devotion to Srila Prabhupada

[gopi_dance 0]

Hare Krishna. Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

 

I am not sure how to direct my service now. I am graduating from university in May and a senior devotee suggested I move into the temple (I'm in New York) but others tell me there is not a strong brahmacarini community in the asrama and it would be better to stay outside and develop my service from there. I want to go to manga aratik and all the programs and get fixed up in Krsna Consciousness. But I want to do what Srila Prabhupada would want, to act in the best way to favor Krsna. What I do know is that I don't want to live with karmis anymore and housing is so expensive in New York City. If anyone has a suggestion or some advice, I would welcome it eagerly, or if you have a similar experience to share.

 

Jai Sri Krsna!

 

Aspiring to serve Srila Prabhupada and the Vaisnavas.

[veronica8888 0]

Join the temple in New York Prabhu it will be the best thing you have ever done. Devotee association is the Best!

[yasodanandana 0]

society is made by four social classes (sudra, vaisha, ksatrya and brahmins) and four spiritual stages (brahmachary, grihasta, vanaprasta, sannyasi).. everyone of us for karma and guna is naturally situated in a particular time in one varna and one ashram. Krsna consciousness, as perfectly explained in bhagavad gita, is essentially to devote the qualities that we already have and the activities that we naturally are able to do to krishna, chanting hare krishna, under the guidance of a pure present uttama adhikari vaishnava spiritual master and following the 4 regulative principles to have our mind more clean and free as possible to chant effectively hare krishna.

Even my english is horrible, in my opinion this is krsna consciousness according bhagavad gita as it is translated and commented by srila prabhupada and according all vaishnava acharyas.

The gita is the story of the delivering by the spiritual master (=sri krsna) of a man (=arjuna) who had the illusion that to surrender, to find peace and liberation, he had to change his guna and karma, to neglect his duties, to annihilate his personality(of course arjuna act as an illusioned man exclusively for our benefit.. he'a an eternally liberated soul)

 

So consider carefully if it is really good for your spiritual life to go living at the temple.. in all religions only few people can live as monks and nuns, and among these monks and nuns there's an high percentage of frustrated (or sexually frustrated ) people. And to be in a "religious" environment is not a great help because they're acting against bhagavad gita.

We have to offer everything to krsna, everything includes our karma, gunas, predisposition, skills, abilities, culture, capacities and so on.

 

if arjuna had choosen to go in himalaya to meditate (in today's words= join the temple) he had gone against krsna's will and the surrendering were zero.. no surrenderin=no krsna consciousness.. but decided to follow his karma, to do his job, he engaged himself in the fight and, because he did it with the autorization of the spiritual master, thinking constantly of sri krsna (man mana mad bhava bhakto...), he turned his job of killing millions of peoples with various weapons in the most terrible ways.... in pure devotional service of the highest level

 

next:

 

for my experience the 99.99999999% does not rexist living in the temple if not a few years... many feeling frustrated by this experience not fit for them, stop to practice and even to believe in krsna and prabhupada

 

in my opinion the fact that we have as average behaviour in our centers people who is a brahmachary or a brahmachariny only for a few years, then he or she comes back frustrated in the society, annihilates in the devotees and in the general people the faith in renunciation and renunciated people.. because we start to believe that renunciation is never really possible and that renunciates are fanatics, frustrated, and destined to fall in a few years.... and this is worse than to have no renunciates and no temples at all

 

but it is possible that you are one of the 0.0000001% of people who can live happily and for the rest of your life as celibate in the temple.. so consider it very carefully, take advices from many expert devotees, pray krsna to send you a pure spiritual master and take advice by him on this subject... maybe try to live for little periods in the temple without cutting with the society (job, studies, family etc.).. and,, if you can, find a house close to the temple to be on your own, but to partecipate to services, programs, feasts and so on.

 

please be careful, for your spiritual life, for devotee's society in general, and for the reputation of srila prabhupada and vaishnavism.. in these kali yuga times the eyes of materialists are constantly pointed on religious people, priests, monks, masters, to find faults to demonstrate that religion does not make better men and women and that god is only mytology

 

 

my english is bad, the style is horrible.. i hope at least that the meaning is clear

 

let us hope to have advices also from others.. mine are not enough for such important decision

[gHari 0]

Brooklyn temple is very nice. I was there in the late eighties, and imagine it is still as wonderful. Great association. You will not regret your decision. Service to Prabhupada in his temples is the best way to advance.

 

The key is humility. Everything follows from there.

 

[gopi_dance 0]

Hari Bol! All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

 

thank you all for your advice. Devotee association and hearing and chanting are three of the most important aspects of spiritual advancement.

