Lord Krishna in the 21st Century
Chapter 33 - Some Final Thoughts
Rohini-suta dasa heating up prasadam
for the homeless
1991 photo by Rohini-suta dasa at the sight of a massive fire at the Denver, Airport
After having finished this book I feel that I should include this one last chapter because I want to make sure that I am clear about several of the core features that Krishna Disaster Relief is founded on, ..."that everyone loves a hero and that kindness is always at the forefront our actions.
In the past I often heard the statement, "don't be sentimental." In fact, during all those years I spent as a full-time ISKCON devotee, only for one fleeting moment did I ever hear kindness even mentioned. Rather the message that I was given was to trick them. "Don't worry about their feelings. They are just sentimental and don't know what's good for them, but we do." And yet I was blessed with a desire to read Shrila Prabhupada's book and one of them was called, "Preaching is the Essence."
Many people have a favorite verse from Scripture that they turn to for guidance and I'm no different in this regards. In his wonderful book, Shrila Prabhupada said that "The first step in preaching is to make friends." For me, this is both fundamental and essential. I was recently asking a friend, "how can you become someone's friend without being kind to them?" This is why Krishna Disaster Relief has at its roots kindness and friendship and love. We're expressing this by providing hot vegetarian meals and other forms of assistance to the victims of natural disasters.
If you are able to watch Netflix, I highly recommend, "The Twister: Caught in the Storm." This is a documentary and there is also this YouTube trailer. Added up, about 300,000 volunteers from across the world took time out of their lives to be kind to the people of Joplin, Missouri. This is the kindness that I am talking about. In my mind, everyone of these 300,000 volunteers are heroes.
I opened this book by saying that "everyone loves a hero." Sometime during the summer of 1970, while stationed at Lowry Air Force Base in Denver, Colorado, our squadron was ordered to attend a special meeting; what is commonly referred to as Commander's Call.
Located in an auditorium setting, our commanding officer would normally tell us about some of his concerns, such as safety and things like that, but in this Commander's Call he showed us a short film about a tremendous earthquake that had recently devastated parts of Alaska. The movie was specifically about how the United States Air Force used its enormous resources to come to the rescue immediately following this earthquake.
Like the rest of the airmen in that auditorium, when we were told about the unexpected movie, yes, we all joked that if we didn't like it, seeing how the lights would be out, nobody would notice if we closed our eyes for a short nap. This got a big laugh and sure enough, the lights were turned off.
Anyhow, the documentary started and right away I became interested in the story. Although it only lasted for about thirty minutes, I remember how this incredible emotion swept over me. And I am going to bet that you, too, have experienced what I am talking about.
I have said that "everyone loves a hero." Although this is a wonderful idea, I fear that just having this fact presented as a statement of fact is lacking in the powerful meaning that I am trying to get across. I want this sentence to convey to you exactly what it means to me. Please listen to what happened to me during that Air Force movie.
The film itself was a straightforward story. First it showed how out of the blue this earthquake just demolished everything around it, creating a living nightmare for thousands and thousands of people. Then the movie showed their desperate calls for help and the Air Force receiving their calls. The film then turned to how the Air Force just dropped everything and loaded up their planes and came to the rescue.
The important thing is that as I sat watching this drama unfold, I began to feel my chest grow swollen and my face began to flush. In a very sentimental way I felt like crying. This is a very unique experience and I have only felt this way a couple of times in my life; each time related to stories about various men and women "coming to the rescue."
Also true, what happened to me during that Commander's Call was not some isolated experience that only happened to me. Rather, such a tearful reaction upon seeing people "coming to the rescue" is a God given emotional response that is built into everyone's heart. So from my perspective what I see here is a win-win situation, giving us the perfect way to be kind and at the same time fulfill Shrila Prabhupada's dream by showing the world the Greatest Hero via Krishna Disaster Relief.
After we got out of that Commander's Call I saw that I wasn't the only one who was feeling the emotions that were sweeping over me. This is a VERY POWERFUL emotion that is awakened in everyone when they hear about people coming to the rescue. Shrila Prabhupada wanted the whole world to love Krishna and as soon as you talk about love, so many things are involved; emotional things; heart things; deep felt appreciation.
When I say that "everyone loves a hero," I am talking about a very powerful and special kind of love. A phenomena that pours out of the heart and fills every inch of the body with feelings of love.
I am simply suggesting that we tap into this God given treasure via Krishna Disaster Relief. It all makes sense to me. God is the Greatest Hero & everyone loves a hero. Showing the world Lord Krishna "coming to the rescue" will create a really profound change in the people who see this. Again, this is an excellent way to fulfill Shrila Prabhupada's heart's desire: his mission; his dream. And Krishna Disaster Relief is also an excellent way for all of us to absorb our own selves in acts of kindness.
Imagine for a moment that guy sitting in his big easy chair watching the evening news. On comes a story about a horrible disaster with pictures of Krishna Disaster Relief coming to the rescue. Not only is this guy going to think, “Gee, I didn't know that the Hare Krishna people did that kind of work. That's really nice of them.” He is also going to "choke up" with love towards us.
This illustrates a very rare and special moment (which it should be) when a person's thoughts and feelings simultaneously merge in agreement. This is the most positive kind of affirmation that can take place. When you can get both the mind and heart to agree on something, you have truly created the kind of appreciation that will last forever. The friends we make along the way will also last forever.
- The End -
