September 28 2008

This history of this world, and especially in Kali-yuga is war. There is always some war going on somewhere. If we are fortunate we may escape its withering shadow–or not. Even if we do, are we any better off?

How do devotees view war and how do they deal with it?

 Here’s a fairly frequently asked question from Samatma Gour das in the CIS:

“Did Shrila Prabhupada ever speak of possible global military conflicts and cataclysms etc. What were his recommendations to the devotees, if any, in relation to this? Thank you in advance and special thanks for your Transcendental Diary!”

Answer:

Among the many smaller wars-civil wars, cold wars, hot wars, holy wars-that are always going on, the last century saw two ‘world wars’.

With the development of atomic and nuclear capabilites, its easy to think in apocalyptic terms

With the A-bomb it seemed that for the first time in history man had the capability of destroying the whole planet.

Srila Prabhupada did speak about a possible third world war and there are several conversations from 1974 on this, as well as some letters. You can read the conversation from May 27, 1974 in Rome.

The talk of a possible war sparked some speculation among the devotees and some wrote to Srila Prabhupada because they were concerned about the future. Here are some replies Srila Prabhupada made:

Letter to: Makhanlal — 22 June, 1973

“You have asked about whether nuclear devastation on this planet would effect the Sankirtana Movement. No, there is nothing that can stop the Sankirtana Movement because it is the will of God Himself, Lord Caitanya, that His Holy Name be heard in every town and village. Neither can the demons devastate this planet independent of the will of Krsna. Nothing happens without His sanction. If Krsna wants to kill someone no one can save Him, and if Krsna wants to save someone no one can kill him. For our parts we should just be determined to carry out our mission against all opposition, demons, nuclear war, whatever. The whole universe is finally subject to certain annihilation by the will of Krsna, but devotional service is eternal and is the only certain way one can save himself from devastation. We can preach all over the world that the only way to be saved from collective and individual devastation is to take to the chanting of Hare Krsna. In short, this material world is a very precarious place therefore we should always chant Hare Krsna and seek Krsna’s protection.”

Letter to Sukadeva das 24 November 1974:

“I am glad to learn that you are having nice college programs. Regarding there going to be depression and atomic war, who said that? This is all false propaganda. I never said this.

Letter to: Radhavallabha: — 21 August, 1975

“Do not worry, in spite of war, Srimad-Bhagavatam will be distributed. We don’t care for war. Our preaching business will go on.”

In one conversation a devotee asked Srila Prabhupada “If there is war, will devotees also die?” Srila Prabhupada replied that of course they will. And someone also asked what should the devotees do if there is a war. Srila Prabhupada said he should look up at the bomb coming down and say

 “This is Krsna!”

On another occasion Srila Prabhupada reminded us that Krsna is always favorably disposed to His devotees: MW conversation, June 16, 1975 Hawaii:

Prabhupada: That will take place. Otherwise, how they will be killed?
Ambarisa: They’re calling it a limited nuclear war.
Prabhupada: They are accumulated so much sinful load that must be killed. That is sure. [break] …the massacre. That will take place.
Harikesa: The sinless people will survive?
Prabhupada: Yes.
Devotee (3): Who is that?
Prabhupada: We. [break] There was an artificial famine in India and I particularly inquired from all devotees whether they have got any problem in this famine. They said, “No, we haven’t got.” I have taken the statistics. In 1942 the artificial famine created by government… So there were big earthquake in Bihar. At that time one of my godbrother, he was government auditor. So I inquired. In that earthquake only his house was saved. I have seen it many times. Kaunteya pratijanihi na me bhaktah pranasyati [Bg. 9.31]. That is the only….
samasrita ye pada-pallava-plavam
mahat-padam punya-yaso murareh
bhavambudhir vatsa-padam param padam
padam padam yad vipadam na tesam
 [SB 10.14.58]
Padam padam yad vipadam na tesam. It is not meant for them, all these dangerous condition.” 

Whatever happens, Krsna is behind it. Sometimes it seems that some powerful man or men are in control and with their inventions they may kill us all. But this is not the case. I remember an amusing but striking story Srila Prabhupada told us about Churchill, Hitler and World War 2: 

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September 20 2008

                           Sriman Sadaputa prabhu – A Personal Tribute

July 9 1976 : members of the Bhaktivedanta Institute seated with Srila Prabhupada in Washington DC (lt. to rt): Svarupa Damodar das, Sadaputa das, Rupanuga das, Madhava das

Vedic culture dictates from the very beginning of our lives that we understand one central point: that life in this material world is temporary and precarious and our real business lies elsewhere. We should understand from the moment we can walk and talk that our tenure in these bodies is like ‘a drop of water on a shaking lotus leaf’ that there is ‘danger at every step’ and that as soon as we are born we are already ‘one day towards death’.

It should come then as neither surprise nor shock when we hear of the departure of yet another soul from one body to the next. It is expected and can come during any movement of time.

Yet despite this knowledge we do expect that all of us average human beings will live the normal course–a full life of ‘three score and ten’. And beyond that there are some whom, because of their personal qualification and abilities, because of their contribution to our own lives and because of their importance to human society at large, we earnestly hope and pray will live to a ripe old age. Sadaputa prabhu falls very squarely into this latter category.

