VNN Editorial - How To See Sri Vrindavan Dham

EDITORIAL June 15, 2001 VNN6798 Comment on this story

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How To See Sri Vrindavan Dham

BY SRILA TURIYA DAS MAHASAYA

EDITORIAL, Jun 15 (VNN) — Q: I have known people who were discouraged in their spiritual practice and went to India as a last attempt to save themselves, but it resulted in ending their spiritual life instead because they went there looking for something and didn't find it. But you have a very special experience of Vrindavan. Can you share with us your personal experience and how it was that you came to go there?

“By being able to see those Holy places, and then bringing them together through reading Krishna Book, it brought my Krishna consciousness to a new level of reality.”

A: The first time I went to India was in 1976 with the Berkeley temple president. We drove from California to New York and met up with many other devotees there. Iskcon had chartered an Air India flight to take us all to Calcutta. Srila Prabhupada was already in Mayapur and we were all going to meet him there. The whole airplane was full of devotees. There were Prasadam meals served on board and there was kirtan and arotik in flight.

As the devotees chanted and danced in the air, the pilot was experiencing the plane's weight rocking from side to side and he couldn't understand what was the cause of the movement until he came out to see the devotees dancing. He sent word around that we had to quiet down as it was interfering with the control of the plane. After arriving in Calcutta, we went to Mayapur, Jagannatha Puri and then Vrindavan. So the first time I toured India was with a large group of devotees accompanying Srila Prabhupada.

By the Mercy of Srila Prabhupada I was able to enter into Vrindaban and while there I was requested to come back to take the position of Head Pujari at Krishna Balaram Mandir. But personally, I saw that by visiting all the Holy places, and then reading Krishna Book, Vrindaban became a reality. Krishna became a reality. By being able to see those Holy places, and then bringing them together through reading Krishna Book, it brought my Krishna consciousness to a new level of reality.

Of course, if you go to Vrindavan anticipating, "What will I see, how will this be life changing?" The experience may not be exactly what you were expecting.

Sometimes devotees come to Vrindavan and then leave disappointed because they heard of some beautiful descriptions but what they see is something different than what they may have read. "Vrindavan is a beautiful place with swans and peacocks dancing, many flowering trees and vinesÉ." and like that, and when they arrive, with their material vision, they see a different thing. Although Kali Yuga appears to cover Vrindavan in the sense that it certainly reflects India as a third world country with open sewers and street garbage, if you go beyond the covering, you will ultimately perceive the spiritual Vrindavan.

There is an element of faith that is required. For example, sometimes we take someone to a Holy place for taking a dip into the waters, whether it be the Yamuna or another sacred place such as Prema Sarovara. Prema Sarovara is the place between Nandagram and Varshana where Radha and Krishna met and Their love turned into a liquid form. Thus it is called Prema Sarovara, or "the Lake of Divine Love."

Presently, when one goes there, one will see a pond covered with a type of green moss. And sometimes a devotee gets on the mental platform thinking, "Oh, it doesn't look very clean. I don't know if I want to go in there." But maya has a way of testing us. If we can get beyond the mental impression, and actually dip in that lake, we have a whole new experience. We feel the wonderful effects of the waters of Prema Sarovara, which is rejuvenating and life giving and fills the heart with natural love for Radha and Krishna. It takes faith to go forward.

Recently I had an experience taking someone on parikram who didn't want to go into one particular lake. Actually he had just arrived, so I said, "Best thing you take a dip here first at Manasi Ganga, out at Goverdhan." And actually, it's relatively clean there, but he had some kind of mental fear that maybe it wasn't clean, that maybe it was contaminated or something and he would get sick. So I told him, "Well, then forget about bathing in Radha Kunda." I make a requirement that one should dip in Manasi Ganga first, because it is purifying. I don't want them to leave their sins in Radha Kunda. Better they leave their sins in the Ganga first (laughterÉ).

So, I said, "If you want to take a dip in Radha Kunda with me, then you have to dip here first." Then actually, he got over the mental block, and the experience was wonderful for him.

Vrindavan is not going to be appreciated simply with the material senses Ð simply the sights and sounds. Even sometimes the sounds are annoying there, like blaring tapes played over screeching loudspeakers and honking buses and automobiles. But, Vrindavan is that which is experienced to the degree or level of one's faith. Staying there at the time of Srila Prabhupada, when I was there, sometimes I would see the reactions of different devotees to the Holy Dhama. Someone would have the idea that they were going to come and live in the Dhama, and then actually be gone the next day. Someone else who came with no expectations became enchanted by the place and was able to stay many years. So Vrindavan is a mystery. One can only enter into the mystery by the Mercy of Srimati Radharani, and without Her Blessings one will never see Vrindavan.. One will see a dusty village or have a materially contaminated idea of what Vrindaban is. When we read some of the songs of Narottama Das Thakur, or a beautiful description of Vrindavan as given by Prabhodananda Saraswati Ð we have to understand, they are seeing Vrindaban with purified heart and eyes. It is not the same vision that most people get when they go to Vrindavan. But because they are seeing it Ð because our Acharyas have seen like that Ð we should have faith that that's what Vrindavan is. They have seen beyond the veil of maya and have actually seen the Transcendental Dhama.

