

Gauragopala Brahmacari's, plus one or two names that are not remembered.

The 'boys' (because that's what we were back then) lived in the Brahmacari quarters, which were the bottom deck of the bus (except for the bus drivers who had a private space upstairs), while the second deck (upstairs) was the Brahmatarini or girls quarters where

Ambika,

Arti,

Kamarupa (who joined us in Cairns) and

Sukla devi-dasi's resided.

Most of us where teenagers back then except for Madhudvisa, Balarama and Chittahari

Krsna Caitanya dasa in the early '70s, was the great Ted Spencer, who famously declared: "When I surf, I dance for Krishna", urged on in his heats by a full Hare Krishna cheersquad." (Bells Beach, Australia - the Age Newspaper). Other famous surfers like Nat Young also spent time with us

It was on this bus trip a devotee for the first time suggested we all have came from the Impersonal Brahmajyoti. This is where the 'origin of the jiva' controversy started in Australia. That idea would later be quickly rejected in a letter from Prabhupada, that eventually was sent to all Temple Presidents in Australia and around the world. It was a hot topic back then in 1972 as well, but Prabhupada was personally present to guide us.

Hearing the Srimad Bhagavatam classes was so wonderful; we delved deeply into the souls origin for months as we travelled from Town to Town. We new this was a very auspicious time and that the teachings of Srila Prabhupada we were hearing, is the revelation of long kept secrets and explanations that told us about the universe and it's creator Lord Krishna.

On the way we chanted on the streets of Newcastle and all Towns in-between there and Brisbane, such as Kempsey, Coffs Harbour, Grafton, Ballina, Lismore and the hippie centre of Australia, Nimbin. But by far the spookiest place we went to was Byron Bay; Kainaram claimed he had seen the ghost of a dead girl who had been killed by a train many years ago. On many occasions people had claimed to pick up this lonely little girl to take her home only to find when they got to there home she had mysteriously disappeared. People would go up to the house to tell the little girls parents only to find she had died many years before.

After Bryon with all the hippies we went to Murwillumbah where we chanted in the streets for the first time. Soon (1977) we would establish the farm New Govardhana there.

We then went inland to Lismore, then Armadale where there was a university. We meet an Indian Professor who invited us to the Uni where we chanted and distributed Prasadam. Many Indian families lived there and some of us went to their houses to speak from Bhagavad Gita.

This is where the origin of the jiva soul came up and Madhudvisa had to explain that we do not originate from the impersonal Brahmajyoti as many Hindu's believed, but have come down from Vaikuntha. It was explained to our Indian hosts that our 'present awareness' is only within the past, present and future of the material world and we have forgotten who we really are. And yes, we are actually in the material world or mahat-tattva due to having only that awareness! So clearly, we are IN the material world, even if, as Prabhupada explains, our eternal 'svarupa' is perpetually situated in Vaikuntha within the 'eternal present' that is only existent in Vaikuntha.

It was further explained on that cold winters night in June 1972, that this is because as long as we remain in the material world, our 'awareness of our eternal relationship with Krishna, is no longer remember in our present state of conditioned consciousness. Therefore it only 'appears' it does not exist, just like it 'appears' the sun does not exist due to the cloud cover or by the presents of night. Actually our conditioned position in the material world is way shoddier than that analogy because we at least understand that the sun exists behind the cloud cover and in the sky, even if we cannot see it when night comes.

The conditioned soul however, does not understand this because they are not aware they even have a eternal relationship with Krishna. Therefore our attendance in the material world is very real. And to each of us, IT IS NOT a dream state, we do NOT experience the material world as a dream state while we are here, it is real, as real as being in Vaikuntha, however we experience everything as temporary.

As the night progressed, the Indian women cooked up some amazing food preparations that we offered to Srila Prabhupada.

That place was very, very cold. Every morning, even in the middle of winter, we had cold showers behind the bus. To give one an idea, Chittahari was walking to the bus one cold morning with what we thought was a board, it was his underwear (koppings) frozen solid!

