a.c. bhaktivedanta swami
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| Prabhupada Letters :: 1968 a.c. bhaktivedanta swami |
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13 Feb 2004 Tuesday, February 13, 1968 Los Angeles, Calif. San Francisco My Dear Upendra, Please accept my blessings. I am so glad to hear that you are released now; this I expected when you came to see me. I entrusted the matter to Krishna to give you release. Anyway, Krishna has been so much merciful upon you that He has taken you out of the state laws. So in every kind of miseries we have to depend on Krishna and we should not be too much disturbed when such miseries come upon us. You have shown very great example in sticking yourself to chanting Hare Krishna while you were in tribulation. Follow this practice all along your life, and surely Krishna will accept you into the Kingdom of God, Back to Godhead. So far going to India: For the time being, it may be postponed because there is good prospect of starting a center at Berkeley, and Gargamuni is arranging for that. I think Gargamuni and yourself and Krishna das may be the main figures in conducting this center. In the meantime, the Indian center may be organized by Acyutananda, and later on we shall have to see where we shall have to concentrate more energy on the Brahmacaris. Your strong desire to serve me is very beautiful; your serving me means serving Krishna. I am also your servant so I cannot accept your service from you, or from any of my disciples. I accept service from my disciples on behalf of Krishna. Just like a tax collector must collect for the treasury, not for himself. If he himself touches so much as a farthing it would be unlawful. So I have no right to accept service from any disciple, but on behalf of Krishna I can accept. Sincere service to the Spiritual Master is service to the Supreme Lord. As stated in the prayer, "Prasadad Bhagavat Prasadad". That means because Krishna accepts service through the via media of Spiritual Master, therefore pleasing the Spiritual Master is equal to pleasing the Supreme Lord. There are four Sampradayas from the beginning of the creation. One is called Brahma Sampradaya, and is coming down by disciplic succession from Brahma; another Sampradaya is coming down from Laksmi, called Sri Sampradaya; another is coming down from the Kumaras, they are known as Nimbarka Sampradaya; another Sampradaya is coming from Lord Siva, Rudra Sampradaya or Visnu Swami. These are four bona fide Sampradayas that are accepted by the bona fide spiritualists. The Impersonalist Sampradaya is not original neither the Impersonalist Sampradaya or party can help us. At the present moment there are so many Sampradayas, but we have to test them about their method of disciplic understanding. Anyway, all the four Sampradayas above mentioned, they are after worshipping the Supreme Lord Visnu, in His different Expansions, and some of them are in favor of worshipping Radha Krishna. In the later age the Brahma Sampradaya was handed down though Madhva Acarya; in this Madhva Acarya disciplic succession came Isvara Puri. This Isvara Puri was accepted as Spiritual Master of Lord Caitanya. Therefore, we being in disciplic succession of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, we are known as the Madhva Sampradaya. And because Lord Caitanya appeared in Bengal, which country is called Gaudadesa, our Sampradaya party is known as Madhva Gaudiya Sampradaya. But all these Sampradayas are non-different from one another because they believe and worship the Supreme Lord. Any other Sampradaya who are Impersonalist or voidist or non-devotee, they are rejected by us. My Guru Maharaja was in the 10th generation from Lord Caitanya. We are 11th from Lord Caitanya. The disciplic sucession is as follows: 1. Sri Krishna, 2. Brahma, 3. Narada, 4. Vyasa, 5. Madhva, 6. Padmanabha, 7. Nrihari, 8. Madhava, 9. Akshobhya, 10. Jayatirtha, 11. Jnanasindhu, 12. Purusottama, 13. Vidyanidhi, 14. Rajendra, 15. Jayadharma, 16. Purusottama, 17. Vyasatirtha, 18. Laksmipati, 19. Madhavendra Puri, 20. Isvara Puri (Advaita, Nityananda) 21. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, 22. (Svarupa, Sanatana) Rupa, 23.(Jiva) Raghunath, 24. Krishna dasa, 25. Narottama, 26. Visvanatha, 27. (Baladeva.) Jagannatha, 28. (Bhaktivinode) Gaura-kisora, 29. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati, Sri Barshabhanavidayitadas, 30. Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta. Hope you are well. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami My dear Upendra, Please distribute to other devotees letter enclosed herewith. ACB letters | 05:37 | Tuesday, February 13, 1968 Los Angeles, Calif. My Dear Guru das, Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated Feb. 8, and have noted the contents. I have received also one letter from Upendra today, and I am so glad he is released within 10 days. That was my expectation when he came to see me, that he couldn't be incarcerated for more than a week. This instance of suffering by a devotee should be carefully noted. As Upendra was in the beginning incarcerated for 3 months, it was reduced to one week; similarly, when a devotee is seen in trouble, it should be accepted as God's Mercy. Just like Upendra's suffering for 3 months was destined by the law, but by the Mercy of God the suffering is reduced to one week only. So a devotee always accepts his distress as minimized by God's Mercy, although he would have to suffer many more times the suffering. Any one who accepts this philosophy of God's Mercy in suffering conditions, and still makes progress in Krishna Consciousness, it is said that he is sure to go back to Home, Back to Godhead. Regarding Acyutananda's letter to you: it is a fact that in Brahmacari Ashram no Grhasthas are supposed to live, but the American House which we are now contemplating has no separate department for Grhasthas or Brahmacaris. Therefore for the present we cannot make such distinction in the American House. We are just beginning the American House there and gradually we shall make departmental division later on. Your quotation from Lord Caitanya that nobody should identify as a Brahmacari, Householder, Sannyasi, is quite correct. On the Krishna platform there is no such distinction. The only reason is that on the material platform sex life is very predominant. Therefore a Brahmacari is advised not to live with Grhasthas. But if there's strong sense of Krishna Consciousness, this distinction of material world will disappear in spiritual light. Anyway, so far you are concerned, I have received letter from Acyutananda which reads as follows about yourself: "Yamuna and Gurudasa are welcomed and they may come soon so I must have your decision." So you can prepare yourself for going there and keeping correspondence with Acyutananda, so that as soon as the house is settled there you can go with a car. I am keeping well. Hope you are well. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami letters | 05:34 | Tuesday, February 13, 1968 Los Angeles, Calif. My Dear Robert, Please accept my blessings. I thank you very much for your inquisitiveness shown in your letter dated Jan. 30, 1968. And I am sorry that I could not reply this letter earlier, on account of being busy in my preoccupation. I am glad that you attended our class at Montreal and tried to understand the philosophy of Krishna Consciousness. It is neither sectarian nor dogmatic. It is the natural relationship of the living entities with the Supreme Soul. The Supreme Soul is Krishna, or the All Attractive; one cannot be Supreme Soul without being all attractive. If God is Supreme, therefore the nomenclature of God to be addressed is Krishna perfectly well. If you are inquisitive to learn this science personally from me, I have no objection if you come here and stay with me for some days. A school life isn't an impediment for becoming full time devotee, it is the question of devoting oneself sincerely to Krishna Consciousness. To prosecute Krishna Consciousness there is no limitation, no material impediment can stop progress of Krishna Consciousness. That is the symtom of spiritual life. Spiritual life doesn't depend on material conditions. We have got many instances from the history of devotee's life as Prahlada Maharaja. He was a small school boy, his father and teachers were all against God Consciousness. Still he flourished and converted all his class fellows to be Krishna Conscious in spite of severe trials experimented on his personal body. So it is only the question of understanding the process how to execute Krishna Consciousness. If you can therefore spare some time to live with me, it will be better. You appear to be a very intelligent boy and I hope you will learn the art quickly. Thanking you once more. Hope you are well, Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami letters | 05:31 | 12 Feb 2004 Monday, February 12, 1968 Los Angeles, Calif. My Dear Bhakti Jan, Please accept my blessings. I am so glad to receive your letter dated Feb. 10, 1968, and have noted the contents. The strong hand of Maya is insurmountable as it is stated in the Bhagavad-gita. But if one sticks to Krishna Consciousness with firmness, then he can easily surmount. My instructions I have already given to you, how to chant the beads, and how to protect yourself from the offenses. I shall advise you again to chant always, increasing the counting, namely, 16 rounds is generally prescribed, but for the time being you can stop all other activities and increase the chanting to 64 rounds. Follow the rules and regulations strictly. If you want sex life, you are at liberty to get yourself married. But don't have illicit sex with some Maya's representative. That won't