Advanced Devotee Association and Digging Up the Past

I'm thinking about starting another blog about my devotional life or lack thereof.  For example, I was at Hridayananda Goswami's place last night and he made an interesting distinction between Krishna Consciousness as a life's quest and it becoming just someone's religion.  He cited Back to Godhead articles of the past that describe how devotees came to Krishna consciousness, i.e "I was 19 and found a book in the library, etc."  That's all well and good but getting a book or joining a temple is not the end of one's quest, he said.  Rather, it's just the beginning.  

It's not that we have found Krishna when we first contact the devotees but rather, prior to that, we were searching and were basically lost; at that point of first contact, the search should really begin.  In other words, when we came into contact with Prabhupada's books and the devotees, what we have really found is a bona fide map but the search for Krishna should never stop.  If it does stop, then we have a very powerful process to realize God that we don't take advantage of and refer it to it as our religion.

First of all, Krishna is everywhere.  He's in every atom of His material creation and holds the whole thing together by His external potency.  He's also personally within everyone's heart, in the form of the Supersoul, sitting right next to every individual soul, like two birds in a tree. The implication of that, said HDG, is that we are never alone wherever we go and no matter what we do.  Personally, I have always thought that is so awesome.  He is always witnessing everything we do and think and is patiently waiting for us to turn to Him.

HDG went onto say that Lord Chaitanya came and taught service in separation.  He was always looking for Krishna by His own personal example.  The six goswamis, who were the greatest devotees, also were always searching for Krishna.  HDG went onto say that we can follow their lead by every time we go out for a walk, for example, make it fun by seeing Krishna in everything we come across.  Of course, this can be applied to anything we do during the day.  No matter how externally pleasurable or austere something may be, internally we can derive transcendental pleasure from it equally by always having the mentality that we are searching for Krishna.

In the brief time I saw HDG last night, he was very happy.  "My new thing these days is to look for Krishna," he joked.  "It doesn't matter how pure or impure we are," he continued.  "Even if a person is not following all the principles, he or she shouldn't wait to search for Krishna until they are more pure.  They should start now by focusing on chanting Hare Krishna whenever they can."  If we just a give a little time to Krishna everyday, no matter how busy we are, it would be the greatest thing, he said.

I would also like to write about my struggles to heighten my consciousness as I live my every day seemingly mundane life.  How can I see Krishna in everything?  How can I increase my love for Him?  In what ways can I serve Him despite my busy schedule?  Prabhupada always said we could learn to Krishna-ize our lives by dovetailing them in His service.  Even if I'm not outwardly engaged, how am I thinking internally?  In other words, what is my consciousness really?  I think if I become more reflective about these things, it can only help my progress in the long run.

Wednesday was another long school day (9 am - 5 pm).  I tried to focus on each point in class and took one class at a time, rather than get overwhelmed by the long day in front of me.  Kind of like being in Schoolaholics Anonymous.  It seemed to work and make the day pass by faster.  I also retained the material much better, I think.  As I have problems with some of the fast lecturers, I started taping my classes with the digital recorder my wife kindly gave me.  "Great idea dude," said one kid.  I did skip my American Government class because I needed a break. That class is really easy and besides I was really hungry and got Krishna Lunch during that time.  The only day I can eat it at Santa Fe is Wednesdays and they always have spaghetti on that day.  I therefore, don't eat spaghetti at all the rest of the week.

We dug for fossils at McGeehee Farm near Newberry for my Geology class.  I found some fish vertebrae, pieces of turtle shell and some kind of an old leg bone.  My professor, Dr. Mead, speculated it might come from a rat.  After the dig, Dr. Mead talked to the class for about half-an-hour.  When a Daddy-Long-Leg approached, a young East-Indian girl standing next to me freaked out, screamed and latched onto me, digging her nails into my sides.  

The worst thing about the fossil-digging experience was driving home when I realized I was eating cashews without washing my hands after digging with my paws in the dirt for over an hour and touching all kinds of unclean things.  "I may have touched a rat-bone," I thought.  I was grossed out for some time after that and couldn't get the rat-taste out of my mouth.