a.c. bhaktivedanta swami
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| Prabhupada Letters :: 1972 a.c. bhaktivedanta swami |
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2 November 2007 November 2, 1972 Vrndavana My dear Bali-mardana, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated October 20, 1972. I have appreciated very much the enclosed booklet, "Krsna, the Reservoir of Pleasure." Although none of you have yet been here in Vrndavana, still, Krsna has given you the spiritual vision and you are seeing Vrndavana actually, the paintings are so nice. Just see how the cows are looking at Krsna. Now you distribute these books by millions all over the world, then everyone will see how wonderful is Vrndavana. That is the best preaching work. According to the list of names left in the file by Nanda Kumara, there are nine names listed for New York, as follows: Mike/Mahamuni; Steve Anderson/Sevananda; Steve Chichi/Satajit; Jeremy Darling/Yogendra; Jack/Jitasvara; Saul/Sunanda; Andrea/Alarka; Susan/Sikhandini; Rosemary/Ramesvari. So I do not know why they have never received their beads. I think best thing is to write to Nanda Kumara, who is now president of Laguna Beach temple, and he can explain. If you have got paintings for India, I think they may be sent by ship, well-packed to protect from water and with insurance, and that will not be too much expensive. Better to consult first with Indian embassy if there are any restrictions to import paintings into India. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Labels: art, book distribution, initiation, New York, Vrindavan letters | 18:37 |6 August 2007 6 August, 1972 London My dear Jadurani, Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated July 22, 1972 and I have noted the contents. Regarding your questions, yes, there is water in the house under the Bindusarovara lake. Of course it is not possible for us to live there, but if you know the art, it is a science, it is as good as this house filled with air. We are living in an ocean of air, we can live in an ocean of water, it is a question of art. By mystic power everything can be done. As for the second question, generally the Lord is standing. Anyway it can be done, paint it like that. Even when it appears that the Lord is alone, it does not mean He is alone. Brahmins are sometimes also Saivites, so you can paint Kasyapa Muni with Siva tilak as you have depicted. Varaha is fighting in the outer space and the rain of pus and blood and hair is coming down in the outer space. Just like we also change different bodies, similarly Brahma also changes his bodies. But exactly how to paint His bodies, that you have to ask Brahma, I cannot answer. You have seen so many bodies, you can paint like you have seen. Hoping this meets you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sda/nkd Labels: art, New York, questions letters | 17:04 |13 June 2007 13 June, 1972 Los Angeles My Dear Bhargava, Please accept my blessings. I am in receipt of your letter dated May 31, 1972, and I have noted the contents. Our advancement in Krishna Consciousness is made possible in two ways, by Knowledge and renunciation, jnana and tyaga or tapasya. The more we become renounced from this material world, the more we advance in Krishna Consciousness. But we are only able to make such sacrifices and perform tapasya if we have got knowledge. So first thing is to become knowledgeable in Krishna Consciousness, then the tapasya or voluntary life of austerity will result automatically. So I am requesting all of my students to read my books very seriously every day without fail. In this way, if your mind becomes absorbed at least one or two hours daily in the transcendental subject matter of Srimad-Bhagavatam, Bhagavad-gita, and other books then very easily you will make your advancement in Krishna Consciousness. It is not a matter of changing our engagement, adjusting this or that material condition, in order to find our real happiness. Krishna Consciousness is not like that. It is able to be performed under any variety of material conditions or with any type of engagement. Therefore if your duty as a photographer is very much helpful to our propanganda work and for improving our BTG then there is very much need for your remaining in that occupation and doing it to your best capacity. It is a fallacy to say that my present engagement with the press is not the best for my spiritual advancement, and if we think in this way we may go on trying out one engagement after another and always say the same excuse. This restlessness or agitation of the mind cannot be rectified by altering the material circumstances. If we are Krishna Conscious, any type of occupation will suit me and we shall always be satisfied. Therefore, I recommend you to read books more and more and try to understand the subject matter from different angles of vision and be always discussing it with your godbrothers even while you are working at the press, and when you are working and you cannot read, then listen to the tapes of my lectures and hear in that way. And never neglect to chant your 16 rounds of beads daily, rise early without fail, attend mangal arati, take bath, and follow the other regulative principles, and everything will come out very successfully, you can rest assured of that. I am feeling the tendency more and more to retire behind the scenes for translating work, and I want to turn over the management of everything to the GBC and other senior leaders amongst my disciples, so if you have