The Dilemma of Association

[Shakti-Fan 0]

The Dilemma of Association BY: NAVA JAUVANA DASA

Jun 3, INDIA (SUN) — The principle of sadhu sanga, association with devotees, is central to the teachings of the acaryas. Srila Prabhupada stressed this principle in his writings and classes.

• "You must live with the devotees, even if you are not satisfied. Any condition, you should be satisfied. Because as soon as you leave the company, you become again rogues, again demons. At least you'll be saved if you keep with the company of the devotees. Satam prasangan mama virya-samvidah. If you give up the company, then you again become rogues and demons. Therefore you must be satisfied, in whatever condition. 'Whatever Krsna has given, that's all Right.' Satisfied. Surrendered to Krsna. And that satisfaction can be achieved only when one is fully surrendered to Krsna.
  If I have surrendered to Krsna, Krsna has taken my charge, Krsna says, aham tvam sarva-papebhyo moksayisyami, then why shall I bother myself? If I am thinking, 'I am suffering,' it is also Krsna's grace. We should take like that. Even in my consideration, I am in a position which is apparently suffering, we must accept as Krsna's grace: 'All right, I have surrendered to Krsna. If Krsna is giving me suffering, that's all right.' That is surrender. 'Oh, I have surrendered to Krsna, and now Krsna is giving me suffering? Oh, leave Krsna consciousness.' That is not surrender."
  Prabhupada S.B. lecture, 30/5/72

But how to reconcile this clear instruction with the grave dilemma of our times? What is that dilemma? That the vehicle created by Srila Prabhupada to provide association has become so mixed with personal ambition, separate interest and institutional self-indulgence that Srila Prabhupada himself would not recognize it as his own, despite the fact that he sits on his vyasasan and is worshipped daily in "his" temples.

I'm not saying that the devotees in these temples are not devotees. Even the leaders who are in most cases misusing resources are devotees. But the mood in these temples has become so mixed with self-promotion and institutional malaise that it is no longer a sanga for 99% of Srila Prabhupada's direct disciples. There is no room for them to feel welcome or inspired. And Iskcon as an institution, still run by disciples of Srila Prabhupada, does not consider this a problem. The issue is never addressed except in the most superficial and condescending ways, such as providing 3 nights of free accommodation and prasadam to Prabhupada disciples at the annual Mayapur festival.

So sadhu sanga is not, according to Iskcon, their problem. It is our problem, the disciples of Prabhupada and of any other Vaisnava guru who feel that the institution of their guru has abandoned them. Whatever the reality is, the need for association remains. Individually we need to pray to the Lord to guide us and give us direction. Either we become friends with a godbrother who has started his own mission and join him, or cooperate with another godbrother to try to start our own mission, or if we think we have sufficient strength, to open our own 'preaching center' or online mission and invite people to hear us or join us. Somehow or other, we cannot abandon this central principle of sadhu sanga. We must either get it or give it.

How we get or give sadhu sanga depends solely on our own nature and our capacity. It is very individual. If we need the physical company of devotees (and practically all of us do) then we must search out some devotees or community where we feel welcome. Or start our own sanga and become the leader. But we must commit to sadhu sanga, for the purpose of trying to please Srila Prabhupada.

We must be ready to make another sacrifice just as we did in our youth. This time our eyes are open wider from many painful experiences. When we see devotees or institutions that, in our opinion, are not pleasing to Prabhupada or encouraging to us, we should keep them at a distance. That does not give us the right to renounce sadhu sanga. What we need to renounce are things like complacency, the luxury of being overly critical without making our own contribution, and our bad habits. But sadhu sanga is our birthright, given to us by our spiritual father. We must embrace it in the same spirit of selfless love as he gave it to us.

 

[Shakti-Fan 0]

 

 

Many Societies and Associations of Pure Devotees

BY: BHAGAVAT DAS (ACBSP)

 

Jun 8, USA (SUN) —

Nava Jauvana Prabhu wrote

an article

lamenting that throughout His books Srila Prabhupada emphasizes sadhu sangha but that within ISKCON, the society that Srila Prabhupada established for this purpose, there is no opportunity for Srila Prabhupada’s disciples to get real sadhu sangha because “the mood in these temples has become so mixed with self-promotion and institutional malaise that it is no longer a sanga for 99% of Srila Prabhupada's direct disciples.” ISKCON is not the only society that can provide real sadhu sangha. According to Srila Prabhupada there are many pure devotional societies that you can associate with:

 

• "There are many societies and associations of pure devotees
  , and if someone with just a little faith begins to associate with such societies, his advancement to pure devotional service is rapid. The influence of a pure devotee is such that if someone comes to associate with him with a little faith, one gets the chance of hearing about the Lord from authoritative scriptures like Bhagavad-Gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam."
  
