Contributions
Three
speakers presented their views on the contribution made by the founder and
teacher of the Hare Krishna Movement, 50 years since its seedling stage. From
the perspective of one of our senior monks, Romapada Swami, the achievements
our teacher, Srila Prabhupada, contributed to the world are:
1)
Promoting the loving relation with a personal God
2)
Establishing a leadership of brahmins to guide a spiritual community.
Then a
woman from the medical profession, Rambhoru, coming from the angle of good
health expressed:
3) A
preventative formula for the physical and mental welfare of
the world.
To clarify
this point she said that people benefit merely from following the formula of
the four regulative principles: a) no meat eating, b) no drugs or liquor, c) no
gambling, and d) no whimsical or casual sex. She also credited him for;
4) Creating
an alternative family, a community, ‘something bigger
than
yourself’.
She also
briefly added that here is the person who spearheaded:
5) Indian
food, particularly prasadam.
and introduced:
6) Indian
clothes to the west.
And
finally, a Syrian born Krishna monk, Bhakti
Sundar Swami, expressed his appreciation for our teacher’s contributions for:
7)
Introducing the culture of chanting.
Furthermore,
the swami mentioned:
8) The
promotion of non-violence or the protection of animals.
And as I
recorded it:
9)
Prabhupada’s insertion into the world at large - transcendental
literature.
He compiled Vedic wisdom in such volumes as
never seen
before. He became the most prolific proponent of
Vedic
knowledge in his time.
You could
feel that the presentation was well received by all and it enhanced the love
and respect for our teacher, Srila Prabhupada. From there on, we all danced and
chanted up a storm.
In my notes
for the day I wrote from Rambhoru’s talk, “The hand that rocks the cradle rules
the world”. The source is poet William Ross Wallace and it means what it says,
“The one raising the child, influences the child.” In fact, I put a plug in
over the microphone saying that we need to look at the next 50 years and put
more attention to strong relations and family values.
3 km
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