We eventually arrived in Toowoomba in Queensland and chanted to the redneck out back Queenslanders who thought we were some alien invasion from another planet!

From there we went to the Gold Coast, made up of the major towns of Coolangatta, Burleigh heads, Surfers Paradise and Southport. We chanted in all these places, distributed Back To Godhead Magazine and Prasadam and spoke to the enormous crowds that gathered around us. Many of the devotees on the Bus, like Balarama and Krsna Caitanya where surfer board riders, they attracted many young people to learn about Krishna and take prasad. Especially Krsna Caitanya who was a well-known celebrity around the world

Then we went to Beenleigh, in-between the Gold Coast and Brisbane. The day we arrived in Brisbane, we chanted on the city streets and were on page two of the Couramail the next day. The headline was ' The Hare Krishna's have arrived with the chant of peace" Brisbane was also having their annual 'Festive show' that attracted tens of thousands of people. We chanted out the front gates thousands of the 'Sow grounds' where so many people saw the Hare Krishna's for the first time, many receiving BTG Magazine.

It was on Brisbane that a devotee began suggesting and kept insisting that the jiva souls originated from the impersonal Brahmajyoti and that no one can fall down from Goloka. Along with the Uni discussion at Armadale and on the bus during classes, this is how the 'origin of the jiva' controversy began in Australia. The debate ragged for weeks on the bus that idea was quickly rejected in a letter we would eventually receive from Prabhupada that was sent to all Temple Presidents in Australia. It was a very hot topic back then in 1972 as well, but we had Prabhupada who personally guided us to the correct understanding.

Srila Prabhupada - "You are already in the spiritual sky, but you are simply covered. Just like the sun is already there. You are also already there…So actually we are always in the spiritual world. But when you forget Krishna by the cloud of illusion that is material. Try to understand". In a Srimad-Bhagavatam lecture given in London, on July 30, 1971

Srila Prabhupada - ""Formerly we were with Krsna in His Lila"

Srila Prabhupada - We have also come down from Vaikuntha some millions and millions of years ago." - Lecture on August 6, 1973 ...73/08/06 London, Bhagavad-gita 2.6

Srila Prabhupada however, also stresses that presently we are caught in past present and future. That we can't deny. We are experiencing Krsna, the same time factor as the eternal present, in terms of past present future. It is not enough to just say there is only the eternal present and pretend we are free from time while we continue to revolve in birth and death. A prisoner behind bars for twenty years may shut his eyes and pretend he his release date has already arrived but the fact is he is still behind bars. The material experience of time as past present future is an illusion but it is also very real.

The Srimad Bhagavatam classes therefore delved deeply into the souls origin for months as we travelled around Australian. We new this was a very auspicious time and that the teachings of Srila Prabhupada revealed to us the disclosure of the long kept secret of the meaning of existence and the purpose of all life. Srila Prabhupada in his beautiful Srimad Bhagavatam and Bhagavad Gita was revealing all this to us, opening our eyes to the truth about the universe and it's creator Lord Krishna.

We never had the full version of the Gita in those days, only the abridged edition with the forward by Allan Ginsburg.

Those years were extraordinary. Dwaip cooked up beautiful offerings to Srila Prabhupada and Lord Caitanya and Nityananda while Cittahari, Balarama and myself were the Bus Drivers. Yaso and Kuntiboja were the inquisitive philosopher, well, actually we all were. Many times we discussed the origins of the jiva that lead to the famous "Crow-and-Tal-Fruit Logic" letter Srila Prabhupada sent to his inquisitive Australian devotees.

We just new we were very fortunate to be on that bus hearing such wonders of creation. Some of us asked 'what did we deserve to hear the beautiful Srimad Bhagavatam, that Madhudvisa read from during morning class. He had one of Prabhupada's original volumes he brought with him in 1965 to America.

