a.c. bhaktivedanta swami
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| Prabhupada Letters :: 1972 a.c. bhaktivedanta swami |
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27 October 2007 27 October, 1972  Vrindaban My dear Kirtanananda, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated October 19, 1972, and I have noted the contents with care. Now we are in Radha-Damodara Temple staying, and the programme of speaking morning and evening in the courtyard is going on very nicely. It is the same peaceful atmosphere as your New Vrindaban, and just as in New Vrindaban everyone present is devotee. Actually, everywhere wherever Krishna is being glorified, that is Vrindaban. Regarding your questions, try to finish the temples in New Vrindaban as quickly as possible using whatever materials you have. Later on they can be improved more and more and eventually they will be the first-class opulent temples in the world. So far starting a trust fund, yes, that is very good idea, so that the deities may never be neglected. The thing is, there must be continuous income, so if there is income from land that is all right. In Los Angeles we are getting income from rents from two apartment houses because there is always certain income. As for bathing the deities in milk from time to time, that is not required. The smarta or caste brahmanas, they think if someone inattentively touches deity it becomes impure, so they bathe. But that is not needed by us, only when they are installed. Regarding the cook-book, that is a nice proposal to divide into two parts. There is no harm if devotees have invented recipes, so long they are strictly vegetarian, no garlic, no onions, like that. Upon your recommendation I am happy to accept Sudhakari dasi for second initiation. Now you hold a fire yagna, give her copy of gayatri mantra and teach her to count on the finger divisions. You may play the tape of me reciting gayatri mantra into her right ear. The ceremony should be held in the company of devotees only. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sda November Labels: deities, initiation, New Vrindaban, Vrindavan letters | 18:33 |7 October 2007 7 October, 1972 San Francisco My Dear Kirtanananda, Please accept my blessings. Your letter dated 6 October 1972 and your check for one hundred dollars are in hand. I thank you very much for your kind contribution. Yes, I am going to India via Hawaii and Manila, and I shall inform you when I shall reach India by the fifteenth of October. I am a little in anxiety on account of Bombay affairs. It is a question of fifteen lacs of rupees, but the matter has not been properly handled by our men in India. Please pray to Krsna that things may come in normal situation. All of you may remember that we have taken a very responsible task in the matter of broadcasting the message of Lord Caitanya Who is Krsna Himself. Lord Caitanya is Radha-Krsna combined together. So you are one of the seniormost servants of the society. Kindly try to improve the aims and objects of the society so that all over the world the people may become happy. Actually there is no problem, even in the material condition of life. Krsna has provided everything sufficiently and there is no question of scarcity or poverty. Only the demons and blind leaders are misguiding the whole population in the name of politicians, leaders, swamis, yogis, philanthropists, and making the whole world entangled more and more in problems. Our proposition is preaching the gospel of Krsna and request everyone to accept the truth that Krsna is the Supreme Master and everyone shoud surrender unto Him. Then there is no problem. Hope this meets you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/cda Labels: New Vrindaban letters | 19:59 |23 September 2007 Saturday, 23 September, 1972 Los Angeles My Dear Kirtanananda, Please accept my blessings. Thank you very much for your letter from New Vrndavana dated 19 September 1972 along with the box of sandesh. The sandesh was the first class sandesh I have tasted in your country, you have mastered the art perfectly well, thank you very much. I am happy to hear that your program in New Vrndavana has been very successful, and for my part I was very much pleased to attend this year. Now I can understand that this Bhagavata-dharma discourse can be held anywhere all over the world and people will come in large numbers such great distance and under all kinds of hardships just to hear our discourse. That is very encouraging to me. Now you sannyasis and GBC men, I leave it to you to hold this Bhagavata-dharma discourse and Hare Krsna festival all over your country widely, and this will be the success of our movement. You are experienced devotee, and you know how to do things well, so kindly train the others and distribute your experience widely, and organize. If such festivals can be held in different places continuously then my dream will be fulfilled. Your program for traveling to the colleges is nice, try to sell as many of our books and literatures as possible and lecture to all the students what is the real purpose of their education of life. If students become interested, they may come to New Vrndavana and stay with you for some time, and you can instruct them in our philosophy. Gradually try to develop that place, there is immense potential and immense land for development. I saw so much land, but there were no men working the land or raising crops. That is our purpose for keeping so much land, to utilize it in the service of Krsna. So next year you can raise so many kinds of fruits and vegetables there and keep cows, and that will be the ideal Krsna Conscious community of living. Srutakirti is doing very nicely as my servant, he is a very good boy and I thank you for recommending him to me. So far purchasing the Allen farm is concerned, that you must decide in conjunction with Rupanuga, Hayagriva, and the others. But one thing is, we have not yet developed what we have got, so what is the point of expanding further? However if there is a good bargain and you think it is wise, I have no objection if you purchase the Allen farm, provided everyone agrees and there is sufficient money available. Upon your recommendation I am enclosing two sacred threads, duly chanted by me, and three copies of Gayatri mantra. Now you may hold the fire yajna for Murari Gupta das, Ambarisa das, and Vijayadevi. Teach them how to count on the finger divisions and play the tape of me reciting Gayatri mantra into their right ear. This ceremony should be held only in the company of devotees. Hoping this meets you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Labels: college preaching, initiation, land, New Vrindaban letters | 10:15 |5 August 2007 5 August, 1972 London My dear Pusta Krsna, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated July 30, 1972 and I have noted the contents carefully. Yes, that is the sannyasi business, to travel from center to center and instruct the devotees in spiritual life. That is a good program for you, to learn the books very thoroughly and practice the knowledge you are learning. Without practice of the knowledge, what good is the knowledge? But I do not think it is necessary for you to return to your university for taking further education. Your education