om ajnana timirandhasya jnananjana salakaya
caksur unmilitam yena tasmai sri gurave namah
"O Gurudeva, you are so merciful. I offer my humble pranama unto you and am praying from the core of my heart that, with the torchlight of divine knowledge, you open my eyes which have been blinded by the darkness of ignorance."
caksur unmilitam yena tasmai sri gurave namah
"O Gurudeva, you are so merciful. I offer my humble pranama unto you and am praying from the core of my heart that, with the torchlight of divine knowledge, you open my eyes which have been blinded by the darkness of ignorance."
Recently I went on a beautiful book distribution tour with Jadurani/Syamarani didi and a group of young women. We went all around California having blissful festivals in major cities like Los Angeles and Berkeley. Everywhere we were received very sweetly by devotees, and everywhere people were attracted to the spiritual gem literatures given by our vaisnava acaryas. Also Syamarani didi's posters of art, inspired from the hearts of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva, were very popular.
I took some notes during the tour - Syamarani didi spoke on Sri Siksastakam for most of it - and would like to share them.
So here's the first of a series of Syamarani didi posts - my notes are very shorthand and may be difficult to understand. Please forgive me if they are!
Everything in brackets, [], is something she said about herself, so I put it in brackets so that it doesn't get confusing.
Syamarani didi
"evam vrtasah priyanarma krtyah...One who has developed prema is always loving his Lord, dancing, crying, not caring for others. - mood of gopis. If in tune with this mood, then we can be in tune with all entities. We want to be in tune with all living entities. Book distribution is a way to do this."As a preacher your mindset changes. [When Syamarani didi does book distribution, all her experiences come into the forefront. She thinks of the Bhagavad Gita As It Is paintings.]"People gather sukriti - pious credits - by inadvertently serving, too. For example, if someone lets Srila Gurudeva go first in line at the airport - then, they'll get a book, or hear the Hare Krsna mantra, or get a bonafide guru, and surrender to that guru. Even if someone appreciates what we are doing but does not take any book, that gets him sukriti."Gurudeva said, 'Keep giving sukriti.' By contact with us book distributors, people get it, and we give it."Once connected with Krsna Consciousness, we illuminate, like a light bulb connected to a powerhouse.Gurudeva said, when you don't know whether your sari is on or off and you're rolling on the ground, then you'll be an effective preacher.Make your heart one with the goswamis and your gurudeva.Think of they benefit people are getting, not of yourself. Preach and distribute books for benefit of the humans and the animals. If the humans read these books they won't kill the animals.Our preaching is like throwing a butterfly wing into a pond - not much ripple created. But if Gurudeva tells us to [preach, distribute books], his power goes with us. Gurudeva is with us making it all happen. He is the doer.Practically try to assess the needs of the person, ask them what they're interested in, if they have any questions. etc.Gurudeva is more powerful than Visvamitra Muni, Narada Muni, etc. He can come in another body. He can do anything. He is all merciful and his mercy is ever increasing."
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