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| Prabhupada Letters :: 1974 |
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17 December 2008 17 December, 1974 Bombay My dear Jitaprana, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 10/10/74, and have noted the contents. Your desire for leading a sankirtana party, preaching and travelling is a very good one and I suggest that you talk to your temple president or GBC and try to arrange such a program if it is possible. If we sincerely try to serve Krsna then He will give you the ability and the facilities. So please continue your service with great enthusiasm and follow strictly all of our principles and regulations. This is the way to spread our Krsna Consciousness movement, the mission of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. First of all one must become spiritually strong by following these basic principles staunchly and by learning our philosophy fully. Then his preaching will be very potent and many many people will become attracted. I hope this meets you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/ps Labels: Dallas Gurukula, sankirtan letters | 02:17 |15 November 2008 15 November, 1974 Bombay My Dear Jagadisa, Jayatirtha, and Dayananda dasa: Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated November 1, 1974 and have noted the contents. So for maintaining the Gurukula at least the cost price for the books must be paid. Gurukula can take the profit for its maintenance. BBT cannot pay for maintenance of the temples. BBT can only pay for printing and temple properties and construction. Why are the Spiritual Sky accounts being serviced by Los Angeles rather than by the Dallas devotees? I hope this meets you all in good health. Your ever well wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/bs Labels: BBT, Dallas Gurukula letters | 11:39 |12 November 2008 12 November, 1974 Bombay My Dear Jagadisa dasa: Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter November 2, 1974 and have noted the contents. I have also received the enclosed clipping from Ottawa and the information about the property. This property must be considered by the GBC. If it can be properly utilized, it is nice, for Varna-asrama College and diary farm. With 100 acres for cultivation you can make much production. The land is attractive. If it can be utilized by the opinion of the GBC, then it is good. I think it should be utilized. For which center will it be purchased? Regarding Gurukula, they are in financial difficulty, so introduce book distribution. Sankirtana and Book Distribution should be pushed side by side, and there will be no difficulties. That is our experience. If men are available, yes, you can open a center in Kansas City,; that will be nice. Regarding moving the older boys to New Orleans, that is to be decided by the GBC. Regarding the lollipops, there is nothing wrong. It is something attractive I can understand, an introduction of friendship. What is the wrong? It is sugar, so it can be offered to the Deity. Just like here we can offer sweets purchased from the market place. It is stated in the sastras that if you pay something for it, it is purified even if there is some fault in it. Regarding Chicago that you paid off Dollars 35,000.00 is wonderful. You are a good manager. As GBC please see that the temples are maintaining the standards, and I will be very much thankful. The article is nice, the "elevator" is this Krishna consciousness movement. I hope this meets you in good health. Your ever well wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/bs Labels: Dallas Gurukula, report letters | 03:01 |1 November 2008 Friday, 1 November, 1974 Bombay My dear Dhrstaketu das: Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated October 1, 1974 and have read the contents with care. With regard to the offenses you are hearing it is not ghosts as you say, but they are creations of your mind. The mind is indeed wretched as you say. Therefore Krishna says that for the endeavoring transcendentalist he must first control the mind, and then by controlling the mind he will have peace. He says: jitamanah prasantasya, Paramatma smahitah. "For one who has conquered the mind, the Supersoul is already reached, for he has attained tranquillity.'' [Bg. 6:7] In this age the easiest method for controlling the mind, as taught to us by Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, is the chanting of Hare Krishna. Do not give very much importance to this thing. Chant Hare Krishna. That is my instruction to you. I hope this meets both you and your wife in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/bs Labels: Bhagavad-gita, Dallas Gurukula, mind letters | 03:29 |1 November, 1974 Bombay My Dear Dayananda das: Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letters dated September 27, 1974; nil; and October 15, 1974. I understand that due to financial needs you are doing Sankirtana party in order to raise funds. Regarding the solution to your getting the necessary funds as well as your request for men to lead the Sankirtana, this must be decided by the GBC and not myself. If they cannot solve this problem, then what is the meaning of GBC? They must arrange it for you to receive the necessary funds so that you do not have to be asking me for money. This is what I want. So you consult with them, and inform me the result. Regarding your recommendations for initiations, I accept the following as my disciples and their names are: Mike Pugh--Mayesa dasa; Beverly Pugh--Vaisnavapriya devi dasi; Raymond Crowe--Rajendranandana dasa; Jan Crowe--Lokahita devi dasi; Joseph Terrones--Jyotirmaya dasa; Raymond Kennedy--Ramadeva dasa; Dennis Winiker--Dhanurdhara dasa. I also accept for second initiation Subandhu dasa and Jayasri devi dasi, the sancitified thread and mantra sheets are enclosed. I hope this meets you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/bs Labels: Dallas Gurukula, GBC, initiation letters | 03:25 |12 October 2008 12 October, 1974 Mayapur My Dear Tulsi devi dasi: Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter undated and have noted the contents. I see that after living in Brazil for some time, you are now living in Hawaii with your son Karnapura. You are right in saying that although Krishna consciousness is a simple process, the application may sometimes be difficult. Now you are one of my older disciples, so please try