Shelter's 1st EP 'No Compromise'

People in this world actually claim they possess

land and sky and water, but they try to forget

that everything that they build and everything that they kill,

was handed to them by Your free will.

Second hand gods, that's all we are.

Not creating - manipulating - and leaving the scars.

Robbing from the earth and stealing from the trees.

Not out of need but greed and false prestige.

But it's all Yours. What can we own? Not family, property - it's all on loan.

But our miserly minds, of "I", "Me", and "Mine",

fight in wars for what's not ours.

So here's my plea for Saranagati: Surrender.

I'm trying to understand that You're the Supreme Friend.

You're beside me, and You guide me like no one else can.

Help me see You in everything and everything in You.

When will I appreciate all that You do?

Even pain in this world is to help us see the reality of material misery.

Please help me transcend, I want it to end. Happiness apart from You, I can just pretend.

And 'cause you're so kind, You give us a mind to choose to love You or leave You behind.

Forgetting reality, we create this duality...

I'm sick of this fallacy!

You're the roots of creation and we're just some leaves.

By fulfilling Your desire, we find our relief.

Enjoyment apart from You creates more grief.

These leaves become dry, we cry, and drop with the breeze.

I've tried to satisfy my senses, but what have I gained?

This so-called pleasure is just a cessation of pain.

Fooled myself with love, again and again.

Attracted by romance and smashed in the end.

Surrounded by people, but left all alone.

And even amongst friends, I felt far from home.

We're one with each other, but You're different from me;

like a drop from the sea if we want to be free...

Saranagati: Surrender.

(Shelter 'Saranagati')

13th century Vaishnava preceptor Madhvacarya, on the cover of the first album 'Perfection of Desire'

As I admire the smiles on the people in the photo
I think "What am I missing this time?"
I'm always racing, chasing, someone, somewhere,
that isn`t mine
Thinking that the grass is greener on the other side
Thinking that in your shoes I'll be satisfied.

First admiration, then contemplation
tricking my mind... cause I know that photographs lie

Well photographs lie they fool my eyes
they show me something that is not
It's like fire that makes me desire
what they have while they may want what I've got
And this romanticism is like a prison
'cause live won't turn out to how it is foreseen
So will any body care or just be there
to pick up our shattered dreams
Admiring you while you may be admiring me
Photographs painting a false picutre of reality
And I think I'd rather leave it, just leave it as a blur.
Instead of lamenting over the past
of things that never were.

(Shelter 'Photographs Lie')

Well, it's hard to glorify others due to my
Intense pride
Even amongst friends you'll find I sit and criticize
That's what I do best, it's how I forget my actual size
A leash that ties me to this world

Yeah, a wicked mind brought me to this world, Lord, please help me move forward
I've been guilty so long, I know that I'm wrong, please help me sing this song in praise of others

Can I glorify others, my sisters or my brothers or anyone else?
Each fault that I find in you I find tenfold in myself
Envy, a disease, it's inside of me
But I'm the loser in the end

Yeah, a wicked mind brought me to this world, Lord, please help me move forward
I've been guilty so long, I know that I'm wrong, please help me sing this song in praise of others

Hey - I should have blamed myself
Instead of everyone else
But God forbid they find fault with me, we're instant enemies
How dare I see myself honestly as others may see
A proud fool, I turn away, won't hear what they say, it might benefit me
But I remain tied in this net of pride but I wanna be free

Yeah, a wicked mind brought me to this world, Lord, please help me move forward
I've been guilty so long, I know that I'm wrong, please help me sing this song in praise of others

(Shelter 'In Praise of Others')

Krishna, Balarama and the cowherd boys painted by B.G. Sharma, featured on the cover of their 3rd album 'Attaining the Supreme' – a title taken from a chapter in Bhagavad-gita

Born selfish blind and ignorant
And schooling gave me knowledge
But never any wisdom
And in addition the television programmed my brain
Through it's constant repetition
Misdirected infected with mundane roles and goals and heroes
And althought life really has purpose
I wasted my youth in a social circus
Told what is best for me
But I've seen their destiny
Our leaders ignominy
Reconfirm my concern to rearrange and change my life
I'll vow, I'll vow right here and now
No more time wasting just edification purification
We can direct our future

