03 May 2021
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Maha-mantra, Mantra Meditation, Mantra Rock, Music, Padmapani das, Prabhupada Connection
Tags: Allen Ginsberg, Big Brother & The Holding Company, chanting Hare Krishna, mantra meditation, Mantra Rock, Moby Grape, Padmapani das, Prabhupada connect, Srila Prabhupada, The Grateful Dead
This is an older Editorial by my good friend Padmpani Prabhu over at Prabhupada Connection. I never tire of reading and re-reading his posts.
The Prabhupada Revolution
For many of us who came of age in the Sixties and Seventies, the counterculture and its promise of an alternative society based on love and peace was an important part of our lives. Art, music, poetry, philosophy, ecology and human rights were just a few of the buzzwords floating around the collective psyche of the Sixties generation. Revolution was in the air. “The establishment” was doomed and soon to be replaced with a kinder, gentler society. Peace would reign supreme and all peoples of the world would unite and be free from the chains of oppression. Or so we thought.
At the time it appeared that massive cultural changes were about to sweep away the capitalist system (or the “military-industrial-complex” as we used to call it). Every day there was a new victory for change. Underground newspapers proliferated, broadcasting the latest progress reports: the sit-ins, the love-ins, the be-ins, the antiwar and civil rights demonstrations, the Democratic National Convention of 1968, the Chicago Seven Trial, Woodstock, etc. Something was happening here, and it was big.
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19 Jul 2020
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Allen Ginsberg, chanting, George Harrison, peace
Tags: Allen Ginsberg, counterculture, Hare Krishna Mantra, Mantra Rock, peace, peace movement, peaceful protest, spiritual movement, spiritula revolution, Srila Prabhupada
Whatever Happened to the Revolution?
by Padmapani das
For many of us who came of age in the sixties and seventies, the counterculture and its promise of an alternative society based on love and peace was an important part of our lives. Art, music, poetry, philosophy, ecology and human rights were just a few of the buzzwords floating through the collective psyche of the sixties generation. Revolution was in the air. “The establishment” was doomed and soon to be replaced with a kinder society. Peace would reign supreme, and all peoples of the world would unite and be free from the chains of oppression. Or so we thought.
At the time, it appeared that massive cultural changes were about to sweep away the capitalist system (or the “military industrial complex,” as we liked to call it). Every day there was a new victory for change. Underground newspapers proliferated, broadcasting the latest progress reports: the sit-ins, the love-ins, the be-ins, the antiwar and civil rights demonstrations, the Democratic National Convention of 1968, the Chicago Seven Trial, Woodstock, etc. Something was happening here, and it was big.
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02 Apr 2016
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Allen Ginsberg, Back to Godhead, BTG magizine, Guru das, People, Roger Siegel
Tags: 518 Frederick Street San Francisco, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, Allen Ginsberg, BTG, conversation with Srila Prabhupada, Guru das, Krishna Consciousness Temple, swami
This morning I was cleaning out one of the sheds, and found this old suitcase filled with cassette tapes. There were some of the old Bhaktivedanta Archive tapes, Golden Avatar tapes, various lectures, bahjans and kirtans. I started to listed to some of the old vintage kirtans and lectures and I was filled with a nostalgic mood of yearning, for the early days of the Hare Krishna Movement. This lead me to re-examine the old Back to Godhead magazine issues. The following is one article I found very reminiscence of those early days.
A Conversation between A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami & Allen Ginsberg
Recorded by Guru Das Adhikary
Swamiji had come to San Francisco in late January, 1967 for the opening of the Krishna Consciousness Temple there, at 518 Frederick Street. Allen Ginsberg had always shown friendly and helpful interest in the Society; and he agreed to attend a giant “Mantra Rock Festival,” which the temple members were planning to hold in the Avalon Ballroom. And so, a few days before that event, the good poet came to early morning Kirtan (7 A. M.), and later joined the Swami upstairs in the apartment his pupils had rented for him.
We were sitting in the glow of this holy man, munching on Indian sweetballs cooked by the Swami, when Allen Ginsberg came through the door, a warm smile on his face.
The Swami offered him a sweetball: “Take.”
They sat in silence for a few moments, radiating mutual love.