help you in your spiritual advancement. We don't forbid sex life, but we cannot allow illicit sex. For a young man it is very difficult to check sex desire, therefore best thing is for him to get himself married, and live like a responsible gentleman. Irresponsible man cannot make progress materially, or spiritually. You're intelligent young man, you can understand things as we say, and you follow and you will be benefited. Mistakes we may commit because it is not out of human activity, but at the same time, we must use our good consciousness how to achieve the goal of our life, Krishna. Please stick to this chanting process, sincerely, without any offense, and everything will be all right with you. Thanking you once more for remembering me. Hope you are well. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami P.S. Please try to assist Brahmananda till my arrival in New York in April 1968. When I shall meet you I shall give you a specific duty and I hope you will be happy to discharge it. ACB letters | 04:28 | Monday, February 12, 1968 Los Angeles, Calif. My Dear Sivananda, Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated Feb. 8, 1968. You want to counteract the activities of M, but you must know M is the agent of Maya. Our process of Krishna Consciousness and Sankirtana movement is already counteracting the spell of Maya, but the M says that you remain under the spell of Maya. His preaching is that you enjoy, and simply you pay him $35, and purchase his mantra. People in general are already under the spell of Maya. That is to say, they want sense gratification. If anyone encourages the method of sense gratification, at the same time become a yogi, why people will not prefer that method? We say there is no illicit sexlife, no intoxication, no meat eating, no gambling, so if M says there is no restrictions, naturally large number of people will follow him. That means they want to be cheated, and Krishna sends them a cheater. We cannot cheat people like him. We must say the truth, as they are prescribed; in the Bhagavad-gita there are 18 kinds of austerities, 13rd chapter. The restrictions which we are following are austerities. Without austerity, without celibacy, any amount of nonsense meditation will not help. So there is no comparison of our method with M's method. We are not out to counteract any kind of vandalism. We must present the genuine thing before the public, and if they are intelligent enough they will take it up and realize it. The followers of M are not intelligent class of men. If you have any advancement in the knowledge of Bhagavad-gita, you can test any follower of M, you will find he is nil. The idea for Japan is very nice, but who will bear the expenses, that is the problem. And who will take charge of the pavilion, that is the problem. If you can manage to construct such pavilion, I have no objection. But consult with Janardana and others in this connection. Your good wish is very nice, and I can also go there, but it requires thousands of dollars to give effect to such proposal. If you can do so, you can join Acyutananda immediately, as you like. If you are able, you can go. You can correspond with Acyutananda, his address is as follows: Acyutananda das Brahmacari, c.o Mr. N. Banerjea; 114 Elliot Road; Kanpur, 4; India. Hope you are well. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami letters | 04:14 | Monday, February 12, 1968 Los Angeles, Calif. My Dear Mahapurusa, Please accept my blessings. I am in receipt of your letter dated February 8, 1968, and have noted the contents carefully. I am very glad to learn that you are holding Kirtana on the University campus, do it nicely. Do not bother your head about that rascal M. His activities are like the waves tossing foam on the ocean. It will stay for some time and then vanquish. For the time the ocean appears to be all devouring, but in proper time it is calm and quiet. Krishna Consciousness isn't like that. It is a great science. It requires great spiritual asset to adopt the principles. You have desired to meet with M for argument, and as Lord Caitanya argued with Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya. Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya was talking on the basic principle of Vedanta. So there was a via media interpretation. This man does not follow any Sastra or any authority. He is authority by himself, and has manufactured his own meditation process. Therefore, he is not standard. We cannot waste our time with a non-standard loafer class man. Therefore do not agitate your mind in this way. We are following the footprints of Lord Caitanya. We are not going to become God, as M says every one of us is God. You should be firmly convinced in your own philosophy, Bhagavad-gita, otherwise you may be misled. Why don't you try to convince the followers of M that they are following a rascal, a cheat. Because he does not follow a standard process. So try to understand the followers of M, how far they have advanced in spiritual consciousness, and get it corroborated from the teaching of Bhagavad-gita as you learned. Lord Caitanya talked with Sarvabhauma on the basis of Vedanta Sutra. M has no basic principle, he is manufacturing his own way. So it is useless to talk with him. He has gathered the not very intelligent class of men, and they will not stay. We are teaching Bhagavad-gita as it is, that is called Krishna Consciousness. Why don't you try to understand M from the point of view of Bhagavad-gita? To stick to the principles advised by the Spiritual Master and serve Krishna under the direction of the Spiritual Master is the only hope of our advancing in Krishna Consciousness. The Spiritual Master and Krishna are two parallel lines. You have to make your progress on these two parallel lines, you cannot avoid one in preference of the other. The train, on two tracks, moves forward. The Spiritual Master and Krishna are like these two tracks, they must be served simultaneously. Krishna helps one to find bona fide Spiritual Master, and bona fide Spiritual Master helps one to understand Krishna. If one does not get bona fide Spiritual Master, then how he can ever understand Krishna? You cannot serve Krishna without Spiritual Master, or serve just Spiritual Master without serving Krishna. They must be served simultaneously. Yes, you may ask them to bow down, if they have made offense, they should bow down. Hope you are well. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami letters | 04:03 | Monday, February 12, 1968 Los Angeles, Calif. My Dear Gargamuni, Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated Feb. 10, 1968, and have noted the contents. The matter is little more risky in the sense that the rent is $400 per month, but you have assurance from friends and your own resources of $250, so balance is $150 which I think you can collect from the meetings very easily. So far I am concerned I always take risk for Krishna. I came here in your country risking my life. And still although I am physically unfit, I am trying to execute the orders of my Guru Maharaja as far as possible. So to take risk for Krishna is very good. You know the history of my starting the society in 1966, it was all risky, and I was alone, but I took it depending on Krishna. So I think if you take the risk of $150, for Krishna's sake, Krishna will supply you the required money undoubtedly. It depends however on your personal discretion, but I am hopeful that if you take the risk it will not be bad. In the meantime, Upendra is also released earlier from his internment, and I think if he takes some job he can also help. So try to open this branch and let us depend on Krishna's Good Will. Hope you are well. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami letters | 03:33 | 8 Feb 2004 Thursday, February 8, 1968 Los Angeles, Calif. My Dear Brahmananda, Please accept my blessings. Your letter dated Feb. 5, 1968, is just in hand. It is very pleasing to me to see how your heart is working in Krishna Consciousness. I am very much hopeful of your future glories in the matter of propagating this transcendental movement. Your remark that we cannot make Krishna our order supplier is very appropriate. We should always try to supply everything to Krishna and we shall try to avoid any return by Krishna. That is Vaisnava philosophy. The Gopis and Radharani served Krishna without any expectation of material or spiritual profit. They never expected any return from Krishna and Krishna remained ever indebted to the Gopis. Therefore Caitanya Mahaprabhu exalted the worship method of the Gopis, and Krishna when He tries to understand the heart of the Gopis, that is the transformation of Krishna into Lord Caitanya. I am very much pleased to learn that things in New York are going nicely under your supervision, and I do not see any urgent reason that you shall go to India immediately. You are sincere pure soul, Krishna will give you His transcendental counsel as you shall require from time to time. I have seen the Life Magazine article; the pictures have come very sublime, and imperceptibly they have admitted our superexcellence of chanting Hare Krishna. You have marked it that they have said: "The chanting of Hare Krishna continues to vibrate the brain for several days." We want to inject this transcendental poison into the heart of the Maya-serpent bitten people in general. Krishna Consciousness by the sound of Hare Krishna, it continues for a moment in the brain of the rascals, then certainly it will act in future to help them to become Krishna Consciousness. In the Bhagavad-gita it is said: "Svalpam apy asya dharmasya trayate mahato bhayat." Bhayat means fearfulness. Even a slight injection of this transcendental vibration can save one from