Someone asked me last year, if Vrindavan becomes all built up, would I still want to go there? My answer is, whatever Vrindavan may look like externally may change, but the fact is that there is a spiritual current that will always be there. Whatever the externals are, even if they pave it all over and build high rises, it's still going to be Vrindavan. The eyes will have to adjust to whatever the externals are, but with Transcendental Vision we can understand that this place is not an ordinary place. It is the abode of the Lord, cit-shakti, spiritual shakti, whereas this world is maya shakti.

Vrindavan is surcharged with the cit-shakti, the transcendental potency. Although it may look like water or dust, it is not ordinary water, that is no ordinary dust. To the material eyes, Yamuna may look like an ordinary river, and the land may look like ordinary dusty fields. But the cit-sakti, the transcendental current, emanates from that place. And just by coming in contact with that, knowingly or unknowingly, there will be an effect. That is the potency of the place.

My purpose in bringing devotees to the Holy Dhama is that everyone should be able to perceive how Krishna comes to the forefront in Vrindavan. Here in the material world, maya is in the forefront. There, even in what we call bauma Vrindavan, or the earthly Vrindavan, Krishna is naturally in the forefront of one's consciousness Ð Krishna is there, alive!

In Vrindavan, Krishna is most prominent. In Vrindavan, maya may be there in the background. But in the material world, we are struggling to get Krishna to the forefront Ð He is back there and maya is the prominent factor..

The point is that the cit potency is such that, if one stays in Vrindavan for some time, Krishna will come to forefront. The environment will naturally draw Krishna to the forefront of one's consciousness. Even though one may be covered by strong maya, gradually Krishna comes out. That's why everyone there is naturally Krishna conscious. Everybody! They are naturally Krishna conscious! Krishna is in the forefront, and everything else is in the background.

And there, in Vrindavan, Krishna consciousness comes to us naturally. Most devotees have this experience Ð it's easier to chant, easier to remember, easier to read. It appears to be a more natural environment for hearing, remembering, and chanting. At least that's what most devotees tell me. Others may have a different experience. You were telling me about some people, maybe they're just about ready to give up and then they go there and really give up. That's unfortunate.

But the spiritual effect is there and spiritual practices are a thousand times more potent. If you give the transcendental potency time to work, then you will see Vrindavan becomes a spiritual reality. There are people who can't even conceive of living anywhere but Vrindavan, because Krishna is so alive and so strong there.

One has to go there very sincerely. We are accustomed that if everything is not O.K. externally, then we become disturbed. We are very externally oriented, so we expect the externals to be very good. India is not the place of pleasant externals (laughterÉ) and so you won't get the external stimuli that you may be expecting. Come to Hawaii if you want nice scenery, it's a nice place, but it's all material.

So, the spiritual vision of Vrindavan is only had when one has deep faith. And one has to actually pray sincerely, deeply. In other words, when you're at the end of your rope and you go there, perhaps like your case, praying really sincerely and deeply, then you may have the experience, by Srimati Radharani's Mercy.

But if you're going there expecting that something is going to happen, "and if it doesn't happen, I'm leaving" Ð then you are placing demands on Krishna. The devotee doesn't place demands. Like Mahaprabhu says, "You may make me broken hearted by not appearing before me, but still the conviction within my heart is that You are my worshipable Lord, birth after birth." But if the devotee thinks, "If it doesn't happen there, then I'm giving up" Ðthen probably nothing will happen. If a devotee who is having a hard time in the material world takes shelter of Vrindavan for the purpose of hearing, chanting, and rendering devotional service, then the devotee will have a nice experience.

*****

His Grace Srila Turiya Das Mahasaya was initiated by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami in 1969. "You are well-qualified to worship the Deity at highest standard . . . please increase the Deity worship and teach others to become a very good pujari like you," were the instructions given to him by Srila Prabhupada, an order that he has faithfully executed for nearly thirty years. Appointed as Head Pujari at the Krishna Balarama Mandir in 1976 and serving there up to the time of Srila Prabhupada's disappearance, His Grace has since carried on his spiritual master's mission of sharing the liberating message of Gaudiya Vaishnavism with the Western world. His Grace currently resides on the island of Maui, Hawaii maintaining a six acre ashrama known as "Sri Vrindaban Gardens." For more information please visit his website at: http://www.harekrishnatemple.org

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