Monday, February 25, 2008

Never thought Small

I was just hearing a lecture of HH Devamrita Swami and one line stood out. Maharaj talks about Srila Prabhupad and quotes Srila Prabhupad saying, "My disease is that I can never think small".

The more I meditate on this line, I realise how true that line is. ISKCON or the Hare Krishna Movement was literally a spiritual revolution and it made such an important impact into the world we see today.

One sitting through the entire 45 minutes of the Darshan DVD is clear for one to know about the magnitude of Srila Prabhupad's ISKCON. From the southern most tip of New Zealand to the beautiful Saranagti Farm Community in the hills of British Columbia in Canada, its possible to find an ISKCON center in every major city around the world. And that is a very powerful feeling.

Srila Prabhupad has built this house, and has opened the doors for every one around the world. Its so big and bountiless, like his mercy that it can accomodate every body. The beauty of this is that we always find ourselves at home wherever we go! Its almost like going from one home to another.

Where else can you find the warmth of delicious khicari in almost every corner of the world? Where else can we feel the peace and inner calm as the first sounds of the shankh (conch shell) echo through the morning calm of Mangala Arati?
Where else do we find people whom we never met to treat us with so much love, affection, care that makes us truly believe that we are one family?

As the age of Kali keeps moving on, I see the prophecy of Caitanya Mahaprabhu slowly heading to reality. Over the past 3 years, the number of temples that have opened in smaller villages in India is truly a marvel and goes to show how powerful the message of Srila Prabhupad was.

For me, being raised in this movement and trying to practice it for a considerable long time, ISKCON is my family. Its is in this movement where I've formed friends, strengthened relationships and discovered a new meaning to life. It is impossible for me to imagine my life without this wonderful movement as this is my life itself.

As I step back and look at Srila Prabhupad's ISKCON, it reminds me of something I read in my history textbook in middle school. While learning about the era of Imperialism and Colonialism, I read a line which set that at the peak of the British Empire's Imperialism, it was said that "The Sun never set on the British Empire".

I see the same parallel for this wonderful family called the International Society of Krishna Consciousness. My family.

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