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| Prabhupada Letters :: 1974 |
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14 June 2008 Friday, 14 June, 1974 Paris My dear Acyutananda Maharaja, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your most recent undated, letter. I am glad you have received my letter and mailed it to Swami Cinmayananda; so we shall see if they are able to help us so that we may enter Jagannatha Puri Temple with our disciples. Regarding your philosophical question, if the Bhagavad gita is part of Mahabharata which is considered smrti, how can we claim Bhagavad gita to be GITOPANISAD, or one of the Upanisads which are sruti? Actually because the Gita is spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead it is sruti. But people take it as smrti because it is part of the Mahabharata. We take it as sruti as far as we are concerned. The purport of sruti is to make one advanced in understanding the Absolute Truth. Here the Absolute Truth is explaining personally, therefore the Gita should be taken as sruti. But they take it as smrti because it is part of the Smriti (Mahabharata). In one sense it is both sruti and smrti. Please yourself and Mahamsa Swami work in full cooperation with Karandhara Prabhu who is leaving Paris today for Bombay. You may send him regular reports as he is taking over from Tamala Krsna Maharaja, as GBC of India. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sdg Labels: Bhagavad-gita, Hyderabad, questions letters | 16:05 |14 June, 1974 Paris My dear Aksojananda Maharaja and Pancadravida Maharaja, Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter of 3rd June from Bangalore. Do not be discouraged if so far the collections have not been very great in terms of money. More important than the results is the activity. Krsna wants to see that you are fully engaged with all sincerity in preaching His glories; that will please Him, not a certain amount of money. Moreover, if you remain determined in that activity, then automatically the results will come. It is like a woman who becomes married; if she immediately desires to have a child, that is not possible. But because she is associating with her husband, after due time, in 9 months she may have a child. We have to be enthusiastic, determined and patient in the execution of our duties. Continue to send your collections to the BBT in Bombay. I shall be glad to hear the progressive reports of your preaching, and now you may report regularly to Karandhara Prabhu and take up management affairs with him, as he has gone today to India to take over GBC affairs. Hope this finds your sankirtana party members in good spirits by careful following of all regulative principles. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sdg Labels: Bangalore, collecting funds letters | 16:04 |13 June 2008 Thursday, 13 June, 1974 Paris My dear Gargamuni Maharaja, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your two recent letters. I find in both these letters you have especially desired to call Tamala Krsna Goswami to act as GBC. But he left India particularly thinking himself not very fit for management. He has now gone for preaching work with Visnujana Maharaja and recently Karandhara met him and Tamala Krsna Maharaja is now unwilling to come to India for GBC management work. Therefore I have called Karandhara Prabhu to act as GBC in India. He has practical experience in various lines of management work. I hope he will replace Tamala Krsna Maharaja better than anyone else. Tamala Krsna Maharaja said that you are not following the regulative principles. I do not know why you should do like that. Anyway, if there was any discrepancies in that way I hope you will rectify it and fully cooperate with Karandhara Prabhu. I am coming to India on my way to Sydney to stop for one day in Bombay on June 23rd. If you so desire you can see me in Bombay on the 23rd. Further, Brahmananda Maharaja wanted to remain in India and act as my secretary, but there is no proper man to replace him. Sometimes back you also wanted to go to Africa. If you still feel like that you can consider on the matter and I shall call Brahmananda here in India to act as my personal secretary. Hope this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sdg letters | 04:03 | 10 June 2008 Monday, 10 June, 1974 Paris My dear Amarendra, Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated 6/6/74 and have carefully noted the contents. I can understand that you want to run for political office, but we can not spend money even if we have money. If you have money of your own and you want to spend it for running for office you can do that. But for running we not only have to draw on the society's money but also on our men. This is not desirable. By competing with the politicians we may drop from our spiritual ideal. Our actual business is to become brahminical. We want to train some ksatriyas but that we can do in our own communities. Where is the money for this political work, that is my main question? And also, so