Five Ways I Show I Am A Big Fan

By krishnasmercy on January 7, 2025 • ( 0 )

“Krishna saw all the trees, overloaded with fruits and fresh twigs, coming down to touch the ground as if welcoming Him by touching His lotus feet. He was very pleased by the behavior of the trees, fruits and flowers, and He began to smile realizing their desires.” (Krishna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vol 1, Ch 15)

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1. Buying merchandise

“I am the first in line whenever tickets go on sale. I immediately navigate to the presale page and put my order in. I want this person to know that I support them. There is an army of us. We appreciate so much everything this person has done. We are not misers. We will not simply take and take.

2. Wearing merchandise

“You can make fun all you want, but I will proudly display my allegiance. Even if it puts me in danger, which it certainly will in this part of the country, I am not afraid. People should know exactly where I stand. What kind of person do you support? Or do you simply sit back and criticize everything and everyone? It is easy to sit on the sidelines and pass judgment. It is more difficult to be in the arena, where the arrows fly in all directions, where you are in the line of fire, and where the change takes place.”

3. Showing loyalty

“I will not offer kind words to that person. Sorry, but I only appreciate their rival. That has been my affiliation since many years back. I am not about to change now. Just when they need us the most, we are here for them. That is the way of the true supporter.”

4. Showing appreciation

“Thank you for everything that you do. We have stood out here, in the cold, for hours, simply to shake your hand. You literally took a bullet for the rest of us. We hope for nothing but the best for you in the future. You can always count on us to remain behind you.”

5. Offering direct praise

“Seriously, there is no more important person in my life. You have made that much of an impact. I hate to embarrass you with such effusive words, but I cannot help it. I almost cry when thinking of where I was before you came into my life. You are everything, and I hope you realize how much of an impact you have made.”

…

In these instances, it is difficult for the corresponding object of attention to properly reciprocate. They are unsure what to do, what to say, and how to respond. They feel a need to acknowledge the loyalty, the affiliation, the sacrifice, and the well-wishes of the supporters. Often times, the chosen route is to simply say, “Thank you.”

Bhakti-yoga, as a culture passed down within the Vedic tradition, carefully safeguarded by realized souls, tattva-darshis, has a similar kind of appreciation. This is in the relationship between the person practicing the yoga and the object of that practice. The servant to the leader. The student to the teacher. The protected to the protector.

In this case, the object of worship is all-pervading. He is omnipresent to a level that we cannot properly comprehend. The Upanishads offer some assistance in the form of a depiction. We have a tree upon which two birds are situated. The tree is like the permanent home, though the two birds might travel from here to there.

The first bird represents us. This bird has action, kriya. That action is within a system of associated consequences, karma. Those consequences are applicable only in the realm of material nature, prakriti. The consequences arrive in due course, through the work of kāla, which is time.

The second bird represents the Supreme Lord. The second bird is always there, but remains unaffected. It is not interested in the fruits of the tree. This bird has no karma and is therefore above any consequences. This bird simply wishes well for the first bird. This second bird will always be with the first bird.

“The Vedas, like the Mundaka Upanishad, as well as the Shvetashvatara Upanishad, compare the soul and the Supersoul to two friendly birds sitting on the same tree. One of the birds (the individual atomic soul) is eating the fruit of the tree, and the other bird (Krishna) is simply watching His friend. Of these two birds—although they are the same in quality—one is captivated by the fruits of the material tree, while the other is simply witnessing the activities of His friend. Krishna is the witnessing bird, and Arjuna is the eating bird.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Bhagavad-gita, 2.22 Purport)

The close proximity of the second bird means that we always have access to the object of worship. We can show appreciation to Him at any time and at any place. We are not limited by the circumstance, as the positioning on the tree can be within the human birth and also outside of it.

It is rather apparent that within the human species we, as the first bird, have the best opportunity for connecting with the second bird. Simply by hearing the comparison drawn by the Upanishads, we gain awareness. From awareness we can deliberate. We can choose to seek out this second bird or we can dismiss the entire proposal as mythology or some made-up rationalization by those who did not know better.

But the bird is also there when we are outside of the human species. Since the close proximity remains, there is still the opportunity to connect. This is evident from the prakata-lila of Shri Krishna. This is the Supreme Personality of Godhead descending to earth and providing visual evidence of His movements. These are like indications of His transcendental position, shown in a way that can be documented and studied for thousands of years, after the fact.

From the Krishna Book of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, we have a passage which describes trees offering their respects to Krishna and His elder brother Balarama. This is in the sacred land of Vrindavana. The trees otherwise have no means of communication. It is something like a curse to take birth as a tree, as the individual has to stand in one place for many years, without clothes, and tolerate the harsh cold of winter and the scorching heat of summer.

We see that the trees still manage to convey their thoughts. Krishna understands their movements. He acknowledges their worship. The fruits and the twigs, which are associated with the trees, also worship. They can let their sentiments be known, in how much they appreciate God and how they always wish to stay near Him.

We are in the valuable human form at the moment, and so we can explicitly show the same appreciation. We can let the highest person of all, Purushottama, know that we are a loyal fan, that we appreciate His steady presence as the second bird on that tree, by regularly chanting the holy names: Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.