It is with great dismay, shock and lamentation then that we have face the loss of his association at the relatively young age of 61.

The work of a great man will touch the life of more people than he himself can know. It will edify, uplift and improve; it will set a foundation on which future generations can live a better quality of life; it will provide sustenance and positive direction to a multitude of souls. In Sanskrit such a person is called ‘mahatma’.

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September 18 2008

People in general often have the impression that a spiritual person should never become angry. Anger of course, is seen as a sign of contaminated consciousness

Whoops! How did he get back in here….

When we become purified, there is no more anger. Indeed, Srila Rupa Goswami states in the opening verse of the Upadeshamrta that one of the six forces that have to be subdued in order to qualify oneself as a spiritual master is anger. Yet we see that devotees–great devotees–sometimes become angry. Is it a fault or not?

In Krsna consciousness, we see that all the emotions are employed in the Lord’s service. He is sentient, and as His eternal parts and parcels, we are also sentient. The interplay of emotion (rasa) is the highest form of spirituality and in transcendental consciousness, anger has its part to play.

Here’s a couple of examples cited in Nectar of Devotion:

“When Krsna was trying to capture the demon Sankha, Radharani began trembling out of fearfulness. Similar trembling of the body was exhibited in Sahadeva, the younger brother of Nakula. When Sisupala was vehemently blaspheming the Lord, Sahadeva began to tremble out of anger.”

“Perspiration due to anger was exhibited by Garuda, the eagle who is the carrier of Visnu. Once the heavenly king, Indra, was sending torrents of rain over Vrndavana. Garuda was observing the incident from above the clouds, and because of his anger, he began perspiring.”

“An example of shedding tears because of anger was exhibited by Bhima when he saw that Sisupala was insulting Krsna in the Rajasuya arena of sacrifice. Bhima wanted to kill Sisupala immediately, but because Krsna did not order him to do so, he became morose with anger. It is described that there were hot tears covering his eyes, as a thin cloud sometimes covers the evening moon. In the evening, when the moon is slightly covered by a thin cloud, it looks very nice, and when Bhima was shedding tears on account of his anger, he also looked very nice.”

In the Mahabharata it is described that Bhima was so angry with the Kurus at their treatment of the Pandavas that he couldn’t sleep for 12 years. Finally when the Kurushetra war was declared, Bhima exulted at the thought of finishing the Kurus. His anger culminated with his fulfilling his vows to kill Dushasana and drinking his blood.

In service to the Lord of their hearts, great devotees exhibit their attachment to Krsna whenever a protagonist appears. This intensifies their love and increases their ecstasy.

These examples are of extraordinary devotees who are eternal associates of the Lord. What about within our own Kali–yuga context, here and now on this planet? When, if at all, is it alright for a devotee to become angry. Dravida das from Russia asked this question last April:

Question:

I thank you for the interesting instructing stories from Transcendental Diary. I have another request: Can you please give examples of correct usage of anger by Shrila Prabhupada, a use of anger to defend devotees? I thank you in advance.

Answer:

There is the story about the early days in India (before I went there) when Srila Prabhupada and the devotees attended a program hosted by some mayavadis at Chowpatty, Bombay.

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September 16 2008 

Every country likes to brag about their economy and how many millionaires and, nowadays, how many billionaires they have.

Well, now there’s a country where every single person is a billionaire.    

This is not a spoof. The note is real, or rather it is legal currency. If you are wondering what the three eggs are for, that’s how many you can buy with this one hundred billion dollar bill.  

Yes folks, if you want to be paper rich beyond your  dreams, just move to Zimbabwe where inflation is running at several billion percent.    

Srila Prabhupada writes about the prostitution of  gold in SB 1.17.39: 

Although Maharaja Pariksit gave Kali permission to live in four places, it was very difficult for him to find the places because during the reign of Maharaja Pariksit there were no such places. Therefore Kali asked the King to give him something practical which could be utilized for his nefarious purposes. Maharaja Pariksit thus gave him permission to live in a place where there is gold, because wherever there is gold there are all the above-mentioned four things, and over and above them there is enmity also. So the personality of Kali became gold-standardized. According to Srimad-Bhagavatam, gold encourages falsity, intoxication, prostitution, envy and enmity. Even a gold-standard exchange and currency is bad. Gold-standard currency is based on falsehood because the currency is not on a par with the reserved gold. The basic principle is falsity because currency notes are issued in value beyond that of the actual reserved gold. This artificial inflation of currency by the authorities encourages prostitution of the state economy. The price of commodities becomes artificially inflated because of bad money, or artificial currency notes. Bad money drives away good money. Instead of paper currency, actual gold coins should be used for exchange, and this will stop prostitution of gold. Gold ornaments for women may be allowed by control, not by quality, but by quantity. This will discourage lust, envy and enmity. When there is actual gold currency in the form of coins, the influence of gold in producing falsity, prostitution, etc., will automatically cease. There will be no need of an anticorruption ministry for another term of prostitution and falsity of purpose. 

