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From Fear to Hope
by Radhanath Swami
One day after giving a lecture, I was sitting on a wooden bench under a Kadamba tree in the garden watching a butterfly. She was such a beautiful creation of God. She was drinking nectar from flower to flower and I was chanting my mantra, "Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare," very softly and very peacefully. Though in Mumbai, I felt a million miles away from its hustle.
Suddenly, I saw three college students run towards me. I could practically hear their hearts pounding. One of them told me that he was riding in a train a few minutes ago and there was a bomb blast in that train. He then saw some bodies hanging with blood streaming from them. There were businessmen, laborers and women running while screaming and crying.
As they were explaining this to me, I was informed of an urgent phone call that I had to attend to. I ran upstairs and answered. I could hear one of the leaders of Bhaktivedanta Hospital on the line. "You should see the scene here. It is horrible! Practically every minute, bodies are being brought in by ambulances, by rickshaws, and on arms and backs. All our beds are full and practically the entire floor space of the Hospital, every inch of it, is covered with ether injured or dead bodies."
This was 11 July 2006. Later an official announcement said that 209 people died and about 700 were injured. Thousands of people lost loved ones and millions were terrorized. There were seven blasts in seven trains in a matter of eleven minutes in suburban Mumbai.
I reflected and remembered the story that was told to me by one of my dearest friends and god brothers, His Holiness Sachinandan Swami Maharaja.
His father was an officer in the SS - the hated Nazi killing machine. And his father had a friend who had directly taken part in killing thousands of Jew found colorful pictures of butterflies, butterflies happily flying upward, drawn by people who were about to die. They were drawn in colored chalks on the walls. It was such a joyful peace of art in such a morbid, dismal place of death. He was very curious. What does this mean? So he inquired from several of the Jew. "Why do you people draw butterflies?"
Most people would not answer but an old man said, "Young boy, I will tell you. A Caterpillar is put in a very, very painful situation, where he is wrapped up in a cocoon. It cannot even move. But through that painful experience the caterpillar is transformed and comes out as a colorful and beautiful butterfly. Then it is free to fly in the sky, bask in the sun, and go from one sweet flower to another, drinking nectar.
Similarly, you are keeping us 'caterpillars' in these concentration camps of horrible imprisonment and suffering. But we have faith in God and through that faith we know for sure that we have the greatest hope: if we remember Him with devotion, our death will be a transformation, and our souls will be free."
When the officer heard it, it completely changed his view of the world. Previously he was brainwashed by the propaganda of Hitler to think that the Jew are subhuman and they are the agents of the evil and were evil inherently. But these people had a philosophy that gave them so much hope and internal joy, even while facing cruel imminent death.
Interestingly, the next generation in Germany, they very much revolted against what their parents had done. One such revolutionary was Sachinandana Swami who was searching for higher truth and searching for meaning. Then he come across Srila Prabhupada's books and gave his heart to Srila Prabhupada.
His father and relatives were exterminating the Jew by the millions and many of my uncle and aunts, who were Jew, were murdered by them. How is it that we are best friends? That is the power of bhakti. We rise above the past and present mistakes in the form of ignorance, violence and hatred. We stand together with one voice and realize that we are connected. Every living being is part of God. "aha béja-pradaù pita". Krishna tells in Bhagavad-Gita, "I am the seed giving father of every living being".
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Mangala Arati Lord Nrsimha Mayapur Gaura Purnima 2009 festival
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