London sadhu-sanga

 

Gopesh, Madhukari and me, London, Gopesh' place, just after the lecture and halava:) And the pleasurable hammock! I'm getting it sooner or later.



     It’s been a very nice day. In the morning I went to Gophes’ place. I haven’t seen him since the Polish retreat in 2011, and we didn’t really talked that much then. We had a nice talk, he told me stories from the time when he lived in Audarya (like when the cows ate all the vegetable garden!), how he met Guru Maharaja, and generally about life in London. Then Madhukari came. She brought halava and cakes. In the meantime Gophes let us play with his hammock, which we did enthusiastically. Then we played Swami’s lecture – and for that I had to get out of the hammock because I started dozing after five minutes. After the lecture we talked some more, then had a short bhajan with my ukulele. Then Gopesh went to work, and Madhukari and I went for a pizza. We discovered that we both like Sacinandana Maharaja very much. Then we got lost, because apparently living 25 years in London isn’t enough to know the city (he, he, sorry, Madhukari:).

     It was already late afternoon and I decided to go to the Soho temple, to chant gayatri before deities, and then go home, but I met an old friend from brahmacari times, we haven’t seen each other for over 13 years I think, so we had a lot to talk about. I was so happy to discover that he likes Sridhar Maharaja and he actually became a siksa disciple of Bhakti Sundar Govinda Maharaja. He told me some nice stories about him. It was a nice meeting, we’re going to see each other soon.

     I feel like better times are coming. It feels that likeminded devotees are starting to show up around me, I’m landing in the places in some ways connected with Krishna, like even this crazy squat, every day there is some opportunity to talk or think about Swami or Krishna. I like how the things change. I feel like this actually grace coming from above. I know it sounds bit pretentious or bombastic, but I don’t mean it in this way. It’s more like appreciating or learning to see Krishna in even small things. I think it’s important. You know, trying to spot him around you, thinking that maybe he can get attracted by this.

     It reminded me the lecture I heard tonight on the train, coming home. I can’t find it, but it was more or less like this:
     “When you come to a rich man’s house, knock on the door and ask for money, he will give you some, and the send you away. If you come to him and ask for knowledge – how he made the money, so you could use this knowledge, he will say, ok, here it is, take it and go away. Then the third person comes to the rich man’s house. ‘Do you want money?’ the rich man asks. ‘No, I don’t need it’. ‘The knowledge then?’. ‘No, not really’. ‘So what do you want?’ ‘You. I just like you’. And the rich man is so amazed. ‘You want me? You like me? Come in!’”
      So inspiring. We can come up with so many things to ask Krishna, I do all the time, these days asking mostly for money, job and peaceful mind, but I’d like to start to find a way to endear myself to him. To break through the karma or jnana motivations. I know it’s high, and not my level, but I like to meditate on this ideal, so one day it will be really mine.
     Anyway, it was a nice day. Time to brush my teeth and go to sleep. Hari!
PS. Got a job interview for the next Tuesday!