Maybe its time to go back to the land and the real wealth of grains, milk, fruits, minerals and other natural resources.  

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September 14 2008 — On Snuffing it

I just got this question from Yadunandan prabhu of the Bhaktivedanta College in Belgium:

“While visiting some devotees in the UK, one of them asked me a question about Srila Prabhupada’s snuff box. This devotee was somewhat puzzled thinking that Srila Prabhupada’s snuff was made of tobacco. I did a little research on the folio and looked into the dictionary to answer accurately.

 “There are two options I see from my little research:

1. Srila Prabhupada was using some type of medicine as snuff.

2. Srila Prabhupada was using tobacco snuff as medicine for his blood pressure and to keep him able to perform his translation work at night.

As you were and are so close to Srila Prabhupada, can you please give some light on this matter so that my answer can be more accurate?”

Answer : Snuff is a tobacco derivative in fine powder form. This is the type that Srila Prabhupada was using.

  Here’s a general definition and history that I got from the internet:

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September 11 2008

September 10 2008 — On a day that the media dubbed ‘Big Bang day’ scientists kicked off their experiments with the LHC, Large Hadron Collider, in Switzerland.

They are in pursuit of Higgs Boson, the so-called “God particle“, an assumed fundamental aspect of material nature present at the very beginning of the universe.

According to  an article written in December 2001 [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/1695390.stm] the most sought after object in particle physics, the Higgs boson, may not even exist:

“This is the astonishing conclusion of researchers at the Cern nuclear physics lab near Geneva who have just reviewed five years’ worth of data from experiments they thought would confirm the legendary particle’s role in the construction of the Universe. The Higgs, according to the Standard Model of particle physics, is the particle that explains why all others have mass. Its importance is so central to current thinking that some have even dubbed it the “God particle”. But the Cern researchers have told New Scientist magazine that studies in its giant accelerator which should have shown up the presence of the Higgs found absolutely nothing – and this could mean particle physics having to revisit some of its most cherished ideas.

Higgs ‘shadows’

If there is no Higgs, science will be left totally unable to explain mass.

Physicists at Cern used what was then the largest atom smasher in the world, the Large Electron Positron (Lep) collider, to search for the Higgs boson. The theory was that if atoms were hurtled into each other at high enough energies, the Higgs would eventually reveal itself in the sub-atomic rubble.Just before the Lep was due to be closed down and scrapped, one team declared last year that it was within a hair’s-breadth of identifying the Higgs – it had seen tantalizing “shadows” of something which could be the sought after particle.” 

It seems that despite this admittance the clever scientists managed to convince the governments of Europe to fork over the cash to build an even bigger collider than the LEP so that they could chase these shadows.

Thus, yesterday news reports featured leader of the project Dr. Lyn Evans launching the project with a click of his mouse button. Evan called the LHC “a discovery machine, the most sophisticated scientific instrument of our time,” that will “smash two beams of particles head-on at super-fast speeds, recreating the conditions in the Universe moments after the Big Bang.” 

According to the BBC:

“Scientists hope to see new particles in the debris of these collisions, revealing fundamental new insights into the nature of the cosmos.

Dr. Evans said while it was hoped it would give clues to the origins of the universe, they did not know exactly what results the £4.4bn experiment would provide.”

Note that: $10 billion and they don’t know what they will get.  Its not a bad job, chasing shadows…

Srila Prabhupada of course, was expert in exposing these masters of illusion.

In New Vrindaban in 1976 he told us a humorous story to illustrate the cheating of the scientists:

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September 8 2008 – Radharani is the better half…

[TD 4] October 5, 1976 – Vrndavana

 Prabhupada pointed out that the wife is also considered to be not different from the husband. “Again the wife is considered ardhangini. I think in English also it is said, ‘better half.’ Wife is considered half the body, the left-hand side half. Perhaps you have seen the picture that Krsna and Radharani, one body. The left-hand side is Radharani, right-hand side is Krsna. Srila Jiva Gosvami has explained this, radha krsna-pranaya-vikrtir hladini-saktir asmad ekatmanav api. Radha and Krsna, They are one, but for pastimes they have become two.”

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One final comment on Srila Prabhupada’s statement that he was writing under superior direction.

This is from TD Vol. 4 [exactly 32 years ago]:

September 4, 1976 – Vrndavana 

Later in the morning Harikesa Swami and I sat with Srila Prabhupada in his darsana room. He was discussing Srimad-Bhagavatam verse 3.25.21.

Harikesa read it out:
titiksavah karunikah suhrdah sarva-dehinam
ajata-satravah santah sadhavah sadhu-bhusanah

“The symptoms of a sadhu are that he is tolerant, merciful, and friendly to all living entities. He has no enemies, he is peaceful, he abides by the scriptures, and all his characteristics are sublime.”

Prabhupada smiled in satisfaction. “This is sadhu. Not the dress.” Then he had Harikesa read out his lengthy purport. …

“So description of the sadhu is there. It is very nice. Where they will find this description all over the world? Hm?”

