By the practices and prayers I mentioned (and of course by the mercy of Srila Prabhupada and Radha Govinda), I am feeling a radical softening of the heart and the feeling of intense love for Krishna's parts and parcels. The process actually works! And of course this intense love for Krishna and his parts and parcels is the greatest happiness. Sometimes when I see people I become overwhelmed by love for them and desire to help them become happy in Kcon. I don't know if it is so good to reveal my mind/heart in this way, but I feel impelled to do so as it will inspire others in the process of Krishna consciousness.
That is, spiritual advancement is not something difficult to attain. It is simply a matter of following Krishna consciousness, but that following can not simply be done externally but must be done with one's heart and soul. As Srila Prabhupada states; devotional service is executed with the subtle body. This is my understanding of the statement-tivrena Bhakti yogena (SB 2.3.10). Srila Prabhupada has given us the greatest gift, and if we dedicate our lives to giving this gift to others, all success will be attained very quickly.
Because of those feelings, I have felt impelled to look for ways to bring more people to Krishna consciousness. In fact my creative impulses have been awakened in this regard. So, I have been trying out some really radical ways to share Kcon with others, some of which are working in amazing ways and some which have not been as effective as I have wished. As far as the movement is concerned, those same feelings of compassion have manifested in the practical action of my studying sociology and relationship strategies with the aim of helping the devotees develop a functional "live giving" society.
Whenever I see that devotees are not expressing great happiness it gives me pain, so I want to facilitate their attainment of blissful Krishna consciousness. With that in mind I have been giving seminars and am studying to give more seminars on compassion. Compassion-empathy is the greatest tool for mitigating conflicts. Right now I am in New Orleans sharing Krishna consciousness with the devotees in the temple here and with the attendees of the Jazz Festival which is a yearly event in New Orleans (over half a million people attend). The temple is 2 blocks away from the main entrance.
We set up a stage, prasad booths, displays etc. to attract people. The devotees in New Orleans have really special bhakti. Most of them are from Mayapur, the appearance place of Lord Caitanya. Hence they are natural devotees and have wonderful soft hearts. They love to serve the Vaisnavas and share Krishna consciousness. There are also some devotees here from other locations that have come to share Krishna consciousness.
My program here is to study, rest (I just came back from an intense tour of Fiji, New Zealand, and Australia-in New Zealand and Australia I have a program of doing 8 or more home visits a day), and speak to people who are interested in Krishna consciousness. Because of the rapid shift of time zones from the South Pacific to New Orleans my sleeping schedule is thrown off. I am waking up early, chanting my rounds before Mangal Aroti, and taking a little rest after breakfast. The schedule is really nice for Kcon as when one gets most of the rounds done before MA it helps one experience the nectar for which we are always anxious!!
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