 

I must wait to see what Krnsa wants me to to to engage in devotional service. I am and will continue to be on the front lines by distributing books and preaching to spread Krsna consciousness.

 

All glories to service to Sri Guru and Sri Gauranga!

 

Hari Bol!

 

your aspiring servant.

[krsna 3]

The following is the speech by Sri Atal Behari Vajpayee, the Honorable Prime Minister of India, at the Inauguration of the Sri Sri Radha-Parthasarathi Temple and Glory of India Vedic Cutural Center. Rama Navami, 5 April 18, 1998:

 

Hare Krishna. Hare Rama.

 

For the benefit of my friends from abroad, I would like to say a few words in English:

 

Distinguished guests, it is my privilege to be present at today's pious function to mark the opening of this magnificent temple and also the Glory of India Vedic Cultural Center in Delhi. The piousness of today's function is further enhanced by the fact that it is taking place on the auspicious occasion of Rama Navami.

 

I would first of all like to express my deepest sense of appreciation for the vision, dedication and achievement of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) and all those who have collaborated with it to present this unique spiritual gift to the nation's capital. The ISKCON movement has few parallels in the world in terms of its rapid global spread, its trans-national, trans-ethnic, and trans-professional appeal, its outward simplicity, and the devotional energy of its followers. In the less than three and a half decades since its inception it has established temples in practically all parts of the world, and many of them are marvels of beauty, such as the one that is being opened in New Delhi today.

 

The maha-mantra of Hare Krishna Hare Rama reverberates to the dancing feet of ISKCON devotees each morning and evening in temples from Stockholm to Sao Paulo and from Miami to Mayapur. What ISKCON has achieved is indeed globalization of the Gita appeal. Some people say that my government is opposed to globalization. But let me say that I am all in favor of globalization of the message of the Gita. Not only the globalization of the message of Gita but indeed of the messages of all the sacred books of the world with which the message of Gita bears close conformity.

 

If today the Bhagavad Gita is printed in millions of copies in scores of Indian languages and distributed in all nooks and corners of the world, the credit for this great sacred service goes chiefly to ISKCON.

 

I understand that ISKCON is also propagating the message of the Gita through the latest gadgets of information techonology, and this temple itself provides an astonishing demonstration of the use of high tech to popularize the higher truth of life and the universe.

 

For this one accomplishment alone, Indians should be eternally grateful to the devoted spritual army of Swami Prabhupada's followers. The voyage of Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada to the United States in 1965 and the spectacular popularity his movement gained in a very short spell of twelve years must be regarded as one of the greatest spiritual events of the century.

 

What accounts for the rapid spread of the ISKCON movement globally?

 

The answer should be sought in two factors--internal and external. The external factor was, in my opinion, the disillusionment in the leading minds in Western countries arising out of the domination of the materialist ideology and culture in the West. Both capitalism and communism gave birth to disillusionment, since both are essentially materialist ideologies that are incapable of satisfying the real needs of man. Young, sensitive and searching minds could not have reconciled themselves to the reality of wars, violence, greed, excessive consumerism, and degradation of the human and natural environment. They had to seek answers elsewhere, and ISKCON was one movement where they found the answer.

 

The internal factor was of course the inherent strength of ISKCON's message, a message founded in the philosophy of the Gita. It answers all the moral concerns and needs of the world, be it man's quest for inner peace, his need for belonging to the rest of the human and natural community, his concern for the environment, his attitude towards work and attitude towards death. The Gita provides comprehensive and internally consistent answers to all these concerns.

 

It is in this respect that ISKCON differs from other passing fads and fashions that appealed to the disillusioned Western minds in the 1960s and 70s. These fads come and go, but the ISKCON movement is growing from strength to strength.

 

The transcendental and universal message of the Bhagavad Gita is evocatively communicated by Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabupada in his book Bhagavad Gita As It Is, and I would like to read the following excerpt from his introduction to the book:

 

In this world men are not meant for quarreling like cats and dogs. Men must be intelligent to realize the importance of human life and refuse to act like ordinary animals. A human being should realize the aim of his life, and this direction is given in all Vedic literatures, and the essence is given in Bhagavad-gita. Vedic literature is meant for human beings, not for animals. Animals can kill other living animals, and there is no question of sin on their part, but if a man kills an animal for the satisfaction of his uncontrolled taste, he must be responsible for breaking the laws of nature. . . . If we properly utilize the instructions of Bhagavad-gita, then our whole life will become purified, and ultimately we will be able to reach the destination which is beyond this material sky. That destination is called the sanatana sky, the eternal, spiritual sky. In this material world we find that everything is temporary. It comes into being, stays for some time, produces some by-products, dwindles and then vanishes. That is the law of the material world, whether we use as an example this body, or a piece of fruit or anything. But beyond this temporary world there is another world of which we have information. That world consists of another nature, which is sanatana, eternal.

