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| Prabhupada Letters :: 1974 |
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28 December 2008 28 December, 1974 Bombay My dear Sukadeva, Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated December 4, 1974 and have noted the contents carefully. A real Vaisnava, of course, will never say that he is superior to anyone. He will say that he is the lowest of the living entities. If he says that he is superior then actually he is not superior. You mentioned in your previous letter about this person being sexually agitated. If there is agitation in the mind then there is no fault. Actually this is only natural in this material world, unless the mind is fully purified in Krsna Consciousness. But by engaging in devotional service gradually the mind will become purified and the agitation will vanish. So if there is simply agitation in the mind there is no fault. But if there is indulgence in sex fault, then there is big fault. If one engages in illicit sex life he has broken the promise to the spiritual master and that is a great offense. In regards to your question about how the relationship between a sannyasi and the temple president should be, my hope is that you will all be able to cooperate together. The temple president is in charge and the sannyasi should not contradict the instructions. Although if he does see something wrong or if he sees a fault or defect he should bring it out directly to the temple president. And then work it out in a Krsna Conscious way. Not that he will try to over-ride the temple president's authority. I want that you all work together cooperatively. Please continue your programs there with great enthusiasm and try to strictly follow all of my regulations without any deviation. Keep yourself always fixed in Krsna's service. Don't let even a spare moment go by being engaged in the service of maya. I hope this meets you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/ps Labels: sannyasa, Seattle, temple president letters | 06:47 |16 December 2008 16 December, 1974 Bombay My dear Christy Hendryx, Please accept my greetings. I am in due receipt of your letter date Dec. 3, 1974. Thank you for the information about your land in Oregon. I think the best procedure is for you to contact either our temple president in Seattle, Washington whose name is Sukadeva dasa or you can write a letter to our headquarters in Los Angeles to Jayatirtha dasa and they will be able to make the proper decision and let you know about this land offer. Thank you again. I hope this meets you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/ps letters | 02:14 | 25 November 2008 Monday, 25 November, 1974 Bombay My Dear Sarada devi dasi: Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated October 17, 1974 and have noted the contents. I am very glad to hear that you are engaged in the service of tulsi devi. Tulsi leaves are very important for satisfying Lord Krishna. But tulsi devi is not pleased by the nice tune of singing but by the nice devotion. So you continue to your best, and you will automatically advance more and more in Krishna consciousness. I hope this meets you in good health. Your ever well wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/bs letters | 02:13 | 24 November 2008 24 November, 1974 Bombay My Dear Sukadeva das: Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter undated and have noted the contents. I am glad to learn that you are having nice college programs. Regarding there going to be depression and atomic war, who said that? This is all false propaganda. I never said this. Regarding free will and pre-destination, yes, materially everything is decided. Spiritually you can make advancement despite all material destiny. Materially you cannot change things as they are but spiritually it is possible. No, devotees are not allowed more than one wife. Devotees should have no wife if possible, but those who cannot maintain celibacy, they can marry one wife. At the present moment people are so unfortunate they cannot maintain even one wife. First of all at the present moment they are not married and remain mostly unmarried. So for such persons even one wife is a great burden. Under the circumstances how one can think of more than one wife? Regarding your fifth question, that I shall think over. Regarding the sannyasi, therefore I have stopped sannyasa. No Vaisnava says that he is advanced. Please send me the name of the sannyasi, and I shall do the needful. Regarding the cooking, a non-brahmana may assist but he cannot cook. I Hope this meets you in good health. Your ever well wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/bs Labels: marriage, sannyasa, Seattle, wife letters | 02:06 |6 November 2008 6 November, 1974 Bombay My Dear Gandharva dasa: Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated September 19, 1974 and have noted the contents. So you have done you duty at the last moments of your wife's life so that she could hear them chanting. As to where she has gone, that depends on what she was thinking of at the time of her passing away. That is stated in the Bhagavad-gita: anta-kale ca mam eva smaran muktva kalevaram yah prayati sa mad bhavam yati nasty atra samsayah [Bg. 8.5] "And whoever, at the time of death, quits his body, remembering Me alone, at once attains My nature. Of this there is no doubt." To remember Krishna requires practice, and this is most easily done by chanting Hare Krishna mantra. I have told Nitai to spread the ashes here in the sea. The maha mantra is the only mantra that need be chanted. Do not neglect this. I hope this meets you in good health. Your ever well wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/bs letters | 00:07 | 25 September 2008 Wednesday, 25 September, 1974 Calcutta My Dear Sukadeva dasa: Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated September 12, 1974 and have noted the contents. Upon your recommendation I am accepting David Kiish as my disciple. His spiritual name is Damaghosa dasa. I am also accepting Abhinanda dasa Brahmacari for second initiation. Enclosed is his sanctified sacred thread and mantra sheet. Hold a fire sacrifice amongst the devotees and he can hear the mantra from my tape record through the right ear. For chanting on the beads, a sannyasi or GBC man can do it. Regarding your question that if I have ever said that the Society authorities must suffer for the devotees under their protection, no, I never said that. I hope this meets you in good health. Your ever well wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/bs Labels: initiation, Seattle letters | 03:02 |9 August 2008 Friday, 9 August, 1974 Vrindaban My Dear