Happy Birthday Govinda Maharaja!

Remembering Govinda Maharaja

Bhakti Sundar Govinda Maharaja cerca 1982, when I first met him.

Next week we celebrate the passing of  Govinda Maharaja; his disappearance day. The memory of His Holiness Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev Goswami Maharaja will be  celebrated at many places, not only  here in Mexico as also in Russia, in Moscow, at the Lahta  Center in Saint Petersburg but also in many places around the world, most notably the Shri Chaitanya Saraswat Math in India,

Caitanya Saraswat Math, Nabadwip

but also including temples, maths and centers in London, Chiang Mai, the Phillipines, Mexico, the United States, Russia, Ukraine and many other countries.

Lahta, St. Petersburg

Govinda Maharaja was universally loved during his own lifetime by eveyone who knew him. Even people who normally showed great antipathy towards our line had great respect and affection for Govinda Maharaja. He was characterized by his brilliant wit, charming personality, humility, and sense of humor. He was not a dry doctrinaire renunciant, but a man of deep compassion and warmth. Only one who can appreciate the tragedy of material existence can truly comfort others with humor.

All of us can learn from his example of service and humility, of joy and wisdom.

Govinda Maharaja with Shridhar Maharaja

It’s hard for me to believe he isn’t physically present in India, waiting for us to visit, with his broad smile, his robust figure and his swan-like personality.

 It’s difficult to speak of him properly. Words are inadequate. I would need a symphony orchestra of silver-throated Vaishnava singers, a chorus of expert mridanga players, a choir of Gandharvas, a ballet of Apsaras to celebrate his life in dance and song and mourn his life with the saddest Bengali bhajans.

Bhakti-shastri, Vidya-ranjana, Vidyasundara, our Param-guru Shridhar Dev Goswami lauded Govinda Maharaja with titles, but none suffices.

Shridhar Maharaja with Govinda Maharaja

I met Govinda Maharaja for the first time in 1982 at the Math in Nabadwip. I went to India to take shelter of Shridhar Dev Goswami. Govinda Maharaja saved me, redeemed my life and helped me to take shelter of Shridhar Maharaja. In those days our Chaitanya Saraswat Math was a humbler abode for the Vaishnavas, with only a handful of devotees. I stayed at a rented house down the street from the Math with Kanupriya brahmachari and the future Bhakti Kusum Ashram Maharaja. This was a time of great spiritual crisis in my life, and I felt only Shridhara Maharaja could help me. But every time I asked him for help, he referred me to Govinda Maharaja and I had to wait for him to come from Calcutta.

Finally, by the grace of Govinda Maharaja, I was accepted. But in a sense, while I call myself a follower of Shridhar Maharaja or his disciple, really Govinda Maharaja was his one true disciple. Everyone who came to Shridhar Maharaja after Govinda Maharaja is really a follower of Govinda Maharaja. But I always felt he was my true friend.

Govinda Maharaja was born in a Vaishnava family on December 17th, 1929. We adjust his appearance day according to the lunar cycles so it falls on the Dvitiya day of the month of Narayana. When I was reading about him for the talk I was astonished that we have the same birthday according to the solar calendar. I was also born on December 17th, but that’s all I have in common with Govinda Maharaja.

He joined the mission at an early age. He met some Gaudiya Math brahmacharies who were surprised by his mridanga playing. They helped him cross the Ganges to the ashram of Shridhar Maharaja. The brahmacharis who brought the new initiate were amazed when a week later, Shridhar Maharaja announced that their recruit would be the successor acharya.

He was a natural Vaishnava. Shridhar Maharaja once commented, “In many ways he is more qualified than I am.” Trained in the scriptures he became very learned and could compose beautiful Sanskrit poetry spontaneously. But Govinda Maharaja was never presumptuous about his learning. He didn’t care for defeating people in debate. He was a swan-like soul.

In Sanskrit we use the word Paramahamsa. It means a swan-like soul or personality. A swan is the emblem of grace. Govinda Maharaj taught through his example what it means to be a Vaishnava. He was never envious, never entered into an argument just to grind somebody down or hurt them. Look at the photos you see of Govinda Maharaja. He is always smiling, joyous, ecstatic, and charming.

