A Visit to Laguna Beach Hare Krishna Temple

Today I went to the Laguna Beach Hare Krishna Temple. It was a half an hour drive to Laguna Beach from my Aunt Sherie's house. We found the temple. It looked quite small on the outside but in the inside it was pretty spacious. they have a different Aarti schedule however. So Dad and I decided to take a stroll down Coastal Hwy by the ocean shore. We went into these shops near by. This one shope had very expensives tables and statues of whales and other fish. They had a nice Killer Whale statue but they wanted $30,000 for it. That's ridiculous. Im glad I am living simply and not wanting mundane items like that. Then we walked into this Candle shop and they sold little statues of Budhha. But then i noticed that had these deity pendents. I desperately looked in that box for Krishna. But I did not find Him. I asked the lady who worked there if she had Him but she said she ran out. She only had Ganesh. I felt so disappointed. I really wanted Krishna. Maybe next time I go there they will have Him. I actually want a necklace with Krishna on it. I need to check our gift shop in LA and see if they have one of Him.

Anyway I went back to the temple. I asked the devotees how I get in to the temple to see the 12 noon Aarti since their main door was locked. I had to go in through the side door. When I went in the Deity doors were open. And there I saw beautiful Pancha Tattva Deities. When I saw Lord Chaitanya I could not get over how beautiful He looked. I found myself just staring at Him. I felt stunned and couldn't move almost. I sat down to chant some extra rounds while the Aarti went on. After the Aarti was over when I was about to leave the devotees there had offered me some prasadam which was very kind of them. Their prasadam is very good there too not spicey. They had chili on the side so Im glad they did not put it in the prasadam. After I left I could still see Lord Chaitanya's beautiful lotus face not physically in front of me but in my mind and heart. And yet even now at my grandmother's house Lord Chaitanya is still on my mind.

Here are some photos of the temple.

My Visit At My Aunt Sherie's And Uncle Chris's House

I had a very pleasant visit with my Aunt Sherie and Uncle Chris. My Aunt Sherie is a very talkative woman and funny too. My Aunt Sherie works three jobs. I don't know how she can do that. For me that sounds exhausting just listening to her describe her job. The only job she likes out of the three is her teaching job with students at a local school near by. She had to go there this morning for a couple of hours. She also works at a clothes store called "Chicos". I forgot what her third job is.

My Uncle Chris I forgot what kind of work he does. But he claims he might get laid off soon from his job and will be jobless again soon. However I haven't seen my uncle much while i was here mostly my Aunt Sherie.

I also played a game of chess with my cousin Matt and my dad was watching us. My dad was looking over the chess  board and immediately that reminded me of when Arjuna asked his friend Lord Krishna to go into the battlefield to see who was present in the battlefield. My dad told me that I do not have the killing instict for the game because the game of chess is a war game which involves killing. But as I was playing the game I was constantly thinking of how Krishna and Balaram would often play chess. So I know this game is more than 5,000 years old and it comes from India. My dad was helping me play the game and eventually we won. So I am happy that I was at least able to stay Krishna Concious while being at my family's house by dovetailing everything.

This morning I woke up late due to going to bed at 11pm. I woke up at 4:30am. However i would have taken a shower but I did not want to disturb my family members so I just chanted my rounds. I finished my rounds by 6:10am this morning so that I do not have to worry about them later. Then at 6:30am I went to take shower since everyone seemed to be up except for my cousin Matt who has a tendancy to sleep in very late. After I got dressed I took care of my Deities. I have learned my lesson about my Deities. Whenever I go somewhere for a long period of time I bring my Deities with me so that They do not get stolen like the last time. Then I went to make breakfast. While I did that I listened to a Srila Prabhupada lecture and then I did some service for my Aunt Sherie. I cleaned her kitchen. I was going to mop her floor but I could not find her mop so I just swept it , I wiped off the counter tops, and washed the dishes and put the clean dishes away. I was imagining myself still in the temple cleaning for Krishna and I dovetailed my Aunt's house into it being Krishna's house. My guru Maharaj instructed me to see Krishna's smile in everything that I do so that is why I did this service not only for my Aunt but for Krishna.

So today I will be going over to my Grandmother's house I will have more details later. Hare Krishna.

Today's Darshan Sri Sri Rukmini Dwarakdish 2-27-2012

George Harrison's Birthday Celebration

Yesterday I went to George's Hollywood Walk of Fame star. There was to be a birthday celebration for him. His birthday is February 25th, 1943. He would have turned 69 that day if he was still alive. Sadly George passed away ten years ago November 29th,2001.

Anyway I had received an email about his birthday celebration. It was to be held in Hollywood from 12 noon till 2pm. I decided to attend it. I thought it'd be the perfect book distribution opportunity. So I grabbed a lot of Chant and Be Happy books and a few other ones in case people already had Chant and Be Happy. I was the first to arrive at George's star around 11am, and hour early. I wasn't alone for long however. A lady named Susan got out of her car with some kind of cleaning items. She tells me that she polishes George's star every month which I think is nice of her to do. She and I chatted about George for an hour while waiting for everyone else to show up. After she cleaned his star, she and I decorated his star. I had brought a small picture of George and flowers from the temple. I put a small flower garland around George's picture, and I brought single offered carnations and lined them up along with George's name on the star. Susan also brought her decorations in. As few people showed up, some of them brought their decorations as well. A crowd of about 15 to 20 people showed up, plus a news tv station Fox 11, and then this radio DJ Chris Charter was there apparently he is popular in this area. I have no idea who he is.