the greatest danger. In future, of course, we shall not be very cheap plaything in the hands of the so-called publicity leaders in the kingdom of Maya. We simply give them a little chance to serve Krishna, but we cannot accept their leadership. In future, therefore, we shall agree to such publicity if they publish about ourselves exclusively. I think the Television proposal as written by you may be utilized in that way. Yes, I saw the late Ambassador Mr. B. K. Nehru at San Francisco Hotel and he and his wife received me well. He introduced me also with the Consul General, Mr. Bazpai. So the meeting was nice and I understand that he has recommended my case as a permanent immigrant to the Immigration Department. His assistants and secretaries in the Embassy and Consulate General have written me letters confirming this. They have promised that they will do their best in getting my permanent visa, but usually it takes 5 to 6 months to complete the process. We have, however, submitted the Immigration application by the first week of January, 1968. So I think I shall have to wait for securing the visa. I quite appreciate your proposal that you cannot go out until the two books are published. I think you are missing the four points of Krishna's superexcellent qualities to be added in the Teachings of Lord Caitanya. The four points are as follows: 1. He can create continuous waves of Transcendental Pastimes which attract the attention of everyone including His Visnu Expansions, 2. His super-excellent beauty in the midst of Radharani and Her Associates, 3. His super-excellent sound of His Transcendental Flute, 4. His super-excellent beauty cannot be surpassed by anyone in the three worlds, namely, the material world, the Vaikuntha Loka, and Krishna Loka. I hope you will add these points to complete the vacancy. Yes, the essay for the booklet is also the script for the new record. I am very glad that Jadurani is inspecting our fine arts department. It is very much gratifying. Please offer my blessings to the new boy John. I am very much anxious to get our position as non-government organization in the U.N., please try for it your best. I have received letter from S.S. Brijbasi Company that by the approach of Hitsaran Sharma, they have immediately executed the order. And a copy of the letter is already there in N.Y., and the documents are expected very soon. I have also received letter from United Shipping Corp. that the books, harmoniums, karatalas, mrdangas, etc., are already shipped on the 14th of January, and expected to arrive by the 20th of February. Hope you are well. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami letters | 04:22 | Thursday, February 8, 1968 Los Angeles, Calif. My Dear Jaya Govinda, Please accept my blessings. I beg to thank you very much for your letter dated Feb. 5. Your attitude of humbleness is praiseworthy. A devotee should always remain humble and meek especially to the authorities and devotees. Lord Caitanya's philosophy is not to become God, but to become servant, servant, servant of God. The more one becomes the lower grade servant of the Lord, the more he is devoted nearer to the Lord. This is our philosophy. I have all my hearty blessings upon you, please do your duties nicely, and Krishna will be pleased to shower His Blessings upon you. He is very kind to sincere souls, and He gives intelligence from within to sincere devotees. We require only to become sincere in the service of the Lord, then everything is there ready for our convenience. Regarding lecturing by woman devotees: I have informed you that in the service of the Lord there is no distinction of caste or creed, color, or sex. In the Bhagavad-gita, the Lord especially mentions that a woman who has taken seriously is also destined to reach Him. We require a person who is in the knowledge of Krishna, that is the only qualification of a person speaking. It doesn't matter what he is. Materially a woman may be less intelligent than a man, but spiritually there is no such distinction. Because spiritually everyone is pure soul. In the absolute plane there is no such gradation of higher and lower. If a woman can lecture nicely and to the point, we should hear her carefully. That is our philosophy. But if a man can speak better than a woman, the man should be given first preference. But even though a woman is less intelligent, a sincere soul should be given proper chance to speak, because we want so many preachers, both men and women. I have seen the Life Magazine publication about ourselves, and it is not bad. I am glad that Rupanuga has gone to Buffalo for opening a center there. The organizer, Mr. Goel, is a very nice boy, and I had some correspondence with him. Hope you are well. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Sent along with Brahmacari letters | 04:15 | |
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