After an entire day of traveling we arrived late in the evening in Odessa. The devotees eagerly received us and took us to Bhaktin Linda's home, where we stayed for the next five days.
Her little house is not far away from the temple, in a quiet and peaceful residential area. Her husband was away on his job in Kiev, so we had plenty of space. A naturally kept garden surrounds her house and has a big pond which is inhabited by lots of frogs. Upon our arrival we were welcomed by a huge frogs' kirtan, which continued throughout the entire night. Fortunately my room was facing to the back of the house, so I was not disturbed by the noise.
Her little house is not far away from the temple, in a quiet and peaceful residential area. Her husband was away on his job in Kiev, so we had plenty of space. A naturally kept garden surrounds her house and has a big pond which is inhabited by lots of frogs. Upon our arrival we were welcomed by a huge frogs' kirtan, which continued throughout the entire night. Fortunately my room was facing to the back of the house, so I was not disturbed by the noise.
Over the next few days I had the opportunity to observe this unusual species of life. In the early morning they would quieten down, tired from a whole night's croaking. They would hang around the surface of the water and relax. Sometimes one frog would start croaking again, and others would respond - it was very obvious that some discussion was going on. Until they would finally conclude it and quieten down again....
Some nights their croaking was so intense - as if crying for their very life in utter desperation! The thought entered my mind that we should chant Hare Krishna with exactly such kind of intensity - like these frogs were tumultuously croaking. I could see a bubble coming out on each side of their cheeks, with which they could vibrate such loud noise. It almost looked like a child making a big bubble with a bubble gum. Krsna had engineered an amazing little body with the perfect facilities to make such loud noise. I was almost a little envious of their strong voices - as preachers we often struggle with a chronic voice problem....
There were also two cats patrolling the pond and performing their playful pastimes, and lots of birds were inhabiting the big trees flanking the banks of the pond.
It was very hot during the day - always around 35 or more Degrees. Ukraine has very hot summers and very cold winters. In the early morning of our last day we went to the nearby Black Sea and took a refreshing swim. We were not the only ones who had this idea - already at 6am the beach was quite crowded. I almost felt sorry that we had not gone for a swim every morning...
Some nights their croaking was so intense - as if crying for their very life in utter desperation! The thought entered my mind that we should chant Hare Krishna with exactly such kind of intensity - like these frogs were tumultuously croaking. I could see a bubble coming out on each side of their cheeks, with which they could vibrate such loud noise. It almost looked like a child making a big bubble with a bubble gum. Krsna had engineered an amazing little body with the perfect facilities to make such loud noise. I was almost a little envious of their strong voices - as preachers we often struggle with a chronic voice problem....
There were also two cats patrolling the pond and performing their playful pastimes, and lots of birds were inhabiting the big trees flanking the banks of the pond.
It was very hot during the day - always around 35 or more Degrees. Ukraine has very hot summers and very cold winters. In the early morning of our last day we went to the nearby Black Sea and took a refreshing swim. We were not the only ones who had this idea - already at 6am the beach was quite crowded. I almost felt sorry that we had not gone for a swim every morning...
I was scheduled to give the course "Men and Women in Spiritual Culture", and a wonderful audience of around 70 devotees assembled. We met on two evenings during the week, and on Friday and Saturday we scheduled six hours of seminar each day and took our lunch together inbetween, with a question-answer session on Sunday afternoon concluding the course. To my utter amazement every day so many devotees took the trouble of traveling all the way out to the temple, which takes around one hour. I would have never expected such great eagerness coming from the devotees...! Then our preaching falls on fertile ground - if the audience is eager to hear....
Interesting to note that within spiritual culture we can find universal principles and also details. The principles have to be preserved at all cost. Unless we maintain the principles we can easily lose them, in the name of reformation and modernizing. And as a result the spiritual potency will also be lost. This happened in all other spiritual cultures, such as Christianity for example. Some hundred years ago we could find so many principles of spiritual culture present, but now they are all lost and forgotten. I remember two elderly matajis from Switzerland sharing that in their childhood men and women were sitting separately in the catholic church - on one side the men, on the other side the ladies. So even in Christianity the clear understanding used to be there, that the attraction between men and women distracts us from the Lord, and thus the genders should better be seated separately. Of course now, in the modern days, this would be an unimaginable practice.
So the principles are universal and have to be preserved. But the details might vary according to time, place and circumstance.
