© 1999 VNN
|
EDITORIAL March 6, 1999 VNN3256 ISKCON Book Project BY KULASEKHARA DAS EDITORIAL, Mar 6 (VNN) — All Glories to Sri Guru and Gouranga! Srila Prabhupada Ki Jaya! I wish to offer my humble obeisances to all the devotees. After much chanting, reading and prayer on Lord Chaitanya's Appearance Day, I threw myself at Srila Prabhupada's lotus feet, begging forgiveness for all my offenses and shortcomings. I prayed to be inspired in some valuable service, feeling worthless and un-involved in Lord Chaitanya's mission. When I awoke this morning and began my saddhana, the idea came through clear and bright. What we (and History and the World) needs, is a book about ISKCON. Not the IS_CON of today, which resembles a withered and sick form, but the vibrant and healthy ISKCON that I served in as a brahmacary for ten years. I have so many great stories from my experiences when serving Srila Prabhupada, and I know that many, many devotees also have such memories. This is the story that needs to be told, and not by some fop, who considers himself as good as Srila Prabhupada, but by the humble devotees themselves. It was YOU who went out in all weathers approaching all kinds of people with the message of Lord Chaitanya. It was YOU who cooked the feasts for their Lordships, who found inventive ways to procure bhoga and flowers when their was no laxmi. It was YOU who brought new devotees into the fold by your humility and sincerity. These are the stories I want to document. I will now share one short outline of my experiences to give you some idea what I am looking for. Kulasekhara das in Tel Aviv. I went to Israel in 1972 with Dinesh and Krishna Devi to open the first Temple in Israel. We stayed in the countryside outside Tel Aviv, living "under-cover" for about six weeks. One day I decided it was time to 'test the waters' for sankirtan. I shaved my head, put on robes and took the bus downtown with 150 Back to Godhead magazines. My first stop was on the main street in Tel Aviv, where I was mobbed. People were tearing magazines and leaflets out of my hands and literally throwing money at me. A Police man grabbed me and pushed me into a Taxi, and then picked up the money off the ground, then climbed in after me. He spouted something to the driver and we took off. I thought I was being arrested, but he explained to me that if I had stayed where I was, that I would be crushed by the mob. He said he was taking me to Dizangoff Circle (not sure of the spelling!). We arrived at this park that was situated inside a giant roundabout, encircled by large Cinemas in an affluent part of town. I thanked him and he assured me that I would be safe here. I took up a spot in the center and began chanting with my Kartouls. Within five minutes, about forty people had gathered and I stopped chanting, gave a small speech and started handing out BTG's. To my amazement, EVERYONE took a magazine and paid for it without hesitation. I repeated this two more times and had about thirty BTG's left. When I started chanting again, thinking how wonderful this was, and what an amazing success it had been, eight Israeli soldiers came up and surrounded me. I had to stop chanting, because they were all pulling on me. One was pulling my sikha, one was pulling my dhoti, one was pulling my kaupin etc. I was spinning this way and that saying, "leave me alone, get away!", when the soldier directly in front of me, held out my remaining magazines and said, "Do these belong to you?", and then he dropped them at my feet. As I bent down to pick up the BTG's, he put his cigarette out in the center of my freshly shaved head! My immediate reaction was to whack this guy with my Kartouls, I figured I could probably take his nose off his face before they beat me into a pulp with their machine gun butts. (They all carried them!) At that moment, before I could do anything stupid, supersoul took control. Suddenly I was looking down on this whole affair from about sixty feet in the air. I watched myself calmly pick up the magazines and walk off quietly towards the bus station. I remained 'on high' observing this for a good half a mile, until I came back down into my body. Until this time I had not experienced any pain, as I came back into my body, I FELT IT!, and on the bus ride back to Mishmar Hashiva by the weather station, my mind was filled with eye-watering pain, and wonder at the experience of being put on auto-pilot by supersoul. This experience has helped my understand the experiences of Haridas Thakur when He was beaten through the twenty three marketplaces, and Lord Jesus on the cross. SO, this is an example of an ISKCON story. Not that one has to have suffered in order to contribute, but these stories NEED to be documented. The Glorious Story of ISKCON before the coup NEEDS to be told, by YOU!!! ALL of YOU!!! Please, help me capture these stories before YOU forget them. NOW is the time. O.K. This is what I want. Please send all stories by Email to: cjury@earthlink.net Include: Your karmi name, your devotee name, when and where you were initiated (first and second) also if yours was a ritvik initiation or whether Srila Prabhupada personally conducted the ceremony. (I had ritvik initiation for first and second initiation back in 1969 and 1970 in London, England). Also I would like you to include the story (not too wordy), of how you came to Krishna Consciousness, and how, and why, and when, you left ISKCON. As well as any noteworthy stories from the time you spent in ISKCON. As a publisher, I will take your stories, make sure they are very professionally edited for grammar and punctuation. I will send you an Email copy of your final copy for approval before publishing. And, I can assure you that I will try to include as much as possible, even if this project goes into multiple volumes! If any editing is required that will shorten any submissions, such editing will be done with the utmost care and sensitivity, and again you will get to approve it before publishing. I will trust in Sri Krishna and Lord Chaitanya to provide the funds for printing, and this will be done first-class. (I am a master printer who currently represents four of the very best printers in North America in the Los Angeles market). Also any photographs that we can use may be sent to: Colin Jury, 2118 Wilshire Blvd. Suite 176, Santa Monica, CA 90403. I will scan these and return them promptly. Prabhupada stories are of course very much wanted, but much of this ground has already been documented, I want to tell the "Story of ISKCON", through YOUR words, including YOUR living experience in service to Srila Prabhupada. Also I am not interested in receiving anything from any current IS_CON men. You have already lost your place in the book of life, there is no place for you in this. Your servant in the service of Srila Prabhupada, Kulasekhara das. Comment on this Story This story URL: http://www.vnn.org/editorials/ET9903/ET06-3256.html
NEWS DESK | EDITORIALS | TOP |