Complimenting Prabhupada, Harikesa said, “I think there’s only one person who’s following that description.”

But Prabhupada had different mood; he humbly appreciated the words of the sastra. “No, I say about Bhagavata’s description. How perfect it is in every subject matter.”

And he provided a revealing insight into the source of his own words in the purport. “I have tried to explain what is there in the Bhagavatam, expand it. That is not my explanation, that is Krsna’s explanation. I cannot explain now; [at] that moment I could explain. That means Krsna’s … I can understand that. That the description is very nicely given. Although it is my writing, but I know it is not my writing. It is Krsna’s writing. So we should read Bhagavatam always. Nityam bhagavata-sevaya. We should not waste our time.”

This was not the first time that Prabhupada has said that when he writes he is simply acting as a mouthpiece for Krsna. His words and humility today merely emphasized his role as the transparent via media between us and Krsna, and gave us another glimpse into the intimacy of his relationship with the Lord.

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September 7 2008

 A few days ago Janmastami prabhu, the principle of our Mayapur Institute for Higher Education and Training (MIHET) sent me this painting:

along with this question:

“Do you know the pastime that is represented by the attached plate? Any references? I would like to use it in my NOI course.”

My reply:

 Yes, this is the occasion in the early 1960s when Srila Prabhupada was personally instructed not only by Srila Rupa Goswami but also by Srila Sanatana and Jiva Goswamis about his writing and his desire to preach Krsna consciousness in the west. This painting is not strictly accurate as you will see.

I include this incident in my own seminar series “Srila Prabhupada The Living Bhagavatam” about Writing [SPLB–see the audio section] The incidence is mentioned in TD Vol 3, quoted portions of which appear in italics here:

On July 26, 1976 Srila Prabhupada was in England, staying for a few days at Bhaktivedanta Manor, the beautiful estate donated to ISKCON by George Harrison. George had just visited Srila Prabhupada that afternoon and in the evening Bhagavan prabhu, the GBC for Southern Europe and Prthu Putra Swami arrived. They presented Srila Prabhupada with the first French edition of Srimad Bhagavatam Canto One, Part One.

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September 5 2008 

 Prabhupada almost always traveled with a secretary and a personal servant.  Devotees are naturally fascinated by what went on in the privacy of Srila Prabhupada’s rooms and how these devotees carried out their services.

 On 17-May-08 I got this question from Ilya Zaharov in Russia:

“I would like to ask about Shrila Prabhupada’s personal servants and secretaries: what exactly was their service and functions? How did they serve Shrila Prabhupada?

Answer:  Here are five of us in this photo taken on June 11, 1976 on Prabhupada’s arrival at the airport in Detroit:

On the left is former servant/secretary Satsvarupa Das Goswami; with dark hair wearing white is longest-serving servant, Sruta Kirti prabhu; immediately behind Prabhupada and partly obscurred is personal security man Raksana prabhu; carrying danda is secretary Pusta Krsna Swami; and that’s me on the far right. Its a big topic and here’s a very brief overview:

The servant looked after all Srila Prabhupada’s personal needs, such as giving his massages, preparing his bathing, cooking, shaving his head, making sure everything was cleaned everyday, such as rooms and clothing, packing his suitcase, carrying his personal paraphernalia and being on hand whenever he rang his bell. The servant was always the one who was expected to answer the bell, not the secretary.  The servant would also help Srila Prabhupada put his shoes and coat on and off (doesn’t sound much but it was one of the more blissful items!). 

 When Srila Prabhupada traveled by airplane it was generally the servant who sat next to him. On international trips temples would supply first class tickets for Prabhupada and servant, and the rest of the party would travel ecomony.

Because I couldn’t cook, there was a host of devotees who did that service during the 16 months I traveled with Prabhupada. Harikesa prabhu was the cook when I first joined the party in November 1975, and again briefly when he came back on as secretary in July of 1976. In America and again in India in late 1976 it was mainly Palika dasi, but also Srutirupa dasi and sometimes Arundhati dasi. Nandarani dasi,  Yamuna dasi, Parijata dasi, Kaushalya dasi, Kishori dasi all cooked, as did Bhanu das brahmacari and Sukadeva dasa.  

Prabhupada described the function of the secretary in a nutshell to Hansaduta Swami in Hyderabad in December 1976 as ‘one who keeps the secrets’.

The secretary took care of all correspondence, travel arrangements, appointments for visitors and liasons with local temple presidents and GBCs. Secretaries were, by Prabhupada’s preference, nearly always GBC men and he had a system that any GBC could join him for a month on his travels, as a visiting GBC secretary.

 Although it was generally the secretary who took charge of recording the daily classes, walks and conversations, due to pressure of work Pusta Krsna Swami handed that service over to me in May 1976, a service I did till I left the party in March 1977. I loved doing that service because it kept me constantly hearing Srila Prabhupada throughout the day and gave me the perfect reason to always be in his company as we traveled:

Apart from servant and secretary there were occasions when additional members traveled. Sanskrit editor Pradyumna prabhu re-joined the party in May of 1976 and stayed on until Prabhupada’s disappearance in November 1977. Pradyumna was probably the longest serving personal assistant to travel with Prabhupada. Pradyumna’s wife Arundhati also joined the party in June 1976 to transcribe Srila Prabhupada’s nightly SB dictations. Their six-years-old son Aniruddha was our traveling mascot.