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29 May 2015
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, The Hare Krishna Movement
Tags: Allen Ginsberg, Beatles, Bob Dylan, Grateful Dead, Hare Krishna Movement, Jack Kerouac, Janis Joplin and Big Brother, Jefferson Airplane, Moby Grape, Owsley Stanley, prabhupada, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Srila Prabhupada, the Hell's Angels, The Peace Formula, The Yoga of Love, Timothy Leary
My dear friend from the Prabhupada Connection, Padmpani Prabhu, sent me the following post in my mail box the other day and gave me his permission to post it. So with great pleasure we are posting it here.. Please, if you havn’t already, check out his famous site The Prabhupada Connection
Whatever Happened to the Revolution?
For many of us who came of age in the Sixties and Seventies, the counterculture and its promise of an alternative society based on love and peace was an important part of our lives. Art, music, poetry, philosophy, ecology and human rights were just a few of the buzzwords floating through the collective psyche of the Sixties generation. Revolution was in the air. “The establishment” was doomed and soon to be replaced with a kinder, gentler society. Peace would reign supreme and all peoples of the world would unite and be free from the chains of oppression. Or so we thought.
At the time, it appeared that massive cultural changes were about to sweep away the capitalist system (or the “military industrial complex,” as we used to call it). Every day there was a new victory for change. Underground newspapers proliferated, broadcasting the latest progress reports: the sit-ins, the love-ins, the be-ins, the antiwar and civil rights demonstrations, the Democratic National Convention of 1968, the Chicago Seven Trial, Woodstock, etc. Something was happening here, and it was big.
More
16 Feb 2014
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in George Harrison, Mukunda das Goswami, Srila Prabhupada, Sriman George Harrison
Tags: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Allen Ginsberg, Bobby Dylan, Derek Taylor, George Harrison, Govinda, Hare Krishna, John and Yoko, John Lennon, Living in the Material World, Mukunda das, mukunda das goswami, My Sweet Lord, Norman Mailer, Radha Krishna Temple Album, Rosemary, Srila Prabhupada, The Beatles, the hare krishna mantra, Timmy Leary, Tommy Cooper, Tommy Smothers, yoko ono
click on inage to enlarge
In the following conversation, taped at George’s home in England on September 4, 1982, George reveals some memorable experiences he has had chanting Hare Krishna and describes in detail his deep personal realizations about the chanting. He reveals what factors led him to produce “The Hare Krishna Mantra” record, “My Sweet Lord,” and the LPs All Things Must Pass and Living in the Material World, which were all influenced to a great extent by the Hare Krishna chanting and philosophy. He speaks lovingly and openly about his association with His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder-Acarya (spiritual master) of the Hare Krishna movement. In the following interview George speaks frankly about his personal philosophy regarding the Hare Krishna movement, music, yoga, reincarnation, karma, the soul, God, and Christianity. The conversation concludes with his fond remembrances of a visit to the birthplace of Lord Krishna in Vrndavana, India, home of the Hare Krishna mantra, and with George discussing some of his celebrity friends’ involvement with the mantra now heard and chanted around the world.
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21 Apr 2013
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Bhagavad-gita, Krishna Consciousness, Prostitutes
Tags: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Allen Ginsberg, Bilvamangala Thakura, brahman family, candalas, cintamani, cintmani, devotee of the Lord, devotional service, prostitute, prostitute-hunter, Sri Bilvamangala Thakura, Srila Prabhupada, sucinam srimatam gehe
This I found this extremely interesting from my reading this morning, how even the prostitutes some 5,000 years ago in the time of Lord Krsna were accepted as necessary citizens for the proper upkeep of society. They were not condemned by the Lord, but rather He greeted them with the proper etiquette. Krishna says in the Bhagavad-gita… “even the low-born caṇḍālas and those who are born in a family of unbelievers, and even the prostitutes, shall attain perfection of life if they take shelter of unalloyed devotional service to Me, because in the path of devotional service there are no impediments due to degraded birth and occupation. The path is open for everyone who agrees to follow it.”