Some of us speculated we were yogis, mystics, devotees and even demons from the Satya-yuga. Madhudvisa laughed and simply said 'It is by the causeless mercy of Lord Caitanya and Srila Prabhupada that the seeds of Bhakti are now sown in our hearts'.

In those days we would chant on the streets for 8 to 10 hours a day. One night at the show grounds we chanted to 10pm because there where so many people. We did this through all the Towns and cities as we proceeded up north to Cairns. We went through all the Towns like Bundaberg, Mackay, Harvey Bay where we had big feast with hundreds of curious locals attended, (the Americans call them rednecks, we call them yobbo's). Gladstone, Rockhampton, Arles beach, Townsville, where we where on the front page of the main paper, actually all papers in all Towns were doing articles on us that kept Chittahari Prabhu very busy doing interviews and arranging interviews with Madhudvisa

At Kuranda, just outside of Cains, Madhudvisa lead a blissful kirtan through the hippie community and hundreds of them, most naked, joined in chanting Hare Krishna and dancing. Devotees before this had never visited anywhere outside of Sydney or Melbourne. We were the pioneers at the very beginning of Lord Caitanya's very rare Golden Age in Kali-yuga.

We celebrated Janmastami at a Buddhist colony not far from Kuranda; we loaded as many hippies as we could in the double decker Hare Krishna bus, all chanting Hare Krishna and dancing 'on the bus' to the excellent blissful kirtans with Madhudvisa leading. IT WAS VERY SPECIAL

The following day was Vysa-puj and Madhudvisa had lit a candle under Srila Prabhupada's photo, the aura, bliss, love and security from that photo permeated the entire bus with an amazing mood of reverence and Krishna Consciousness.

They were amazing days and there was a childish innocence about those days; In fact we thought Madhudvisa was old (he was 24 and Balarama was 29). The rest of us where still teenagers. The present generation I don't think realize how young we were in those beginning years of ISKCON.

There was also no hanky panky going on, everyone was very sincere, very dedicated and very attached to Prabhupada. We only ate offerings to the Deities and absolutely nothing else (We had a beautiful photo of the Panca-tattva with a wonderful Photo of Prabhupada at their feet), no one even dreamed of eating anything unprepared by devotees or even drink soft drinks in those blissful days.

As far as I am concerned, our 'svarupa' is always in Vaikuntha but we are now 'consciously' caught up within the past, present and future of the material creation due to our desire and choice not to be with Krishna, that has covered the 'eternal present' of Vaikuntha and Goloka like a cloud covers the Sun.

It was in the Temple room at 83 Hereford St. Sydney in early in 1973 that Srila Prabhupada and myself began discussing the paintings of Lord Caitanya and Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswat Thakur that I innocently put on the step of his Vysasana to keep them off the floor while I was cleaning. Srila Prabhupada laughed and laughed saying that is not where those Personalities go, the emotion in his eyes and his humility I will never forget. It was during his gentle chastisement of me he said –

Srila Prabhupada – "We have all foolishly come to this material world from the wonderful pastimes of Lord Caitanya and Krsna, and now you have come back, when you eventually go back home back to Godhead you will understand all this"

This was an intimate personal relationship between my Spiritual Master and myself that I will remember this to my last days on this planet.

It is that kind of association that rivets ones understanding that can never be swayed by any other argument.

When one chooses to forget Krishna, one is unwilling to serve Krishna as their perpetual Krishna Conscious nitya-siddha bodily self and therefore, it is that aversion to Krishna that causes the the living entity to manifest a secondary version of themselves (nitya baddha) that imagines, thinks and dream they are no longer in Vaikuntha or even Goloka.

This is possible due to the marginal status of the living entity, where exists the free will to be, or not be with Krishna, eternally exists.