Other members included Raksana dasa, personal body guard while Prabhupada was in America, and Aksaya dasa, Prabhupada’s door guard in India from August 1976 – March 1977.

For a typical day in Srila Prabhupada’s schedule please read the entry from December 5 1975 in the first volume of Transcendental Diary.

Your humble servant,

Hari-sauri dasa

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September 3 2008

Ever see the movie ‘The Return of the Fly’? Its about a scientist who invents a machine that disassembles the atomic structure of a body and reassembles it elsewhere. The problem comes when the inventor puts himself into the machine and fails to notice a fly entering the chamber with him. Out the other end comes a human body with a fly’s head

and a fly’s body with a human head

Whoops! Sorry Dubya, this is meant to be a non-political column….

Anyway, nowadays scientists are admitting that flies do actually have intelligence (no offence again to George Bush) 

A recent article on BBC news reported that scientists in America have discovered why flies are so difficult to swat:  Read the rest of this entry »

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Beards and turbans

A question from Vamsi Vadana das:

August 29 2008

How come Prabhupada never wore a turban or kept a weeks face stubble, this was practiced by his Guru, on occasions? He tells on tape (5th Canto Dec 1976) the particular day of the month that devotee’s should shave when warning that “we are no longer being known as shaven headed.” In fact I remember Mukunda Maharaj at the manor (74) and he shaved his head every day. He must of got this from Prabhupada. In retrospect, recently in the world, the Shikh’s have been lumped in with the Pathan terrorists, both turbaned/bearded, and have been complaining. When you see Gaudiya Math they sometimes appear turbaned/bearded, and could easily be taken for muslims from society’s secular vision.

Answer:

Srila Prabhupada didn’t like beards. He liked his disciples to be clean and neat and to Srila Prabhupada, beards were scruffy and too much identified with the hippie generation and their attachments to long hair.

He also felt beards, or his disciples’ attachement to them, were another feature of maya. Hayagriva was our most famous bearded devotee but by Srila Prabhupada’s encouragement he gradually gave up his hairs and Srila Prabhupada was very pleased:

Letter to: Hayagriva — Vrindaban 29 August, 1967

“I am so glad to learn that you have sacrificed your long beard and hair. I have forgotten your mother’s address, or I would have informed her of your action, and I think she would have liked it very much. Anyway, you must have reduced your age considerably by sacrificing this “maya,” and now you must look like a very nice young gentleman.”  

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Science was one of Srila Prabhupada’s favorite topics. I can hardly recall a single day without His Divine Grace making some comment about the cheating of material scientists and their headlong rush into ignorance.

From Chanakya Pandit das, Russia:

April 12 2008 Q1:Almost every day I see in Prabhupada’s books not simply a critics, but a machine gun burst directed at the so-called “scientists”.

Answer:

Yes, Srila Prabhupada held the material scientists responsible for misleading the whole world by propagating false theories of evolution etc. as ‘truth.’ He wasn’t against science per se, he was against the atheistic use of it to attack religion and spirituality.

Q2:

I would like to understand where from Shrila Prabhupada received this information about people engaged in science. I get an impression that this information came from his disciples, and they in their turn received it from mass media and had no direct contact with the sources of information. Is that a correct statement? Can you please confirm or disagree?

Ans:

He got a lot of his information from his scientist disciples like Svarupa Damodar, Sadaputa, Madhava etc. These men were all holding Ph.D degrees in biology, maths etc. so they knew very well from the inside what the theories were and how they were being used.

Q3:

Is the basis of critics of science the fact that they have sex, eat meat, drink wine and gamble? Why is there so little critics of businessmen, enterpreneurs and shudras – they are as well engaged in the same activities, if not more (drugs, prostitutes, casinos, murders of competitors etc.).

Ans:

The scientists especially mislead the world in education about matter being supreme. Sudras, vaisyas etc. are simply using the world but the so-called scientists are taking the position of brahmanas, setting themselves up as the most knowledgable persons, when their habits are of low class persons and do not reflect the culture of real thinkers and purified, realized men. Therefore Srila Prabhupada singled them out above others. Otherwise, Srila Prabhupada was also very critical of the fallen condition of society in general.