  
  NOD Chapter 19
  
  

 

So these are the words of our Srila Prabhupada enshrined in His Original Unedited Nectar of Devotion from 1970. All Nava Jauvana Prabhu has to do is find one of the many other societies that Srila Prabhupada is talking about and associate with them to make advancement. Now of course if one does not accept the words of Srila Prabhupada and brings in some other statement of Srila Prabhupada’s to try and nullify this one, then one is just nullifying his spiritual master's own words. If, however, we accept the words of Srila Prabhupada

AS IT IS

then we

MUST ACCEPT

that there are societies and associations of pure devotees other than ISKCON and by taking their association we can make rapid advancement to the level of pure devotional service.

 

 

[Vedesu 0]

I liked what someone suggested that perhaps in the near future a robot will be invented that walks around with an early edition of Bhagavad Gita As It is for its head, with all the books uploaded into several GBs of hard drive, speaking the words of Srila Prabhupada's books, using Srila Prabhupada's own recorded voice. That way, you have personal association. And if you create dozens of such robots off of an assembly line, and put them all in an ashram, with each of them speaking various slokas and purports, then you have an instant "society of devotees." The books are alive, which means that the robot association is living association. If you need to ask any particular questions, you could use the remote control device to access the Folio database. Why look elsewhere?

[Shakti-Fan 0]

Crystal Clear Prabhupada BY: NAVA JAUVANA DAS

Jun 14, INDIA (SUN) — In yesterday's blog (12 June 2007/"Letters from 1968"), I published excerpts from Srila Prabhupada's early letters to a few disciples and friends. I would like to examine some points made by Prabhupada in these letters, as they are full of divine instructions and guidance. After almost 40 years, they are still fresh and illuminating.

The maha-bhagavata guru does not die when he leaves this world. He lives forever in sound, and part of Prabhupada's "sound," is recorded in his correspondence. In thousands of letters, he made his desires and teachings crystal clear to his disciples. If we sincerely study his letters, and carefully follow his guidance, there is no need to seek out a new siksa guru, as Bhagavat das encouraged me to do in his article responding to the "Dilemma of Association" piece I recently wrote. There would also be no need for any godbrother to stay outside the institution that Prabhupada founded if the leaders of Iskcon sincerely followed Prabhupada's detailed instructions found in his letters. Unfortunately, they don't.

In fact, the proper hearing and following of Prabhupada's advice in his letters would be the painless way to extract the rot that has covered Iskcon. The trouble is, devotees today mostly ignore Prabhupada. Some think they already know everything and are free to speculate. Some think they need more esoteric instructions to make advancement or to impress others. And some wrap themselves in Prabhupada's "flag," quoting him or using him for purposes that are motivated by personal desire and ambition. The leaders of Iskcon insist on everyone repeating a "pledge of allegiance" to the GBC, rather than everyone discussing, understanding and implementing the spirit of Prabhupada's instructions as found in his letters. And followers of some gurus outside Iskcon also use Prabhupada's image to bolster their credibility, without promoting an understanding of what Prabhupada actually taught.

Not only are the leaders of today's Iskcon deaf to the essence of Prabhupada's instructions, they censor and ban anyone who challenges their deafness. But Srimad Bhagavatam, the literary incarnation of Sri Krishna in Kali yuga, clearly says in the 10th Canto: "A wise person should not enter an assembly if he knows the participants there are committing acts of impropriety. And if, having entered such an assembly, he fails to speak the truth, speaks falsely or pleads ignorance, he will certainly incur sin." (S.B. 10.44.10) At the risk of incurring sin, we must speak the truth as we understand it.

Here's a tiny sample of truth from six of Srila Prabhupada's letters from 1968 with my comments added. This is really a random sampling. There are thousands of letters with similar instructions. Prabhupada's letters can be found at an archival site of Srila Prabhupada's letters on the web: http://prabhupada.blogspot.com.

