29 Jan 2011
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in Hayagriva das, The Hare Krishna Explosion
Tags: Chanting the holy name, dancing in ecstasy, hayagriva das, Lord Chaitanya, Mott St., playing musical instruments, singing, Srimad Bhagavatam, swami
The Hare Krishna Explosion
by Hayagriva das
Part I: New York, 1966
Chapter 2
Transcendental Invitations
The next morning, when I go alone to see the Swami, he seems to be expecting me. Directly and simply, he begins to explain that he needs help in spreading Krishna consciousness around the world. Noticing that he has been typing, I offer to type for him, and he hands me the manuscript of the First Chapter, Second Canto, of Vyasadeva’s Srimad-Bhagavatam.
“You can type this?”
“Oh yes,” I say.
He is delighted. We roll a small typewriter table out of the corner, and I begin work. His manuscript is single spaced without margins on flimsy, yellowing Indian paper. It appears that the Swami tried to squeeze every word possible onto the pages. I have to use a ruler to keep from losing my place.
The first words read: “O the king.” I naturally wonder whether “O” is the king’s name, and “the king” stands in apposition. After concluding that “O King” is intended instead, I consult the Swami.
“Yes,” he says. “Change it, then.”
As I retype another paragraph, I notice certain grammatical discrepancies, perhaps typical of Bengalis who learned English from British headmasters in the early 1900s. Considerable editing is required to get the text to conform with current American usage. After pointing out a few changes, I tell the Swami that if he so desired, I could make all the proper corrections.
“Very good,” he says, smiling. “Do it! Put it nicely.”
Thus my editorial services begin.
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28 Jan 2011
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in Indra, Srimad Bhagavatam
Tags: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, hog, Lord Indra, Lord Kapila, maya, Srimad Bhagavatam
King Indra cursed to become a Hog
Taken from the Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 3, Chapter 30, Text 5-6
By His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
“The conditioned living entity is satisfied in his own particular species of life; while deluded by the covering influence of the illusory energy, he feels little inclined to cast off his body, even when in hell, for he takes delight in hellish enjoyment.”
It is said that once Indra, the King of heaven, was cursed by his spiritual master, Bṛhaspati, on account of his misbehavior, and he became a hog on this planet. After many days, when Brahmā wanted to recall him to his heavenly kingdom, Indra, in the form of a hog, forgot everything of his royal position in the heavenly kingdom, and he refused to go back. This is the spell of māyā. Even Indra forgets his heavenly standard of life and is satisfied with the standard of a hog’s life. By the influence of māyā the conditioned soul becomes so affectionate towards his particular type of body that if he is offered, “Give up this body, and immediately you will have a king’s body,” he will not agree. This attachment strongly affects all conditioned living entities. Lord Kṛṣṇa is personally canvassing, “Give up everything in this material world. Come to Me, and I shall give you all protection,” but we are not agreeable. We think, “We are quite all right. Why should we surrender unto Kṛṣṇa and go back to His kingdom?” This is called illusion, or māyā. Everyone is satisfied with his standard of living, however abominable it may be.
Such satisfaction with one’s standard of living is due to deep-rooted attraction for body, wife, home, children, animals, wealth and friends. In such association, the conditioned soul thinks himself quite perfect.
This so-called perfection of human life is a concoction. Therefore, it is said that the materialist, however materially qualified he may be, is worthless because he is hovering on the mental plane, which will drag him again to the material existence of temporary life. One who acts on the mental plane cannot get promotion to the spiritual. Such a person is always sure to glide down again to material life. In the association of so-called society, friendship and love, the conditioned soul appears completely satisfied.
28 Jan 2011
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in Devotee's, Locanananda das
Tags: GBC, Initiation, Iskcon, july 8th, Locanananda dasa, May 28th, officating Acarya, ritvik
May 28th, Initiation Protocols
Interview with Sriman Locanananda Prabhu
May 26, NEW YORK — Interviewer: The issue of initiations in ISKCON has divided devotees for several decades and appears to have evolved into a schism. What is your personal perspective on this issue?