This life, this life has no meaning
Unless we grow
I know there's no use for all this screaming
Unless we grow

Born foolish dull and self absorbed
But my life's dedicated to reformation and education
In a nation that thinks great pleasure is a Disney vacation
I never fit in to their system
I couldn't understand people
Wasting their time with so called love and drugs and occupations
While outside the window is a crumbling nation
So I searched for sincerity and lost popularity
Well what do they want from me?
If I've lost friends they never were my friends at all!
To find the real me through introspection and austerity
Is my life's mission my ambition
I've got a vision to change my destiny
Things don't change - we must change

(Shelter 'Metamorphosis')

Jagannatha (the Lord of the universe) on the cover of the 4th album 'Mantra' (UK release)

Concealed Revealed a revolution a solution without bloodshed finally.
Disciplic sucession has placed in my posession
Complete so sweet a satisfiying taste for an empty race
There's a fire in the city a fool won´t admit it and only a fool will sit right in it
Truth has spoken to all mankind and if you search for peace then you can find
The blind will stay blind if there's inclined but the wise will apply in this crucial time. In illusion, in confusion the world´s greatest brains create more problems not solutions
Expand our bold stand there can be hope for the modern man!

It's the message of the Bhagavat

History of the universe 18,000 verses for our edification
I sat like an ass in class for 14 years at least I got some real education
Extinguishing the fire of our workaday life that burns and burns us until we break
Illuminating rejuvenating not degenerating giving shelter to the people who want truth
Truth has been spoken for all mankind and it's a sad mad world where you can find
Man confirmed to the grind and they don't even mind to be working for some jerk and leave their life behind
In illusion in confusion and don´t think there won´t be any retribution
expand our bold stand there can be hope for modern man!

(Shelter 'Message of the Bhagavat')

'Message of the Bhagavat' EP with ISKCON's Founder Srila Prabhupada on the cover

Raghunatha Prabhu talks with Indradyumna Swami. In addition to playing on the main stage at Krishna's Village of Peace, Shelter also played on the main Woodstock stage in Poland 2002 to a crowd of about 320,000. Shelter was very well received by the young people there in Poland.

There's a war in the day no peace at night
There's blood on the hands of man yet we don't sympathize
The meateater kills the cows they just depersonalize to justify
Their own lust as the helpless die
And it's ironic how we cry for world peace
But the violence won't decrease unless our murders cease
So understand in the slaughter-house who's the beast
And I demand that the innocent be released

Well I've tried the best I can
I've tried to understand
Civilized man so-called civilized man
Yes I've tried the best I can
But who can understand
Civilized man?

Guilt free so-called morality
Fallacy
The 4 foods group just western medicine quackery
(meat would be) $35 a pound but our taxes subsidize
As 35 million starve as we gormandize
The grains that could feed the world go to their industry
To fatten up the catle for death and I protest
Rain forests once here kiss goodbye the biosphere ozone nightmare
Just see the people don't even care!

Guilt free we overlooked the blood and brutality
And the TV propaganda covers heinous reality
A plea to the people of this land to do
What they can with hope for a civilized man

(Shelter 'Civilized Man')

Illustration of Varaha (the Lord's boar incarnation) on the cover of 5th album 'Beyond Planet Earth'

The galaxy, no boundaries
My tiny eyes can never see
Human paradigm, that's asinine
With a broad mind I'm sure we'll find different realities

Infinitely small, we think we can understand it
Go out and stand tall, call their bluff
There's more beyond this planet Earth

Mystics knew the subtle view
But modern man, well he's got no clue
And on my back I stare through the cold night air
As the moon and stars witness our egocentricity

God and goddesses revealed
The old world knew it to be real
We've lost connection with the sky
And if they know, they conceal
Autonomy fantasy's their deal
In a generation too busy to ask why

(Shelter 'Beyond Planet Earth')

A show in Buffalo and you would never know the effect it had right on me.
And everything was fine, so many kids in line.
I was feeling good within myself.
Then six guys ad a gun and I saw people run.
Baseball bats were swinging and little kids went down as they beat them to the ground.
And I stood stunned just singing

Take me today, Closed my eyes and prayed.
As the Song of Brahma was running through my mind.
It never seems that this world's a dream and K.C. looked at me and said, life and death, it's just a matter of time.

