The Higher Taste

My friends and relatives, who have met me since the last quarter of the last year, are often surprised by the fact that I have taken to Vegan diet. Though for me this seems to be a natural progression and NOT a big deal but my friends and relatives think otherwise considering my one-time strong preferences for fish, egg and chicken. They often express their wonder by saying,  it’s ok to be pursuing the path of Krishna Consciousness but is it really necessary to give up on fish? In this way they often tend to indicate to me that being a Bengali, am I not getting too carried away by all this and losing my identity? I see this question always light up like red-traffic signal in the eyes of (primarily) my mother, wife, son and generally for all others. For my mother and wife this is an unwanted ‘problem’ that has come up as they have to now “think” about my ‘vegetarian meal’. My 9 year old son is also kind a taken aback by this change in his KFC happy dad! He remembers of the good old days of kebabs, tikkas, rolls and grills. It’s not that I have stopped him from having these food pleasures rather I sit opposite to him while he enjoy a chicken burger, I enjoy my paneer burger!(What made KFC to offer veg meals?)  I guess out of the three – my mother, wife and son, my son seems to be the only one who has somehow took pity on me and have accepted to a large extent my shift. Though sometimes he expresses his wonder as to what the fuss is about not eating meat. My answer to him ‘son, you will get it one day!’ I am waiting.

I have observed that many who take to Krishna consciousness inevitably end up following vegetarian diet and which in itself is NOT a big deal for the devotees rather it becomes a BIG concern for the people around, especially in Bengal.  Consider a Bengali wedding and vegetarian food, well they don’t fit in the same frame. I guess the veg item decisions are NOT even taken by the family they are just left to the chef to decide. And the Chef as a routine goes for one of the princely dishes - alu-chhola, alu-gobhi or mixed-veg.   Please read it again any ‘ONE’.  Now I joke with my brother “Khaya ya Dekha” (did you eat or see). Yes we two are the odd ones in the family (recently my father joined the group too). Actually, my brother is the one who is responsible for all of this.

I am not sure about others but as far as I am concerned there are very few basic ‘realisations’ for me to opt for vegan side. I wouldn’t go into the disputed zone that veganism is something of very high philosophy or some kind of very high moral standing. From the point of Krishna consciousness it’s obvious and a very natural progression.

As per Srila Prabhupada, devotees who wish to further in the path of Krishna consciousness should strictly avoid taking any kind of meat or for that matter any eatable that can be considered as intoxicant. This even includes tea, coffee, any form of liquor and any eatable that leads to any form of intoxication. From a spiritual perspective the reason for giving up such items is simple – unwavering love and devotion for Krishna.

Krishna is supreme, He is the only one who can be loved the most, He is the only one with whom the Soul can have the most pure and sacred relationship. With such a view a devotee gives up or tries to  give up impurities. To present and offer the most pure love to Krishna one tries to reach a state of purity- in words, thoughts, actions and behavior. Not eating meat and any kind of intoxicant is just one small step through which the devotee attempts to bring purity within so that he/she can approach Krishna for his mercy. The devotee is cognizant of the fact that in the entire creation, all living entities (plants and animal alike) are Lords reflections. Even killing plants is sinful. Eating is an existential requirement and by restricting the diet to vegan the devotee is trying to limit his sinful activities. Srila Prabhupada stated that a devotee is absolved of the sin of even the vegan meal when it is offered to the Lord and after offering it to the Lord it is consumed by the devotee as a prasadam. 

This concept of self-purification is NOT only exhibited in food but also in thoughts and actions by listening to Lords pastime and chanting Lords name. Therefore vegan food and all related aspects are nothing but a form of Bhakti (devotion). Srila Prabhupada succinctly defined bhakti simply as honesty and purity. It is devotee’s honesty and purity that propels him towards bhakti and through bhakti only, one can genuinely surrender to Lord and receive mercy. The supreme lord is free from desires or pleasures. It is only for the sake of devotee’s desire he accepts our bhakti. Only through our bhakti we can please the Lord.

A mother expecting a baby becomes very conscious of everything – what she eats, sees, hears or even thinks. All actions of mother are purely driven by her honesty towards the baby in the womb. It’s mother’s devotion to the unborn that propels her to do those things. Similarly a devotee is carrying love for Krishna within ones heart. All the actions of a devotee are driven by the motive of preserving and increasing that pure love of Lord.  

The act of self-purification is evident in all religion. People wash hands and feet before entering religious places. People in various religions do fast. In several religions there are some specific time period when people avoid meat, intoxicant, unethical/immoral behavior and acts. During those period people experience a heightened sense of spiritual connection with self and the Almighty. Research has proved that people during this period are rarely stressed, generally happy, more peaceful, energized mentally and physically and experience a very different level of existence. Krishna consciousness makes this simply a way of life rather than an intermittent approach.  Srila Prabhupada often said that Krishna consciousness is the eternal and the most advanced science given by the creator to its creation. The Krishna consciousness enables devotees to follow the eternal science on a continuous basis. Meat and intoxicants are a huge impediment in spiritual journey and that’s why they should be abandoned for once and for all. 