 

In this distinguished gathering of spiritual masters and spiritual seekers I am indeed a layman. But permit me to share with you a few thoughts of mine on the relevance of the Gita's message in today's national and global contexts. The Gita's relevance is universal and eternal because it provides a satisfactory answer to three basic questions of life: What are we? What should we do? And how should we live?

 

Human beings have confronted these questions in all societies at all times. The Gita answers these question through the harmonization of jnana-yoga, karma-yoga, and bhakti-yoga. The beauty of Indian culture is that it made the essence of these three paths of yoga available to the lowest man as well as to the highest seeker. The Gita is not a prescription for non-action or passivity. It gives a radical message of action which transforms the self and the society. That is why it could inspire countless revolutionaries and freedom fighters, such as Mahatma Gandhi, Swami Vivekananda, Lokmanya Tilak and others. But in times of peace and nation-building, the Gita can also inspire the politician, the teacher, the worker, the scientist, and the common citizen--and film actors also.*

 

Therefore the motto of all of us today should be yoga karmasu kausalam ["the art of work in devotion to the Supreme"]. What we need today is the application on a national scale of the work-related ideology of the Gita. This will create a new work culture, and a new work culture will create a new India.

 

A word about the architectural beauty of the new ISKCON temple. It is undoubtably a worthy addition to New Delhi's array of beautiful buildings and structures, both old and new, whose numbers, sadly, are far less than what the nation's capital ought to have and whose collective beauty, even more sadly, is drowned under the sprawling and spreading sea of ugliness and ordinariness.

 

The spectacular look of this temple and its landscape reminds me of a telling quotation I came across in a newspaper yesterday. It is by the celebrated author Sri V. S. Naipaul, who commented on the paucity of beautiful modern buildings in India. Naipaul says, "Independent India has not produced architecture. Poor countries need very fine buildings to put people in touch with what is possible with the beautiful. Such fine buildings are the most public art." Naipaul is right. We need more and more buildings which put our people in touch with our own tradition of beauty and aesthetics.

 

Naipaul may also be right in observing that beautiful buildings are the most public art. We cannot tolerate a situation where everything that is beautiful--beautiful paintings, beautiful beaches, beautiful mountain resorts, and beautiful works of art--is available only to those who have the money. A beautiful temple, of course, is more than a piece of public art. It puts people in touch with the higher beauty of the almighty creator and all His creation. The sights, sounds, and indeed all the vibrations in a temple have the effect of soothing the devotees, comforting them, giving them hope and confidence, and elevating them to a transcendental plane of existence, at least for the brief time we spend praying and worshiping in the temple.

 

May I once again felicitate all those who have had a hand in making this great dream come true--the acharyas of ISKCON, the generous donors, the architect, the landscape designers, the engineers, the workers, and all the other humble devotees. Thank you very much indeed.

[krsna 3]

Srila Prabhupada writes about Unity and diversity

 

 

 

Delhi, 18th October, 1973

 

My Dear Kirtanananda Maharaja:

 

Please accept my blessings, and I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated October 16, 1973 and I have noted the contents carefully. Next time you come to India, you must come to Mayapur in March, not only you but many others. Our Bombay affairs are almost settled by 90%. The conveyance deed is prepared and it will be signed within one or two days.

 

Now this displeasing of godbrothers has already begun and gives me too much agitation in my mind. Our Gaudiya Math people fought with one another after the demise of Guru Maharaja but my disciples have already begun fighting even in my presence. So I am greatly concerned about it.

 

Following in the footprints of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu:

 

trnad api su-nicena taror iva sahisnuna

amanina manadena kirtaniya sada harih

 

"One should chant the holy name of the Lord in a humble state of mind, thinking oneself lower than the straw in the street; one should be more tolerant than a tree, devoid of all sense of false prestige and should be ready to offer all respect to others. In such a state of mind one can chant the holy name of the Lord constantly."

 

We must always remember this verse and be as tolerant as the tree, as we execute the Krsna consciousness movement. Without this mentality we cannot be successful.

 

Material nature means dissension and disagreement, especially in this Kali yuga. But, for this Krsna consciousness movement its success will depend on agreement, even though there are varieties of engagements. In the material world there are varieties, but there is no agreement. In the spiritual world there are varieties, but there is agreement. That is the difference. The materialist without being able to adjust the varieties and the disagreements makes everything zero. They cannot come into agreement with varieties, but if we keep Krsna in the center, then there will be agreement in varieties. This is called unity in diversity. I am therefore suggesting that all our men meet in Mayapur every year during the birth anniversary of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. With all GBC and senior men present we should discuss how to make unity in diversity. But, if we fight on account of diversity, then it is simply the material platform. Please try to maintain the philosophy of unity in diversity. That will make our movement successful. One section of men have already gone out, therefore we must be very careful to maintain unity in diversity, and remember the story in Aesop's Fables of the father of many children with the bundle of sticks. When the father asked his children to break the bundle of sticks wrapped in a bag, none of them could do it. But, when they removed the sticks from the bag, and tried one by one, the sticks were easily broken. So this is the strength in unity. If we are bunched up, we can never be broken, but when divided, then we can become broken very easily.