Ran to the van but we were blocked in.
We were helpless and prayed for connection.
So we all gathered aound chanting transcendental sound for shelter and protection.
But my number was up next and they beat me with a stick.
My own blood made me blind.
They beat me from behind but running through my mind, The Holy Name's reflection.

Kneeling on the floor and bleeding more and more.
But now the drama's ending.
We're all players on a stage filled with joy and rage.
But the curtain's soon descending.
Cuz in this world there's death and danger at every step.
So what's our meditation?
I had a precious gift.
I knew my mind was fixed,
a chance to view perfection.

(Shelter 'Song of Brahma')

BIOGRAPHY

As the 70’s punk revolution moved into the 80’s a number of punk and American hardcore youth became increasingly dissatisfied with the anarchic and nihilistic philosophy that had permeated the scene since the revolution first swept forth from streets of London. Seeing so many of those around them descend into downward spirals of drugs, sex and self-abuse, some individuals began to coalesce into an internal counter scene. These teens began to form their own bands, write their own music and expound their own basic philosophy based on abstaining from drugs, alcohol, tobacco, illicit sex and, often, meat.

They began painting black X’s on the back of their hands, taking the image from the stamp given to underage kids at hardcore shows. In 1981 the band Minor Threat released the song “Straight Edge,” codified the developing sentiment and gave the movement a name.

One of the most influential skinhead bands on the US hardcore scene in the late 80’s was Youth of Today, made up of Ray Cappo and John Porcell joined later by Drew Thomas, Craig Setari and Richie Birkenhead. The band released Break Down the Walls in 1986 followed by We’re Not In This Alone in 1988. Eventually Cappo became disillusioned with the violence that had all to quickly come to characterize the straight edge and hardcore scenes in the latter half of the 80’s. Drawn by his growing interest in Eastern spirituality, Cappo departed the scene and moved to India.

Ray/Raghunath das with traditional mridanga drum before the murti of Srila Prabhupada

While in India he became a Vaishnava monk. He was not in India long before deciding to return to the West and continue his musical work. Before he officially started the band, one of the most popular underground music magazines Maximum Rock'n'Roll featured Ray on the front cover with the title 'Ray Cappo and the Krishnas', and the scathing interview inside tried to discredit Krishna consciousness and Ray's involvement. Nevertheless, Ray did well to defend his new found faith in the Vedic way of life as being a natural continuation of his quest for purity in a scene degraded with drugs and promiscuity.

Singer Ray/Raghunath das on the cover of Maximum Rock'n'Roll magazine in December 1989

In another interview, with Beats e-zine, Cappo commented “I think music is like my ‘dharma’ or calling… so music did and will always magnectially drag me back even though some times I move away from it.” After his return, still holding true to his conversion to Krishna Consciousness, he formed the band Shelter. They released their first album Perfection of Desire in 1990 on Cappo’s own label Revelation Records – the insert including an interview with H.G. Satyaraja Prabhu. A second album Quest for Certainty followed in 1991 on Equal Vision Records and included a spiritual lecture by H.H. Hridayananda das Goswami.

The devotee run Equal Vision soon stood at the center of a growing Krishnacore movement. In addition to Shelter they also released albums Krishna Consciousness inspired bands 108 and Prema. Zines such as Krishna Grrrl and War on Illusion appeared on the scene. John Bloodclot and Harley Flanagan of the legendary Lower East Side skinhead band Cro-Mags had both converted to Krishna Consciousness and their influence was strongly felt in the New York scene.

The Equal Vision Records logo with Krishna illustration

Porcell described what they were doing as “bhajans for the 90’s” drawing a direct connection between Shelter’s music and the Vaishnava tradition of devotional singing. Equal Vision released a collection of songs recorded at the New York Krishna temple. The album included a strikingly beautiful track “Koda Nitai” featuring vocals by Sri Keshava. The Australian Sri soon went on to become lead singer for the more pop-oriented and upbeat Baby Gopal whose self-titled album included “Boys Against Girls,” “Govardhan” and “Lost Generation.”