In our Vaisnava culture it is a clearly established principle that a woman should be viewed as mother. Canakya Pandit says it, and Srila Prabhupada says it many times throughout the Bhagavatam and in his lectures. The fact that Prabhupada addressed some of his lady disciples as 'Prabhu' is however a detail - according to time, place and circumstance. Unless we clearly distinguish between principles and details, it can easily happen that we take a detail and try to establish it as a principle. In this example it would mean that just because Prabhupada sometimes addressed women in this way, we establish it as a universal principle that every woman should be seen and addressed as Prabhu. But no - the more we have developed the recommended vision of seeing every woman as mother, the more we want to address her in such way.
So the principles are universal and have to be preserved. But the details might vary according to time, place and circumstance.
In our Vaisnava culture it is a clearly established principle that a woman should be viewed as mother. Canakya Pandit says it, and Srila Prabhupada says it many times throughout the Bhagavatam and in his lectures. The fact that Prabhupada addressed some of his lady disciples as 'Prabhu' is however a detail - according to time, place and circumstance. Unless we clearly distinguish between principles and details, it can easily happen that we take a detail and try to establish it as a principle. In this example it would mean that just because Prabhupada sometimes addressed women in this way, we establish it as a universal principle that every woman should be seen and addressed as Prabhu. But no - the more we have developed the recommended vision of seeing every woman as mother, the more we want to address her in such way.
Another such principle is that Sannyasis should not associate with women. In former days this was so strictly applied that a Sannyasi would not even speak with a woman. However, today Sannyasi Gurus accept women disciples, give darshan and write letters to women. Nevertheless, the principle of a Sannyasi not allowing himself to internally be dependant on women and not having intimate dealings with women has to be maintained, otherwise the purity will be lost, and fall-downs will take place. So again, the principle has to be preserved, whereas the details might differ according to time, place and circumstance.
The same is there with the principle of woman's protection by her father, husband and son. This principle has to be maintained, since it is Krsna's system for protection. Of course, the ultimate protector is Krsna and Srila Prabhupada. Nevertheless, Krsna advises that a living man should protect a woman. If we dismiss this good advice, we cannot be surprised if so many unwanted things will happen to us women. How exactly the principle of protection is lived might differ according to time, place and circumstances. In former days a woman would never travel alone, because traveling meant walking - there were no planes, trains or busses. So naturally a woman would never walk long distances without the protection of a man. Nowadays traveling looks a little different, and often it simply means that devotees take us to the airport, and devotees receive us at the destination. Although recently even flying has become more dangerous also. The protecting role of the father, husband and son might also be accepted by spiritual fathers and sons, understanding ISKCON as our extended family.
It is not always easy to distinguish between principles and details. It requires deep understanding of the topic, and maturity. And some details might maintain the principles more than others.
The same is there with the principle of woman's protection by her father, husband and son. This principle has to be maintained, since it is Krsna's system for protection. Of course, the ultimate protector is Krsna and Srila Prabhupada. Nevertheless, Krsna advises that a living man should protect a woman. If we dismiss this good advice, we cannot be surprised if so many unwanted things will happen to us women. How exactly the principle of protection is lived might differ according to time, place and circumstances. In former days a woman would never travel alone, because traveling meant walking - there were no planes, trains or busses. So naturally a woman would never walk long distances without the protection of a man. Nowadays traveling looks a little different, and often it simply means that devotees take us to the airport, and devotees receive us at the destination. Although recently even flying has become more dangerous also. The protecting role of the father, husband and son might also be accepted by spiritual fathers and sons, understanding ISKCON as our extended family.
It is not always easy to distinguish between principles and details. It requires deep understanding of the topic, and maturity. And some details might maintain the principles more than others.
One morning I was requested to give the SB class, and on Sunday we celebrated the commemoration of the installation of the Deities. There was an abhishek for Sri Sri Gaur Nitai, and I was invited to give the lecture, which I centered around the purpose of Deity worship. As Prabhupada so nicely explains in one morning walk in Melbourne, Deity worship is meant to help us cultivate Krsna anxiety - transforming our anxiety for sense gratification into anxiety for Krsna's pleasure. And since in devotional service the process and the goal are the same, we can already now experience Vaikuntha atmosphere by being deeply absorbed in giving pleasure to the Lord. And gradually we will be able to create an atmosphere free from the desire for material sense gratification, and free from envy.....
On our last evening we had a little ice cream party with Linda, and we exchanged gifts. I received a good quality white chaddar, Linda received her first sari, and she gave Rasarani some little magnet frogs - a whole frogs' kirtan party....! She is a sweet lady.....
On the 27th of June devotees drove us to our next destination of Kishiniev in Moldova....
Your servant, Devaki dd
On the 27th of June devotees drove us to our next destination of Kishiniev in Moldova....
Your servant, Devaki dd
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