I can give many quotes, but here’s one I particularly like because it sums up the role the scientists play in arresting the natural evelvation of the soul:

[TD 3] July 3, 1976 – Washington, D.C. – conversation with BI scientists: 

Then he described how the soul qualifies itself for a particular type of body by its association with the modes of nature. If it comes to the human form it then has the chance, by association with goodness, to become a brahmana, and then a Vaisnava. “When you become Vaisnava, tad visnoh paramam padam sada pasyanti, you are hankering after Visnu. Then your life is success. And to keep them dull-brained, that is the greatest disservice. They have got the capacity to become a brahmana, and they are keeping him just like a dull-brained mountain and tree. That we want to stop this. It is suicidal, suicidal to the human society.
“The modern civilization, most harmful civilization. Denying the facility. One has got the capacity to become a brahmana, and they are denying the facility, to keep him to remain like hogs and dogs. Vedic civilization forbids: nayam deho deha-bhajam nrloke/ kastan kaman arhate vid-bhujam ye. If you have created a civilization like the hogs who are working day and night hard to find out some stool, and as soon as he eats some stool, his sex power is agitated, and he doesn’t care whether mother, sister or daughter. That is hog’s life, hog civilization, work day and night, and have sex. And next life become a dull-headed tree, a dull-headed stone, mountain, or dull-headed elephant. Who knows the laws of creation? How one becomes elephant? How one becomes hog? How one becomes a demigod? Do the scientists know it? Then? Where is the knowledge? The knowledge is, ‘Wait for million years, then you’ll see life.’ Just see.”
 

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August 28 2008 – Mayapur

Sitala had to rush off to Vrndavana yesterday for an unspecified period to try and ensure that the Radhastami outfits get completed and sent off on time. Tough for her because her health isn’t that great and she just got back from two months on the road in Poland. Still I am sure the temples will appreciate her sacrifice if she gets the outfits to them on time.

My day was rather slow. I still feel a bit of exhaustion from the tour and settling into a routine hasn’t happened yet. I have to start serious writing to complete Vol. 6 of Transcendental Diary by Gaura Purnima so that’s an anxiety looming.

I cut my finger nails today. I can’t stand them long because they get in the way when I am typing.

Srila Prabhupada also didn’t like long nails. For one thing, they get dirty easily and thus become an entryway for disease into the body; he used to trim his with a steel implement with a single angled cutting edge. Seeing His Divine Grace cut his nails short, I also learned to follow suit. And for another good reason: Read the rest of this entry »

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August 27 2008

Here’s question from Bhakti Vikash Swami: Did Srila Prabhupada ever encourage, discourage, or comment upon devotees taking internal grievances to the police or otherwise taking legal action?

Here’s one incidence that comes to mind:

[TD 4] — September 5, 1976 – Vrindavana The second letter came from Australia. It was a report suggesting that Madhudvisa may have misappropriated a large amount of money — $250,000 — when he left there. However, this has not been proven, nor is it even confirmed that the money is actually missing because the Australian temples are not in the habit of keeping accurate accounts. There has been no word from the GBC, Gurukrpa Swami, and, according to Harikesa Swami, no one knows where he is at the present moment.

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August 18

Last day in Skopje. Tomorrow I leave for Sophia and the day after, Kolkata India, via Frankfurt.

One of our devotees here is a dentist. On advice from Bhakti Vaibhava Maharaja who had his teeth fixed here a few weeks ago, I went to visit Vraja Kishore this morning and spent an hour and half under the drill, laser, air gun and suction pump.

Not a pleasant experience. Not that he’s a bad dentist. I just find it a bit difficult keeping my mouth open for so long (yeah right! I can hear you say). I can’t breath well through my nose (more surprises, it’s certainly big enough) and my jaw almost locks at the joints. On top of that, this time I didn’t have any anaesthetic because Vraja promised me that the new laser techniques were much less painful.

Actually it wasn’t that bad, although I did nearly jump out of my seat a few times. One of my teeth has been sensitive for months and when he checked it, cavities were forming around the old filling, and there was a small crack in the wall. He fixed it up by replacing the filling and cleaning out the crack. There were also cavities forming around some of the other teeth, so he removed them also. I guess it pays to get your teeth checked on a regular basis.

Everytime I have to get dental work done, it makes me appreciate all the more the amazing tolerance to pain that Srila Prabhupada had. He lost a couple of teeth when I was with him in 1976, but refused any dental treatment. He just sucked on a couple of cloves, took some extra rest, and when the tooth got too bad, he just pulled it out himself: Read the rest of this entry »

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August 17

 I was expecting to have a peaceful night. Skopje is a small place. But no such luck. I took rest at about 11.30 PM. At 3.00 AM I am woken by some drunken woman yelling and screaming at her mother down on the road outside our three storey apartment. It went on for two hours. I couldn’t shut the window because it was so hot, and I don’t have a fan. So I gave up and got up at 3.30 AM. At least I could get my rounds done early.

After the morning session, one of the devotees Yadavendra Gopa das, who is also a sometime-resident of Mayapur, asked an unusual question. He cited the story in Hayagriva prabhu’s book “Vrindavana Days” where Yamuna dasi hears Srila Prabhupada speaking to a monkey in the monkey’s own language. Yamuna comes in afterwards and Prabhupada advises her not to tell anyone what she had just heard.

Yadavendra Gopa wanted to know what I thought Srila Prabhupada’s spiritual position was and why would he tell Yamuna not to tell anyone else?