in future any more matters for discussing you may assist me in training these leaders and managers by placing your questions before them. I think Rupanuga will be able to answer all of your questions satisfactorily, so you can be confident that he is giving you all good advice. Hoping this will meet you in good health, Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sda Labels: art, BBT, New York, philosophy letters | 10:03 |6 June 2007 Tuesday, 6 June, 1972 Mexico City My dear Visakha, Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter from Bombay dated May 24, 1972, along with the very nice article, Prabhupada: India's National Hero. I am very grateful to you for your kind words about me, but I do not think that I have done anything, but I am only delivering the best message as it is. Actually, anyone who is a sincere devotee of Krishna and who is rendering service by preaching His message is to be considered as hero. So you are all heroes of your country and your humanity. Hero means someone who others want to follow as example of the best type of person. So you all become like that, perfect examples of Krishna Consciousness heroes and heroines, and preach the message exactly as I have taught it to you very seriously and being fully convinced, and others will automatically come forward and join us. We shall all be like one great army of heroes for Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. I am very glad to hear that you are using your talents very nicely to do artwork and photographic designs to make brochures. It is very important to have such brochures for presenting to important men of the Indian society, so make them very elegantly and just to the points of interest. I have met with your good husband's parents in Los Angeles and they are both very nice and they respect me also. Hoping this will find you both in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sda letters | 11:54 | 31 May 2007 Wednesday, May 31, 1972 Los Angeles My Dear Vasudeva, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter undated and I have noted the contents carefully. I am very much engladdened to hear from you that all the programs there in Berlin center are going on very nicely under your expert guidance. Nevermind what has past, whatever is done, is done. Now push on with full enthusiasm to save the fallen humanity from the most degraded and wretched conditions of material life. This Krsna Consciousness Movement is the only thing that will save them. So you yourself become very convinced of this fact and be very bold in preaching Krsna Consciousness there in Berlin. I enjoyed very much your artistic work, so you can combine your presidential duties with sometimes painting, but the main thing is to always remain engaged fully in the enthusiastic service of the Supreme Lord, nevermind this activity or that activity, so long as the mind is fully absorbed at Krsna's Lotus Feet. So I am very glad to hear that you are a capable manager, you are a very very intelligent boy and gifted by Krsna in many ways, so now Krsna has given you the opportunity to make advancement by becoming also very responsible. So kindly take this responsibility to heart and be always jolly and determined. Now you must be the perfect example for others to follow. Yes, if you can get a new and larger place that will be very nice. Also, I am coming to London this summer for Ratha-yatra Festival and if all of the European devotees come there I shall be very glad to see you all again. Yes, you may name your new son Caitanya dasa. So now be happy and chant Hare Krsna and take Krsna Prasadam, and in this way you shall find your life becoming more and more perfect and you will meet Krsna face to face very soon, rest assured. Hoping this meets you and your good wife and son in best of health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami My sincere blessings for your nice son. Labels: art, Berlin, management, Ratha Yatra letters | 16:19 |22 May 2007 22 May, 1972 Los Angeles My Dear Amogha, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated May 11, 1972 and I have noted the contents. You are very intelligent boy, that I can understand, and you are very eager to serve Krishna with full capacity. So I am very much encouraged to see that you have taken over the leadership position in Melbourne. Now if you work very nicely in co-operation with Mohanananda to develop our Australia program, that will be very much pleasing to me. I especially have great hopes for our Australia yatra. I notice when I was there so many young people without any spiritual direction. So your mission is to attract them somehow or other to our philosophy of Krishna Consciousness. Make the covers of the book very much attractive so that automatically they will read the knowledge inside. The covers are like the mind and the senses, and the contents of the book are the soul. So sometimes in order to attract people to find out what is the soul we have to decorate the mind and the senses and make the presentation of Krishna consciousness very palatable to them. So in this way cooperate very nicely with your all good god-brothers there in Australia to deliver all of these fallen souls, especially the young people, back to Home, back to Godhead. Hoping this meets you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACB/sda Labels: art, Melbourne, publishing letters | 15:35 |22 May, 1972 Los Angeles My Dear Syamananda, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter undated in your very nice handwriting. Do not bother yourself for designing for Vrndavana Temple. The work has been taken up by one very qualified architect in Delhi and also Saurabha is assisting. So I can understand that you are very talented boy from your wonderful script, so I think you should apply your talent for painting nice pictures of Krishna and the acaryas in our line, and also you may help Mohadananda in designing work for his press operation there in Sydney. Now I understand that Madhudvisa Swami is there with you in Sydney so you may give him all assistance also. He can give you good direction how to best employ yourself in the service of the Lord. And if you get opportunity for sometimes travelling with him for doing Sankirtana all over Australia that will also be nice. