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A Sunday Evening with Swamiji

Satsvarupa Dasa: I have been to the Sunday love feast, and then to my apartment to finish up some typing. Now I'm going back to the storefront to give the typing to Swamiji. As I enter the storefront I see that many guests have already left. Kirtanananda is sitting on the front shelf of the storefront window talking with a guy and girl about Krishna consciousness. He's speaking examples he's heard from the Swami and some of his own. His friend, Umapati, stands by. Someone mentions Buddhism and Umapati says, Buddhism is actually a kind of mysticism for atheists. On the left side of the front entrance is a shelf with ISKCON literatures where Gargamuni has set up pamphlets, 'Krishna, The Reservoir of Pleasure' and 'Who is Crazy,' The first issue of BTG is there, and some incense in homemade packs. Gargamuni wears red japa beads around his neck and he smoothes his Shakespearean locks with his hand. He says, You can burn this incense when you chant Hare Krishna. He laughs, but he's trying to make a sale. A man picks up the leaflet, Prospectus. "Is this free?" Gargamuni says, "We have to pay for the printing. You can give a little donation for it." Gargamuni holds his fourth plate of feast prasadam in his hand and he's picking a little from it as he talks. At the back of the room where the dais is, there are big pots on the floor and the devotees are giving out whatever prasadam is left. Acyutananda is serving out the prasadam with a large spoon. Stryadhisa is sitting quietly eating. Rupanuga and his wife and their little child are sitting, having finished prasadam, and talking with Rayarama. A moody young man is playing the tamboura, but pressing the strings down as if it were a guitar. Bob Lefkowitz says to him, "Hey, that's not the way you play a tamboura. You'll break it. It's just a drone instrument." The young man continues playing the tamboura by pressing the strings and finally, Lefkowitz takes it from him. Rupanuga says to Rayarama, Something should be done to make the temple a cleaner place. He says that he and his wife sometimes feel ashamed to come there because of the cockroaches and the dirt. There are even sweet juice stains on the rug. Rayarama smiles and says, "Well, what can be done?" But Rupanuga is serious about it. He says it's really bad and he will tell the Swami about it. Jagannatha dasa (James Green) is also there and he's talking with a newly initiated devotee named Dvarakadhisa. Dvarakadhisa is comparing Krishna consciousness to Western philosophy. He says that the arguments on the existence of God by Thomas Aquinas are very good. I walk through this scene and out the side door into the courtyard. Paper plates are scattered around, and the janitor, Mr. Chuddy, is upset. "I told you this before," says Mr. Chuddy. "This is not your place." Brahmananda says, "We're just like your sons. So just please tell us what to do and I'll do it. I'll clean up right away. It won't happen again." Brahmananda has heard from the Swami that he should approach Mr. Chuddy in this way. Mr. Chuddy is pacified but another tenant comes and they both complain again about the plates. "Did you get some prasadam?" asks Brahmananda politely of the tenant. "Yes, I got a plate. It was nice but that's not the point." Stryadhisa is sitting at the picnic table blinking and looking detached from everything. I go up to the Swami's room and the door is open. I can see Jadurani back at her place. She must have eaten prasadam quickly and come right up, and now she is singing the Hare Krishna mantra and tinkling the brush in the glass. She paints a little on her canvas, then tinkles it in the glass to wipe it off, and then paints again. There are some guests in the Swami's room and he's speaking to them. So I'll go in and sit down. The Swami is saying that there are symptoms of advancement in Krishna consciousness. You feel you should take down notes of what he's saying, because you have not heard this before. Right away you ask yourself, "Do I have these symptoms of advancement?" He says one symptom is that you're not attached to the things of this world. You're also not lusty or greedy for material things because you're satisfied in Krishna. Hearing the Swami, you're amazed at how he knows everything and speaks in such an ordered way, authoritative and very relaxed. The room is warm and he's sitting back, with his dhoti hitched up a bit so that you can see his satiny skin up to the knee. He looks at me but doesn't say anything because he's really absorbed in talking, and I'm just glad that I'm there. I'm included and listening. After a while I ask a question, "Are there more symptoms of advancement?" He says that "Another symptom is that you're not afraid. There's no fear because you know that even if you die, you don't die. You are an eternal self." Some of the guests don't agree with this. They make points and then the Swami counters again. While he's talking, Swamiji seems to notice the typing that's in my hand. He says, "What is that? Do you have some typing for me?"  "Yes."  "You come forward on your knees and put the manuscript beside him." He touches it, looks at it in an offhand way, and goes back to preaching. But then a few minutes later he looks at you and asks, "Do you have more work?" "Yes, I have more." I had been feeling sleepy over at my apartment and thinking, Oh well, I can go and see him in the morning. But I'm glad I decided to come back to see him because this is where I really want to be. As the evening gets later, Acyutananda looks in and asks, "Swamiji, would you like something to eat? Would you like some puffed rice?" Some of the guests realize how late it is and say that they'll have to leave. I think I should leave also and give the Swami some time to himself. Finally, we all get up and start for the door. Swamiji says, "I need some time to work on the Srimad-Bhagavatam." Then he says, "The store will open tomorrow morning at six o'clock." By the store he means himself. A man says, "I have to get back to the Bronx and the daily grind again. It sure has been nice being able to talk with you, Swamiji. And I hope I can follow some of these principles." Everyone leaves the apartment, as Acyutananda and Kirtanananda signal that we should all go and leave the Swamiji alone. Jadurani stays in her corner, painting. I could stay too, but I'm going to go. I'll be back in the morning. We bow down and say goodnight and somewhat reluctantly leave Swamiji. He's smiling at us, and we know we'll be able to come back soon. As I walk home, I picture the Swamiji in his room alone, typing Srimad-Bhagavatam on his typewriter.



Reference: Prabhupada Meditations Vol I by Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami