AGTSP
Please accept my humble obeisanses
Dear Maharaj,
I was greatly surprised to read about Krsna's flute and watch the youtube links on this kapi Dhvaja. In fact I'm a musician and play the flute as well as the guitar. I had a wonderful experience two weeks ago in the afternoon part of the 12 hour kirtan in the temple. The devotees leading were all Indian Vaisnavas and allowed me to play the flute with them right there in fron of the Deities. it was as if i was transported to Vrndavana plus there was a Fire ceremony right next to us to celebrate the 60th birthday of a prominent Indian vaisnava couple. It was just overwhelming for me, I blended somehow and had an experience that will remain imprinted in my heart forever. Mercy has no bounds. I didn't diserve to be there with all those pure vaisnavas but some how there I was, in Vrndavana for a couple of hours. Oh Lord, Oh Lord. Events like this come once in a lifetime and I will keep it and cherish it. All glories to Srila Prabhupada ! ! Maharaj I have a small question. When Arjuna is allowed to see the Universal Form in BG he is filled with awe and fear. As far as I know for the for {fourth??} the time in the whole Gita/Mahabarata ? How terrifying, mysterious and incomprenhensible this form is ! my question is - why did Krsna allowed him to see it? and how did he overcame such an overwhelming experience? of course he was already a devotee of the Lord. But still I fear this form. I may have had an encounter with something similar. I fear the ecstatic experiences much appreciated in bhava state. I thank you once again for taking the time of reading my nonesense mumblings and even more for answering them. I know you time is precious to Lord Caitanya and his devotees. May the Lord keep you in good health.
a nobody
Raul GC
HpS - ASA - Jaya Srila Prabhupada! Teresa of Avila, as we are reading a her writing a little, and Bh Vinode Thakura, both comment that as we get these higher tastes we have to go ahead and give up our inferior diet and take the higher diet. She says basically that we see the importance of becoming a full-time, regulated devotee, but we like the ease of being a Sunday Feast guest and doing what we want to, chanting only when we want to. So, we go on to higher things, basically because we realize that Krsna, really, really loves us and misses us so much. He wants us to come back and be with everyone else in the pasture. They all miss us!
More specifically, as I understand, Krsna didn't want to show His Universal Form to Arjuna. It is like you have a friend who is an assasin for the army and you ask him how he does his work, and he says, "Hey, come on, that's a stupid thing to talk about". But Arjuna persists, not for his benefit but for our benefit. He wants the materialistic devotees to realize what is this world, how powerful Krsna is, and then we can start to appreciate Him as a person. When you really get to know the King as a person automatically you she has this ability to be so brave and powerful within him.
That's what we understand.
Thank you for your letter!