Triumvirate

Probably the greatest exponent of Vedic culture and Krishna consciousness in the 20th century was A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, my harinam guru. He sacrificed his life to preach Krishna Consciousness in the west, touring the world again and again, translating the core scriptures from Sanskrit and givine them to the West. Most of you know of his contribution. But few people realize that Bhaktivedanta Swami spent much of his free time training Govinda Maharaja Sanskrit and the meaning of Bhagavad-Gita, when Prabhupada was Abhay Charan De and ran a pharmacy at Sita Kanta Bannerjee lane in Calcutta during the 1940s.

His appreciation for Govinda Maharaja is found in a letter written 

New Delhi 16th September, 1955

His Holiness Sripad
Bhakti Sundar Govinda Maharaj
Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math
Kolerganj P.O. Nabadwip Dist. Nadia (W.Bengal)

My dear Sripad Govinda Maharaj,

This morning I received two copies of your 'Gaudiya Darshan' and I was very glad to see its appearance. When I was at Mathura I heard from Sripad Keshav Maharaj and so also I heard it from Sripad Goswami Maharaj that His Holiness Sripad Sridhar Maharaj is going to publish 'Gaudiya Darshan' and today I find it actually in hand, I cannot but offer my congratulations to your holiness. Because I know if anything has been done it is due to your energy. I can understand now why Sripad Sridhar Maharaj bestowed all his mercy upon you. He rightly found in you some dormant energy for future action and we can see that it is now fructifying duly.

Simple dry philosophical arguments will not be appealing nowadays to people in general. They will like to read such articles as written by you with greater relish. In this article I can find out that you have really some parts and in time you can become a great transcendental humorist in the art of journalism. You have complete mercy of your Divine master and you can depend on his blessings for your future improvement. I sincerely wish you all success. Undoubtedly you are now in the highest order of Varnashram Dharam but we cannot forget that you belong to the category of our affectionate sons. We cannot forget all such filial love for you and when we see that you are improving in all respects it gladdens our heart. 

The 3 Greatest Vaishnavas together

Govinda Maharaja, left with Shridhara Maharaja and Bhaktivedana Swami

Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura, founder of the Gaudiya Math once commented about Shridhar Maharaja, “Now I am confident that there is one man who can understand my argument and represent my line after I am gone.” Bhaktivedanta Swami turned out to be the divinely inspired Vaishnava who would carry the message to the West. But after both of these stalwart acharyas left his material plane and entered Vrindadavan, there was one highly qualified Vaishnava who would continue the message and mission into the 21st century and this was Govinda Maharaja.

“In many ways he is more qualified than I am,” said Shridhar Maharaja. He accepted Govinda Maharaja immediately after meeting him and annointed him as his successor precisely because he manifest the qualities of a great Vaishnava even at an early age.

photo of Govinda Maharaja as a young man from Guadiya Darshan

I cannot list all of Govinda Maharaja’s accomplishments here. Those of you who are his disciples know this better than I do. But beyond his achievements as a preacher or the head of a mission, what strikes everyone is that here you have a Vaishava who was completely nonenvious.

This is an amazing human quality. I read the transcript of his audio-will on the internet the other day. When the devotees asked him, “what about the four rules of Prabhupada: no meat-eating, no illicit sex, no gambling, no drugs...” Govinda Maharaja replied that this was all right, but more important was “No Vaishnava aparadha.” Don’t give offense to other Vaishnavas. This is the most important. Govinda Maharaja was a personal example of this. Many members of other Vaishnava organizations have problems getting along with one another. “It’s easier to be a saint than to live with one,” someone once said.

I cannot list all of Govinda Maharaja’s accomplishments here. Those of you who are his disciples know this better than I do. But beyond his achievements as a preacher or the head of a mission, what strikes everyone is that here you have a Vaishava who was completely nonenvious.