Locanananda dasa: When I was President of the Amsterdam temple in 1977, I received a copy of the Summary Report of the GBC meetings held in Vrndavana that year from the 27th through the 29th of May. In that report, two of the three questions Srila Prabhupada answered on May 28th were included, but the answer to the question about future initiations was not. A few weeks later, I received a copy of the July 9th letter explaining the new initiation protocols. It didn’t seem as if much had changed. Initiations would resume despite Srila Prabhupada’s ongoing illness. The letter also addressed the selection of “rittik” representatives of the acarya and referred to the May 28th meeting with Srila Prabhupada, but there was no detailed explanation as to how the two were connected. We were really left in the dark for years as to what instructions Srila Prabhupada had actually given the GBC as a mandate for future initiations.
Interviewer: Would you say it was a cover-up and hijacking of the movement?
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24 Jan 2011
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in Krishna Consciousness, The Hare Krishna Movement
Tags: Allen Gensberg, Big Brother & The Holding Company, Grateful Dead. Janis Joplin, Haight Asbury, Krishna consciousness, San Franscisco, Srila Prabhupada
Mantra Rock Concert
“Sunday, January 29, 1967 marked the major spiritual event of the San Francisco hippie era, and Srila Prabhupada, who was ready to go anywhere to spread Krishna Consciousness, was there.
The Grateful Dead, Moby Grape, Janis Joplin and Big Brother and the Holding Company, Jefferson Airplane, Quicksilver Messenger Service — all the new-wave San Francisco bands — had agreed to appear with Srila Prabhupada at the Avalon Ballroom’s Mantra-Rock Dance, proceeds from which would go to the local Hare Krishna temple.
Thousands of hippies, anticipating an exciting evening, packed the hall.
At about 10 p.m., Srila Prabhupada and a small entourage of devotees arrived amid uprorious applause and cheering by a crowd that had waited weeks in great anticipation for this moment. Srila Prabhupada was given a seat of honor onstage and was introduced by Allen Ginsberg, who explained his own realizations about the Hare Krishna maha-mantra and how it had spread from the small storefront in New York to San Francisco.
The chanting started slowly but ryhthmically, and little by little it spread throughout the ballroom, enveloping everyone. Hippies got to their feet, held hands, and began to dance as enormous, pulsing pictures of Krishna were projected around the walls of the ballroom in perfect sync with the beat of the mantra.
By the time Srila Prabhupada stood and began to dance with his arms raised, the crowd was completely absorbed in chanting, dancing and playing musical instruments they had brought for the occasion.
As the tempo speeded up, the chanting and dancing became more and more intense, spurred on by a stageful of top rock musicians, who were as charmed by the magic of the maha-mantra as the amateur musicians had been at the Tompkins Square kirtanas only a few weeks before.
The chant rose; it seemed to surge and swell without limit. When it seemed it could go no further, the chanting stopped. Srila Prabhupada offered prayers to his spiritual master into the microphone and ended-by saying three times, “All glories to the assembled devotees!” The Haight-Ashbury neighborhood buzzed with talk of the mantra-Rock Dance for weeks afterward.
Allen Ginsberg later recalled, “We sang Hare Krishna all evening. It was absolutely great — an open thing. It was the height of the Haight-Ashbury spiritual enthusiasm.”
24 Jan 2011
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in Book Changes, Devotee's, Sravanananda das, Srila Prabhupada
Tags: book changes, books by Srila Prabhupada, krsna consciousness, s, sravanananda das
“The Greatest Exponent of Krishna Consciousness in the Western World”
BY: SRAVANANANDA DAS (ACBSP)
Dear Srila Prabhupada,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All Glories to you.
All Glories to You and only You for submerging this earth planet with the Glories of Lord Sri Krishna (The Holy Name).
All Glories to You and only You for being “The Greatest Exponent of Krishna Consciousness in the Western World.” It was You that came up with that phrase to be put under your pictures in all of your books. Somehow? That phrase had been removed from your books, but I have been assured it was going to immediately be put back under your picture in all of your books again.
