SOULS ON FIRE #126
The Spiritual Adventures of Fredriech Parsely
Fredriech and his brother were the only two members of their spiritual movement, and they both had different ideas about what it meant to dress in the vedic style. Fredriech was all about the traditional dhoti and kurta, while his brother preferred the Krsna West look with bhakta pants and a kurta, albeit with a tumeric stain.
This difference in dress caused a huge rift in the two person movement. Fredriech was convinced that he was doing things the right way, so he decided to do some research on vanipedia. But when he searched for "dhoti and kurta only," he was shocked to find no results.
He turned to his brother, who was eating kicheri with a spoon (which, let's face it, is a big no-no in vedic culture), and tried to pull rank by saying "Prabhupada said." But his brother was having none of it. He shouted back, "Prabhupada said “we are not concerned with dress; we are concerned with the advancement of spiritual understanding. That's all!"
The argument escalated quickly, and soon, kicheri was flying everywhere as his brother pounded his fist on the table breaking it into a million pieces (bringing glee to Fredriech who thought tables were maya). The once-united spiritual movement was now in shambles, torn apart by their differing views on dress.
Fredriech was left to ponder the words of his guru, wondering if he had been too focused on outward appearances instead of inner spirituality. And his brother? Well, he continued towear his bhakta pants and white kurta so many tumeric stains that it that it looked like a yellow kurta with a few small bleach stains.
Upon reflecting on Prabhupada's words, Fredriech realized that the dress code was not as important as spiritual understanding. He embraced this teaching and encouraged his community (just his brother so far) to focus on the essence of the teachings rather than external formalities. Krishna Das rolled his eyes as he cleaned the kicheri off the carpet with dish washing liquid (something else that personally offended Fredriech).
Just then a pandemic was announced along with a pitched alert sound on their phones. The government recommended that everyone get vaccinated to prevent the spread of the disease. Fredriech was skeptical of the vaccine, believing that it was not necessary and could even be harmful. He had faith in the sastras and believed that following spiritual practices and living a pure lifestyle was the best protection against any disease.
Krishna das, on the other hand, had faith in the government and believed that getting vaccinated was the responsible thing to do. He feared that not getting vaccinated could result in harm to oneself or others. This caused a divide in their institution.
As the debate raged on within their movement, Fredriech continued to rely on the sastras and his own intuition. But as the pandemic spread and more people got vaccinated, Fredriech noticed a disturbing trend. Some people were experiencing adverse reactions to the vaccine, including severe allergic reactions, blood clots, and even death.
Fredriech's concerns were confirmed when he heard from a reliable source that the vaccine was not as safe as the government had claimed. It had been rushed to market without proper testing, and its long-term effects were unknown.
Fredriech realized that his faith in the sastras had guided him in the right direction once again. He urged his community to rely on spiritual practices and a healthy lifestyle to boost their immunity and protect themselves from disease.
Krishna das, initially skeptical of Fredriech's views, eventually came around to his brother's way of thinking. Together, they led their community through the pandemic, relying on their faith in the sastras and their own intuition to make the right decisions for their community's health and well-being. But something concerned Fredriech about his brother.
To be continued…
New Projects
Attention everyone! I am thrilled to share with you some exciting projects I'm currently working on.
Firstly, I'm diving into the world of painting abstract graffiti on canvas. My aim is to create beautiful and thought-provoking pieces that inspire and uplift those who view them.
Additionally, I'm excited to be sharing a Krsna sketch a day from artists from around the world. I've approached some amazing artists and asked them to sketch the name of Krsna, and I'll be sharing one sketch per day on Instagram. I'm open to ideas for what words to put along with their sketch, so feel free to share your thoughts!
As part of my goal to create 50 pieces this year, I'm seeking a sponsor for each one. I will send a signed photo of the piece to each sponsor, and I'm open to input into what to paint. I will paint my usual name of Krsna, but I'm open to ideas for themes, quotes, characters, or even challenges like painting a bus, for example. The easiest way to sponsor a piece is by becoming a paid subscriber to this zine.
In addition to these artistic projects, I'm excited to announce that I've just finished making a new website to document the stories from Profest last year. I'll be launching it this weekend, so keep an eye out!
I'm also currently working on a website called Prabhupada Pilled, which is a space for men in the grhasta ashram (or men in committed relationships) to get inspiration from the Redpilled but also Vedic teachings of Prabhupada.
Lastly, I've started a new podcast called Param Vijayate, which airs live on Facebook group as the official podcast of the Harinam Jihad on Earth.
Thank you for your support, and I'm excited to share more updates with you soon!