This is an amazing human quality. I read the transcript of his audio-will on the internet the other day. When the devotees asked him, “what about the four rules of Prabhupada: no meat-eating, no illicit sex, no gambling, no drugs...” Govinda Maharaja replied that this was all right, but more important was “No Vaishnava aparadha.” Don’t give offense to other Vaishnavas. This is the most important. Govinda Maharaja was a personal example of this. Many members of other Vaishnava organizations have problems getting along with one another. “It’s easier to be a saint than to live with one,” someone once said.

Sometimes I'm asked if I've ever met anyone who was fully realized or who had attained this enlightenment that we speak of. Immediately I think of Govinda Maharaja. In my long and checkered career I have been fortunate enough to have darhsan of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada who initiated me into the holy name of Krishna; of Bhakti Rakshaka Shridhar dev Goswami, who initiated me with mantra and sannyasa initiation and who taught me philosophy and right thinking; and to chat and take prasadam with Bhakti Sundar Govinda Maharaja, who taught me that Krishna Consciousness is meant to be joyful; that it's all right to have a sense of humor.

Govinda Maharaja was loved by all: Gaudiya Math, Iskcon, : all respected and loved him. His personality was emblematic of Vaishnavism. He was peaceful, humble, kind, grave, deliberate, intelligent, and completely dedicated. He didn’t use his position for name or fame or money, sex, power, the traps that lesser humans fall into. He was generous, joyful and simple, charmed with the favorable waves that Krishna sent him.

Unfortunately that great and humble soul is no longer physically with us.

But he left behind a family. He left us a family of friends, followers, and well-wishers. Here at the Chaitanya Saraswat Matha, Lahta division we do not practice discrimination. 

But Govinda Maharaja was loved by all: Gaudiya Math, Iskcon, even dangerous members of the opposition: all respected and loved him. His personality was emblematic of Vaishnavism. He was peaceful, humble, kind, grave, deliberate, intelligent, and completely dedicated. He didn’t use his position for name or fame or money, sex, power, the traps that lesser humans fall into. He was generous, joyful and simple, charmed with the favorable waves that Krishna sent him.

The family of Govinda Maharaja includes people from different walks of life and different countries. We do not discriminate on the basis of  gender or color. It doesn't matter if your black or white, red or yellow, Indian or Russian or Mexican or American. We accept the followers of Prabhupada and Shridhar Maharaja, friends of the family, disciples of Govinda Maharaja, and the sons of Govinda Maharaja and their followers, godbrothers, godsons, god-daughters. We have no caste system, material or spiritual. 

Those of us who had the fortune of his friendship or who accepted him as gurudeva: We are all the family of Govinda Maharaja, his godbrothers, disciples, and friends. 

This is a divine family. We do not say, “leave your family and come with us,” we say, “Be a part of our family and you will always have a home.” This is the home built by Govinda Maharaja, the devotional family of the guru-varga. So on this day we remember the great soul who invited us into his family and we invite you to participate with us in the wonder of spiritual discovery and divine love. Thank you very much.

Bhakti or divine love has been compared to a lotus. Krishna Himself is like the sun. With the sunshine the lotus opens and flourishes. But guru is compared to the cool water wherein the lotus floats. Without the cooling water of guru the lotus of bhakti will be burned by the Krishna sun. The guru's disappearance is a terrible thing. Without the shelter given by guru we feel lost. 

I remember when Shridhar Maharaja passed into the next world, Govinda Maharaja was very sad. One day he told us, "I'm not getting any light. There's no more light." When the guru leaves us, we feel we are in darkness. 

But even in the absence of our guru we can get light from the Vaishnavas, from the other devotees. Individually we are only sparks. A spark doesn't give off much light in the darkness. In fact you can barely see it. But when many sparks come together they make fire. In remembering Govinda Maharaja it's important to find other points of light, other sparks of bhakti, the friends and family members, bring them together and make fire. This fire will give us warmth, comfort and light as we do our best to continue in the absence of the truly great souls who have blessed us with their association.