The response I had received was that the BBT leaders had no idea that it was missing nor how it had happened. I think I know…… due to the imperfect senses there are those who have forgotten who you are, and therefore it was ignored. Yet those same imperfect senses allow your books to be ravaged with changes.
I pray they humble themselves to bring back the Original Books as they were perfect, are perfect and always will be perfect. A small grammatical change may occur, but what has been done appears to be major. Therefore since we are all so covered, they should have been just left alone.
All Glories to You and only You for being the “Greatest Exponent of Krishna Consciousness in the WHOLE World “as before you came into this world even India was forgetting who Krishna is and beginning to give up all religious principals. Most people were worshipping everyone but Lord Krishna. They had ignored Lord Krishna and it was………..
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20 Jan 2011
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in Spiritual World
Tags: abode, bhagavad-gita, goloka vrindavan, spiritual sky, Spiritual world, Syamasundara
The Spiritual World — And how to get there
Author Unknown
Krishna means the highest pleasure:
Krishna means the highest pleasure. We are all hankering after pleasure. We, the living entities, like Krishna, are full of consciousness, and we are looking for happiness. Krishna is perpetually happy, and if we associate with Krishna and cooperate with Him we will also become happy.
Krishna descends to this material world to show His pastimes in Vrndavana, which are full of happiness. When Lord Sri Krishna was in Vrndavana, His activities with His cowherd boy friends, with the gopis, with the inhabitants of Vrndavana and with the cows were all full of happiness. The total population of Vrndavana knew nothing but Krishna.
The purpose of Krishna’s pastimes in Vrindavan on this planet is so we can see such wonderful pastimes of Krishna and therefore come to understand something of what life in the spiritual world, the abode of Krishna, will be like when we go there.
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19 Jan 2011
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in Krishna Consciousness, Srimad Bhagavatam
Tags: devotee, fruitive workers, karmi, Lord Krsna, lotus feet, Srimad Bhagavatam, Vyasa
In the Bhagavad-gītā it is also said that such fallen devotees are given a chance to take birth in a family of highly qualified brāhmaṇas or in a rich mercantile family. A devotee in such a position is not as fortunate as one who is chastised by the Lord and put into a position seemingly of helplessness. The devotee who becomes helpless by the will of the Lord is more fortunate than those who are born in good families. The fallen devotees born in a good family may forget the lotus feet of the Lord because they are less fortunate, but the devotee who is put into a forlorn condition is more fortunate because he swiftly returns to the lotus feet of the Lord, thinking himself helpless all around.
Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 1, Ch.5, Text 20] 1977 Edition
By His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
My dear Vyāsa, even though a devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa sometimes falls down somehow or other, he certainly does not undergo material existence like others [fruitive workers, etc.] because a person who has once relished the taste of the lotus feet of the Lord can do nothing but remember that ecstasy again and again.
Purport
A devotee of the Lord automatically becomes uninterested in the enchantment of material existence because he is rasa-graha, or one who has tasted the sweetness of the lotus feet of Lord Kṛṣṇa. There are certainly many instances where devotees of the Lord have fallen down due to uncongenial association, just like fruitive workers, who are always prone to degradation. But even though he falls down, a devotee is never to be considered the same as a fallen karmī. A karmī suffers the result of his own fruitive reactions, whereas a devotee is reformed by chastisement directed by the Lord Himself. The sufferings of an orphan and the sufferings of a beloved child of a king are not one and the same. An orphan is really poor because he has no one to take care of him, but a beloved son of a rich man, although he appears to be on the same level as the orphan, is always under the vigilance of his capable father. A devotee of the Lord, due to wrong association, sometimes imitates the fruitive workers. The fruitive workers want to lord it over the material world. Similarly, a neophyte devotee foolishly thinks of accumulating some material power in exchange for devotional service. Such foolish devotees are sometimes put into difficulty by the Lord Himself. As a special favor, He may remove all material paraphernalia. By such action, the bewildered devotee is forsaken by all friends and relatives, and so he comes to his senses again by the mercy of the Lord and is set right to execute his devotional service.
