Why they cannot stay awake
Srutakirti: During one short flight from New York, many devotees arranged for seats in the same row as Srila Prabhupada. As Srila Prabhupada's personal servant, I was fortunate to be seated next to him. As the flight took off some of his disciples began to fall asleep, and do what I called "the devotee dive-bomb." It was quite a sight seeing a row of shaven heads bobbing up and down. Prabhupada was not amused. "Just see," he said. "Everyone is wide awake except for the devotees. They are in maya, sleeping. Everyone else is awake. Why they cannot stay awake."
Usually when Srila Prabhupada addressed me in this way I became silent. I was afraid of saying the wrong thing, and possibly disturb him further. I simply sat in silence, and waited for him to stop. This was one such instance. During my stay with Srila Prabhupada, I learnt there was no such thing as a good reason. There wasn't a point you could make that Prabhupada couldn't defeat, and I was not advanced enough to have him start chastising me on a regular basis. Therefore I didn't even try to argue that the devotees slept only a few hours compared to the non-devotees. Prabhupada spent a few more minutes making his point. One thing was certain; I did not sleep on that flight.
Reference: Srila Prabhupada Uvacha by Srtuakirti Dasa
Recently Added
Trending Today