47 Ronin

It seems there's always a warrior class in society, whether they are the Kshatriyas of India or the Samurai of Japan. The Japanese Samurai had a strict code, called Bushido, governing war and chivalry for armed men.

Here in Saint Petersburg my mysterious Russian friend has mounted an art exhibit of precious Samurai swords and artefacts. It's called 47 Ronin. Next on my itinerary is a visit to the Tsar's old Arsenal building, now converted to a museum, where we'll check out the Samurai and learn the story of the 47 Ronin.

Here's a link for more information.

http://www.inyourpocket.com/russia/st-petersburg/concerts-culture-events-entertainment/exhibitions/Samurai-47-Ronin_132167v

The story of the 47 Ronin is one of the most celebrated in the history of the samurai, when the samurai class was struggling to maintain a sense of itself - warriors with no war, a social class without a function.

http://www.samurai-archives.com/ronin.html

Miles to go before I sleep...

Planes, trains, automobiles, bicycles, newspaper taxis appear on the shore, waiting to take you away. It's about 36 hours travel time between the Bajio and Saint Petersburg.

Mexico City Airport

Adios Mi Chaparrita

Said goodbye to my loving wife Aurora in  Mexico city and flew the big steel bird to Cancun.

 I couldn't believe it when I ran into my cuñada Lourdes in Cancun. 

 Hadn´t seen her for years, since before Philo died. I had sent her a facebook message hoping she would come. We caught up on old times and she helped me get the immigration documents for leaving Mexico.

It was good to see her again after all those years.

. Flew away across the ocean to Germany. Nearly missed my connecting flight.  With no electronic boarding pass I dashed around the Frankfurt Airport to Terminal 2. Raced upstairs and took the shuttle train around and around and around. To D. broke olymic records with 20 minutes to go arrived at security. I could see D7 from where I stood. Only pass security and I'm in.  But suddenly there's 500 chinese people on holiday trying to pass security. I'm doomed. With 5 minutes to go I make it through. I get to D7 and an astonished Russian flight-person can't believe I don't have my electronic boarding pass. Everyone's already on the plane!  She goes to work on telephone, computer, fax machine, email and instant message. 3 minutes later she prints my boarding pass. I race downstairs. A huge bus awaits me to take me to my connecting flight: a classic airbus "Rosiya Airlines." Whatever. It's half empty. When I find my seat I get the whole row to myself and try to catch a few zzzzzzs.   4 hours later finally reached Saint Petersburg.  As I write this I don't know if it's day or night and I feel the chair gently rolling with the turbulence as if I'm still at 30,000 feet.

I reached St. Petersburg and fell into the welcoming arms of Prithu Das. He and Vijaya Raman are waiting for me at the airport in a compact car with a huge Tilak sign on the roof. They are the sweetest, most affectionate devotees of Krishna you could possibly meet. We throw my stuff in the back and we have a long rambling conversation. Prithu offers me some kind of organic aloe verae drink that tastes like cactus juice. I'm dehydrated so I guzzle it happily. We discuss Mexico, Russian Politics, the Mexican educational system and Angkor Wat. 

Tomorrow we begin celebrating the birthday of Bhakti Sundar Govinda Maharaja, the founder of the Lahta Petersburg Temple. I knew Govinda Maharaja and have been invited to speak on this great occasion. But since I can feel the floor rolling underneath me, it's time to get some rest.

A few words about Mexico

Today we left San Miguel de Allende for Queretaro on the ETN, fastest luxury bus in Mexico. We arrived an hour later and took the Primera Plus to the airport in Mexico City. The Ramada Inn has a shuttle service to  and from the airport, so it was five hours total.  Now it's late at night. I'll get a good nights rest for the big trip tomorrow.

The road from San Miguel takes you past the cactus badlands of the high desert, through the industrial parks on the outskirts of Queretaro and into the heart of the valley of Mexico, still-proud plains where once ruled the Aztec civilizations.  Their stone pyramids still stand in faraway places like La Cañada de la Virgen, Teotihuacan, Monte Alban, Palenque. The purple volcanos that dominate the valley of Mexico are still active and throw vast fumerolas of ash into the stratosphere.

Gringos have such silly ideas about Mexico. They are always talking about riding bicycles around from pueblo to pueblo, drinking tequila, chasing señoritas and seeing bullfights. Older gringos are into being Hemingwayesque. They grow beards and try on a macho attitude.

On a personal level, I didn't come to Mexico to be Hemingway. It was my karma. 

The Mexican people are warm human beings. But nothing is as it seems. The taxi driver is as likely to have been an ex-boxer as he is to be a law school graduate. Appearances deceive.

My journey is one of celebration. I celebrate my personal odyssey, but also my life and faith, which I share with you. Allow me to celebrate Mexico.

Rural Mexico is a poem, a song, a bar-room ballad, cantina, ranchera, corrido. A constant one-act play about money, God, the Catholic church, compadrismo, death, fiestas, gossip, the church, death, sex, matrimony, the church, God, and death.

But if life in the provinces is a Balzac short story, or Chekovian play, Mexico City is an epic, a saga, a neverending story of 20 million souls who wake up every morning and make this extraordinary monster run. It makes no sense whatsoever that so many cars, buses, bicycles,metro trains, 18 wheelers, minibuses, microbuses, combis and urbanos jam the impassable streets while thousands of protestors block traffic, commandeer toll botths, smash windows and burn down government offices demanding equal pay, any pay at all, fair working conditions,many working conditions, an end to corruption, decent education, and the return of 43 disappeared students who were kidnapped, gunshot, cut into pieces, burned and thrown into the garbage. the city is a constant negotiation between the forces of absolute evil and the innate goodness of the human soul.

And yet the City of Mexico has been a refuge for homeless poets and saints: Octavio Paz, Pablo Casals, Jack Kerouack, Alan Ginsberg, even poor Trotsky himself took shelter as the house guest of the great cubist Diego Rivera and painter Frida Kahlo.  The great sadhu and spiritual teacher, my old friend Bhakti Kushum Ashram Maharaja hails from Mexico City.

City of mighty volcanos and earthquakes, I salute you tonight, even as tomorrow I will leave you behind for the land of the ancient Maya on the Yucatan Peninsula. Both Aztecs and Mayas maintained a great civilization that stretches back thousands of years. Is it possible that they communicated with other ancient cultures in India and Egypt long ago. 

Stay tuned, dear reader.

Adios Mexico

I'm on my way to the freezing snows of the ex-Soviet Union. Goodbye Mexico, Hello Moscow.

Mexico City is a lively and colorful place, full of people, culture and interesting places to see.

The Metro is an experience not to be missed.  The first time I rode the metro was shortly after it had been constructed for the Olympic games in 1968. I was there in 1970. The metro was modern and clean.  It was and still is an excellent way to get around Mexico City. You don't have to deal with taxi drivers and you feel independent.

This picture was taken in June, before I went to Russia. We're in the Park at the bottom of the hill that leads to Chapultepec Castle. 

"Ojos Tapatios"

"Adios mi Chaparrita"

Mexico City has many green areas: this is the path to the famous Chapultepec Castle where Maximilano and Carlotta rules as emperors and Porfirio Diaz presided as dictatorial President for more than 30 years.

The most amazing thing...everyone dies, but no one thinks "I am mortal." An exhibition of skulls from one of the pyramids.

My bags are packed

All right, everyone, my bags are packed. Mexico City tomorrow, then Cancun and Frankfurt. Thanks for all the cards and letters. Keep the comments coming. Get set for a roller coaster journey into surrender.

Special thanks to Bhakti Sudhir Goswami, Avadhuta Maharaja, Prithu Das, Muraliswara, Vijay Raman, and all the other fine devotees who have made this possible, especially Anna and the Krolik.

Special gratitude to Aurora, Sandra, Veronica, and the Lopez family. I won't be there in Mexico for Christmas, so Feliz Navidad, Prospero Año Nuevo a todos los amigos y a todas las amigas en Mexico. Adios!