Volume 9, Chapter 3

Diary of a Traveling Preacher Volume 9, Chapter 3 March 1 - 15, 2008 By Indradyumna Swami "Pastimes of the Holy Names"In early March, I boarded a flight from Los Angeles to Atlanta, where Iwould catch an onward flight to Santiago, Chile. It had been three yearssince my last visit to the Chilean yatra, and I was excited about seeing thedevotees there again.When the flight landed in Atlanta, I went to the boarding gate for Santiago.The boarding area was crowded, and the only seat available was in front of atelevision screen showing a news report about a woman who had become ill ona recent flight across the United States.When the woman asked a flight attendant for oxygen, she was apparentlyrefused. Minutes later the woman asked again, and seeing her desperatecondition, the stewardess tried to administer oxygen, but the oxygen bottlemalfunctioned. Shortly afterwards the woman died.The broadcast continued to say that the airline was defending its actions,but it seemed obvious that there was negligence on the part of the cabincrew. The report concluded with advice on what to do should a passenger fallill in a similar situation. "Call the flight attendant, administer oxygen,and try to keep the patient calm," said a special guest on the show."It's awful," I thought. "I can only imagine how horrific such an incidentwould be during a flight."I didn't have to wait long to find out.I boarded the plane and took my seat, chanting quietly on my beads. I hadbeen upgraded from economy to business class because of my frequent-flyerpoints. The passengers seated around me all appeared affluent and had paidthousands of dollars for the flight.I could sense that my presence made several of them uncomfortable. Nearby, awoman who was filing her nails looked at me suspiciously. When the manseated next to her, who was reading the Wall Street Journal, glanced up atme, he shook his head disapprovingly. The lady next to me didn't reply whenI asked if this was her first flight to Santiago.So as not to attract more attention, I put my beads aside and took out abook to read. As the last remaining passengers boarded the plane, the cabincrew went about their final duties before closing the cabin door. I smiledpolitely as several stewardesses from our cabin passed by to attend tosomething in the rear of the plane.Suddenly, the man seated across the aisle from me started shakinguncontrollably. His eyes rolled back and he started foaming at the mouth. Myfirst thought was that he was having either a stroke or a heart attack. Iquickly looked around to see if there were any cabin attendants present, butthey had all gone to the back of the aircraft.The passengers around me sat frozen in shock. The woman filing her nailsheld the file motionless above one finger. The man reading the newspaperstared in horror as the sick man started to fall out of his seat.I remembered the advice given on the television report. I jumped up andgrabbed the man and carefully laid him down in the aisle, straddling him. Itried to calm him, but he was quickly losing consciousness. I looked aroundat the other passengers, who continued to stare in shock, their comfortablereality having been shaken by the ugly scene before them."Somebody call a flight attendant!" I shouted.The woman who had been sitting next me just closed her eyes in fear. Othersturned their heads away and looked out the windows.I looked at the man's wife who was crying uncontrollably."Is he epileptic?" I asked."No! No!" she said frantically. "He's not.""Is he on some kind of medication?" I asked."No! No!" she said, shaking her head."Does he have a history of heart problems?" I said."Please save him!" she screamed.Her husband began gasping for breath. I tried to position him so he couldbreathe easier. I also began to chant, softly at first but louder and louderas it appeared he might die.I looked up at the nearby passengers, who were still sitting motionless andstaring. "Oxygen!" I yelled.No one moved.I had to do something to get their help."For Christ's sake!" I screamed. "Somebody get a Goddamn oxygen bottle orthis man is going to die!"It worked. Two men jumped up and ran towards the galley. Seconds later theyreturned with an oxygen bottle. As all three of us struggled to get itworking, I put the mask on the man's face. Suddenly, from the corner of myeye, I saw several flight attendants racing down the aisle.Within moments they arrived and took control of the situation, administeringthe oxygen and calling for medical assistance on their cell phones. Thecaptain arrived and called for a defibrillator, a device used in emergencytreatment of heart attacks.Because of the cramped space, I was unable to move out of the way and satpinned in the middle of the frantic scene. The man continued shaking,flailing his arms and grimacing in pain. Unable to offer any more practicalhelp, I continued chanting clearly so he could hear every syllable of theholy names. At one point he briefly came to consciousness and our eyes met.I wanted to tell him that everything was going to be all right, but I sensedthis wasn't the case. I leaned forward and chanted even louder hoping that,should he leave his body, he would be fortunate enough to hear the names ofthe Lord.I continued chanting while the flight attendants tried to help him. I keptwondering when a medical team would arrive. Periodically, the flightattendants moved the man into different positions to try to make him morecomfortable. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, a medical teamarrived.I stood up and then sat in the man's seat while the rescue team put him on astretcher and quickly took him away. His wife followed. By that time he wasalmost motionless. "He may not make it," I overheard one of the attendantssay.I returned to my seat and started chanting on my beads again. My heart wasstill beating strongly, and my adrenaline was surging. A stewardess came andoffered me a glass of water.After I had calmed down, I looked around the cabin. The woman who had beenfiling her nails smiled at me gently as if to indicate she was grateful forwhat I had done. When I glanced at the man with the newspaper, he nodded hishead in approval. The lady sitting next to me finally spoke up. "Thank you,"she said.Soon the cabin door closed. I was exhausted from the ordeal and soon fellasleep. By the time I woke up we were well on our way and most of thepassengers around me were sleeping.I sat up in the dark and thought about the incident. "We never know," Ithought. "We never know when such a thing will happen to us. Generally weonly see situations like this on the news, and we always assume it onlyhappens to others. I pray that when my time comes, there will be somebody tochant the holy names for me as well."The more I thought about it, however, the more I realized that because Ioften travel alone, I may very well be by myself or with a group ofstrangers when I leave this world. The thought was unsettling."What if I suddenly passed away from a heart attack on an airplane 37,000feet up in the air?" I thought. "Or in bed at night alone in some far-offcountry? But even the most well-planned departure, surrounded by lovingdevotees, can be an embarrassing affair. Death is difficult for everyone.When that day comes, I hope I'll be remembered for my service and not forthe way I died."I thought about a story I had heard recently. A person was asked how hisfriend had passed away. "Don't ask me how he died," he answered. "Ask me howhe lived."Nine hours later our flight landed in Santiago. As the passengersdisembarked, the head purser approached me in my seat and asked if I couldremain behind for a few minutes. I sat patiently, and when all the otherpassengers had left, she returned with several other flight attendants."We wanted to thank you for your quick action in helping that man," shesaid. "You may have saved his life.""I'm happy I could help," I replied, "although I didn't do that much. It wasall of you who gave him the medical attention he needed.""What we really appreciated," said another stewardess, "was the calmingeffect you had on everyone. When you were singing, it felt like everythingwas going to be all right.""Yes," said another stewardess. "It was very special, so comforting.""What exactly were you singing?" asked another stewardess."I was singing the names of God," I replied. "I follow a faith from Indiawhere God is called Krishna. India's ancient scriptures say that whereverGod's Name is chanted there's nothing to fear.""Well, we certainly understand that now, don't we, ladies?" the head pursersaid."Yes, we do," they replied."And we have you to thank for that," a stewardess said to me."It wasn't me," I said with a smile. "It was the Lord's Holy Names. So thenext time something terrible happens, remember to sing Hare Krishna.""Can you write the song down for us?" said another stewardess."Yes, of course," I said.After giving them the paper with the mahamantra on it, I reached for mycarry-on items. But the attendants picked them up first and then escorted meto the door. While going through immigration and walking to the baggagearea, I couldn't help but marvel at the pastimes of the holy names.Srimad Bhagavatam states:tasmat sankirtanam visnorjagan mangalam amhasammahatam api kauravyaviddhy aikantika niskrtam"Sukadeva Gosvami continued: My dear king, the chanting of the holy name ofthe Lord is able to uproot even the reactions of the greatest sins.Therefore the chanting of the sankirtana movement is the most auspiciousactivity in the entire universe. Please try to understand this so thatothers will take it seriously."[Srimad Bhagavatam 6.3.31]Indradyumna.swami@pamho.netwww.traveling-preacher.comAudio lectures: www.narottam.com