Tonight His Holiness Ramai Swami gave class and lead an ecstatic kirtan.

Some thoughts from tonight:

There was one lady disciple of Srila Prabhupada back in the day who would go into the bin after the Sunday Feast, and eat the prasadam that the guests had thrown out, and she would be crying at how they had wasted the Lord’s mercy (prasadam).

I take the dust from the lotus feet of that devotee on my head.

Every time that I go to the temple (infrequently at the moment) I test my Krishna Consciousness. When I go to the caranamrita, I watch my mind to see if there is any spontaneous attraction to take the water that has washed the hands of the devotees. So far that is not any sign of real Love of God within my heart.

Moving a few chairs around is nothing. Pastor Rick Warren spent 10 years leading the setup of 54 environments in the school that his church leased each Sunday morning, and then taking them down in the evening. A team would go in, draw a diagram of the room on the blackboard, then rearrange it. In the evening another team would come in and put everything back the way it was on the board.

One day Rick was carrying some toys for the childrens’ program from the trunk of his car across the school parking lot, and thinking to himself: “So many other pastors just have to show up and preach each Sunday - why do I have to go through all this every week?” As he thought this, he suddenly had a deep realization of what Jesus Christ had gone through for his sake, and he just stopped right there in the parking lot and broke down crying.

A devotee once asked Srila Prabhupada: “Srila Prabhupada, in your books you say that in order to take to the process of Krishna Consciousness one must have studied all the Vedic literatures, performed all Vedic sacrifices, and accumulated so many pious reactions - but while we’ve taken to Krishna Consciousness we have never done any of these things, so where do our pious reactions come from?”

Srila Prabhupada replied: “I have created them.”

There are so many people out there who cannot do service. We have to do it on their behalf. Last night we did a couple of hours of kirtan before our meeting, and I dedicate all benefit for that chanting to Dianne Brimble, who died so ignomiously on a P&O cruise in 2002. No-one was there to chant the Holy Name for her when she left her body. No-one will perform the sraddha or pinda ceremonies for her, but I remember her and desire that the benefit of that chanting go to her.

May this body, which is otherwise fit to be eaten by jackals, be utilized for the benefit of others.

This very fallen and lowly servant of Krishna prays: May I remain in this material world for millions of births, giving up all desires for liberation and learning to selflessly serve the mission of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.