In his letter to Pradyumna (Feb. 17, 1968), Srila Prabhupada explains that practical devotional service is "the secret to understanding the Sastras....My Guru Maharaja used to say that for one who is not engaged in devotional service, reading all the books is simply like licking the outside of the honey jar. One who thinks the books is the thing is content in this way. But we should learn the secret to open the jar and taste the honey. In this way, if we can simply understand one book, or one sloka, the perfection is there." Service also means hearing without mental speculation, and chanting without duplicity. Mental speculation and pretense are not paths to love. Do not try to lord it over others, misuse your authority, or engage in speculation and call it bhakti. When we practice "devotional service" in name only, but have other motives within our heart, we are cheating ourself and others. We create conflicts of interest rather than synthesis. We encourage hate, not love; conflict, not harmony.

In a letter to Brahmananda (Feb. 20, 1968), Prabhupada expresses a deep poetic meaning of faith. "Faith increases in Krishna Consciousness by our voluntary increase of serving Krishna. Serving Krishna is unlimited and he can accept our unlimited service, and award us unlimited transcendental pleasure in the unlimited service of the Lord. That is the meaning of unlimited." In the most concise and poetic way, Prabhupada explains how faith increases in proportion to our desire to serve. Bhakti is a voluntary act of love, not something forced or enforced. Service is unlimited, just as Krishna and the pleasure of devotional service is unlimited, and unlimited love is inspired from the heart, not from resolutions.

To Karunamayi (Feb. 25), Prabhupada emphasizes the universality of devotional service. "So you please continue to serve Krishna in these ways you have mentioned, and do not feel that your service is any less valuable than that of others. In the transcendental loving service of the Lord, it doesn't matter whether we are working, cooking, painting, writing, chanting, or whatever, they are all the same. There are no such distinctions of higher and lower on the transcendental platform." Krishna does not discriminate between higher and lower servitors. He does not make elite clubs for a few devotees who wield political power and delegate those who do menial tasks to an inferior status. All are equal Krishna's transcendental vision. "Krishna sees simply that this time is being spent in His service." So there is no higher or lower service. Do your duty, chant, and you'll become happy and successful.

Writing to Uddhava (March 5), Srila Prabhupada makes the point that feelings of separation from one's guru maharaja can be overcome by working together according to your guru's direction. "Please be happy in separation. I am separated from my Guru Maharaja since 1936 but I am always with him so long I work according to his direction. So we should all work together for satisfying Lord Krishna and in that way the feeling of separation will transform into transcendental bliss." I don't think anyone in Iskcon today can honestly say they are feeling much transcendental bliss by working together. Neither do most feel much separation from Srila Prabhupada.

To Hamsadutta (March 3), Prabhupada explains how important humility is to the practice of bhakti. "The more one feels imperfect in Krishna's service, the more he is advancing in Krishna Consciousness. Even the topmost devotees feel they are inadequate in their service to the Lord. So it is good to feel inadequate, and to try harder to please Krishna with better service. But one should never feel, oh, I have seen Krishna, and so I am reached perfection--this is not Krishna Consciousness." How many of today's leaders make a show of being advanced, and how many behave towards their godbrothers with humility?

Again Prabhupada points out the equality of doing service. "It is true that Krishna has given some the opportunity to serve Him by nice writing, some by good business ability, some by nice cooking, and so on, but these various services are all accepted equally by Krishna. On the transcendental plane, one service is as good as another. There is no question of higher or lower."

And how Krishna becomes pleased: "We are very tiny, and so we cannot really do very much. Simply we can engage our time and energy, and that is all Krishna sees. He sees this boy or girl is spending his time in My Service, and He is pleased." To Krishna, there are no "big guns" or "small fry." Vaisnavas are a classless society. Krishna sees the effort, not the duality of so-called important or menial service.

