Don't Play Around in Misery

Flying from Dallas to London on 26 March 2011 on the airplane we were offered many choices of films to watch. But because none of them were beneficial for my Krishna consciousness I did not want to watch any of them. This reminded me of the time back in 1969 when I was a young counter-cultural songwriter in Berkeley, California seeking spiritual enlightenment and spiritual revolution on this planet. Hare Krishna devotee Mukhanlal das brahmacari took me with him to spend the night at ISKCON's center in San Francisco at 518 Frederick Street. The next morning for the first time in my life I chanted one round of the Hare Krishna mantra on japa beads. Heading back to Berkeley later that morning I was feeling quite exhilarated. That evening in Berkeley I was visiting some people who were sitting around wasting their time watching some nonsense on television. Instead of wasting my time with them I went out on their front porch and wrote a song. The main line of the song was, "Do you think I'd waste my time playing around in misery when I am so close to Nirvana?" My uplifting spiritual experience at the Hare Krishna temple gave me the prema premonition that soon I would attain the spiritual enlightenment I had been seeking, and the last time in the world I wanted to do was to waste my time absorbing my consciousness in some ridiculous mundane television show. What I was realized that day in 1969 is just as true today as it was then. I still don't want to waste my time with nonsense. The only difference is that now by the grace of my beloved spiritual master, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, I have been most auspiciously blessed with the transcendental knowledge that I formally was so desperately seeking.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Answers According to the Vedic Version:

Question: What Does Paraphernalia Mean?

Please accept my respectful obeisances

While reading about Krishna consciousness I have often read the word, "paraphernalia." Please describe about the word in regards to Krishna Consciousness.

Sunil

Answer: Krishna's Personal Possessions

When we speak of Lord Krishna's paraphernalia we are speaking of such things as His flute, His peacock feather, His ornaments, and His clothing.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

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