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACb/sda Labels: art, sankirtan, Sydney letters | 15:34 |14 May 2007 14 May, 1972 Honolulu My dear Jadurani, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated May 10, 1972, along with Bali Mardan's letter. I am replying Bali Mardan's letter after I have heard from him regarding the proposal by Dai Nippon to print all our foreign-language BTG's simultaneously. Regarding your questions, Kasyapa Muni is inside his hut, or hermitage, which is just a garden cottage or like our Mayapur cottage if you have got one photo. Sri Hari met the Four Kumaras. The seven walls surround Vaikuntha, with seven gates, just like a building may be located there, but you have to pass through seven gates and courtyards, with walls surrounding, to reach there. Gardens, houses, everything is there between the walls. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sda Labels: art, New York, questions letters | 20:52 |15 April 2007 15 April, 1972 Auckland My Dear Jadurani, Please accept my blessings. I have received your undated note, along with sketch for cover of Srimad-Bhagavatam, 4th Canto, Vol. I. It is nice, the eight items are placed correctly. I have already answered your question about Nara Narayana twins. So far Lord Brahma paint him just like you have painted already in the poster where he is flying on the swan for stealing Krishna's cowherds friends and cows. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Labels: art letters | 08:08 |12 March 2007 Sunday, 12 March, 1972 Vrindaban [To Billy Reyburne] Regarding your question about writing songs about Krishna, this is not very important thing. You can write, but one cannot take it very seriously. If any Vaisnava is writing song about Krishna, that should be from one who himself has realized Krishna, just like our great saints and acaryas like Madhvacarya, Ramanujacarya, Rupa Gosvami, six Gosvamis, Bilvamangala, Bhaktivinode Thakura, like that. They are self-realized souls, therefore if they write something song about Krishna, that is perfectly from the transcendental platform, without any tinge of mundane influence or nonsense imagination. Unless someone comes in the category of these great leading Vaisnava personalities, his manufacturing some songs will be misleading to himself and to others. And unless his writing of poems and songs can be accepted as gospel, as Vedas or the Absolute Truth, such writing is diverting the attention from the subject matter only and should not be regarded very seriously. Now you should become serious to pursue this Krishna Consciousness movement with full energy of body, mind and soul. If you are writing poems and songs, that's alright, you can do it also, but if you can write articles for our Back to Godhead magazine, that is better, that is solid preaching work. No one should write songs of Krishna unless he is self-realized soul, that will spoil the value of the whole thing. But try to use your writing and singing talent for Krishna's preaching work, by writing articles, singing the kirtana, like that. Than you will be happy, and I think you should without further delay try to become devotees as the others are doing and live with us and practice the regulative principles of brahmacari life. In this way, become determined to fix your all attention for seeing Krishna face to face by the Krishna Consciousness process and than you shall qualify yourself for writing songs about Krishna and you chant always this Hare Krishna mantra you can come to the highest point of seeing Krishna very soon, you may know it for certain. [Text missing] Labels: art, preachers, singing, writing letters | 07:16 |27 February 2007 27 February, 1972 Mayapur My dear Jadurani, Please accept my blessings. I beg to thank you for your second letter, undated, with more questions concerning the current paintings from Srimad Bhagavatam. I shall reply as follows: (1) Lord Brahma's lotus is red color. (2) Brahma's four heads are facing the four directions. (3) He is sitting directly upon the soft center of the lotus. (4) There are many authorized, standard versions of paintings of Garbhodakasayi Visnu reclining, so you may see these, exactly how it is done. Ananta and G. Visnu are practically the same size. (5) Ananta is bluish with white inside. (6) You may make a pillow under Visnu's head. (7) You may see the other standard paintings to see how big is Lord Brahma in comparison with Visnu. (8) 3rd Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam, 33rd chapter, is entitled Instruction by Kapila Deva. I Hope this will meet you in good health and happy mood. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sda Labels: art, Brooklyn, publishing letters | 10:01 | |
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