We have been taught that Man is on the top of the so called Food Chain as it can devour literally everything.  Through my humble experience I would submit that Man needs to come down few steps lower on the food chain to really enjoy ‘The Higher Taste’.

Supreme Lord states “If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, a fruit, water, I will accept it.”

Chapter 9.Text 26, Bhagawad Gita.

Hare Krishna!

(One More) Journey Home

It was Friday, 25^th September 2015. I woke up early around 5.30am. I tend to wake up early on trains. I enjoy viewing the early morning view from the window of a moving train. The colors are mild but beautiful. The rapidly changing landscape feels like a fast moving story. Like many, I still enjoy looking out of train’s window. I guess, I enjoyed a good amount looking out.  On the previous night my brother and I boarded Ajmer-Howrah express from Howrah to offer our prayers to the holy places of Ajmer and Pushkar.

The first time I went to Ajmer-Pushkar was in December 2012. I had promised to self to pay a return visit soon. When I shared my idea with my brother he too agreed to join in to complete his own return visit. It was a rare occasion when only two of us would be travelling by train (minus family liabilities!). It was a great opportunity to rekindle our childhood memories and the constant fight for the window seat. We specifically got the side-upper and side-lower seats to avoid any chance of the fight from resurfacing! The plan was short and simple, a night stay at Ajmer, offer prayers at Ajmer-Sharif-Dargah, Puskhar and back to Kolkata. I wasn’t aware that this simple trip would become a life altering experience for me.

By 9 am, we both were done with our breakfast. I was casually going over the newspaper when I noticed that my brother was reading a book. I remembered that he informed me the previous night, about a famous book written by an equally famous ISKCON swami. My brother came in contact with ISKCON few months before this trip through one of his friends. He had informed me about it but honestly I had NO idea what ISKCON was. I haven’t even googled about it till then. After I was done with casual scanning of the newspaper, I glanced upon him. He was still in the book. As far as I knew, my brother was a kind of a person who showed very little penchant for reading books and that too books inclined on spiritualism. It was a revelation for me. My little brother had really grown up, I thought with an elder-brotherly pride and started looking outside the window.

After taking a big yawn my brother said,”Bhai, I will take a nap”. He kept the book aside after folding the page he was at. After sometime, just on an urge, as there was nothing much to do, I picked up the book. It was titled, ‘The Journey Home – Autobiography of an American Swami, by Radhanath Swami’. My first impression was that the author must be some “Indian” who became excessively rich in America (USA) and then turned to spiritualism. I didn’t even register the word ‘American’  in its adjective sense. I looked at the back cover description and realized the author is NOT an Indian but an American!  As a habit I always read the preface of a book. Not with much eagerness, I reached for the preface page. By the time I completed the preface I was already hooked on to the book. It was NOT an ordinary book that I had picked up reluctantly. When I look back today on that fateful day, I see it as the only turning point of my life that has changed direction of my pursuits forever.     

The book presented author’s deep emotions expressed vividly in a soulful manner. It was a fascinating story of a young man’s journey hitch-hiking all the way to India from America. I could understand that with each passing day the author was being driven to a destination and to the true objective of his heart that was yet to take shape and reveal itself fully. It’s a must read for anyone who want to experience how seemingly odd things fall in place when something is intensely desired by an honest heart. Please read the book to experience pure joy.

I continued reading the book after quickly finishing the lunch. My brother had sensed it already that he was not going to get back the book till I finished it. While reading I smiled on occasions on the naivety of author’s acts and at other moments I felt the pain of his yearning. After dinner I picked up the book again. I was progressing very well. My brother was eager to know if I had already reached or crossed the point where he left book. I would throw in statements like – Richard is still in Europe, He is into Iran, He is out of Iran.     

We reached Ajmer station very early morning of 26^th September, it was still dark outside. The auto dropped us quickly at our hotel.  After taking a quick nap at the hotel we got ready for Dargah Sahrif. Luckily upon our request, the hotel reception had arranged for us a person who would assist us in our visit. On the previous visit I had to brave through lot of rush. I guess, like all other holy places there was a less crowded route through which the said person was supposed to take us. The person explained several aspects of the Dargah which I had not seen/heard the first time. We were done with our prayers and donations and finally could relax. A small group was doing nice kawwali within the premises. Luckily, that day it was less crowded. It was a nice experience. I could see many people of different faiths were offering prayers with very high reverence. I believe, Ajmer Sharif is the one of the very few places where non-muslims can offer prayers that too in such a large number and with minimal restrictions.

We planned for our visit to Pushkar in the second half after the lunch. We took a maruti omni. I would suggest to anyone to avoid autos, as many people may feel bit uncomfortable when it goes through the undulations of road over the hill on three tyres only!   We offered our prayers at the Pushkar temple – the only temple of Lord Brahma on earth. We spent good time on banks of the lake.

While I was out all day, I was still thinking about the next stop of Richard’s adventure. After dinner, I was back with the book. My brother looked at me longingly to see any possibility of him getting the book. He opted for a good sleep rather than an uncertain wait!

