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Atlantic Ocean ki Jaya!
HH Sacinandana Swami
Submitted by Gopinath das
Today I want to share with you a very nice and instructive experience. At the end of the month of May I followed an invitation by Jayadeva Das, who serves now in Teneriffa. By Krsna's mercy he and his wife Krsna-vallabha have very quickly obtained a wonderful house, which they have transformed into a Gaura-Nitai and Jagannatha temple. Just next to the house is a spacious guesthouse, totally new built, resembling in many ways (even in colours) the guesthouses in Sridhama Mayapura. On the central altar are beautiful deities of Jagannatha, Baladeva and Subhadra - swinging on a golden swing.
Almost every evening we went for a swim in the Atlantic ocean. With us was Bhakta Norbert, a devotee from the Canarian islands, who acts as the "good angle" of the house by taking care of many practical aspects and Rafael and Jana, two nice devotees from Germany.
As I entered the Atlantic ocean and began to swim I noticed how quickly I was moving ahead. I was asking myself: "What has happened, have I become a speed swimmer? Or is the power of enthusiasm to finally be in the ocean again propelling me ahead?"
But soon I realised that it was another power. When I finally wanted to turn back to the coast I could not. The Atlantic ocean had grabbed me. Even though I tried with all my swimming power I was slowly but surely pulled into the open sea. I tried again and again - but the judgement of the ocean could not be changed: he seemed determined to swallow me. I must admit that at that moment I was overcome by great panic. The waves were getting higher and I started to swallow a lot of water. I always had imagined my death to happen in ideal circumstances. Surrounded by loving devotees who would chant the holy name. I would leave the body in ecstatic remembrance of Sri Sri Radha and Krsna and Srila Prabhupada. But now this! After a little time - or was it long - I regained my composure and prayed to Lord Krsna: "Please help me at this moment to remember You and leave the body like a devotee" - but after some time another prayer came: "My dear Lord, I am not yet ready. Kindly, if you desire so, please show me a way out of this catastrophe. Please send me help, or give me intelligence what to do I" Almost instantly the Lord helped. As if being instructed by a person who was right there (Krsna is always with us) it became clear that I should use the power of the waves which rolled towards the coast. These waves are rolling over the currents which had moved me into the Atlantic. So I tried with all my strength to remain with the high waves. When they had overtaken me, I paused and allowed myself to be pulled back in the ocean - since there is really now point - even for the best swimmer - to fight against the power of the Atlantic. In this way - being swept towards the coast and then pulled back almost the same distance by the current - I struggled for half an hour - but slowly, meter by meter, using all my powers when the waves were with me, I finally came near the coast.
I saw Rafael who was climbing out of the water on some rocks. I wanted to scream to him to kindly save me as my strength was slowly diminishing, but then I saw that he was also at the end of his strength. Most probably he had made the same experience (which he did as he later told me). Although he had not went so far into the ocean he also could not return when he needed to. But by Krsna's mercy I managed without the help of Rafael. While I paid my obeisances and prayed to Lord Krsna, my whole body was shaking with exhaustion. Again Lord Krsna had saved me. But was I really saved? Suddenly a realisation began to dawn upon me with great force: "I am only saved from the tiny Atlantic ocean - but I am still being swapped around in the waves of the great ocean of material existence. In comparison the Atlantic is really only an insignificant bottle of salt water."
The current of the three modes of nature, and time are much more powerful than the currents of the Atlantic. If I already stood no chance to fight against the relatively insignificant Atlantic, what are my chances to fight against the influences of the material energy and another thing became clear: just as I had only survived by Lord Krsna's inconceivable mercy who sent me waves and intelligence to use them, I will only be saved my Lord Krsna's great mercy.
While I was overwhelmed by these realisations I remembered the prayers of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu in His siksastakam:
"O, my Lord, O Krsna, son of Maharaja Nanda, I am your eternal servant, but because of my own fruitive acts I have fallen into this horrible ocean of nescience. Now please be causelessly merciful to me. Consider me as a particle of dust at your Lotusfeet and save me by engaging me in the service of Your Lordship as your eternal servant." (CC Antya 20)
Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura has given us a wonderful song which was often sung by Srila Prabhupada, when he was alone in his room. "Anadi karama-phale
1. As result of my selfish activities, which are without beginning, I have fallen into the ocean of material existence, and I see no means of deliverance from this great ocean of nescience (how true). Day and night my heart burns from the vicious poison of these worldly activities and due to this my mind never finds any real happiness.
2. Bound by hundreds and hundreds of desires like nooses around my neck, I am constantly troubled. In this ocean of nescience play the waves of ever increasing materialistic tendency. There are also many thieves and roughs, of whom six are prominent: lust, anger, envy, greed, illusion and madness. They are causing me great fear, and in this way my life is coming to an end.
3. The two highway robbers named intellectual knowledge and fruitive activity have cheated and mislead me, and finally they have thrown me into the ocean of misery. At such a time as this, dear Krsna, You are my only friend. You are an ocean of mercy. Please be kind and by Your strength uplift me from this condition of suffering.
4. Grasping hold of this fallen servant, and fixing him as a particle of dust on Your Lotusfeet, kindly give shelter to Bhaktivinoda. O most merciful Lord! I am actually your eternal servant, but having forgotten this I have become bound up in the snare of Maya.
In retrospect I am very thankful for this instructive event. Although it was a heavy lesson, it still sits with me. It is unforgettable. In our glorious tradition we find that there are three types of Siksa-gurus through which Krsna instructs us:
1. Members of material nature, like animals, phenomena eg. rivers, stars, oceans etc. and also human beings who are sent our way.
2. The supersoul
3. The instructing spiritual Master
All these are representatives of Lord Krsna to help the conditioned souls. In this case Lord Krsna appeared to teach me as the Atlantic ocean an unforgettable lesson: the mercy of You, Krsna, is everything I am made of. Atlantic ocean ki jaya!
Later we found out that each year the powerful Atlantic swallows many people, even though some of them was very good swimmers.
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One single speck of dust from Sri Gurudev
By H.H. Radhanath Swami
When a devotee is in a humble state of mind, that devotee can bear all sorts of injustices upon himself, without complaining and without blaming others. This is a very important principle and there are so many wonderful examples. Srimad Bhagavatam describes Prahlad Maharaj; how his father Hiranyakasipu tried to kill him in so many ways----through fire, through snakes, through poison, through winds, through crushing under mountains, swords and spears, elephants, but he never criticized his father, never blamed his father-he was humble. He just accepted that it was Lord's mercy and continued chanting the holy name Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.
One of our great acharyas explained that one speck of dust of Srila Prabhupada has the power to deliver the entire universe.
One single speck of dust from Sri Gurudev has the strength to deliver tens and crores of people and all the knowledge in all the Universities and all the reasonings of all the philosophers and all the wealth of the industrialists and all the politics of the politicians, all multiplied together, does not equal even a fraction of the weight of one speck of dust from the lotus feet of the previous acharyas. This is the statement that Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati made about Gaur Kishore das Babaji.
We can make the same about Srila Prabhupada. Therefore it is my most honoured duty in life to sprinkle those particles of dust wherever we go, by our behaviour and by the sincerity and wish, we pray for the benefit of others and chant the Holy names Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. On behalf of Srila Prabhupada, I thank you very much.
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