Gipsy Palace

On another thread the devotees were talking about chanting Hare Krsna all day long. I have chanted all day only once in my 55 years of devotional service. Over 50 years ago, for some reason I was the only devotee at mongala aroti on Janmashtami Day at New Vrindavan in the main Temple with Krsna and Radharani on the altar. For some reason, no one else was there all that day so I just remained in the temple chanting from 4:30 A.M. until late at night. I didn't stop all day and just kept chanting. As the day went on it got easier and easier. There were no distractions and I was able to hear every syllable . and I kept chanting all the way to finishing 108 rounds nonstop before I took rest. I can't remember the details of why everyone was gone all day - maybe the festival was at Madhavan or Bahulabhan. Or maybe the celebration was at Cleveland temple. There must have been some arotis during the day but all I recall is chanting and chanting nonstop. This was maybe 53 years ago at least, when I was actually a devotee, and not the fool pretender and rascal that so many years of Maya's pushing and covering can do to a once sincere and enthusiastic bhakta. But we still are breathing so there is always hope that we might receive a little mercy again from Krsna and our beloved Srila Prabhupada, and can once again fall down at his feet 24/7 like in the old days. I imagine there are so many of you who can relate to what I am saying. It shall always remain our dream to somehow in this lifetime to again become a full-time disciple of Srila Prabhupada by reviving our enthusiasm. I shall always remain an unqualified servant, Mahananda Das

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2YImkWwWQQ

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"Maya may put so many doubts and worthless arguments into our minds, but if we continue the chanting, the curing process will go on, never mind the doubts, and gradually we will get a taste of that sweet nectar of Krishna Nama Sankirtana."
(Srila Prabhupada letter, March, 1968)

Can We Surrender Again Completely to Krsna? ?
(reposted)
In the beginning when we first came to Krsna consciousness 54 years ago, there was a clear-cut distinction between what was material life, or maya, illusion, and what wasn't. Maya was seen as everything in our lives up to that point-- our many sinful habits, our ignorance and bodily consciousness, our unending longings for a variety of sense enjoyment, and of course our determined forgetfulness of God. What wasn't maya was the temple, devotional service, Sankirtan, prasadam, hearing and chanting, reading the Bhagavad-gita and describing the glories of Krsna, and associating with our beloved godbrothers, and of course following in the footsteps and instructions of a genuine pure devotee. This distinction seemed then like black and white.
But as the years passed, these obvious distinctions faded into subtleties that were much more difficult to discern. As the more obvious influence of passion and ignorance slowly diminished because of the strength of our devotional service, the tricks of maya became more subtle. The distress of our long ignorant life of passion and longings had caused great pain and had been more than enough reason to surrender to our new life of devotional service.
That was also true of the indolence and lethargy of ignorance. The miseries produced by the influence of these two modes was certainly a clear-cut impetus for taking shelter of Krsna in our new regulated devotional life and for our seeking protection from the many miserable reactions to our sinful lives. But the further we progressed in devotional service, the more subtle became the illusory allurements.
When I first joined Srila Prabhupada in 1969, it was very easy to engage in Krsna consciousness. All you had to do was be at the temple. 24 hours a day there were devotional activities going on and all you needed to do was join in.
We understood from Srila Prabhupada that Krsna consciousness was just like a light. When you engaged in hearing or chanting, the light of Krsna consciousness was on, like when you come into a room and flick on the switch. But when you stopped chanting or hearing then immediately maya would rush in, filling the void just as darkness rushes in filling the room when the light switch is again turned off.
So we were always trying to fill up our whole day with regulative devotional service, while all the time chanting continuously. All the devotees carried schedules outlining every minute of their days and were constantly trying to find the time to fit in another hour of reading, etc.
We were convinced that a devotee, even a neophyte, could be engaged 24 hours a day in transcendental activities through this practice of regulated devotional practice. This was shown by Srila Prabhupada when he organized the temples in America and implemented the regulative devotional principles to be followed by his disciples within the temples.
We rose at 4 AM. and immediately after offering obeisances to Lord Krsna and Srila Prabhupada, we would clean our body (a regulative principle) because we were going to visit the Deities. Therefore, our showering was for the purpose of pleasing Krsna and during our bath we would chant the Holy Name.
After bathing, we would apply tilak all over our body, and while doing so would chant the different names of Krsna. Then we would dress ourselves nicely in clean devotional dress, wanting to satisfy the Deities by a sincere effort to please Them by appearing before Them without dirty clothing This devotional attitude and following of different regulative principles helped the neophyte devotee keep his mind on Krsna.
Next, the devotee would travel to the temple for the purpose of worshipping the Lord and, upon arriving, would offer his humble obeisances to his guru, to Krsna, and to all of the assembled Vaisnavas there. When the curtains would open, the devotee would bow down and recite various prayers to please Krsna and to beg His mercy.
During aroti, the devotee would look at the Deity and dance for Him and watch the different things being offered to the Lord by the pujari. All these activities fixed his mind on Krsna for the whole duration of the aroti, and after aroti there were more devotional prayers and there was Tulasi worship. This was all performed under the direction of the devotional regulative principles, and all these activities were purifying for the bhakta.
Between these different activities there would sometimes be a slight pause, and the devotee would chant the Holy Name constantly to keep his mind fixed on Krsna. After Tulasi puja, there were more prayers and worship, followed by two hours of japa, or the chanting of the Holy Name. During this time, there was no socializing with others and the devotee attentively concentrated his mind on hearing and training the mind to stay fixed on the transcendental sound vibration.
And this was just the beginning of the day. It hadn't even become daylight yet. The whole day was like that---every minute filled with devotional activities with no time for maya. All the devotees had a single purpose. Everyone just wanted to help Srila Prabhupada push on this movement.
Without so many organized activities to inspire us to engage in devotional service these days, our idle minds become fertile ground for frivolity, or worse. Surrounded by many subtle forms of maya we again can fall prey to material consciousness. In the Bhagavad-gita Krsna explains that because we are too much attracted to sense gratification and material opulence, we are becoming bewildered and are not resolving with determination to surrender to Krsna in full devotional service.
If we gradually fall asleep again and forget about this proposal of surrendering to Krsna, the Supreme Personality, by complete surrender, humility, and submissiveness to the bona fide pure devotee, and remain on the mental platform, then we will again be subjected to birth, death, disease, and the awful miseries of growing old. If we foolishly abandon the shelter of Srila Prabhupada and again rely on our own abilities of speculative analysis for gaining "knowledge", and the false renunciations of impersonalism, or seek shelter of non-devotional processes of counseling, relationship training, etc., then we are going to gradually disqualify ourselves from achieving our goal of love of God. Affectionately, Mahananda dasa