much attention paid in this area is a diversion from our spiritual life. Your every well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sdg Labels: brahmana, Gainesville, political sankirtan letters | 22:02 |10 June, 1974 Paris My dear Balavanta, Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated June 6, 1974 and I have carefully noted the contents. My point is that I cannot employ the society's money in political campaigning. Moreover it is illegal for the society which is a religious society to pay for political campaigns and would cause us to lose our tax exempt status. The alternative, to make a separate brain, separate funds, and separate manpower is a diversion from our spiritual goal. The other political parties are spending lavishly so how can we compete with them. We do not have enough money nor do I wish to spend our money in this way. Therefore I say it is better to stop. You say you plan to run for U.S. Congress. But for this, you can draw no money from the society. So your plan is utopian. Better concentrate on developing the brahminical qualities in the devotees there; that is more important than running for political office. I hope you understand my points. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sdg Labels: Atlanta, brahmana, political sankirtan letters | 04:03 |10 June, 1974 Paris My dear Ravindra Svarupa, Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated June 5, and I have carefully noted the contents. I am glad to hear you have immediately stopped political campaigning on receipt of my letter. I have written a number of letters to the persons involved explaining how we can not spend money and manpower on this project in competition with the big politicians. Therefore I have asked that it be stopped. I want to thank you a hundred times for the excellent way you are worshipping the Deity there as I can see from the color photographs you have sent. From my very childhood I was also worshipping Lord Jagannatha. When I was six years old my father gave me a ratha and I was performing the Ratha yatra in my neighborhood. And now in the western world you are worshiping Lord Jagannatha so gorgeously and it pleases me very, very much. Thank you again for the way you are conducting the deity worship in the Philadelphia temple. As for the Ratha ceremony, you go on with it, I shall attend there next year. But you go on holding a splendid ceremony for the people of the city. I am sure it will be a success. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sdg Labels: Philadelphia, political sankirtan, Rathayatra letters | 04:02 |9 June 2008 Sunday, 9 June, 1974 Paris My dear Krsna das, Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated May 30 from San Francisco. It is pleasing to me to here you are happily engaged in devotional service and living as an ideal grhastha. Please go on as you are doing: keep your business separate and wherever you remain keep your family in Krsna Consciousness always chanting Hare Krsna and observing the regulative principles. Cultivate your business for Krsna, remain happy in Krsna Consciousness and always serve Krsna. Your name is already Krsna das so your new boy may be given the name Krsna das-anudas, the servant of the servant of Krsna. This was the position desirable to Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sdg Labels: business, San Francisco letters | 06:14 |9 June, 1974 Paris My dear Rsabhadeva, Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter of May 4, 1974, just received here in Paris. I have accepted as my disciples the devotees recommended by you and their spiritual names are as follows: Gary--Gopta dasa Joe--Jyotirganesvara dasa Peter--Padmagarbha dasa Steve--Stavapriya dasa Paya--Papaharini devi Rebecca--Rangavalli devi Jayatirtha prabhu may chant on their beads and you may hold a fire yajna. Initiation means to begin so now these devotees, under your supervision must take the vow with utmost seriousness to chant everyday at least 16 rounds on beads and to refrain from the four sinful activities. I have also accepted Bhojadeva dasa and Hrsikesa dasa for second initiation trusting that you have carefully examined their devotional behavior for the past year and that they have not deviated from the regulative principles. It is not that automatically we have to award a devotee second initiation after he has been with us for a certain time, but the qualifications have to be there. Enclosed find their threads duly chanted on by me and gayatri mantra. Have them hear the mantra in the right ear with the tape I have made. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sdg Labels: brahmana, initiation, Laguna Beach letters | 06:12 |9 June, 1974 Paris My dear Nandalal, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter of May 23, just received here in Paris. It is good news that you are finding engagement in distributing my books all day in Hawaii. So there is no question of taking other engagement; distribution of my books is the highest kind of preaching, and thus the best engagement. So take it as Krsna's mercy that you have come to Hawaii and engage there full time as it is a very important place. Regarding your deity. So long as you are not living separately, you may put your deity on the regular temple altar, and as they are caring for the deity and feeding and dressing and cleansing, so the temple pujari may also give your deity the proper care and worship. The explanation given by Ramesvara that sankirtana is Lord Caitanya's lila, which he compares to the gopies trying to engage others in Krsna's service, is the correct understanding. Please inform Sudama Maharaja that I have received his May 27th letter and that I am encouraged by the progress of the farm as well as the continued book distribution. I have asked Yasodanandana Swami to help out in Taiwan where there are only two men, rather than come to Hawaii. By now Sudama Maharaja should have been informed by Bali Mardan that myself and my two secretaries will be stopping off in Hawaii on our journey from Australia to the U.S. and that we will arrive July 3rd on Quantas airlines at 8:45 A.M.. We will stay for 30 hours and he should arrange for our staying in Honolulu. More when we meet. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sdg Labels: book distribution, Hawaii, itinerary letters | 06:10 |9 June, 1974 Paris My dear Muralidhara, Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter of May 16, received only now in Paris. Regarding your questions for painting: The enclosed sketch of Lord Visnu visiting the sacrificial arena of Maharaja Prthu is all right as it is, the architecture is nice. Visnu should rest His left hand on Garuda's shoulder. But in the picture of the four kumaras visiting Prthu Maharaja, why are the Kumaras seen as if coming through the ceiling from above? I think it would be better if they were coming inside through the doorway. I am sorry to hear of your wife's poor health. You have tried so many treatments, pills and better climates and visits to doctors, but there is no improvement. I think you can admit her to the hospital on a longer term basis for recooping her health. You should not expect to have children until she is in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sdg Labels: art, health, New York, wife letters | 06:08 |9 June, 1974 Paris My dear Sahadeva, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter of May 13, 1974. On your recommendation I have accepted the devotee submitted by you as my duly initiated disciple. His new spiritual name is as follows: Bruce Dickmeyer--Bhusaya dasa. I understand this is the second time you are submitting the names of Siddhavidya and Kirticandra for second initiation and that you have seriously considered their eligibility for brahminical status. Therefore I will accept them as brahmanas, and the sanctified threads are enclosed as well as gayatri mantra. Have them listen to the tape of me chanting the mantra. The beads of the new initiates may be chanted on by Jagadisa Prabhu. I understand you are situated in a new building. You may send me pictures. Now find enclosed a letter from a life member from Hyderabad, India. He writes that he is going to Houston, Texas for health treatment and he is asking that he and his wife and medical attendant be put up at the temple for room and board for one and a half months. I have written him that he may stay at our temple but I do not know if it is suitable for him. You can consider whether it is actually possible in your present circumstances to house a man and his wife as well as another companion. If the conditions are too crowded you may write to him and in any case let him know the actual situation in Houston. Let me know the further result of this. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sdg Labels: Houston, initiation, life member letters | 03:07 |9 June, 1974 Paris My dear Yasodananda Maharaja, Please accept my blessings. I have heard very wonderful reports of the sankirtana being conducted by Gurukrpa Maharaja and yourself in Tokyo, and I am directing Jayatirtha to credit the Mayapur-Vrindaban fund for whatever amounts you deposit in Japan with Dai Nippon. In the meantime I have received a letter from Trivikrama Maharaja in Taiwan who reports that many Chinese boys are coming to the center and he is very encouraged. However, he had three unsteady men in his party such as Sri Ballavha, Lalita Krsna etc., and they have left him, so that there are only two of them in Taiwan. I have heard from Sudama Maharaja that Yasodananda Maharaja was planning to go to Hawaii, but I think it would be more useful for the time being if you joined with Trivikrama and helped him in Taiwan. I am often thinking if we can get a center in China, and Taiwan is a jumping off place for our entering China. Also, although the program in Tokyo is most important, Gurukrpa Maharaja may also come and go sometimes to Taiwan and help and encourage them there. I do not think it is so far away from Japan. Again, thank you very much for conducting sankirtana so vigorously that you are outdistancing all other parties. Your special affection for my Indian project is very pleasing to me and shows you understand my intentions very well. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sdg Labels: China, MV Trust, sankirtan, Tokyo letters | 03:06 |9 June, 1974 Paris My dear Trivikrama Maharaja, Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter of May 25th, received in Paris. You send both good and bad news. It is very good that Taiwan is proving a good place for Krsna Consciousness, in that you report many Chinese boys are coming and that you have been given a nice place to operate a center. Unfortunately three men have left you and now there is only you and Dvija hari. I can understand the boys who left you were not very steady. I have written to Yasodananda Swami who was thinking of travelling from Tokyo to come and join you there and also Gurukrpa Swami can come and go from Tokyo and try to help. I will soon be going to Australia (by June 25th) and when I see Madhudvisa Swami I shall ask him to consider if he can investigate your situation and send you brahmacaris as needed. We will also discuss Hong Kong, which as you mention, is also short of men. In the meantime, although you are only two you should carry on all your programs as far as possible. In the beginning I was only one and I started everything, so you have twice as many men. Trust in Krsna and simply dedicate your life to introducing the chanting of Hare Krsna and Krsna Consciousness philosophy to whomever you meet. Surely Lord Caitanya will be pleased by your effort there, and thus you will be eligible for his benediction which is to award love of Krsna. Your ever well wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sdg Labels: Hong Kong, management, Taiwan letters | 03:06 |9 June, 1974 Paris My dear Ravindra Svarupa, Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter of May 14, received in Paris. I have accepted on your recommendation the three devotees as my duly initiated disciples, and their spiritual names are as follows: Patti--Pattarajni devi Donna--Dantadhara devi Lois--Atura devi I have also accepted your recommendation for Vanamali prabhu to take second initiation. Enclosed is one sacred thread and gayatri mantra. Have him hear the tape of my chanting the mantra, in his right ear. The beads of the initiated devotees may be chanted on by Kirtanananda Maharaja. I am glad to hear you are holding a larger Ratha yatra this year. Your multifarious activities in Krsna Consciousness in Philadelphia sound very good. We have so many engagements, therefore I have asked that the political program be stopped as it was creating too much separate effort separate brain, separate money from our regular ISKCON program. I shall be coming to the U.S. in July and perhaps you can see me in Chicago or later in New Vrindaban. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sdg Labels: initiation, Philadelphia, political sankirtan letters | 03:05 |8 June 2008 Saturday, 8 June, 1974 Paris My dear Damodara, Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter of June 5, 1974. I have asked you to stop the political program because actually you cannot organize as the others can. We cannot manage with separate money, separate brains from our regular ISKCON propagation. It is not so easy to do politics, moreover it is a filthy atmosphere. So do not indulge in it. I am glad to hear all the participants have stopped. So you convey to them my instructions in this matter. We have an immense field of work in distributing books, reading and chanting and working for Krsna in many fields. And the aim of it is to always remember Krsna. Some philosophers think that in response negatively to the nasty consciousness of material life we should become 'thoughtless' but this is not Krsna Consciousness, nor is it possible to become void or like a stone. Our process is to purify the thinking by always thinking of Krsna, actively and positively. You have asked about Rupanuga. So I have asked him to not remain secluded but to work vigorously as grhastha now that he has returned with his wife. There is nothing wrong in his preaching as you are and so many GBCs, as grhastha. So although it is officially a falldown from sannyasa, there is no loss if he will become more enthusiastic by this way. So please continue to cooperate with him and implement all our regular programs. Your ever-well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sdg P.S. Yes you should give up the political offices and our men should return to working in the ISKCON centers. Labels: fall down, political sankirtan, Washington letters | 03:04 |8 June, 1974 Paris My dear Revatinandana Maharaja, Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter of 25th May, 1974. It is very good news that you are out preaching free from too much entanglement in temple life. That is your proper engagement and I am glad to hear you are touring to 120 colleges. Now cooperate with Hamsaduta. This is Krsna's business. We shouldn't form different parties. Hamsaduta is a sincere