03 Mar 2011
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in Devotee's, Hasti Gopala das
Tags: disciple, guru, Hasti Gopal, Sprititual Master, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta, Srila Prabhupada
Srila Prabhupada – The Master Disciple
By Sri Hasti Gopala Dasa, Toronto, Canada.
Srila Prabhupada is the master disciple. He’s showing us by his example how to be a first class disciple. That example is continuing and the revelations will continue as we read his original books throughout the rest of our lives. The perfection of life is to follow strictly the bona fide spiritual master and make his orders, the life and soul of our disciplic position. By repeating without change his eternal message of how to love God Krishna, will be the perfection of life. He has told us this many times and he has masterfully followed it himself in the most perfect manner. Indeed he continues to do so.
So as much as we follow purely, we will become leaders but that following means to become as much as sincerely possible a master disciple.
The carpentry master has within himself the apprentice. The master may draw on the experience and knowledge of his apprenticeship but the apprentice cannot draw on the experience and knowledge of being a master carpenter. First we must become first class disciples of Srila Prabhupada…everyone. Then automatically leading others towards the same path of bhakti yoga will take its natural course.
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01 Mar 2011
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in Devotee's, Srila Prabhupada, Yasodanandana das
Tags: Acarya, devotees, Gaudiya Vaisnava sampradaya, golden age, Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Sampradaya Acharya, spiritual authority, Srila Prabhupada, Yasodanandana dasa
Srila Prabhupada: The Unique Acarya
By Sri Yasodanandana Dasa
The unique position of His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada in the Gaudiya Vaisnava sampradaya is supported as follows:
As the Acarya of his movement-
“I wish that each and every center shall keep the Acarya in the center and keep their separate identity” (1967 letter).
His unique position as the foremost spiritual authority for the golden age-
“My books will be the law books for the next ten thousand years”
(Srila Prabhupada statement in Los Angeles, 1976).
Statement by Locana das Thakura (middle of the 16th century)-
In the Caitanya Mangala the future appearance of a great senapati bhakta who would preach Krishna consciousness all over the world is predicted.
Statement by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu-
In the Caitanya-caritamrta the Lord Himself predicts “Prthivite ache yadi nagaradi grama, sarvatra pracara hoibe more nama” (translation: “My holy name will be chanted in every town and village”). Srila Prabhupada fulfilled that prediction by his factual accomplishments.
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01 Mar 2011
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in Hayagriva das, The Hare Krishna Explosion
Tags: hayagriva das, India, Janmastami, Krishna consciousness, Lord Krishna, second ave., Swamiji, the hare krishna explosion
The Hare Krishna Explosion
by Hayagriva Prabhu
Part I: New York, 1966
Chapter 4
Second Avenue Fire Sacrifice
September 8, 1966. Janmastami. Lord Krishna, we learn, is not born like an ordinary child. He appears. Five thousand years ago, in Mathura, India, He appeared as four-armed Narayana, attired in His transcendental garments. At His mother’s request, He assumed a two-armed form, like an ordinary child. Sri Krishna is most obliging to His devotees.
“Today we will fast,” Swamiji tells us. “Normally we do not fast all day. Krishna consciousness is not for one who eats too much or too little. Gandhi fasted many days for political reasons, but we don’t. In Bhagavad-gita, that kind of fasting is considered rajasic, or passionate. We fast according to regulations: Ekadasi, the eleventh day of the full moon, we take no grains. That is a partial fast. And Janmastami, there is complete fast all day until midnight. So today we will fast and chant, and tomorrow there will be initiation.”
There are eleven of us to be initiated. Roy buys us beads for chanting, a hundred and eight round wooden beads the size of marbles. Standing in the courtyard behind the temple, I string them into a rosary called a japa-mala. While chanting, I carefully slide each bright, red bead up the string and then knot it. It takes hours to complete knotting all the beads. When I ask Swamiji why there are a hundred and eight, he tells me that they represent the gopis, the Vrindaban cowherd girls beloved of Lord Krishna.
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26 Feb 2011
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in Hayagriva das, The Hare Krishna Explosion
Tags: 26 Second Ave., Hare Krishna Explosion, hayagriva das, New York 1966., Srila Prabhupada
The Hare Krishna Explosion
by Hayagriva das
Part I: New York, 1966
Chapter 3
Who is Crazy?