Guitarist Porcell/Paramananda das on stage sporting sikha, neck-beads, tilaka and Brahman thread!

Shelter continues to tour and record. They released the honest and personal The Purpose, the Passion (Supersoul/Century Media) in 2001 and more recently, an album of ancient Indian devotional songs Shelter Bhajans. Sri also released a solo album Gravity Reminds Me. Ray Cappo has also made a film chronicling the history of the New York hardcore scene Talk about Unity: New York hardcore/punk ‘82-88. Cappo also teamed up with Jake (Crucifix) and Sri to record a CD of new songs Touching Water, which includes a cover of Generation X’s “Kiss Me Deadly.”

adapted from 'Krishnacore' article in Ashe-Prem zine, by Sven Davisson

Update Jan 2006: New Shelter album 'Eternal' on GoodLife

Discography, Song Lyrics etc at: Ray & Porcell Discography   Ray & Porcell Main Page

Ganga-devi, the controlling Deity of the Ganges, on the cover of the 4th album 'Mantra'

INTERVIEW EXCERPTS

full interviews here

Q: So tell me about the farm you live at now.

RAY/RAGHUNATHA DAS: It's called Gita-nagari "the city of the Bhagavad-Gita." We're working towards self sufficiency and natural organic farming and milking as well as cow protection and becoming closer to God. It's located in Port Royal, PA.

Q: Do you still do music or is that forbidden?

RAY: I'm always writing music, lyrics and poetry and I think I'm getting a lot fresher ideas. Krsna is all encompassing, so it's not necessarily far off. Like the lyrics on the Shelter record people can easily relate to, but at the same time I feel by expressing these feelings... Everything material is coming from Krsna so to just burn my guitar would be false renunciation, but to use it in His service... Than that would be perfection. You can't falsely renounce your bodily talents or qualities... Krsna was speaking to Arjuna, who was a prince... He didn't tell Arjuna to move to the Himalayas and become a monk.

Q: Somebody told me devotees are violent.

RAY: Prabhupada (the spiritual master who brought the teachings to the west) wanted to train us to be brahmanas. Qualities of brahmanas are non-violence, austerity, self-control, well versed in scripture, renounced, etc. We are definitely not violent, or if somebody you heard that was a devotee and was acting in a violent way they were probably acting on their own accord. We all have free will and in every religious practice you have the sincere and the insincere.

Q: So ultimately you'd say religion is one... or shooting for the same goal?

RAY: How I understand it is Krsna or God appears throughout the world or empowers persons throughout the world (Mohammed, Jesus, Sankaracharya, Lord Buddha, etc.) to uplift society. I know in BG Krsna even states, "Where ever and when ever there is a decline in religious practice and predominant rise in irreligion, at that time I descend Myself." So ultimately the Vedas aren't saying our path is right and your path is wrong. The Vedas alone put forth many paths. But we've got to make sure that the path we're following is bonafide and our spiritual master or teacher or priest or whatever is also bonafide. What I like about Krsna Consciousness is it's been passed down through the ages from spiritual master to disciple from the time of Lord Krsna Himself. You can actually trace this back historically. Also, the spiritual master isn't allowed to add or concoct his own philosophy, but rather serve as a transparent medium. So in this way scriptures like the Gita can be realized and understood when practicing properly under the order of a bonafide spiritual master. So again spiritually we are all the same... part and parcel of God or an eternal servant of God... This is our real position although we may have many bodily designations like Muslim, Hindu, Christian, Punk, Lawyer etc. Krsna says these area all simply bodily designations. So the teachings in the BG are transcending these "names" or religious sects and giving us a process to scientifically understand our real position.

Q: So Krsna is the "Shelter"?

RAY: Ultimately, but not everybody thinks so. People take shelter in so many temporary things like family, girlfriend, boyfriend... or some escape route like intoxication or political philosophy or even religion. They take shelter even in their own fallible intelligence and mind. And these people claim to be "real brave" and not some "blind fanatic." So we're all taking Shelter, but where will this shelter get us... more entangled or free?