worker and has given evidence of success in Germany. Now Syamasundara has relinquished his position and I am enclosing a copy of my letter to him in this connection. Try to pacify all the opposing elements and you will also make me happy. Your ever well-wisher A. C., Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sdg Labels: college preaching, cooperation, London letters | 03:03 |8 June, 1974 Paris Warrenton, Virginia My dear Rupanuga, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter of June 3, 1974 and I have carefully examined the contents. Yes, I could observe that your mind was disturbed on account of meeting your wife privately. There is no need of hide and seek. Better live as husband and wife as householders and in great enthusiasm execute the Krishna Consciousness movement. There are many GBC who are grhastha. You can remain for management of the temples and also work in the schools and colleges for introducing our books in the libraries. The recent reports of this work have been very favorable. Take up this line more seriously helped by your good wife and that will be nice. I have stopped the political movement because it will not help us. It is a very filthy atmosphere. Better you do not indulge in those things with expenditure of money and spiritual energy. So you should not consider taking sannyasa again, but in your country it is not a great thing. Although officially it is a falldown from sannyasa, in your country no one understands sannyasa. The more important principle is that we should purify our thoughts and engage them in Krsna's service. Please try to understand this important principle: being disgusted with their nasty thoughts people sometimes attempt to become thoughtless, but this is never possible. We should encourage everyone to not become thoughtless but to purify their thinking by always thinking of Krsna in the recommended ways. So I request you to go back preaching vigorously along with your wife who is also a good preacher. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sdg Labels: fall down, political sankirtan, sannyasa, wife letters | 03:03 |8 June, 1974 Paris My dear Hamsaduta, Please accept my blessings, Syamasundara has voluntarily suspended his responsibility as GBC and I am enclosing my letter to him in this regard. So you may continue as GBC. So I have asked Syamasundara to tell the others to cooperate and I am sure this will alleviate all party feeling. We have to keep Krsna always in the center, and then although there are disturbances and sometimes fall downs we will be able to work together and keep our society intact. Some people recommend that in the face of so many nasty thoughts which occur in material thinking, we should try to become 'thoughtless' but this is never possible. Our Krishna Consciousness principle is not to become thoughtless but to purify the thinking to always thinking of Krishna. So try to spread and encourage this philosophy of thinking of Krsna, after thoroughly assimilating it yourself. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami N.B. I have accepted for initiation the devotees recommended by you and their new spiritual names are as follows: Matthew Norton--Manihara dasa Ann Norton--Amekhala devi dasi You may chant on their beads. ACBS/sdg So we are awaiting your sending us plane tickets so we may leave on the 16th June for Frankfurt, Germany. Labels: Bhaktivedanta Manor, GBC, initiation letters | 03:01 |8 June, 1974 Paris My dear Syamasundara, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated May 25, 1974 and I have carefully noted the extensive contents. You have taken the right decision. For the time being you suspend your GBC responsibilities and let Hamsaduta manage as he is doing nicely. Hamsaduta saw me recently, however, and was complaining that he is meeting with an opposing party there, although he is working as authorized GBC. I think if you ask all of them to cooperate with him while you try to improve your business separately that will pacify things. I am hopeful and praying to Krsna that you become successful. The difficulty is you didn't know about the business and you believed everyone. I have a report even from Bal Krsna that you have been cheated. If you have sufficient experience and are careful then you can do the business. I think it requires great experience, otherwise you will be cheated. For the time being do your business and wherever you stay follow the regulative principles. Always chant and follow the regulative principles. Then you can see me in India during the installation ceremony in Vrindaban. I shall advise you further. There are so many things which happened in your absence which I do not wish to discuss now. But everything can be rectified if you follow my instructions. If you have actually sold jewels that is encouraging and we can discuss further about it when we meet next. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sdg Labels: business, GBC, New York, suspend letters | 03:01 | |
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