Twenty-six Second Avenue. Matchless Gifts. No doubt, to most New Yorkers, nothing more than the kind of squalid storefront someone might open a pawnshop in. What with traffic noise and our neighbors—Cosmos Parcels Express Corporation, Gonzalez Funeral Home, Weitzner Brothers Memorials, The Red Star Bar, and a Mobil gas station—no one would think it Vaikuntha. But for us, Matchless Gifts becomes a temple, a part of Vrindaban, because of Swamiji’s presence and the words spoken here.
Keith, Wally, and I rummage through the Mott Street apartment, gather souvenirs from the recent India trip—two rugs, a dozen paintings, three silk wall hangings, and two brass hookah tops—and take them to Second Avenue.
Then, unknown to Swamjji, we start decorating the Matchless Gifts storefront, turning it into a temple befitting Krishna’s messenger. That is, as far as we are able.
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22 Feb 2011
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in Bhadra Priya Devi, Devotee's
Tags: Bhadra Priya Devi Dasi, Book Distribution, Canada, devotional service, Hari nam sankirtan, milk sweets, Montreal, Radha Ksira Cora Gopinath, Toronto
The Departure of Bhadra Priya Devi Dasi, Srila Prabhupada’s daughter
by Nirmala, Sumati and Devarsi das
Bhadra Priya joined ISKCON in 1972 in Montreal, Canada. Shortly thereafter she moved to the temple in Toronto where she was initiated by His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada in 1973. She did many different types of service including nam sankirtan and book distribution. One special service that she was known for was cooking milk sweets for Radha Ksira Cora Gopinath for up to 10 hours each day. She was really absorbed in this service and was especially happy when she was able to create a different type of sweet for the Lord’s pleasure.
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20 Feb 2011
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in Arsha Prayoga, Book Changes, Locanananda das
Tags: Arsha Prayoga, book changes, Krishna consciousness, Locanananda, rasalila, spiritual master, translate
Arsha Prayoga Part II
By Sriman Locanananda Prabhu
Srila Prabhupada’s desire was to see his books translated into all of the major languages of the world. By 1970, numerous centers had opened in countries outside of the United States and translation work had begun in Germany, France, Canada, South America and Japan. When the German devotees undertook the translation of the Srimad Bhagavatam, they discovered what they thought were grammatical discrepancies in the original English. The translators reasoned that if their spiritual master could publish his books with flaws included, then their own translation work could also contain mistakes and no harm would be done. In a very strongly-worded letter, Srila Prabhupada chastised his disciples for thinking they could imitate their spiritual master and explained that to avoid this offense, they must follow the principle of arsha prayoga.
One should not see mistakes in the books written by his spiritual master, nor should one think he is able take the same liberties taken by him. His Divine Grace warned his disciples that only if they were able to spread Krishna consciousness all over the world as he had done could discrepancies in their translation work be overlooked, otherwise not.
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12 Feb 2011
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in Devotee's, Govinda dasi, Vyas-puja
Tags: Govinda dasi, The Centennial Dream, Vyasas Puja
THE CENTENNIAL DREAM (Vyas Puja offering written in 1996)
This offering was written in 1996, but never published, so I am submitting it now, in 2010, as it is as valid today as it was in 1996. Thank you, your servant, Govindasi
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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 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 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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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 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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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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31 Dec 2010
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in Arsha Prayoga, Book Changes, Locanananda das
Tags: arsa prayoga, BBT, bhagavad-gita, book changes, Locanananda, prabhupada
Arsha Prayoga Part (I) – Resistance To Change
By Locanananda Prabhu
Let me first offer my prostrated obeisances unto the lotus feet of that supreme swan-like devotee of the Lord, our spiritual master, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, by whose mercy the fallen souls of Kali Yuga may taste the sweetness of the narrations of the pastimes of the Lord and His pure devotees. As the bonafide representative of Sri Vyasadeva, he composed a mountain of transcendental literature to enlighten the entire human society, explaining even the most confidential truths regarding vaisnava philosophy.
His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada displayed all of the symptoms of an empowered jiva soul, working tirelessly to distribute the transcendental message of love of Godhead throughout the world. It is therefore the duty of his followers to preserve the legacy and protect the honor of such a great spiritual personality whose every moment was dedicated to the spreading of Krishna consciousness.
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Srila Prabhupada – The Master Disciple
The Hare Krishna Movement 