Super Saturday

Saturday was bustling with activity.  I awoke and attended the Hridayananda Goswami telephone conference which was being broadcast from my home at 8 am.   He spoke on the very interesting topic of the difference between the relative and absolute words of the spiritual master.  Devotees have often made the mistake of anointing anecdotal stories or comments by Srila Prabhupada with absolute truth.  This has caused confusion and fanaticism.  Devotees sometimes think that being a pure devotee makes one materially omniscient, which is not the case.  Srila Prabhupada's opinions and policies on practical matters involving this world obviously evolved over time.  Based on that observation, there is no reason to think they would not have continued to do so if Prabhupada had remained on the planet longer.  To me, the logical conclusion is that we have to grow up as devotees and apply the eternal principles that Srila Prabhupada taught us according to the present time, place and circumstance.  The talk was recorded by Ali Krishna dasi and should be available soon at http://acharyadeva-nectar.pbwiki.com/Recent+Lectures.

Glani prepared a nice breakfast of scrambled tofu, fakin' bacon, english muffins, kale and fruit.  Ali Krsna, Jaya Sita, and Sri Rupa attended in person along with Glani, Govinda and I.  Ali asked me to start to give Vedic astrology classes at the preaching center on Mondays and I told her I was interested and would get back to her.  Later, Glani and I took a nice japa walk with Hridayananda Goswami along with Taruni dasi, a Chineese-bodied devotee from Austrailia.  We looked at a rental room at the Zen Buddhist center in town for some devotee who was coming.  The director of the center was a nice old guy who I later remarked looked like a brother of Charles Manson.  I don't think I ever made HDG laugh so hard.  It wasn't a nice thing to say but I couldn't resist.

I talked to Taruni about her husband's recent passing from a brain tumor.  They had run a preaching center and restaurant together in Austraila and she opened up about the two-and-a-half-year experience of his illness.  I related Glani's recent close call with endometrial cancer and later Glani joined us and talked extensively with Taruni about her experiences.  Taruni is a very good cook and gave us spring rolls she made.  Her husband left his body on December 17th, so she is now trying to get her head together and go on with her life.  It has been a very hard time for her as she is a disciple of Jayapataka Swami and as her husband was going through his final stages, her guru suffered a stroke.  She is an accomplished violinist who used to front a rock band that toured Australia.  

I went home and studied for a bout three hours on up-coming exams and then worked out for almost another three hours at the Gainesville Health and Fitness Center.  I ran the treadmill for an hour, lifted weights, including using a few machines for my core, and then hit the basketball court.

When I went to get the mail I met Marcello, a young neighbor girl who had kind of adopted one of our cats, Mohan, about two years ago.  She is so cute and gives Mohan so much love that it made me feel better about Mohan leaving our house.  He still comes to visit once in a while but sometimes I go for weeks without spotting him.  From day one, Mohan was a different kind of cat.  He used to follow us everywhere like a dog and sit up in the strangest positions like a human.  He was also very athletic and used to catch a tennis ball in mid-air, bringing the ball to his chest with his paws without it touching the ground.  He was a ferocious hunter and used to kill squirrels and birds almost daily.  I once wrote a poem about him which I will post if I can find it later called "My Cat the Killer."  

I told Marcello all about his history including what his name really was and she was so excited. Her mother came over and I told them about the time I drove down University Ave. with Mohan on the top of my van, which was unbeknownst to me.  I heard him screaming and kept looking in the rear-view mirror for an emergency vehicle as I drove down the road at a clip of over 40 mph.  Finally a driver pointed to my roof when I was at a stop light and Mohan jumped off the van into the bushes.  I got him and brought him home.  His heart was racing and he curled up to me on the porch in shock for hours after.  Later, the little girl came by one day and Mohan followed her home.  She gave him so much attention and started feeding him after asking my mother-in-law to buy him so food.  I was always sad that Mohan left but now I feel cool about it. 

Marcello introduced me to her mother Carolina as the real owner of "Kitty-cat" and that his name is really Mohan.  Mohan was originally given to Govinda by his then girl-friend Megan. Megan named him Mohan after Gandhi.  As we talked about the cat's pastimes, Mohan proudly assumed his human pose so I could take a few shots of him.  Carolina told me how Marcello was upset with him killing birds and squirrels so she told Marcello to mentally tell him everyday to stop that and only kill rats.  For the next week Mohan only brought dead rats and mice to their front door.

At night, I went to Santa Fe College to see my nephew Kavi perform at "Stars Night Out."  I didn't have a ticket and it was sold out so I asked Radha to bring the ripped off portion of her and Vrn's ticket out so I could sneak in.  They didn't tear the tickets but took them fully instead.  Apparently Radha couldn't call out so I waited outside like a common criminal.  Vrn finally texted me of the situation and I decided perhaps I would try to talk my way in.  I saw people getting turned away at the door and waited until the gate-keeper's backs were turned and bolted through the doors.  I made it but when I got in there were no seats left.  So, I just stood on the side. I looked for Radha and Vrn but couldn't see them.  I tried to send a text and then an angry looking man who looked like he had some authority approached me.  I thought he was going to kick me out so I prepared for some stupid excuse.  Instead, he admonished me for using my cell phone and asked that I turn it off.  Later, a seat opened up and I took it.  The show was okay but I got there too late to see Kavi's part.  Vrn and Radha said his rendition of "Waiting for Gordot" was the best performance of the night.

Later, Radha, Kavi, Vrn and I went to Chop Stix at Thornebrook Village and had a good time.  Vrn gave Radha a ride to Kavi's and on the way Radha called me and gave me the sad news about Chaitanya-lila's passing.  I teared up and when I got home wrote some thoughts about her on the this blog, which you can find at http://gargsville.blogspot.com/2009/02/sweet-chaitanya-lila.html.