Krishna Consciousness 50 years ago

We were so happy then. Each and every time you saw another devotee you were flat on the ground offering your obeisances and then you jumped up and hugged your godbrother whom you truly loved. Also in the early days you were always chanting 24 hours a day practically. If you were not doing something else that required you to talk about your service or some verse in the Bhagavad Gita or some pastime about Krsna that you had just read, you were chanting like a madman.

Your eyes were closed tight and you had your finger of your other hand in your ear so that you could hear your own voice better (try in, it works). If you were standing in the prasadam line waiting, you never talked about who married who, or whatever–you chanted. You knew that Maya was waiting very attentively for you to let your guard down for a moment and as soon as you were slack, she would rush in and fill in the void that was left when you stopped chanting and began to fill your mind with all kinds of disturbances that were due to your very recently having left a life of only material activities.

You knew that Krsna was like a light and Maya was like darkness. As soon as the light of Krsna was turned off (you stopped chanting) then the darkness rushed in. Try it tonight. Go in the bathroom and turn on the light and then turn it off again and watch how quickly darkness will rush in. It was the same with Krsna and Maya. So you kept chanting.

Also, there was reading. I was particularly attached to reading Srila Prabhupada’s books. I was so hungry for real knowledge, that every day I would hide somewhere or sneak off to the park so that I could read for hours. Then at night, Bhagavan and I would fight about the philosophy. So many doubts would come up in my mind and I would use poor Bhagavan to challenge the philosophy when those doubts would arise.

I was thankful that he was such a qualified devotee and had a will and determination like iron so that he would each time dispel my doubts and each time I would dive back into devotional service with renewed determination.

Usually after our debate and while everyone slept, he and I would still have many rounds to chant so that we would have to walk up and down the hallway softly chanting– sometimes for an hour or two or more–until all of our rounds were completed.

So, Hladini and I passed our days in Detroit going out every day chanting, and asking people to please join in with us. If they couldn’t join us, we would explain how they could chant at home…….” Put aside a small amount of time each day (better if it’s at the same time each day) where you can be alone and sit down with the sole determination to just chant and listen. You don’t have to think about anything or adjust your mind in any way.”

“The potency is just in the hearing,” we would tell them….”The better you hear attentively, the better the effect will be. Just listen to each sound and syllable and when your mind wanders to other things (trust me on this one–it will) just gently bring your focus back to the sound. Maybe a half-hour each day to start and be determined to repeat the process the next day and practice bringing your attention back and focusing on the sound.”

“I promise you, after a week’s time you will experience a result. The effect that you will experience will be that you will notice that your consciousness has risen higher–above things. Your perspective will change because your consciousness has been elevated to where you will see things differently –from a more purified perspective.”

Also, if they were a little pious and advanced spiritually, we would tell them more…”Chanting Hare Krsna does not work because it relaxes the mind, or something similar. It works because Krsna, being absolute, is in His Name. When you hear His Name you actually experience contact with His presence, though imperceptible at this stage, all of which has a purifying effect on your consciousness.”

“A little faith might be required to start the process but if a person is sincere and practices as I have described then the results will be there. Next week you will be saying “Wow, it does work” Go on, what have you got to lose……….”