Finally, in this brief sampling of letters from early 1968, Prabhupada writes to one of his friends in India, Seth Harikrishnadas (March 3). Srila Prabhupada tells him that the movement he has started in America is non-sectarian. "Anyone can join us, never mind whatever he is. (We shall entertain Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Jains, Sikhs, Buddhists, or whoever may come. We shall have no restriction. In that Temple, everyone will be welcome. In other words, in our secular state international feelings of God-consciousness will be introduced, where no one will be restricted.)" Anyone can join, everyone is welcome, there will be freedom to serve Krishna according to one's nature. Iskcon is a "secular state," not a religious movement or church with its hierarchy. "And I am glad to inform you that this principle is accepted by everyone working under me." Prabhupada writes that his students have accepted this spirit of universal harmony. They are all working together as one family. Prabhupada now wanted to expand this family to India and all across the world. In this spirit Prabhupada wrote to his old friend in Bombay for his help in forming a world sankirtan party.

Back to the future, or rather, the present. Most of the instructions in Prabhupada's letters are as relevant today as they were when he dictated them 30-40 years ago. But not hearing them and not acting on them, we all miss the chance for genuine sadhu sanga amongst each other. Instead of purifying the world with the crystal clear instructions of our guru maharaja, we fight amongst ourselves for name and fame, or we join "new, improved" sangas, or we find ourselves alone as outsiders struggling to keep our connection to our divine master alive.

Prabhupada is crystal clear in his letters. Why aren't we listening?

 

[Shakti-Fan 0]

 

 

Srila Prabhupada's Words, Not Mine

BY: BHAGAVAT DAS (ACBSP)

 

 

Jun 16, USA (SUN) —

Nava Jauvana Prabhu has made the following statement in his recent article:

 

“If we sincerely study his letters, and carefully follow his guidance, there is no need to seek out a new siksa guru, as Bhagavat das encouraged me to do in

his article

responding to the "

Dilemma of Association

" piece I recently wrote.”

 

This statement is grossly incorrect! I have not encouraged Nava Jauvana Prabhu to do anything. Srila Prabhupada has encouraged him and everyone in the whole world to seek out anyone of the many spiritual societies and associations of pure devotees and associate with them. I have merely pointed out the words of Srila Prabhupada. To refresh everyone’s memory I will reproduce the quote here.

• "There are many societies and associations of pure devotees
  , and if someone with just a little faith begins to associate with such societies, his advancement to pure devotional service is rapid. The influence of a pure devotee is such that if someone comes to associate with him with a little faith, one gets the chance of hearing about the Lord from authoritative scriptures like Bhagavad-Gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam."
  
  
  Nectar of Devotion, Chapter 19

So these are the words of our Srila Prabhupada enshrined in His Original Unedited Nectar of Devotion from 1970 THEY ARE NOT MY WORDS! I then made the following statement: “All Nava Jauvana Prabhu has to do is find one of the many other societies that Srila Prabhupada is talking about and associate with them to make advancement.” This statement encourages Nava Jauvana Prabhu to follow the instructions of Srila Prabhupada as enshrined in His unedited books. Just because Nava Jauvana Prabhu does not like the particular instructions which Srila Prabhupada has given, that I have pointed out, that is not my problem, it is his!

 

Now Nava Jauvana has done exactly what I stated in my article someone would do if he does not accept the words of Srila Prabhupada. Here is that statement from my article:

 

“Now of course if one does not accept the words of Srila Prabhupada and brings in some other statement of Srila Prabhupada’s to try and nullify this one, then one is just nullifying his spiritual master's own words. If, however, we accept the words of Srila Prabhupada

AS IT IS

then we

MUST ACCEPT

that there are societies and associations of pure devotees other than ISKCON and by taking their association we can make rapid advancement to the level of pure devotional service.”

 

Nava Jauvana Prabhu has brought in other statements of Srila Prabhupada’s to try and nullify this statement of Srila Prabhupada’s with the added twist of ascribing the words to me when they are not mine at all. It appears that Nava Jauvana Prabhu cannot accept Srila Prabhupada’s instructions

AS IT IS

so let me give him an example of what Srila Prabhupada did in His own life when he no longer felt as Nava Jauvana say’s in this last article of his: “There would also be no need for any godbrother to stay outside the institution that Prabhupada founded if the leaders of Iskcon sincerely followed Prabhupada's detailed instructions found in his letters. Unfortunately, they don't.”

 

The following quote is from a purport in the Caitanya Caritamrta expresses in Srila Prabhupada’s own words enshrined in the purports of his unedited books the same dilemma that he was facing after the departure of the manifest presence of hi Guru Maharaja:

 

“In the beginning, during the presence of Om Visnupada Paramahansa Parivrajakacarya Astottara-sata Sri Srimad Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura Prabhupada, all the disciples worked in agreement; but just after his disappearance, they disagreed.