 

I hope this meets you in good health.

 

Your ever well wisher,

A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami

 

[krsna 3]

/

[krsna 3]

 

 

 

 

 

(Letter 1958) My dear Brother,

 

Please excuse me if I have offended you by calling you my dear Brother. Actually you are my dear brother and when you know me you shall be pleased that I have called you as such. You are my brother in relation to our common and Eternal Father the Almighty Personality of Godhead, Sri Krishna, the revealing Author of the great book of Philosophy ``Bhagavad-gita.'' And from this book of transcendental knowledge, I have known that you and all other living entities, in whatever form they may be, are all my brothers.

You are not happy in the present set up of your affairs. You may have in your possession your so called accumulated material wealth, health or happiness but still you are always feeling some insufficiency and frustration and thus you are not happy as you ought to have been. If you do not feel like this, then you must be either an abnormal man or a liberated saint or in gross ignorance of lower consciousness. Should you feel yourself abnormally happy, I shall ask you the following plain questions. They are as follows:--

1) Do you like to die?

2) Do you like to take your birth again?

3) Do you like to be an old man?

4) Do you like to be a diseased man?

I am sure you shall reply to all these questions by saying the only word ``No.'' If you think yourself happy then have you solved all the above problems in any way? Have your vast resources of material knowledge helped you in solving these seemingly common but very big problems? Do you think that you shall ever be able to solve the above problems at any length of time? If you say so, I shall again call you in abnormal condition. So do not become a madman in false conviction. Do not remain in ignorance for your problems. Be just like a fully developed conscious man and acknowledge that you have never been happy in the true sense of the term neither your ideal of happiness has ever been fulfilled.

 

The way in which you are seeking to be happy or trying to make others happy in your manufactured ideology--is called ``Maya'' or illusion. By such illusory way of making yourself and others happy, you have simply been credited with creation of much disturbances and entanglement for all concerned. That is the record of history of the material world. Empires may come and empires may go, the problems of life remains the same. Please therefore be cool headed and patiently ask within yourself if you are really happy. The happiness which you are hankering after is possible to be attained as soon as you learn to introspect yourself within yourself. You are yourself your friend and you are yourself your enemy. You can raise yourself by your self effort and you can lower yourself by the same effort. It is simply to know the direction and the way. In the right direction you can make yourself happy in the right way. Please therefore contact us and we shall help you to raise yourself to your normal happiness. It is no dream, neither any bluff. You shall know yourself how far you have made progress in that path and our duty will be to help you only...

 

Yours Sincerely,

For the League of Devotees,

 

Abhay Charanarvinda Bhaktivedanta

Secretary

[krsna 3]

[krsna 3]

 

 

By A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

 

 

Habit is second nature;

it is very difficult to break. Sva yadi kriyate raja. tat kim nasnaty upanaham (Gitopadesa): One may seat a dog on a royal throne, but as soon as he sees a shoe, he will immediately jump down and run after it simply because he is a dog. The canine qualities are there, and they cannot be changed simply by putting the dog on a throne. Similarly, we have acquired material qualities by associating with the three modes of material nature--sattva guna, rajo guna and tamo guna--and our habits are formed by association with these three qualities, which are the qualities of goodness, passion and ignorance. If, however, we disassociate ourselves from the three modes of material nature, our real spiritual nature is invoked. That is the process of Krsna consciousness.

 

If one is Krsna conscious, there is no chance of his associating with the three modes of material nature, and when one is conscious of Krsna, one's spiritual nature is automatically invoked. That is the secret.

 

Those who seriously follow the process of Krsna consciousness, though previously habituated to many undesirable things, are able to stay on a platform where there is no material contamination simply by virtue of practicing Krsna consciousness.

 

Thus Krsna consciousness is an excellent medicine. Unless one comes to awareness of Krsna, the habits he forms in association with the three modes of material nature will continue, and he will not be able to change them. If one actually wants freedom from the repetition of birth and death, he must come to Krsna consciousness

 

- AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

 

[Guest guest]

Hare Krsna.

A very nice nectar, could you please provide the refrence to this article. Where did you get it from? Is it in a book or a particular class...please support your articles with refrences. Thank you.