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17 Jan 2011
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in Devotee's, Devotional Service, Vaisesika das
Tags: Arjuna, bhagavad-gita, bhajate, bhakti, devotional service, dhyana yoga, karma yoga, Krishna, Vaisesika Dasa
Bhakti Notes:
by Vaisesika Dasa
FAQ: Why does it seem that Srila Prabhupada’s translations, word for word renditions and purports all seem to point only to Bhakti?
Answer: Srila Prabhupada’s purpose in presenting the Bhagavad gita As It Is, was to bring out Krsna’s ultimate conclusion of the Gita. This is the meaning of “As It Is.”
Some have speculated that in the Gita Krsna presents many paths and that any one of them is as good as another. However, Krsna clearly presents Bhakti as yoga’s summit even when He explains other processes like Karma Yoga and Dhyana Yoga to Arjuna.
In fact, all such processes are meant to bring one to surrender to the Lord in loving devotional service. The more one advances in devotional service, the more one is considered by Krsna to be advanced in yoga.
At the end of the sixth chapter in which Krsna has explained the arduous process of astanga yoga and meditation, He says:
Yoginam api sarvesam mad-gatenantar-atmana
sraddhavan bhajate yo mam sa me yutatamo matah
“And of all yogis, the one with great faith who always abides in Me, thinks of Me within himself, and renders transcendental loving service to Me- he is the most intimately united with Me in yoga and is the highest of all. That is my opinion.” Bg. 6.47
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17 Jan 2011
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in Hayagriva das, The Hare Krishna Explosion
Tags: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Calcutta, guru, Hare Krishna, hayagriva das, New York 1966., spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada, the hare krishna explosion, Visitor from Calcutta
The Hare Krishna Explosion
by Hayagriva dasa
Part I: New York, 1966
Chapter 1
Visitor From Calcutta
I first see him just after crossing the Bowery at Houston Street. As he passes before the iron-mesh fence of a playground, I distinctly glimpse the aura of saintliness. I watch him through the rushing traffic and stumbling derelicts.
He strolls almost jauntily down the sidewalk. He is an old man whom age has never touched. Aloof from the people and bustle about him, he walks proudly, independently, his hand in a cloth beadbag. He wears the saffron robes of a sannyasi, and on his feet are quaint, pointed white shoes.
Only seven months ago, I had seen many saffron-robed monks and holymen walking the dirt roads of Hardwar and Rishikesh, and stopping beside the Ganges to bathe. For me, that had been a futile journey to the mystic East in search of the all-knowing guru.
But now—what’s this?
I look again at the pointed white shoes. Did this man follow me all the way from North India? Or did he just suddenly descend from the clouds onto Manhattan sidewalks? I decide I must speak to him.
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14 Jan 2011
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in Devotional Service, Krishna Consciousness
Tags: devotees tulasi leaf, Srimati Radharani, Tulasi devi, Vrindavan
Glories of Srimati Tulasi Devi
By Bharath Singh
Srimati Tulasi devi is one of the most exalted devotees of Sri Krishna. All scriptures stress the importance of getting the mercy of Tulasi devi if one is to make progress on the path of devotion. In the Skanda Purana it is said:
“Tulasi is auspicious in all respects. Simply by seeing, simply by touching, simply by remembering, simply by praying to, simply by bowing before, simply by hearing about or simply by sowing this tree, there is always auspiciousness. Anyone who comes in touch with the Tulasi tree in the above-mentioned ways lives eternally in the Vaikuntha world.”