My immediate answer was, ‘no comment.’ Unless I could check the story back with Yamuna, I wouldn’t want to say anything about it. It was such an unusual story, who knows if Hayagriva got it right? And it didn’t really jell with my own experience with Prabhupada and monkeys:

[From TD 4] September 7, 1976 – Vrindavana

Prabhupada sat quietly, leaning against the soft cotton bolsters as he relaxed and listened to the rain gently drip off the thatched roof He surveyed the garden — the fragrant chameli jasmin, the malati creepers, the croutons, the gardenia, and the tall and flourishing banana trees. He said that in Bengal, the village people eat off the broad flat leaves of the banana trees. “Very good. Common man in Bengal, Orissa, they’ll take on banana leaves all vegetable preparations. Caitanya Mahaprabhu, when he was invited by Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya, he was taking on banana leaves.”

Then he requested me to serve him his lunch on banana leaves from his garden. “Because there are so many banana leaves, you can utilize it. One leaf is sufficient for four plates at least.”

Caranaravindam said that the monkeys also like the banana leaves, to eat, and especially they like to eat the new shoots in the center of the tree.

Prabhupada shook his head with disapproval. “That is destructive; they do not know. Because they do not get anything, they make mischief. They’re very mischievous. If they do not get any eatables, they will cause mischief.”

Thinking of the groups of monkeys that have become a nuisance in taking up residence on the open verandas of the guest house rooms and inside the domes of the temple until we sealed them up, I laughed and asked, “Do monkeys have any use?”

Prabhupada’s reply surprised me a little. “They have only use — their fat is very good medicine for burns. Some portion is burned, monkey fat is very good medicine.” Then even more surprisingly, “The Chinese eat their brains.”

Read the rest of this entry »

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Saturday August 16

Lord Balarama’s Appearance day. Half day fast.

An auspicious day which I hope reflects upon this blog, because this is the day I have chosen to beta-test my website. I sent out invitations to visit lotusimprints.com to maybe 50 + devotees and I hope they like it. The whole site was set up for me by a young brahmacari who is now in the Chowpatti temple. He doesn’t want me to mention him by name but at least I can say a very big “Thanks!” and “Hare Krishna” to him here for all his hard work and persistence in putting it all together.

For the Lord’s glorification we had special class this morning, not a reading about His pastimes but a compilation of things I heard Srila Prabhupada say about Lord Balarama. Here’s a couple I always like:

[TD 2] May 4, 1976 — Honolulu

 Balarama is so powerful

Tamal Krishna Goswami and Dhrstadyumna Swami are here. They came in from New York with a written report to give Srila Prabhupada on their China preaching endeavors. Since the Mayapur festival, when Srila Prabhupada ordered Tamal Krishna Maharaja to begin something in China, they have been very seriously studying books like The Religious Policy and Practice in Communist China, and investigating ways and means to establish links there. Srila Prabhupada spoke with them for almost an hour following his afternoon rest. He was eager to hear how things are going in New York under Madhudvisa Swami’s leadership. Hearing their favorable report, Prabhupada complimented Madhudvisa. “Yes, he is the right person.”

Tamal Krishna mentioned that even with no advertising their new restaurant attracts fifty people a day, each paying $2.50.

Prabhupada said it would be automatically advertised. People would hear ‘Oh there is a nice ISKCON restaurant’ and come. He compared it to the Krishna-Balaram Mandir he opened in Vrndavana; he had thought that it was so far away from the center of Vrndavana town that no one would come. But it has proved very popular. “People are coming by thousands. … ” He laughed. “Balarama is so powerful, He’s bringing: ‘Come out here!'”

[TD 3] July 11, 1976 – New York

There was a letter from Bhagatji, Sri Visvambhar Dayal, bringing Srila Prabhupada up to date with the Vrndavana temple affairs. Srila Prabhupada is extremely pleased he has come forward to help us. Srila Prabhupada has gradually induced him to take a more active role in the temple affairs, telling him, “So kindly help the management as Krishna Balaram is your worshipable Deity.” He spoke very encouragingly to him, revealing a glimpse of his own intimate relationship with Sri Sri Krsna and Balarama. “Kindly guide our foreign disciples to manage nicely and increasingly you will be able to please Their Lordships Krishna and Balaram. Although I’ve established Their temple, Their Lordships want me to keep outside the temple for touring.”

In the evening we had a full house, about 50 devotees packed into the tiny temple room to see two short dramas and then hear me continue with my Chanting seminar.

The first play was unusual, at least I found it so. In short: Lord Balarama begs a peacock feather from Krsna, and Krsna also gives Him His flute. Kamsa sends the Kesi demon to Vrndavana to find Krsna and kill Him. Kesi sees Balarama with peacock feather and flute and thinks He is Krsna. Kesi gives Balarama an almighty kick and knocks him flat. Kesi goes off thinking he has killed Krsna in one simple kick. Balarama meets up with Krsna again and gives back the flute and feather because they are attracting too much trouble from the demons. He tells Krsna all about Kesi. Krsna goes out looking for Kesi and this time the demon is finished.

I hadn’t seen this version before but the devotees assured me it was in the writings of Srila Visvanatha Chakrovarty Thakur. I guess I had better get reading.

