Day 17
I went to get some more festive colorful clothes. I ask the lady there if they had anything like what she was wearing on her head. She says "why do you call this a festival? This is a grieving thing" I feel her mana and fear her chastisement. I say "because we are all sharing love". I wait for her response.
Then a woman my age comes up to me in a volunteer vest and says "Muchukunda" she hugs me for a decent 20 seconds or so and I say "how can I serve you?" With moist eyes she says "you won't remember me but in 2012 I went to Melbourne from Hamilton and my friend Clay Regas told me to meet up with you. I had no way of finding you but I met you when you were spray painting and you introduced me to Crossways restaurant Hare Kṛṣṇa. I've often wondered if I'll meet you again".
The older lady turns to me after listening to her story and says "that was beautiful and you know what? You're right. This is a festival and you are healing the grievance. And not only that but by your chanting you are healing the grieving from what your ancestors did to ours. Thank you so much for being here" I say "thank you for having us on iwi land" she says good luck finding something festive. It’s all yours. Just then I see the exact thing I came for and say "there it is" I grab the scarf and another one for someone else and go back to the temple. On the way I see the guy I met on the bus here. I notice he has a bandage on his head and we talk about it. He got kicked in the head by police.
I give him a hug and invite him to kirtan. He says "let's go now"
After some hours the lady from admin came and gave me a bunch of colourful clothes.
She had a sari-like thing and asked me to give it to “a sister”. I hugged her goodbye and said "I love you".
Shani is here having Prasad and Prahlad is telling her the Chand Kazi lila. (When LordChaitnya organised the first civil disobedience movement by chanting in the gardens of the kings in protest)
The boy who said he'd be here all day is keeping his word.
The moment I think of Prasad Dion offers to go get some for Sitapati and I.
The boy who’s been leading kirtan named Rapid comes and tells us he likes Cams conch best and his friend offers us some chewing gum.
The lady who gave me the clothes comes by the Prasad tent when I was in line for dinner and I ask her if the scarf she gave me earlier was the one she was wearing on her head. She says "yes and I want you to have it" This is my favourite story.
Someone gave Prahlad 20 dollars for a small book and a small Gaura Nitai Murti are now dancing on the book table near the insence donated by Tulasi Das this morning. He said its made from cow dung.
Day 18
A guy I met in the Prasad line says "love prasad." I say "how do you know this special word?"
He said "I've been coming to kirtan for years. I should have brought my Haribol hat" his name is Scott.
We ate together and he tells me he mostly likes kirtan and he was just trying to be a humble person.
I tell him he just summed up Lord Chaitanyas siksastakam and how prabhupada said we should string the 3rd verse on the holy name and wear it around our neck. He looked it up.
On a japa walk I meet people who want to talk every 10 meters or so. They want to thank us for chanting. One girl named Jazz was on a video call with her mum Debbie in Kalgoorlie. I tell Debbie I lived down the road in Coolgardie when I was 5. I even got to meet her mum and say hare Krsna.
She says she always has Hare Kṛṣṇa food when they go to Perth.
When I get back I ask Sevaka if he'd like to come on a 2 man Harinam and meet people in our community. We leave and Regan comes.
Then 3 girls join in and Hayim is there too and gives one a mrdanga. This girl goes in front and leads us around the village. Then Sitapati and Cam come join and we keep going. The girl who told me the story of the guys who were fixing the toilets and chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa took photos of us.
Then we saw Scott holding a sign that read "join the dark side. We have cookies" He chanted with us and these 3 maori boys joined us. They all had sikhas.
Sitapati says to one of them "I gotta go to the bathroom, wanna play mrdanga?" And hands it to him. I give the karatallas to another boy and he nails the beat.
Shani was in the kitchen all day and washing pots all evening.
I tell her she's a demigod disguised as a human and she just smiles.
Buddhimanta Khan Das arrives and then dissappeared. Apparently he has the tulasi mala and japa beads and a whole bunch of other paraphernalia we requested.
I was telling his partner Vanessa about how I needed a mattress at 10.15pm and admin gave me one even though they had “closed” at 10pm and this guy who overheard me stops and says he had the same experience. I ask him if that's the only mystical experience he's had here and he says "No. Every moment has been like that!"
Vanessa tells me she wants to help me compile all these stories into a book.
There's a big kirtan at the border and they're all chanting to Lord Siva. I got the vivid realisation this is a mela of gods disguised as a protest.
I saw two woman walking and singing Hare Kṛṣṇa.
I ride a scooter back to Marks place and one bhakta is there looking sad. I ask when he last got a massage and he's says I don't know. I give him an oil massage and then chant Hare Kṛṣṇa.
He became happy.
I realised Sometimes people need your shoulder, not your mouth.
Hare Kṛṣṇa
Chapter 15: The Yoga of the Supreme Person
TEXT 18
yasmat ksaram atito 'ham
aksarad api cottamah
ato 'smi loke vede ca
prathitah purusottamah
SYNONYMS
yasmat—because; ksaram—the fallible; atitah—transcendental; aham—I;aksarat—from the infallible; api—better than that; ca—and; uttamah—the best; atah—therefore; asmi—I am; loke—in the world; vede—in the Vedic literature; ca—and; prathitah—celebrated; purusottamah—as the Supreme Personality.
TRANSLATION
Because I am transcendental, beyond both the fallible and the infallible, and because I am the greatest, I am celebrated both in the world and in the Vedas as that Supreme Person.
PURPORT
No one can surpass the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna-neither the conditioned soul nor the liberated soul. He is, therefore, the greatest of personalities. Now it is clear here that the living entities and the Supreme Personality of Godhead are individuals. The difference is that the living entities, either in the conditioned state or in the liberated state, cannot surpass in quantity the inconceivable potencies of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.