Liberation' animal rights magazine, Feb '98

M: Now you no longer live in the temple, how has your life changed and do you miss the days when you were a Krishna monk?

Ray/Raghunatha das: When I was a Krishna monk everything was simple. For example, you'd wake up in the morning and you'd have to think about was having to chant. When you own your own home you have to think, "My car's parked illegally, I've got to move it to the other side of the road today," then you think, "I've got to go shopping." You definitely get more entangled in the material world, but at the same time I think some of us have such deep attachments in the material world, for us to give them off completely is almost a little fake. So I think we have to find our own balance. None of us are pure devotees, and when we pretend to be pure devotees it blows up in our faces. So I think we have to find our balance between a spiritual and material life. It's not an evil thing, in the Indian system there's a whole, very gradual process to become a full monk. Men and women usually become monks or nuns in their old age, very few, about 1% devote their whole life. For me temple life was like a training time, like going to university, but to do it for my whole life, I felt was not realistic, but I learned a lot and I liked it.

M: By definition aren't you still a monk?

R: No definitely not, to be a monk means you have no possessions, you have no home. I have house, a stereo, records etc. I'm not a monk but I'm still a devotee of Krishna, and that's the goal, to understand that you're a spirit soul and that you're a servant of God. It doesn't matter if you're a monk or have a family. Sometimes people criticize Shelter, they call me insincere because now I have a girlfriend. It's not a disqualification to have a family if you're a spiritual person.

'M.A.G.' magazine, Dec '97

Int: On a more serious note, around the time you moved out to California and you were working at Revelation and stuff, you did an interview with Enquirer 'zine where you talked about your spiritual beliefs at the time. How did that develop to where you became Krishna conscious?

Porcell/Paramananda das: Most people think that you come to spiritual life because you bottom out materially. For me it was exactly the opposite. I had every material dream I ever wanted completely fulfilled and I realized how empty it was. I lived in California, I moved into Huntington Beach which was filled with straight edge kids that worshipped Youth Of Today. The day I moved in they had a big house warming party, they all went out and got me all these presents and stuff (laughs) and gave me mountain bikes and things like that (laughs). Even on a small scale, I had fame, which everyone wants. I lived on the beach, I only worked two hours a day. I had all this money coming in because I made about fifteen records. I was gonna start a band with Zach Rage Against the Machine, I had me it was exactly the opposite. I had every material dream I ever wanted completely fulfilled and I realized how empty it was. I lived in California, I moved into Huntington Beach which was filled with straight edge kids that worshipped Youth Of Today. The day I moved in they had a big house warming party, they all went out and got me all these presents and stuff (laughs) and gave me mountain bikes and things like that (laughs). Even on a small scale, I had fame, which everyone wants. I lived on the beach, I only worked two hours a day. I had all this money coming in because I made about fifteen records. I was gonna start a band with Zach Rage Against the Machine, I had a beautiful girlfriend, I had a motorcycle. I had the lifestyle that most people would completely envy. I realized that there's got to be something more than material acquisitions and people thinking your "cool" that actually gets you through life. I knew that what was missing in my life, that missing ingredient that was making me feel so empty, was spirituality. So I actually made a self concerted effort to try and find that side of myself. So I moved back to New York and I got into everything from like Taoism, even like Christianity I was checking out, just all different religions. What I liked about Krishna Consciousness, it was an all encompassing religion. It's almost like a science. When I read the Bhagavad-gita I was like "this book is awesome" because it crosses over every cultural boundary. It doesn't matter whether you're Christian, Chinese, Jewish, Black, white, man, girl. It just taught "you're spirit soul. You're not the body, the body is made of matter, you're the spiritual energy that is eternal and inside that body. Being spirit means that you're part and parcel of the Supreme Spirit, or God. Leading a spiritual path means developing that relationship." So I thought, "this is cool, this is actually what the root of all religions are". You know, when you take away all of the crap and prejudice and material ideas of what people have about religion and really get to the heart of the matter. That's what really attracted me about it, because it was not sectarian. It was just truth, but it was truth that you can incorporate into your own life and realize it. I actually could tell when I started practicing Krishna consciousness, when I started chanting, I could feel my life changing in a better way. It was proof enough to me that I stumbled across a bonafide spiritual path.

