Tirtha in Prison The Heart of Community

In days past at the center of every civilized community was found a temple, church, mosque or synagogue. The common ideal throughout was to place God at the center of all activities. This mutually shared concept is at the very core of establishing a healthy, happy and prosperous community.

In a similar way, the International Society for Krsna Consciousness was established by Srila Prabhupada to give like-minded persons a community framework for pursuing Krsna consciousness. At the center of each Krsna community is the temple, and presiding over each temple and Hare Krsna community is the arca-vigraha, Deity form of the Supreme Lord. This authorized form of the Supreme Lord thereby becomes the center and focal point for all actions and activities within the community.

Such an authorized Deity form of the Lord differentiates the Krsna community from other varieties of religious and spiritually minded communities. By the mercy of the Lord's Deity form we are allowed to enter the praxis of service to the Supreme Lord.

We begin each day by rising and readying ourselves to greet Deity and devotees in the temple room for the morning program. Devotees then bathe and dress the Deity, while others cook and hear topics related to the Supreme Lord.

Under the guidance of the spiritual master we are instructed how to offer our service and lives to Krsna. The Deity form of the Lord manifests to accept our service and facilitate our purification and training in service to the Supreme Lord.

You could say then, that the success of a community rests upon its sincere attention and care to the Lord's Deity form. When everyone within the community shares in the common goal of placing the Deities' needs and attention first, a transcendental harmony automatically manifests. In such a Krsna conscious community everyone simply wants to remain ever engaged in Krsna's service.

Initially our idea of community may be different, according to our past experience and conditioning. We may likely want to know what the community will do for us. We are willing to serve, but fully expect something in return.

As we become more absorbed in the process of hearing and chanting we will gradually realize our desires becoming increasingly purified. Such attentive hearing and chanting becomes the cornerstone to our personal and community success.

In the conditioned state we sometimes engage in service and sometimes not. We are in essence, holding back, perhaps unsure or tentative in our desire for full commitment. Even so, by continuing to serve in a regulated way under the guidance of the spiritual master we gradually become purified to the extent where we factually realize our best desire is to only always desire Krsna. Our service then becomes steady and we begin to develop a higher taste. We begin to long for and crave only service to Krsna and the devotees. In this mood our community consciousness becomes surcharged with Krsna consciousness.

Because of our long standing conditioning within the material realm, applying the good counsel of senior devotees on a daily basis may not always seem so easy. We may feel a genuine desire to serve Krsna and the devotees, but may, for example, have certain issues with some of our godbrothers and sisters that keep us from fully surrendering.

The fact is, there are probably millions of reasons not to surrender, all having their basis in material consciousness. Still, if our minds are disturbed, it does little good for someone to brush our problems aside by saying, "Oh, that's just maya." Of course it is, but a more understanding approach will perhaps better address our problems.

As with most things, we can begin by closely examining ourselves. Are we chanting at least 16 good, attentive rounds each day? Are we following the four regulative principles? Are we eating only Krsna prasadam? The proper mood of community must begin with properly nurturing our own inner community of body, mind, senses and spiritual consciousness. Therefore, we must begin by seeking inner harmony within the community of one's own self.

Still more dangerous and difficult is to learn one's guru has fallen, having deviated from the path enunciated by the acaryas. In such instances it may seem particularly difficult to feel anything except a profound, deep sadness and a sense of grave, personal loss. Indeed, it is quite close to mourning the loss or death of a dear loved one. Its impact, if we succumb to material reasoning, can leave us scarred, unwilling to place our implicit trust in other devotees. Under such conditions, the concept of community is in peril.

When we see another seeming advanced devotee deviate or fall, we may wonder what hope there possibly can be for us who are still in the neophyte stage of spiritual development. Some may even think they are so unworthy that Krsna has tricked them into surrendering to a bogus guru.

The more we advance in Krsna consciousness, the greater our tests will be. It is something like preparing for a great storm. Once we know the storm is coming, we seek shelter in the strongest building available, hoping to safely ride out the storm. In a similar way, our strength lies in our basic foundation of Krsna consciousness. Our strong house is built, one brick at a time, by our daily japa, attendance in scriptural class, sincerely praying to the Deity, serving our fellow devotees and taking only Krsna prasadam. Our constant attention to these fundamental building blocks of our sadhana form the basis for our spiritual advancement. In time, as we mature in our spiritual development, our sadhana will become a source of great joy, becoming second nature to us. Close attention to the basics is everything.

Because it is sometimes seen that devotees of considerable advancement encounter difficulty remaining steadfast in their preaching, we can realize how vitally important it is to remain ever focused on the basic principles and precepts of Krsna consciousness. Srila Prabhupada often said that devotional service is like a razor's edge. One small slip can spell disaster.

It is no small thing to experience such a tragic event. It may even trigger our own crisis of faith. Such a crisis can actually bring us to a greater understanding and appreciation of those in our midst. If anything, a time of crisis is a prompting to draw ever closer to our family of Vaisnavas. It is important we have faith that Krsna will never abandon us. Somehow He will arrange for other Vaisnavas to come to our aid.

Some may argue that the devotee in question always chanted his rounds, gave others counsel and seemed perfectly fixed in Krsna consciousness. Yet if we examine our own spiritual development we will realize we undergo periods of seeming stagnation, where, even though we perform our sadhana and other duties, our hearts are not fully into it. Because we are distracted by the pull of the material energy, our minds wander and we subtly cultivate material desires.

We can check our consciousness in various ways. Are we eager to rise as soon as we are awakened in the morning? Have we planned some special service for another devotee, not out of duty, but simply to please the devotee? Do we become excited to see, worship and serve the needs of our Deity? These can be clues to our true inner consciousness.

Krsna in His Deity form will always accept our heartfelt prayers. A time of crisis can prove to be a perfect time to pray to Him, to please help us in our time of need. Pray to become sincere in Krsna consciousness and for Krsna to enable us to make full surrender. The measure of one's sincerity will be recognized. Krsna will not neglect or abandon us.

There is a danger in thinking your problem is yours alone. You may even feel somewhat ashamed, embarrassed to seek help or assistance from other devotees. This can serve as a time for great personal and community awakening. Turning the seeming negative into a positive opportunity will help everyone in such a time of great community need. The greater our need, the greater our plea to Krsna shall be.

Fortunately, most devotees never need experience such a traumatic event in their spiritual lives. Still, such episodes may serve as reminders for all of us to remain humble and ever vigilant to strictly adhere to the fundamentals of Krsna consciousness.

In the ultimate issue, our combined strengths will make our Krsna conscious communities strong. Such communities can and do have a profound effect on our world. It is only natural that others will be drawn to such positive spiritual harbors. For at the center of everything remains the Supreme Lord.

When we actually put our faith in service to Krsna and the devotees our lives continue to unfold in ever greater waves of spiritual ecstasy. Each devotee rejoices in the good fortune of another devotee. Everyone is bonded in their loving service to Krsna and the devotees. Such is the Krsna conscious community. Such a community becomes Vaikuntha. This is what Srila Prabhupada intended for us.

Your worthless servant,
Tirtha dasa