One party strictly followed the instructions of Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura,

but another group created their own concoction about executing his desires.”

Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi lila, Ch. 12, Vs. 8 Purport

 

So according to this statement one group of Srila Prabhupada’s God Brothers strictly followed the instructions of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura. So Srila Prabhupada formed a new society with them called Gaudiya Vedanta Samiti. This Group included Srila Bhakti Prajnana Keshava Maharaja, Srila Madhusudana Maharaja, and Srila Prabhupada who all signed the original documents of incorporation. Srila Prabhupada also accepted Srila Bhakti Rakshak Sridhar Maharaja as his siksha guru as He describes in a quote from the following letter to His disciple Hrishikesh Das on January 31 1969: “So if you are actually serious to take instructions from a siksa guru, I can refer you to one who is most highly competent of all my god-brothers. This is B.R. Sridhara Maharaja, whom I consider to be even my siksa guru, so what to speak of the benefit that you can have from his association.” There are some devotees who would like to minimize this letter because they do not believe that Srila Prabhupada accepted Srila Sridhara Maharaja as a siksha guru in any formal sense. However, in India in Srila Prabhupada’s rooms in Radha Damodara in the old days when I was in India in very early 70’s there was 4 pictures in Srila Prabhupada’s room where he slept and wrote the Srimad Bhagavatam. A picture of Sri Sri Radha Krishna, a picture of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, a picture of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura, and a picture of Srila Sridhar Maharaja.

 

Do I think that Srila Prabhupada needed a siksha guru? NO DEFINITELY NOT! The Nitya Siddha, Shaktavesh avatar, empowered by Lord Nityananda certainly does not need any siksha or diksha guru, any more than Sri Krsna Bhagavan needs a diksha guru. However they accept them for the purpose of teaching us the process of devotional service perfectly so that everyone can understand that you must have diksha and siksha guru to achieve perfection. Raghunatha Das Goswami is initiated by Srila Yadunandan Acarya but he is known as Swarup-er-Raghunatha, the Raghunatha of Swarup Damodara, why, because Raghunatha Das Goswami is the siksha disciple of Swarup Damodar Maharaja the secretary of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu by the order of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Is Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu wrong to assign a siksha guru to Raghunatha Das Goswami, did he make some mistake?

 

When Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Swarup Damodar left this world Raghunatha Das Goswami went to Vrndavana to take siksha from Srila Rupa Goswami and Srila Sanatana Goswami demonstrating that one should always take shelter and association of superior Vaishnava’s. Throughout the Caitanya Caritamrta Srila Krsna Das Kaviraja repeatedly offers his humble obeisance’s to Srila Rupa Goswami and Srila Raghunatha Das Goswami who are his siksha gurus but never once mentions his diksha guru. The first 5 acharya’s after Srila Madhvacharya in our Brahma Sampradaya are all directly initiated disciples of Srila Madhvacharya. So there was a siksha guru relationship between them as senior and junior disciples of Srila Madhvacharya. So many more examples are there again and again of the importance of siksha guru. Srila Gaura Kishore Das Babji is the siksha disciple of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, who is the siksha disciple of Srila Jagganatha Das babji, who is the siksha disciple of Srila Baladeva Vidya Bhushana, who is the siksha disciple of Srila Vishvanatha Chakravarti Thakura, who received neither diksha or siksha from Srila Narottoma Das Thakura but is initiated by a spiritual master whose lineage goes back 5 guru’s to Srila Narottoma Das Thakura, who is the siksha disciple of Srila Jiva Goswami, who took diksha from Srila Rupa Goswami, who took siksha from Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. So our whole Sampradaya practically is siksha sampradaya filled with siksha gurus.

 

So you complained in your first letter that ISKCON is not following the instructions of our guru maharaja Srila Prabhupada and you cannot find any sadhu sangha there. So I have showed you the words of Srila Prabhupada saying you can get association in so many pure devotional societies and in your response you write accusing me of saying something that Srila Prabhupada said and then you quote a series of letters from Srila Prabhupada that have nothing to do with Sadhu Sangha. So what happened, sadhu sangha is not important anymore? Now I have shown you how Srila Prabhupada in his own life when faced with a similar dilemma left the society started by his guru maharaja and took the association of his god brothers who were following the instructions of his Guru and formed a new society and took siksha from Srila Sridhar Maharaja.