'Free Spirit' magazine, issue #1

FS: What attracted you to Krishna Consciousness?

Porcell/Paramananda das: Well I knew about it for a long time because Ray got into it really early, even on the last YOT tour he had a seika and was shaved up. So I always knew about it but I never really got into it until I started getting into my twenties... it was always my dream to move out to California because I loved beaches and things like that. I was in NY, it was at a time where sXe and things were pretty much dead, so I was like, "here's these things that I've worked for my whole life; spreading sXe, and vegetarianism, and the whole scene was dead, so it was a little depressing to me. So I moved out to CA and I was working at Revelation for a while, but the thing is... some people come to Krishna Consciousness because they can't get their material desires fulfilled and they feel frustrated with the material world, my story was, I got every single one of my material desires fulfilled and I found that it still wasn't satisfying. I was out there, I lived a few miles from the beach, I worked at Revelation kinda in name only, I would pick bands and barely do any work but I still got paid so I worked there a few hours a day. I was getting tons of royalties from all my other bands I did. I had a motorcycle and tons of friends out there, even kids, I'd call em fans, that would come over and be like "Oh you were in Youth Of Today". Even though I had all these things, I found that I really wasn't satisfied, there was still something inside of me that felt empty. I couldn't figure it out. I decided that this California situation wasn't working so I moved back to New York and I went on like some sorta spiritual search. I remember when I first started coming to the temple I still had some sort of faith in materialism or something like that, and this one devotee told me something that had a really big impact on me. He said there's three reasons why material life will never satisfy you. The first reason he said was: OK, you have a material desire and then you work toward fulfilling that desire and first of the three outcomes is, you don't get it and you're left frustrated. The second outcome is: you have a material desire, you work toward fulfilling it, you get it but it doesn't live up to your expectations. Just like me, I always wanted to be in a band and tour and put out records. And when I actually got it I realized it wasn't what everybody cracks it up to be, fame and kids looking up to you and stuff like that. I realized that I was the same old jerk I always was except here are these kids thinking that I'm cool for some situation that I happen to be in. Even when you get in a band I realize that there's the competition and the envy of other bands that are up and coming, there's that shakey ground of always trying to stay in your position in the scene or whatever, so people think that a material situation will bring them happiness. Sometimes even when you achieve that situation they realize that it doesn't live up to their expectations and you're left frustrated again. The third outcome is: you achieve a material desire and not only does it live up to your expectations but it might even be better than your wildest dreams. That situation is very enjoyable but it doesn't last.(He went on to tell a story about Peter Frampton. How he didn't think he was gonna get big and then his career exploded and he became the biggest rock star in the world. Just a few years ago he decided to do a reunion tour and no one showed up). Here's someone who wanted fame and he got it more than he could ever imagined, yet in time it got taken away because everything material fades with time. I actually lived through those situations and they had such a big impact on me that, yeah there actually is no hope for taking shelter in a material situation and I realize this because most people just spend their lives chasing a material situation that they'll never achieve. I was lucky in the fact that I got these desires fulfilled and realized early on that there's nothing to it. So thats how I got into Krishna Consciousness, I realized the fatality of materialism and I wanted to develop some sort of spiritual life because I knew there was something there, some alternative in spiritual life that I wanted to pursue.

FS: What do you see as the main cause for the lack of spirituality in todays everyday society?

Porcell: Well they say that spiritual life and material life are inversely proportional which means that when one goes up the other comes down. The first teaching of the Bhagavad-gita, the ABC's of spiritual life is "you are not the body, rather you are the spirit soul within the body". But that's easy to say, and you can have book knowledge and say, "oh yeah, that makes sense to me", but in order to realize yourself as a spiritual person you can't just say it. There's certain things that are outlined in scriptures in the Bhagavad-gita that give some sort of a map on how you can realize yourself as a spiritual person. Part of that map is dissociating yourself from the pleasures of the material world. There's a lot of talk these days about spiritual this and spiritual that and there's all sorts of people who are claiming to be getting into spiritual life but they are still deriving their pleasures out of the bodily platform, like drinking, eating meat, irregulated lifestyle, all these sensory pleasures that they're engaged in.