Sukadeva das: Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated August 2, 1974 and have noted the contents. You have mentioned that you want to write a book, but instead of writing books, you should read and explain my books to others. Reading and writing are the same, sravanam kirtanam vishnoh. You say that Krsna is sending you only one new devotee every six months, but He says in the Bhagavad gita that out of millions of men one only becomes a devotee. You have sent a list of six men for initiation, so why you are disappointed? Do not think of changing the place. Stick to that place and chant Hare Krishna. Krsna will send more men, rest assured. Devotees may come or not come, but you do your duty. The men you have recommended I accept as my disciples, and their name are as follows: John Philion--Jyotiraditya dasa Shannon Philion--Sarada Sherman Alston--Shasta dasa Karen Alston--Krsnapriya dasi Eric Thomas--Aja dasa John Rowe--Jagadadija dasa I hope this meets you in good health. Your ever well wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/bs Labels: initiation, Seattle, writing letters | 04:35 |31 May 2008 Friday, 31 May, 1974 Geneva My dear Sukadeva, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge your letter of April 16, 1974. I am glad to accept the devotees recommended by you for first initiation, and their new spiritual names are as follows: 1. Jerry S. Macdougal--Jalakara dasa 2. Michael Askvig--Manusuta dasa 3. Allen Conticchio--Anagha dasa 4. Deborah Conticchio--Dhanasri dasi Now take good care of these devotees so that they they remain always enthusiastically engaged in chanting, hearing, reading our books and following the regulative principles. Your ever well wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sdg Labels: initiation, Seattle letters | 03:44 |20 April 2008 Saturday, 20 April, 1974 Hyderabad Dear Hari basara, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter of April 7, 1974 along with other letters and literature regarding the World's Fair exposition in Spokane, Washington. According to your letter you suggest I come and speak in the middle of August. But in order to insure good attendance at the event in order to sell the tickets and make profit you think it best if I appear with a popular music group. These arrangements make us too dependent on other parties. We should not be dependent on others but should present our own program. Since there are so many conditions and risks involved, better you yourselves do as much as possible to spread Krsna Consciousness there by distribution of literature, kirtana and prasadam, and that will be as effective as my personally coming. Besides, I must be in Vrindaban for Janmastami so my schedule makes it difficult for me to be in Spokane, Washington. I am very keen on the distribution of my books and I am very indebted to all of you for your untiring efforts to see that every man and woman in America get one of my books. If they simply read one page, even if they do nothing else, they can become perfect. I have read the plans of Ramesvara and Tripurari to attend the fair and distribute to the thousands of people who are coming; whatever transcendental tactics you leaders think best for distributing the books you can employ. Please keep me informed of your progress as the Fair develops. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sdg Labels: book distribution, Seattle letters | 02:13 |5 April 2008 5 April, 1974 Bombay Dear Sukadeva, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter, undated, and I have noted the contents. Your write that our society should provide some medical facility, insurance or personnel to handle devotees who become chronically ill and thus ostracized from our society. Of course this kind of management of affairs is better handled by the GBC which I have created for this purpose, I cannot be expected to handle problems of this sort while at the same time writing my books. First of all, there is not question of a devotee becoming ostracized because he has become ill, nor do I think this is being widely practiced. Who has been ostracized? One of the symptoms of a devotee is that he is kind, so if our Godbrother becomes ill it is our duty to help him get the proper medicine and treatment so that he can recover. Recently our Giriraja became chronically ill in India and had to return to the U.S. for proper medical treatment. There, in our Los Angeles center, he was given his own room, and was able to recuperate comfortably, and now he has returned to his full duties in Bombay. Now Tamala Krsna Goswami has just had a successful hernia operation which was arranged free of charge at one of the most modern hospitals, and there is also a girl devotee undergoing operation there also. Tamala Krsna is now living in a room at our temple; the devotees see that he gets all facility, a hospital bed, proper prasadam, and personal care and visiting. So there is no question of ill treating of our own Godbrothers simply because they are sick, nor should you allow such neglect to go on. So long we have this material body there will be sickness, but we have to remain on the transcendental platform nevertheless. As far as a centralized medical plan for the whole society, no such plan or facility or insurance has seemed practical as yet. The best thing is to work it out locally, try to find the services of a free medical facility in Seattle, or some way that sick devotees can be cared for; that is your responsibility. I think further questions of this sort can be handled by the GBC. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sdg Labels: medical, ostracized, Seattle letters | 21:02 |9 January 2008 9 January, 1974 Los Angeles Dear Sukadeva, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated January 4, 1974 and I have examined the contents. It is good news for me that our Seattle, Washington temple is growing under your able guidance, and I am much obliged to you. It would not be possible for me to preach all over the world except for your cooperation, you and your Godbrothers and sisters who are maintaining centers all over the world. Your plan, therefore, to leave and take Vanaprastha is not advisable now. Better you remain there and go on with the preaching work, maintaining the devotees and approaching innocent persons. I think you have already a good preaching field there. After you are fifty years of age you can consider this move. Please consult with Karandhar who is GBC for your zone, in this matter. Your ever well wisher, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/sdg Labels: cooperation, Seattle, vanaprastha letters | 15:16 | |
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