Above this material world is the eternal spiritual world comprised of millions of Vaikuntha planets. The topmost planet in Vaikuntha is Goloka, which is presided over by Sri Krishna in His original Form. Here resides Vrinda devi, an intimate associate of and an expansion of Srimati Radharani. Her partial expansion is Tulasi devi in the Vaikuntha planets and they are all considered non-different from Her. Five thousand years Ago, when Sri Krishna descended on Earth to perform His pastimes, Vrinda devi created the proper environment for His pastimes in Vrindavana.
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14 Jan 2011
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in Arsha Prayoga, Book Changes, Locanananda das
Tags: Adi-vani, Arsha Prayoga, book changes, Locanananda, MacMillan
Arsha Prayoga And Shakespeare (I)
By Sriman Locanananda Prabhu
The question as to whether the writings of the acarya may or may not be revised by his disciples after his disappearance is answered by the rule of “arsa prayoga”.
This principle states that one should not see mistakes in what the spiritual master has written or think that his writings may be changed to make them more effective or politically correct. To preserve his teachings in their originally published form is the way by which the acarya is honored, and to do otherwise is to dishonor him. That is the rule of “arsa prayoga”, a principle that devoted followers of a bona fide spiritual master must adhere to without deviation.
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13 Jan 2011
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Devotee's, Hansadutta das
Tags: Hansadutta, pulpit, Putana, Srila Bhaktisiddanta, Srila Bhaktivinoda, Vani Vibhava
Without the self-realized soul at its head…
By Hansadutta Prabhu
“The heart has reasons that reason fails to understand.”—Blaise Pascal
When the Acharya comes, he gathers around him so many people, but they’re bringing their own baggage and cannot prevail. It seems to be the rule that a collection of disciples can go only so far before there’s an overwhelming of their past.
“O well-wisher of the devotees. May you obtain peace! The nature that the living entities have developed, according to their respective karma from birth after birth in this world, influences them to engage in fruitive activities. Until desires opposed to devotional service are destroyed from the heart, no amount of good instruction can bring any auspiciousness. Such instructions will simply come out of the ear-holes and will not enter into the heart. No amount of preaching to them or discussing devotional service will produce a good result because of their bad karma. Your discourses and discussions will therefore not yield any result. My order to you is that you should live at the place where I kept My dear Haridasa and where I loudly chanted the holy names of the Lord. You should constantly sing the glories of the holy names for the benefit of the fallen souls. As a result of the piety that people will achieve by hearing from you, and the faith they will develop, they will attain unduplicitious faith in pure devotional service in a future lifetime.”—Mahaprabhu to Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur (Sri Bhaktivinoda Vani Vaibhava)
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09 Jan 2011
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in Books by Srila Prabhupada
Tags: Book Distribution, books by Srila Prabhupada, Krishna Books Inc., Teachings of Lord Caitanya, The Hare Krishna Movement, Wholesale books by KBI
Case of Teachings of Lord Caitanya
Case of Transcental Benediction
Teachings of Lord Caitanya
Classic 1968 Edition
A Treatise on Factual Spiritual Life
by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
This is the summary study of Lord Caitanya’s teachings in the Classic original edition. The life and teachings of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu who appeared in West Bengal, India in 1486 and Who spread love of Krishna all over India. Later His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhuapda brought the same message to the Western world.
We prostrate ourselves at the Lotus Feet of our Beloved Spiritual Master and offer this treasured book to His Divine Grace on our bowed heads. We came to Him looking for broken pieces of glass, and He has bestowed upon us a priceless gem. He has opened our eyes, which were blinded by the darkness of atheism, mental speculation, and sense gratification, to the glorious light of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. His Transcendental words are the seeds which in our hearts have bloomed into the perfection of Human life-the discovery that God lives and that we can live with Him-Krishna Consciousness. -The Publishers
Format: Hardcover, 5.5″ x 8″
Pages: 330
32 color plates
44 Hardcover books per case!
These can be purchased by going to the web page http://www.theharekrishnamovement.com/page/wholesale
04 Jan 2011
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in Letters by Srila Prabhupada
Srila Prabhupada Quote of the Day:
“…never compromised…”
Monday, 3 January, 1972
Bombay
Letter to Giriraja
“The fact is that I am the only one in India who is openly criticizing, not only demigod worship and impersonalism, but everything that falls short of complete surrender to Krishna. My Guru Maharaja never compromised in His preaching, nor will I nor should any of my students. We are firmly convinced that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and all other are His part and parcel servants.