FS: It's like that saying; self realization not sense gratification.

Porcell: In order to realize yourself as a spirit soul you have to dissociate yourself from material activities and engage in spiritual activities. That's why you can see as long as people remain addicted to all these things like drinking... that's why devotees basically follow four regular principals, which are; no intoxication, no illicit sex, no gambling, and no meat eating. And there's a reason behind this, it's because these four things implicate you in material life and keep you on the bodily platform, keep you from realizing your true spiritual nature. The basis of Krishna Consciousness is the four don't and the one do. The four dont's are that you follow the four regulated principals and the one do is that you chant Hare Krishna. It's the spiritual sound vibrations, the names of God. You'll start to unclutter the mind from all these material conceptions of which you have of yourself and after a while of practicing you come to realize yourself as a spiritual person. I remember when I first heard these claims of devotees I said, "well it sounds like it makes sense so I'll try it, if it doesn't work I won't be into it and if it does, hey great". So I tried it, I was following most of the regular principals anyway since I was sXe, and I started reading the books and associating with devotees and I started chanting. Thats when I really started getting into it because not only was I learning about spiritual life but I was also realizing it because I was practicing it. So before people condemn spiritual life they have to realize that just like anything else if you want to achieve something you have to put a little work into it. My goal is to become self realized, so by making certain sacrifices I'm finding that I am actually achieving that goal more and more, that's why I stick with it.

WAR ON ILLUSION zine 'Anarchy, Mohawks & The Existence Of Freedom'
2/19 Shelter show - Bremen, Germany

Porcell/Paramananda das: The kid was genuinely concerned; he ran as fast as he could into the club to inform me that there were some anarchist punkers outside boycotting the show. Out of breath, he handed me a flyer they had printed just for the occasion - it was boldly emblazoned with the Bad Religion symbol and read "Keep Religion Out Of Hardcore!" at the top. Then it went on to explain that Shelter were brainwashed members of a cult, and that no one should support our fascist band. At the bottom it stated conclusively "We Fight For Freedom." What a joke - these guys were fighting for the freedom to take my freedom away! I was outraged. It was my duty not to let these instigators get away with this false propaganda. With a head of steam, I busted through the front door and immediately spotted one of them - a guy with a mohawk and a million piercings in his face, holding stacks of paper. I walked up to within six inches of him, and the confrontation began.

"Do you know me?" I asked sternly.

"Yeah, I know exactly who you are," he snarled back, breath stinking of wine. "Why do you think I came down here?"

"No, I mean personally," I asked again.

"No, and I don't care to know you either!" he replied angrily, and turned his back.

I grabbed his shoulder and flipped him around; he wasn't going to get away that easily. "Well, if you don't know me, then where do you get off telling people I'm brainwashed? You've never met anyone in Shelter, so how could you make a judgment like that on us?!

"Because you're Krishnas, that's how I know you're brainwashed!" he screamed back, rocking from side to side with inebriation.

"Oh really, what makes you so sure the Krishnas are brainwashed?"

"Because it's a cult! I know - I know all your 'daawg-ma,'" he mocked.

Talk about dogma - here was some guy, an alleged anarchist, smoking his corporate cigarettes and wearing $100 Doc Martins, claiming he's got full understanding of a spiritual tradition! His simultaneous display of pride and ignorance astounded me.

"Well since you've made such a thorough investigation, why don't you tell me something about the philosophy of Krishna consciousness?" I challenged. "Go ahead, tell me about the teachings of the Bhagavad-gita!"

I waited but there was no reply. He just stood there, perplexed and drunk. His silence admitted his guilt. He didn't know me. He didn't know what Krishna consciousness was all about. He had probably never met a devotee before in his life. Yet there he was, trying to brainwash people into thinking we were brainwashed.

"If you want to boycott something, then why don't you start with boycotting your own bad qualities. You've got plenty of them," I said.

He flipped me off and walked away, taking his flyers with him.

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