On 27^th morning we woke up early for quick visit to the Dargah again. Our hotel was at few minutes’ walk from the Dargah. Luckily there was less crowd and we were able to offer prayer at the Tomb for few extra seconds. After soaking the spiritual environment for few hours we headed for our hotel to checkout. The scheduled departure of the train from Ajmer was at 1 pm.

After boarding the train, I was fully immersed in the book. It took around 2 more days to complete the book after reaching Kolkata. By the time I finished reading the book, I realized the meaning of the title – ‘The Journey Home’. I could relate to the emotions and sentiments of the author. As I understood author’s quest, it helped me to understand my own one.  As in the book the author reached home, similarly I too had reached home, finally. The fog of doubts and illusion was gone.  I was at ease in the knowledge that my salvation was in the Lotus feet of the Lord. Through his autobiography Radhanath Swami has helped millions of souls to opt for the path of bhakti, I consider myself to be very fortunate one to be able to follow the path revealed by him. Truly he has helped many to ‘Journey Home’, I was lucky to be just one of them.      

The then Richard Slavin at age 31 took monastic vows of a vaishnava sanyassin and is revered in ISKCON and worldwide as Radhanath Swami. He took dikhsa from Srila Prabhupada, the Founder Acharaya of ISKCON. Radhanath swami resides at Radha Gopinath Ashram in Chowpatty, Mumbai and continues to travels regularly to many countries to spread Krishna Consciousness. He visited Kolkata in February 2016 but I was NOT fortunate enough to experience his presence. I eagerly wait for the day when I can collect dust of his lotus feet. I am sure one day I will have his mercy and blessings.

Hare Krishna!

“Sometimes the Lord gives us a free sample of religious experience, but for more, we must pay a price with the currency of sincere dedication to the process of cleansing.” 
                                                          – Radhanath Swami in The Journey Home book

You can read more about HH Radhanath Swami at http://www.radhanathswami.com

You can order a copy of The Journey Home at http://www.amazon.in/Journey-Home-Radhanath-Swami/dp/1601090560

HH Radhanath Swami

The Journey Home

(re)Start

It’s been long that I have posted anything on my blog. The reasons are many but I would say that I was swept into a cocoon and life did its own things and I got transformed (to certain extent only). It’s been long  4 years (since 2012). Many things have changed inside me and sure lots of things have changed around me. Many of my friends got married (who took the dive late), many of my friends now have kids (most have only 1 but some brave ones have gone for 2). All my friends are busy with web of life and meeting each other have been a rare incident. I can’t blame them, that’s how life sucks us into the vortex of ‘world’. Meanwhile, I lost good amount of hair and gained good amount of weight! Traits abhorred by men closing on the target of 40!

What transpired the comeback? Good question. 

It is human nature to share that is considered good or valuable. If I see a good movie, read a good book or enjoyed a good restaurant I would definitely share it with my friends. Similarly, what I have experienced is so beyond interesting that I am compelled to share it with my friends in most humble way.  As Life with its loops entangled me into the spiral of ups and down, the inner self asked the questions (on rare occasions though). What am I doing? Where am I heading? Where it’s going to End? and What’s there after the End?

If you are still reading this, don’t worry I am still in my senses! Please be assured that you will recognize me for sure when you see me again.

I know these questions seem laughable (to some extent uneasy as well) but honestly many of us at some point time must have asked these questions to ourselves. While the fog of these questions was around me, I was going through the labors or life, as usual. Then just like a thunderbolt, I heard the Man saying – You are not American or Russian or Indian, you are not this body, you are a spirit soul, you are beyond this body. I heard Srila Prabhupada, Yes on Youtube! The great man was pure conviction and simplicity. A lot happened before I could land on to that Video (topic for another blog). But it was all good.

It’s NOT that I haven’t heard this ‘fact’. Many of us knew since the time the TV serial The Mahabbharata was aired that we are soul and we keep changing bodies like we change clothes. In school, even in our Sanskrit syllabus we had the shlokas and we remembered them to score marks. Honestly, I never understood the deep meaning in those words but the rhyming always attracted me. 

It was refreshing and thrilling to hear and read Srila Prabhupada. His authoritative teachings cleared the mess around my mind and started the life-long transformation. Since then it has been an amazing journey of realization. Srila Prabhupada is an Institution in himself and that is true literally. He founded the ISKCON that is doing the great work of spreading Krishna’s message and love to the mankind around the globe. A feature length documentary (http://acharyathemovie.com/) is about to be released on this great man’s life and mission. What this great man started over 5 decades ago is transforming millions of lives across countries and continents in a very meaningful manner covering vast cultural and socio-economic spectrum.   

  

I may spend my entire life, and yet not realize even the fraction of Srila Prabupada’s message but I am happy and satisfied that I have been able to direct myself to a path that will take me to the lotus feet of The Lord and enable me to lead a life in the service of the devotees of The Lord.  

“Although we are imperfect, because we are following the perfect, our proposition is perfect” – Srila Prabhupada

Hare Krishna!

http://www.prabhupada.com/

http://www.prabhupada.net/