This we must declare boldly to the whole world, that they should not foolishly dream of world peace unless they are prepared to surrender fully to Krishna as Supreme Lord.”
02 Jan 2011
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in Srila Prabhupada's Books
Tags: books by Srila Prabhupada, Krishna consciousness, pavitram, Raja-Vidya, self realization, the king of knowledge
Just knowing “I am not this body but am spirit soul” is not sufficient. We have to escape this entanglement of material nature. This is called mukti, liberation. Out of many thousands of persons who are in self-knowledge as to what and who they are, only one or two may be actually liberated.
And out of many thousands who are liberated, only one or two may understand what and who Krishna is. So understanding Krishna is not such an easy job. Thus in this age of Kali, an age characterized by ignorance and chaos, liberation is out of the reach of practically everyone.
One has to go through the whole ordeal of becoming civilized, then religious, and then one has to perform charities and sacrifices and come to the platform of knowledge, then to the stage of liberation, and finally, after liberation, to the understanding of what Krishna is. This process is also indicated in Bhagavad-gita:
brahma-bhutah prasannatma
na socati na kanksati
samah sarvesu bhutesu
mad-bhaktim labhate param
“One who is thus transcendentally situated at once realizes the Supreme Brahman. He never laments or desires to have anything; he is equally disposed to every living entity. In that state he attains pure devotional service unto Me.” (Bg. 18.54)
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01 Jan 2011
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in Book Changes, Devotee's, Govinda dasi
Tags: Bhagaji, Govinda dasi, Haleys comet, Iskcon, Srila Prabhupada, Sruta Kirta
Letter by
GOVINDA DASI
Paul Howard has brought up some very pertinent points. One, that there were in fact many tapes missing from that time period. Yes, this is true, and my understanding is that Tamal had those tapes and they somehow vanished. They were from the same time period that the July letter was written.
Two, the question of whether Prabhupada’s disciples accepted the zonal acharya eleven. Most of them did not. It is noteworthy that at the time when Srila Prabhupada left, it was understood that the initiations would continue uninterrupted just as they had been going on for some years. This was common knowledge.
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01 Jan 2011
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in Devotee's, Remembering Srila Prabhupada, Spiritual Life
Tags: books, devotee, guru, Krishna, spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada, Vyasasan das
Your Ever Well Wisher
My First Book
by Vyasasan das
I think we all remember very clearly where we were and what we were doing the day Srila Prabhupada first entered our lives. Many of the older devotees remember where they were when President John F. Kennedy was shot, or where they were when “The Beatles” appeared on the Ed Sullivan show. But our remembrance of Srila Prabhupada will outlive any mundane event in our lives, as our relationship with our Srila Prabhupada is an eternal relationship.
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01 Jan 2011
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in Devotee's, Krishna Consciousness, Spiritual Life
Tags: bona fied spiritual master, mahat-tattva, master of spirit, Padmapani das, Prabhupada connect, spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada
Prabhupada connect
by Padmapani Prabhu
Yet many times we still receive letters asking us how to connect with Srila Prabhupada now that he is apparently absent from our material vision. This should not be a mystery, since after all, Srila Prabhupada is a bona fide spiritual master, i.e. a master of spirit.
“A pure devotee of the Lord does not live on any planet of the material sky, nor does he feel any contact with material elements. His so-called material body does not exist, being surcharged with the spiritual current of the Lord’s identical interest, and thus he is permanently freed from all contaminations of the sum total of the mahat-tattva. He is always in the spiritual sky, which he attains by being transcendental to the sevenfold material covering by the effect of his devotional service. The conditioned souls are within the coverings, whereas the liberated soul is far beyond the cover.”
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The Hare Krishna Movement 