I spoke till 9.30 PM and then there was a delicious feast, all cooked by Vaideha prabhu, who was my contact for coming here. The prep. I liked the best was a pizza-like dish, but made in strips about 6-8″ long x 1-2″ wide rather than the usual disk shape. Very tasty. I complimented Vaideha that he was the Kurma of Macedonia. He liked that.

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This one’s from krsna.ru, Dravida das:

“Hare Krishna, Hari-Sauri Prabhu. I have a question about relationships between devotees. Sometimes devotees criticize and insult each other. I would like to know how Shrila Prabhupada reacted and treated such situations. What was Prabhupada’s  attitude to situations when devotees complained about each other and produced gossips. Maybe you can give some instructive story.

Answer: 

Srila Prabhupada didn’t like it when devotees complained against each other. His mood was that in Kali-yuga noone is without fault. Our only hope is to chant cooperatively together and be purified. Two examples to illustrate this come to mind:

Transcendental Diary Vol 1

March 10, 1976 – Mayapur

[At the time there was a strong debate going on, the sannyasis criticizing the grhasthas and vice-versa. The debate came to a head at the Mayapur festival. This is a morning walk in which this was discussed.]

“It was like a seesaw, one party accusing the other. And the last thing Srila Prabhupada wanted was the formation of different factions. He said that the whole world is full of different isms, one party against another. We should not bring that attitude into our Society. He said the accusations of one side against the other are all fanaticism. He gave the solution.

“Real unity is in advancing Krsna consciousness. In Kali-yuga, you cannot strictly follow; neither I can strictly follow. If I criticize you, if you criticize me, then we go far away from our real life of Krsna consciousness.

“You should always remember that either grhastha or brahmacari or sannyasi, nobody can strictly follow all the rules and regulations of them. In the Kali-yuga it is not possible. So if I find simply fault with you, and if you find fault with me, then it will be factional, and our real business will be hampered. Therefore Caitanya Mahaprabhu has recommended that harer nama, chanting Hare Krsna mantra, should be very rigidly performed, which is common for everyone — grhastha, vanaprastha, or sannyasi. They should always chant Hare Krsna mantra. Then everything will be adjusted. Otherwise it is impossible to advance. We shall be complicated with the details only.”

On the whole, throughout the discussions, Prabhupada has naturally leant his support to the more renounced position. Yet he obviously wants everyone to have the chance to develop their Krsna consciousness.

He said that we should neither neglect the regulations, nor pursue them so fanatically that we miss the point of actual spiritual advancement. He repeated the real formula for success. “If we advance in Krsna consciousness, simple method, chanting twenty-four hours, kirtaniyah sada harih, then things will be automatically adjusted. You cannot find in Kali-yuga everything is being done very correctly, to the point. That is very difficult.”

He recalled with amusement his own experiences in establishing his movement in the early days in New York. “Just like our poet, Allen Ginsberg. He was always accusing me, ‘Swamiji, you are very conservative and strict.’

“Actually, I told him that ‘I am never strict, neither I am conservative. If I become conservative, then I cannot live here for a moment. So I’m not at all conservative.'”

We all laughed as Srila Prabhupada described what he had to tolerate. “I was cooking, and I saw in refrigerator of Yeargen, [a young man he was staying with] he kept some pieces of meat for his cat. So still, I kept my things in that refrigerator. What can be done? I had no place at that time.”

[end]

The other example that comes to mind is:

Transcendental Diary Vol. 5

October 23, 1976 – Vrindavana SB class:

“Briefly describing each of the four basic miseries, Srila Prabhupada gave a nice example of what it means to live in Kali-yuga. “A man is suffering from itches or sores all over the body. So where he shall give ointment? He should be dipped in the ointment. This is the position. Similarly, how much you will find out, ‘This is faulty, this is faulty, this is faulty.’ The life in the Kali yuga itself is faulty. Everything is faulty.”

And he stated the solution. “But still, Krsna is so kind. He has given an opportunity that by chanting His holy name one can become free from this faulty position. Kirtanad eva krsnasya mukta sanga param vrajet [SB 12.3.51]. It is possible.” [end]

Finally, once in Allahabad in 1977 at the Kumbha-mela it was reported to Srila Prabhupada that a gurukula student had been found committing very serious offences against the other students. The teachers wanted to kick him out and send him home. He was 14 years old at the time.

Srila Prabhupada however said that the teachers should “reform, not reject” the student. By close supervision they should attempt to rectify his deviant behaviour. He said, “If we kick out everyone who has some fault, there will be noone left.”

Your humble servant,

Hari-sauri dasa

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Thursday August 14

I am staying at the flat of Bhavana das and his wife Irena. They have a nice place just inside the city. After a short rest, bath and setting up Srila Prabhupda, we headed out to the new temple in the city center.

Macedonia yatra is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year and they just paid about 60,000 euros for a small two story building in the city. Its the first place they have owned outright. Tucked in behind a restaurant its hard to spot. But it has a nice vibe to it, and the small wooden Deities of Nitai Gaurasundara are among the most beautiful I have seen. You can fit about 60-70 persons in the temple room and they are painting the walls with beautiful murals of Caitanya and Krsna lila. Read the rest of this entry »

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