 

So I have shown you what Srila Prabhupada’s instructions are on this matter, his teachings of how practically our entire Sampradaya has accepted siksha guru’s and I have shown you how Srila Prabhupada himself acted in regards to this dilemma you are facing. These are Srila Prabhupada’s instructions, teachings, and actions, not mine! If you do not like them or do not want to follow them then complain to Srila Prabhupada DO NOT BLAME ME OR COMPLAIN TO ME! Srila Prabhupada’s instructions, teachings, and actions, are CRYSTAL CLEAR ON THIS ISSUE, and I have accepted them. Now I have shown them to you Oh Nava Jauvana Prabhu you may deliberate on them carefully and act as you so desire.

 

 

 

[Guruvani 0]

 

I liked what someone suggested that perhaps in the near future a robot will be invented that walks around with an early edition of Bhagavad Gita As It is for its head, with all the books uploaded into several GBs of hard drive, speaking the words of Srila Prabhupada's books, using Srila Prabhupada's own recorded voice. That way, you have personal association. And if you create dozens of such robots off of an assembly line, and put them all in an ashram, with each of them speaking various slokas and purports, then you have an instant "society of devotees." The books are alive, which means that the robot association is living association. If you need to ask any particular questions, you could use the remote control device to access the Folio database. Why look elsewhere?

this sarcastic piece of foolishness seems to be neglecting one central point.

the central point is "what do devotees do when they associate together"?

 

The answer is that the association of devotees is based upon hearing and chanting the Bhagavad-gita and Srimad Bhagavatam and performing Sankirtan Yagna.

 

So, even if we accept that sadhu sanga is essential, we still have to admit that sadhu sanga is still based upon the books.

 

Without the books, there is no solid foundation for the sadhu sanga.

 

Today we have a crop of Narayana Maharaja followers who are making negative propaganda against the books in favor or loitering around the vapu of their guru, but all the while their guru is busy, busy, busy writing one book after another.

 

Why?

 

Why is Narayana Maharaja writing so many books?

 

The smart attitude of his followers will have to change their tune about the importance of books when they no longer have the vapu of the guru to loiter around.

 

They are just begging to get their ass handed to them with such arrogant and boisterous mouth flapping as the post I am reply to.

 

So, really, they deserve to get back as good as they dish it out.

 

Srila Prabhupada put immense importance on the books and the importance of the books will never be eclipsed by the vapu of any "living guru" who has criticised and demeaned the methods and the principles that Srila Prabhupada personally employed in his mission to spread Krishna consciousness around the world.

 

We still remember that Narayana Maharaja said that all the disciples of Srila Prabhupada who got diksha via the tape recording didn't get real diksha and they needed to get re-initiated by him and hear the mantras from his lips.

 

Well, as far as we are concerned he has committed serious offenses against Srila Prabhupada with that kind of talk and shown that he is just a neophyte that should have obeyed his spiritual master to not accept any disciples.

 

We will never forgive or forget that kind of foolish talk.

[Guest guest]

In his letter to Pradyumna (Feb. 17, 1968), Srila Prabhupada explains that practical devotional service is "the secret to understanding the Sastras....My Guru Maharaja used to say that for one who is not engaged in devotional service, reading all the books is simply like licking the outside of the honey jar. One who thinks the books is the thing is content in this way. But we should learn the secret to open the jar and taste the honey. In this way, if we can simply understand one book, or one sloka, the perfection is there." Service also means hearing without mental speculation, and chanting without duplicity. Mental speculation and pretense are not paths to love. Do not try to lord it over others, misuse your authority, or engage in speculation and call it bhakti. When we practice "devotional service" in name only, but have other motives within our heart, we are cheating ourself and others. We create conflicts of interest rather than synthesis. We encourage hate, not love; conflict, not harmony.

[Guruvani 0]

Introduction to Krishna Book

 

 

We therefore request everyone to take advantage of this great transcendental literature. One will find that by reading one page after another, an immense treasure of knowledge in art, science, literature, philosophy and religion will be revealed, and ultimately, by reading this one book, Krsna, love of Godhead will fructify.

Read the books.