THE IMPORTANCE OF WRITING

November 2, 2009

During a lecture in 1972, Srila Prabhupada instructed us:

Every one of you, what is your realization? You write your realization — what you have realized about Krsna. That is required. It is not passive; always you should be active. Whenever you find time, write. Never mind — two lines, four lines, but you write your realizations. Srvananam kirtanam — writing or offering prayers, glories —this is one of the functions of a Vaisnava [devotee]. You are hearing, but you have to write also. Then, writing means smaranam — remembering what you have heard from your spiritual master, from the scripture."

Some days ago, I posted an entry about writing songs and poetry. Above we see that Prabhupada is glorifying writing in general and encouraging all his followers to take it up. He is explaining that writing automatically involves a devotee in three of the most potent aspects of devotional service: hearing and chanting about Krishna and remembering Him [sravanam, kirtanam, smaranam]. Thus it is a wonderful exercise and enables us to focus very specifically and deeply on topics related to Krsna and become purified. Merely thinking about transcendental topics even without writing about them is, of course, also purifying, what to speak of talking about them. But the unique advantage of writing is that it helps us to slow down our thinking so that we can organize and solidify our thoughts in a concise, cohesive, and attractive manner. And later on, because those realizations will be available for reading, they can provide a continued source of inspiration for ourselves and perhaps others as well. Througout the years, I have seen that many devotees have had occassion to read with great interest what they previously wrote down, but later forgot. It is like discovering a part of ourselves that we have lost and are very happy to find again.

Nowadays, I have not been giving classes or speaking very much due to my vocal cords going on strike for a while. Krsna has so kindly put me in this position, for one, to inspire me to take up writing in a more formal way. At times it is difficult for me to enter into the proper mood of concentation, but with some effort I can usually overcome the mental barriers and find myself in a realm of absorbtion that is quite relishable. Similarly, I have often seen devotees procrastinate quite a bit when faced with the task of writing their Vyasa Puja offerings to Prabhupada or their spiritual master. But in the end they always say how satisfying it was to have finally been able to sit down, put everything else aside, and pour out their heartfelt feelings.

There is no doubt about it, Krishna consciousness as Prabhupada is giving it to us actually works and is quite sublime. Su-sukham kartum avyayam. "It is everlasting, and it is joyfully performed." Bg. 9.2