That secondary nitya-baddha jiva condition enters the mahat-tattva of divided time and space and is given material form (vessels) by Maha -Vishnu to live out their non Krishna conscious imagination"

Srila Prabhupada – "…We are eternally conditioned, but as soon as we surrender to Krishna do we then become eternally liberated?" You are not eternally conditioned. You are eternally liberated but since we have become conditioned on account of our desire to enjoy materialistic way of life, from time immemorial, therefore it appears that we are eternally conditioned' Letter to Aniruddha, dated November 14, 1968,

The full expression and complete potential of ALL marginal living entities is their perpetual 'svarupa' body that is eternally situated and established within Goloka or Vaikuntha within the realm of the 'eternal present' that is unaffected by the past, present and future of divided time that exists in the material creation or mahat-tattva.

Therefore it can then be said that the marginal living entities who have miss-used their free will and chose to enter the maha-tattva, are only temporarily trapped within the material creation, while their undying 'svarupa' body is currently not realized by them within the 'perpetual present' of Goloka and Vaikuntha. This is because of being consciously absorbed and restricted to their baddha jiva conscious imagination that is trapped within the divided time of past, present and future within the mahat-tattva creation of Maha-Vishnu"

Srila Prabhupada - You are already in the spiritual sky, but you are simply covered. Just like the sun is already there. You are also already there…So actually we are always in the spiritual world. But when you forget Krishna by the cloud of illusion that is material. Try to understand". In a Srimad-Bhagavatam lecture given in London, on July 30, 1971

Srila Prabhupada - "Actually we are not fallen therefore, at any moment we can revive our Krishna consciousness. As soon as we understand that, "I have nothing to do with. I am simply Krishna's servant. Eternal servant. That's all. lecture Tokyo Japan 1972: Srimad Bhagavatam 2.9.1

Srila Prabhupada - "Our contact with matter is just like dream. Actually we are not fallen. Therefore, because we are not fallen, at any moment we can revive our Krishna consciousness, we break the dream. Similarly, we can break this situation" Srila Prabhupada lecture Tokyo Japan 1972: Srimad Bhagavatam 2.9.1

Srila Prabhupada - "Our separation from Krishna is like that. We dream this body and so many relationships with other things". Letter to Madhudvisa Swami

Srila Prabhupada - 'Actually, you are not conditioned. You are thinking. Just like in the dream you are thinking that tiger is eating you. You were never eaten by tiger. There is no tiger. So we have to get out of this dream. (Lecture on Sri Caitanya-Caritamrita, Adi-lila 7.108–San Francisco, February 18, 1967)

Srila Prabhupada - "We cannot say therefore that we are not with Krishna. As soon as we try to become Lord, immediately we are covered by Maya. Formerly we were with Krishna in His Lila or sport" Letter to Madhudvisa Swami

Srila Prabhupada - "Just like in a dream we are thinking very long time, but as soon as we awaken we look at our watch and see it has been a moment only" (Srimad-Bhagavatam lecture, December 7, 1974, Bombay)

Srila Prabhupada – 'So svarupa-siddhi is not something artificial. When one becomes perfectly spiritually realised, then he understands what his relationship with Krishna is, and he begins his service in that relationship as father, as friend, as guru or as servant, like that. So this relationship is eternal. (Srimad-Bhagavatam lecture, December 7, 1974, Bombay)

Srila Prabhupada –"Established means re-establish. It is already established. We have got different types of relationship. That is called svarupa-siddhi. Svarupa-siddhi. When you are perfect in spiritual life, you will understand what your relationship with Krishna is automatically. That is called svarupa-siddhi". (Srimad-Bhagavatam lecture, December 7, 1974, Bombay)

Srila Prabhupada - 'No one falls from the spiritual world or Vaikuntha planet, for it is the eternal abode. (Bhag. 3.16.26, purp.)

This clearly means our nitya-siddha svarupa body can NEVER leave Goloka or Vaikuntha and that WE ONLY DREAM, THINK OR IMAGINE WE LEAVE. In this way the mahat-tattva is the destination for where such dreams go.

> It is there in the material creation that the baddha jiva's are provided with temporary bodily forms created by Maha-Vishnu who is dreaming the entire mahat-tattva or material creation aspect of the Spiritual Sky.