is to be found in our books, the material education is finished. If you want to teach in universities and colleges, they must accept us on our high degree of Vedic learning, not on our so-called credentials. They must accept our system of scholarly learning from the spiritual master. So do not bother yourself anymore with this idea but go on learning from our own scriptural evidence how great is the supreme science. Your depth of understanding it will be the credentials, let them accept us on that basis. I shall be reaching New Vrindaban by the end of this month, and we shall discuss further. Meanwhile, hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Labels: college preaching, New Vrindaban, sannyasa letters | 16:27 |25 June 2007 25 June, 1972 Los Angeles My Dear Kirtanananda, Please accept my blessings. I have received your letter from New Vrndavana dated June 20, 1972, and noted the contents thereof. I am very glad to hear that you are giving your full attention to the worship of Sri Sri Radha Krsna there at New Vrndavana, and it shall be your task to make certain that they will never be so much neglected in the future. Your proposal is very nice to make the atmosphere of the Deities very, very opulent, and the temple must be kept always very nice. That will be the attractive feature and people will come to see for that reason. So far your road-show is concerned, we are not meant for giving performances, we are simple kirtana men. There must always be kirtana going on wherever we travel, and nothing else. In this connection refer to the GBC letter which will be sent to you shortly by Karandhara and Syamasundara. So far your naming of the new initiates, Syamasundara tells me that there are several duplications, and this is not very much desirable. So in future, better to telephone or somehow contact my secretaries and get the names from them, and in that way there will be no duplication in the future. I have duly received the check for $200 and I thank you very much for it. Enclosed also please find one copy of Gayatri Mantra for Varanasi devi dasi. I shall be arriving in New York sometime in the afternoon of July 2, and I look forward to seeing you all there at that time. Meanwhile, hoping this will meet you in good health, Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACB/sda Labels: deities, initiation, New Vrindaban letters | 17:05 |28 February 2007 Monday, 28 February, 1972 Mayapur My dear Satyabhama, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter of January 24, 1972. I am very much pleased that you and your good husband are developing the New Vrindaban land very peacefully, and I think that you both are perfectly suited to remaining there and managing things very nicely, and you may gradually bring that New Vrindaban property to its full potential by stages, and that will please me very much. I always had great hopes for New Vrindaban, and gradually we are developing, as I can understand from Hayagriva's recent Cow Protection Report. You are experiencing some doubts, that you cannot believe that the Krishna from Krishna Book can be the Supreme Personality of Godhead, that it must be like some fairy-tale. To clear up these things the best remedy is to discuss amongst yourselves all members regularly all our books in classes, then these doubts will be killed. Without reading books it becomes hackneyed and such obnoxious ideas trouble us. Our thoughts are always changing, that is the nature of the mind, so you cannot expect that even the great saintly persons are free from thoughts coming and going. But after thinking there is feeling and willing, willing being the stage of putting the thoughts into action. So if we are able to employ our intelligence, then we kill the thoughts before they become manifest in activity, but because we are so much inclined to enjoy something unintelligently, we have to therefore daily sharpen our intelligence faculty by reading and discussing and preaching to others. In this way we are able very easily to defeat all challengers to our philosophy and everything becomes very clear as it is revealed from different angles of vision. Krishna makes promise to one who is striving to serve Him sincerely that He will give such devotee the intelligence by which he may come to Him. Therefore we should always pray that Krishna may kindly provide me the intelligence to kill all demons of doubt, and because He understands the heart of His sincere devotee, immediately He gives assistance. For my part, for example, I am absolutely certain that anyone who challenges me I can defeat you. Why is that? Because Krishna gives me the intelligence. Your idea to start a nursery school in New Vrindaban is very good proposal and you may immediately try for it by cooperatively consulting amongst yourselves how to do it. But one thing, we are teaching Bhakti by practical attendance and by decreasing playing desire or drive. If the children simply do as their elders are doing, that is, regularly attending mangal arati, rising early, chanting, eating prasadam, looking at books, worshiping the __ like that, then automatically they will become trained up in right way and there is no need for special program for education. Children will always do as they see others doing, so if by the good association of their parents and the other older persons, they will come out nicely fixed in Krishna Consciousness, and because they are not spoiled by an artificial standard of sense gratification, they will think that performing austerities is great fun. Just like in India we see the young brahmacaris are sent out to beg for their spiritual master to teach them humility and non-attachment, and they spend the whole day in the hot sun and come back at night, take a handful of rice, and sleep without blankets on the hard floor--and they take this type of life as very much enjoyable and great fun. This is how we train our children in Krishna Consciousness, just be keeping them always attending our regular program and associating with Krishna devotees, teaching them in spiritual realization by giving them the idea that sacrifice and tapasya for achieving the highest goal of life is a very nice way of life. Not that we shall give them many games for playing, these so-called scientific methods of learning are artificial, unnecessary, and on the whole I do not have much trust in this Montessori system or any other such system of teaching. Your idea for having altars to train the children in deity worship is very nice. So far your Jagannatha deities which have become badly cracked, it is better to replace them, but if that is not possible then you may repair. The story of Lord Jagannatha is like this: Once King Indradyumna wanted to establish the picture in the temple of Krishna, Subhadra, & Balarama coming in a car or chariot during solar eclipse to Kuruksetra so he employed Visvakarma to carve them from wood, and actually the carving was going on behind closed doors, but the King was very impatient to see, so Visvanatha stopped, but the King was satisfied with them half-finished. Hoping this meets you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sda Labels: children, deities, gurukula, New Vrindaban, philosophy letters | 10:07 | |
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