When the program started Susan was the first to give a small speech about George. She reflected a lot about George's spiritual life which is what i like to hear. She also talked about his son Dhani, and also about Paul getting his star finally on the Walk of Fame not long ago. A couple other people then spoke about George too after her. Then two young people sang a song or two. Afterwards other people were allowed to step up to the microphone and say a few words about George. So I gathered up some courage to say a few words about George. After I feel my guru Maharaj would want me to say something about George. I spoke about how George changed my life spiritually and spoke a bit about my initiation and how my guru Maharaj gave my name and named me after George. They all liked my story about George. So I felt relieved. I didnt think any one would listen to it.

After that was done they all got into a big circle and held a few minutes of silence for George and then they played While My Guitar Gently Weeps while still being in a circle holding hands. I didn't join in on that part however. I just stood by quietly and watched. Chris Charter gave away somethings he had with George on it after it was over. Then they said they would have pizza and cake. They offered me a piece of George's birthday cake but I politely declined as I knew it had eggs in it and i cannot have eggs due to being under strict vows not to eat meat fish or eggs.

So while they were eating pizza and cake, I just sat at George's star quietly chanting japa. This one man came up to me and said that he is happy I am practicing Krishna Conciousness and said for me to keep up with it. I thought it was nice of him to say that. Shortly after we all packed up and left. I was pretty tired after it was all over. I distributed one book to Susan. She took a Higher Taste book. No one else wanted a book.

After I got  back to the temple I went to finish garlands and then I went out on harinam to try book distribution again. I managed to get out one Perfection of Yoga book out. So I distributed two books that day.

Here is a picture of George's star that was decorated yesterday

Krishna Will Never Leave Us

I had received an email reply from my guru Maharaj today. I had told him I was afraid of maya trying to find her way in my spiritual life. She still does but she is having difficulty now I am sure becasue I am being stubborn with her or at least trying to be so that i stay focused more on Krishna.

But it's when Im out on book distribution is where my fear of maya comes in. Especially if I run into someone who is completely attached to speaking only of Jesus and not giving others a chance to have their say. But Maharaj had told me that this is Krishna simply testing me. He has instructed me to see Krishna's smile in everything that I do for Him. He also said that Krishna will never leave me. He said to read the Bhagavad Gita daily and to stay close in association with devotees.

What brought me comfort in these instructions from Maharaj is that he said Krishna will never leave me. Krishna may put me into difficulty but like maharaj said Krishna is simply testing me to see how much I really Him.

What i love about Krishnas name is that His name is so powerful that you cannot forget Him. Even if you hear His name only once still you cannot forget unless you have a desire to Krishna will make you forget Him if that is your desire. After all He is the one that causes the living entity to remember or forget. So my desire to is to ALWAYS remember Krishna. And I don't care how hard other people out there try to make me leave Krishna or make me forget Him because it is impossible for them to do that. Krishna promises that He takes special care of His devotees and they never vanquish. This is in the Bhagavad Gita. As long as one always thinks of Krishna, Krishna will never foget His devotees. Srila Prabhupada often repeats this in his lectures.

So that is how Krishna never leaves us. Simply say Hare Krishna or just Krishna, He is automatically there. He is present in His Holy Names. I try to chant more rounds so that I can realize this myself. And I am slowly but surely realizing this through my guru Maharaj's mercy.

Today's Darshan Sri Sri Rukmini Dwarkadish 2-23-2012

George Harrison's Upcoming Appearance Day

I got an email today saying that there will be a special celebration in Hollywood at George's star in front of the Capitol Records building this Saturday from 12 to 2pm. So I have made a decision. I am going to go to this event. I feel I should and I think my guru Maharaj would want me to go. Maharaj had told me more than once that George is like my guru since George had brought me to Krishna.

Late this afternoon around 5pm I got on my bike and rode to the store and got a picture frame and a candle for George's star. I have an old worn out picture that I can leave on George's star. I will bring some flowers too to decorate his star with and maybe leave a mini flower garland around his picture. I hope to get to his star early before 12 noon so that I can spend some quiet time there chanting some rounds.

The main reason why I want to go to this event is to distribute some Chant and Be Happy books. I gotta get more of those some how. I hope tomorrow I can get into the book room and pick some more up. I only have 26 and I feel I need some more than that. when I was at Paul's star ceremony, I had 13 of those books and they were gone in less than an hour so I feel I need some more just in case. I feel there maybe quite a few people at George's birthday ceremony. Hopefully I can distribute a lot more than last time and email the results to Maharaj. He told me to keep up with book distirbution so I will do my best to please him.

This morning I had found myself listening to George's music for most of the morning. Probably because of George's Appearance day so I decided to listen to some of his songs and Im still hooked onto listening to them. Two of my guru Maharaj's favorite songs by George is My Sweet Lord and Here Comes the Sun. :) I couldn't have asked for more. Im so happy that Krishna allowed me to take shelter of a guru who is also very fond of George.

Today's Darshan Sri Sri Rukmini Dwarkadish 2-22-2012

Today's Darshan Sri Sri Rukmini Dwarkadish 2-21-2012