to follow the devotional practices I have given you. This is the simple formula for victory in our struggle against maya. Recently I have visited our Gurukula school in Dallas, and I was quite satisfied how the boys and girls are being trained up to be ideal Vaisnavas. This training from an early age is important, and I also was fortunate to have received such training when I was a child. So why not send Karnapura to Dallas, and come yourself to stay here at Mayapur. Karnapura is an intelligent boy, so give him opportunity, and he will become a pure devotee in this lifetime; and in Mayapur you can devote yourself to chanting Hare Krishna and studying our Krishna consciousness philosophy. Here it is very peaceful living, an open place, very nice. In this way your mind will gradually become controlled. I hope this meets you in good health. Your ever well wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/bs Labels: Dallas Gurukula, Hawaii letters | 07:39 |2 September 2008 Tuesday, 3 September, 1974 Vrindaban My Dear Aksobhya das: Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter. Regarding the Krishna Bowl game, it should be stopped immediately. This thing will be a taxation on the brain on the young children. Why are you inventing? Why you are not satisfied? You are all only inventing and spoiling money. You should teach the children perfectly Sanskrit and English instead of spoiling time and money. The children cannot pronounce correctly the Sanskrit. Let them read it correctly, that is wanted first. They must pronounce nicely English and Sanskrit. The English is no difficulty. If you can do this, then your education is all right. You may introduce contests, but if the children and also the older devotees cannot pronounce Sanskrit correctly, it is all a useless waste of time. I hope this meets you in good health. Your ever well wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/bs Labels: Dallas Gurukula, inventing, sanskrit, spoiling letters | 08:59 |17 April 2008 Wednesday, 17 April, 1974 Bombay Mysore State My dear Embar Sampath Kumarachar: Please accept my blessings. I am very glad you are coming to the U.S.A. You are welcome in any of our temples there. As you may know, our most important temples are in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New Vrindaban, West Virginia, Philadelphia. So you are welcome to stay in any one of these temples and you can stay there as long as you like. I especially invite you to our children's school, Gurukula, in Dallas Texas. If you so desire you can take part there to take the post of head sanskrit teacher. As soon as you are in the U.S. go to Dallas. This latter can be taken as sponsoring your stay in any temple; we will pay all charges for boarding and lodging. Please send me five or six photos of yourself so I can send letters instructing my different branches as mentioned, so there will be no misunderstanding. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sdg Labels: Dallas Gurukula letters | 02:12 |11 April 2008 Thursday, 11 April, 1974 Bombay Dear Dayananda, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter of March 29, 1974 and I have noted the contents. It is extremely assuring to me to hear that Gurukula is doing nicely. The importance of the school in Dallas cannot be overestimated, both for our ISKCON movement, and for the outsiders as well, indeed it is important for the whole world. I was discussing this point in my lecture last night here in Bombay, that human life means tapasya, and tapasya must begin with brahmacaryena, life at Gurukula. The boy is supposed to lie down on the floor, collect alms for the spiritual master - not that they are trying very hard to make a comfortable material arrangement. But the result is that although in this age everyone is born a sudra, we are producing first class brahmanas who can actually do good for their fellow man. I think also that you are the right man to be in charge of our school. It is especially nice to hear that the boys are becoming first class preachers; that is especially needed. Without preaching, our institution becomes all rubbish. So it is very good they are becoming good preachers. So along with Jagadisa you investigate the practical aspects of expanding by purchasing new buildings. Expand, develop and make it a unique institution. As for Canakya sloka, I think the best thing is if I translate it myself and send it to you for printing, rather than wait for Pradyumna. Please go on developing nicely. When I come to the U.S. next time I would like to go to Gurukula and stay there for some time. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sdg Labels: brahmana, Dallas Gurukula, varnashram letters | 12:08 |24 March 2008 Sunday, 24 March, 1974 Bombay Dear Dayananda, Please accept my blessings. I have received you written note of 3/8/74 with names for initiation. I have accepted the devotees named by you as my disciples and their spiritual names are as follows: Sherry--Syamalangi devi Debbie--Dyuti devi Gary--Giri dasa It is very pleasing to me to accept also some of our older Gurukula students who you have recommended as ready for initiation. Ekendra das Brahmacari and Dvarakadhisa dasa Brahmacari have already been given their spiritual names by me. Catton--Katyayana das Brahmacari, and Lisa--Manisa devi, are also now initiated devotees. All initiated devotees must chant at least 16 rounds daily, without fail. Now that they are initiated there is no question of not doing their rounds. You may hold a fire yajna and Jagadisa Prabhu may chant on their beads. In court when a person swears to tell the truth he can be punished by perjury if he does not take it seriously and tells a lie, so those who will promise before the deity to follow the rules and regulations of initiated disciples will be punished if they fail to do so. I am certain, however, that under your able guidance all the boys and girls are enthusiastic in their duties for Krsna. I have received your recommendation for second initiation for Ram Gopala and Baladeva. das Brahmacaris. I am enclosing sacred thread for them as well as gayatri. Have them hear the tape of me chanting gayatri through the right ear. I will be pleased to hear your latest reports from Gurukula. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sdg Labels: Dallas Gurukula, initiation letters | 11:32 | |
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