In this way it is Srila Prabhupada explaining to us in very simple English that we all originate from Goloka.

Srila Prabhupada - "Originally everyone is nitya-siddha. Nitya-siddha krsna-bhakti 'sadhya' kabhu naya sravanadi-suddha-citte karaye udaya. Every living entity originally nitya-siddha, ". Srimad-Bhagavatam Class 7.9.4– Mayapur, February 18, 1977

Srila Prabhupada -"The living entity should become purified and regain his svarupa, his original identity" Srimad Bhagavatam 8.24.48

Srila Prabhupada - "Kāla is exhibited in three features: past, present, and future. That is in the material existence. And if one becomes above the three kālas, in the eternal time… Time is eternal, but in the material existence there is past, present, and future.

In the spiritual existence there is no past, no future, only present. Only present. Everything is fresh, present, nitya-navayamāna, only feelings, new, new. That is spiritual existence, ānandāmbudhi-vardhanam, only present—no future, no past. That we cannot realize now, but we can get the knowledge from Vedic literature.

The time factor… In the material world there is past, present, and future. Otherwise, time factor is eternal". Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.26.16 by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada Bombay, December 25, 1974

Srila Prabhupada - "As soon we come to the spiritual plane, "only present", but: "That we cannot realize now."

Actually there is no birth of the jivas. They are all eternal, like Lord Balarama Himself. Many things in the shastra is said to convince the jivas conditioned in the material world, that their real home is Goloka. There are so many things that sastra has told us, whereas in reality, in Goloka Vrndavana dhama, due to the 'eternal presents', these things will be seen in another way".

The great transcendental high tide of Krishna Conscious bliss, experienced in the mid sixties and very early seventies with Srila Prabhupada's presents, was truly amazing. Our transcendental bus trip, in the winter of 72, was surfing high up, right on top of the Tsunami of Krishna Consciousness bliss and ecstasy, which Srila Prabhupada brought with him to Australia. Some older devotees say, that if you look hard enough, especially in New York, L.A., San Francisco, London and Sydney, where it all began, you can still see the high tide mark of that transcendental ocean of bliss Srila Prabhupada carried with him.

Of course, for those who are enthusiastically captivated by reading Srila Prabhupada's books, they also can experience that amazing Tsunami of transcendental bliss Srila Prabhupada eternally carries with him!

<small></small>Devotees from Ukraine visit Guruvayur

Wednesday February 6 2008 08:15 IST <small>FAC</small>

http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IER20080205215413&Page=R&Title=Kerala&Topic=0

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Kaliya Krishna, Jimmy's Gallerie Kathmandu, Nepal

GURUVAYUR: A 23 member Sree Krishna devotees’ delegation from ISKCON, Ukraine offered prayers before Sree Guruvayurappan here on Tuesday.

The devotees who arrived here had accepted Hinduism and had been leading a life in Vedic path for nearly two decades, Swami Achuthanandapriya Prabhu, the head of ISKCON temple at Ukraine told this website's newspaper.

The ISKCON owns a temple in Ukraine. Daily poojas and rituals are also performed at the temple. Ashrams for the brahmacharis are attached to the Sree Krishna temple in Ukraine, he said.

The devotees from Ukraine are mainly engaged in promoting Bhagavad Gita, Achuthanandapriya Prabhu said. The delegation arrived here after offering prayers at Sree Krishna temples in Brindavan, Mayapur and Puri Jagannath temple.

The group will move to Thiruvananthapuram for offering prayers at Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple and then to Rameswaram, said Swami Nithyanandadas from ISKCON, Mumbai, who is accompanying the delegation.

The president of ISKCON, Guruvayur unit, Sarva Aiswaryadas and ISKCON workers received the delegation.

The devotees had obtained the certificate from Arya Samajam, Kozhikode, which is mandatory for entering the Sree Krishna temple here and produced them to the authorities.</small>

Amazing how everyone here is totally blissful, happy and effulgent. Why?