Finally some programs in Montreal

Jai Sri Radhe. Well I am finally going to be speaking at a few programs here in Montreal. I will still try to do more. Swami Bhakti Bibudh Bodhayan Maharaj is here in Montreal at the moment. He has been preaching in the Montreal area for more than ten years now, since one of his disciples, Anuradha Dasi, an innovative Odisi dancer from La Belle Province, is also something of a good promoter. Another friend of his is Patrick Bernard, Prahlad Das, an ex-ISKCON person who took mantra initiation from Bhakti Rakshak Shridhar Maharaj. He has become fairly successful as a New Age musician with plenty of fans. So through the two of them, Bodhayan Maharaj has made plenty of contacts in local yoga schools, etc.

Bodhayan Maharaj and Paramadwaiti Maharaj
at Vrinda Kunj in Vrindavan, 2009.

I went to a couple of Bodhayan Maharaj's programs, and have met many of his disciples, who are mostly new and real beginners. The mood in his programs is very good and quite different from the way most ISKCON programs are run. A lot less rah rah, if that is an acceptable thing to say. Many of the participants are older, a rather good mixture in fact, householders and retired people who are turning to spirituality. Some of them I talked to were seniors who had made a slow move over the years, ten years ago started doing yoga, five years ago became vegetarian, that kind of thing. Another thing is that they are nearly all French-speaking. Though Bodhayan Maharaj speaks in English, through the contact with Anuradha and Prahladji, he has been able to find nice people in the "regions", i.e., outside of Montreal and Quebec City.

Among these people Bodhayan Maharaj has created a nice community atmosphere. On Saturday I went to L'Assomption, a smallish town northeast of Montreal. There were about 50-60 people, who had driven there from 50-100 kilometers away.

I used to translate for Mandala Press, whose owner Ramdas is a disciple of Bhakti Promode Puri Maharaj, the founder of the Gopinath Gaudiya Math and spiritual master of Bodhayan Maharaj. So he was very respectful to me, even going as far as to embarrass me by glorifying me to his audience. I notice though that he does this. He teases and praises his disciples all the time. I think it is one of the ways that he creates a spirit of community and positive vibes. He preaches the Holy Name and keeps it simple. No bombastic Sanskrit verses.

So the first engagement I have is on the above dates at the Naada Yoga Center. Elizabeth Emberley is a nice young woman who is dedicated to yoga and with her husband has built a modern, two-story yoga center with a wide variety of facilities. I got this contact through Mark Singleton, whom I met when he passed through Rishikesh while I was working on Yoga Tarangini. Elizabeth was very helpful thanks to his recommendation and arranged for three Thursdays in August.

I decided I would talk about sambandha, prayojana and abhidheya, which I thought made a bit better sense in that order, since you kind of have to know what the goal is before you start traveling. So I haven't quite worked out the details, I am going to go the Power Point route for this program. I told Elizabeth I would have chanting and meditation as well as a lecture. There would be a bit of a practicum side to it.

I have been saying, as something of a motto, that there should be yoga for the bhaktas, and bhakti for the yogis. I know that our Vaishnava siddhanta seems to denigrate yoga, but that is actually not the case. There are several chapters in the Bhagavatam dedicated to yoga. There is no reason why the benefits of yoga cannot be applied to those whose goal is bhakti. And why not? I mean, is it against bhakti to have a yogic body by which you can better serve your chosen devata? And a peaceful mind, the better to meditate on your chosen Lord?

On the other hand, the scriptures are correct when they say that yoga without bhakti is incomplete. Many yoga studios and clubs study the Yoga Sutras (if they are interested in philosophy at all!). But kaivalya is not such a great outcome for devotees. As Bhaktivinoda Thakur says in Hari-nama-cintamani:

ব্রহ্মজ্ঞানে যোগে যে আনন্দ বৈভব ।
জড়ের বিচ্ছেদ সুখ ছায়া অনুভব ॥৩৩॥
brahma jñāne yoge ye ānanda vaibhava |
jaḍera viccheda sukha chāyā anubhava ||33||

The divine glory of bliss found in knowledge of Brahma or yoga
is only one's separation from material suffering, thus but a shadow of true happiness.

অভেদ্য কৈবল্য সুখ স্বল্প বলি’ জানি ।
কৃষ্ণ-নামানন্দ-সুখ ভূমা বলি’ মানি ॥৩৪॥
abhedya kaivalya sukha svalpa bali’ jāni |
kṛṣṇa-nāmānanda-sukha bhūmā bali’ māni ||34||

I know the indivisible happiness of liberation to be trifling,
but the bliss of chanting Krishna’s name to be unlimitedly great (bhūmā)

Well anyway, that is the challenge I give myself. We will see who comes and thinks will no doubt change accordingly.

Eknath Das, a Chilean disciple of Atulananda Acharya of Vrinda, Bhakti Alok Paramadwaiti Maharaj's organization. He founded the Vrinda Premalok Yoga Center on Maharaj's order and many traveling preachers from different branches of the Gaudiya Math speak there.

Of course I have known Paramadwaiti Maharaj for years and years, mostly through his activities in Vrindavan, where Maharaj is almost permanently stationed nowadays. I like Braj Vrindavan Act Now, one of the many projects he spawns in the way Mahavishnu emits universes from his follicles.

Paramadwaiti is also a good friend of Bodhayan Maharaj, since one of his many projects is the World Vaishnava Association, to which the Gopinath Gaudiya Math gives full support. Bhakti Promode Puri Maharaj was the first president of the WVA. As a result, the WVA also supports Bodhayan Maharaj wherever he goes. Maharaj will be speaking at the Premalok Yoga Center

Anyway, Ekanath was kind enough to give six dates to me. I am not pressured to go anywhere. I thought I would talk there on Vrindavana-mahimamrita, which as anyone paying attention here knows, is one of my many projects. I intend to start my talks with Prabodhananda's verses, teach and chant some songs about Vrindavan, but at the same time get some of the other issues about present-day Vrindavan into the discussion.

I made no preparations for speaking before coming to Canada and I realize now how difficult it is to do this kind of thing without preliminary groundwork or active supporters and organizers. My life plan has been to stay in Vrindavan and NOT travel. Staying in Vrindavan and teaching at a more advanced level to serious students.

One girl, Jahnava Dasi, saw me at one of the programs I went to and recognized me. The first thing she said was, "Oh yeah, you aspire for the service of Radha in Vrindavan, in the service of singing and reciting poetry." That is a bit of an embarrassment, since I am entirely untested as a performer, but it is what I wrote on my Facebook profile. The only real difficulty being here is that I haven't had enough devotee association, and it is really my own fault. I cannot tell you how glad I am that this desire will be getting a little fulfillment in the next few days.

With Paramadwaiti Maharaj in 2006.

I should mention that I made flyers in French also. I will speak in English or French according to the kind of audience I get. Of course I am more comfortable in English, but I think I can manage.