At the same time, many hundreds of well-known prostitutes began to proceed on various vehicles. They were all very eager to meet the Lord, and their beautiful faces were decorated with dazzling earrings, which enhanced the beauty of their foreheads.(SB 1.11.19)
…We may not hate even the prostitutes if they are devotees of the Lord. Even to date there are many prostitutes in great cities of India who are sincere devotees of the Lord. By tricks of chance one may be obliged to adopt a profession which is not very adorable in society, but that does not hamper one in executing devotional service to the Lord. Devotional service to the Lord is uncheckable in all circumstances.
Śrī Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura, a great ācārya of the Viṣṇusvāmī Vaiṣṇava sect, in his householder life was overly attached to a prostitute who happened to be a devotee of the Lord. One night when the Ṭhākura came to Cintāmaṇi’s house in torrents of rain and thunder, Cintāmaṇi was astonished to see how the Ṭhākura could come on such a dreadful night after crossing a foaming river which was full of waves. She said to Ṭhākura Bilvamaṅgala that his attraction for the flesh and bone of an insignificant woman like her would be properly utilized if it could be diverted to the devotional service of the Lord to achieve attraction for the transcendental beauty of the Lord. It was a momentous hour for the Ṭhākura, and he took a turn towards spiritual realization by the words of a prostitute. Later on the Ṭhākura accepted the prostitute as his spiritual master, and in several places of his literary works he has glorified the name of Cintāmaṇi, who showed him the right path. (SB 1.11.19 Purport)
It is clearly declared by the Supreme Lord, that in devotional service, there is no distinction between the lower or higher classes of people. In the material conception of life, there are such divisions, but for a person engaged in transcendental devotional service to the Lord, there are not. Everyone is eligible for the supreme destination. (Bg 9.32 Purport)
In the second part of the post there is a conversation with Allen Ginsberg on the life of Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura
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23 Nov 2012
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in Free Downloads, Free eBooks, Hayagriva das, The Hare Krishna Explosion
Tags: Allen Ginsberg, Golden Gate Park, hayagriva das, New Vrindavan, Paramhansa in the Hills, Srila Prabhupada, swami, the furu and the poet, the hare krishna explosion, The Hare Krishna Movement
This is the index to the Contents of “The Hare Krishna Explosion” by Hayagriva dasa. We have posted it here almost in its entirety. This index will give you immediate access to the chapters by clicking on the following underlined links.
Also for a free PDF download, you can click on link at bottom of post.
The Hare Krishna Explosion
The Birth of Krishna Consciousness in America 1966 – 1969
by Hayagriva dasa
Contents
Note and Preface
Part I: New York, 1966
1) Visitor from Calcutta
2) Transcendental Invitations
3) Who Is Crazy?
4) Second Avenue Fire Sacrifice
5) The Hare Krishna Explosion
6) Back to Godhead
Part II: San Francisco, 1967
7) Swami in Hippieland
8) Flowers for Lord Jagannatha
9) Mad After Krishna
10) Soul Struck
11) San Francisco Rathayatra
12) Passage to India
Part III: New Vrindaban, 1968-1969
13) Enter, Srila Prabhupada
14) New Vrindaban, West Virginia
15) Seven Temples on Seven Hills
16) Krishna, The Flower-bearing Spring
17) The Guru and The Poet
18) Paramhansa in the Hills
Glossary of Non-English Words
The Author
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22 Feb 2012
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in Bhagavad-gita, Book Changes, Devotee's, Satyaraja das
Tags: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Allen Ginsberg, Bhagavad-gita As It Is, Brahmananda das, Bruce Scharf, Macmillan Edition, prabhupada, Rayarama das, Satyaraja das, Srila Prabhupada's Bhagavad-gita
To purchase a copy of the original 1972 Macmillan Edition of Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad-gita As It Is, click on image to visit online store
The surprising events surrounding the initial publication of Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad-gita As It Is.
The Macmillan Miracle
By Sriman Satyaraja Prabhu
The Bhagavad-gita was important to Srila Prabhupada. He saw it as the perfect book to convey Krishna consciousness, as it consists of the Lord’s own words and His interactions with His loving devotee. In 1939, just seven years after Prabhupada was initiated by his spiritual master, he wrote a lengthy introduction to the book in English, presaging his full translation and commentary, which appeared soon after he began his mission in the West.
When Prabhupada arrived in New York in 1965, he gave priority to his work on the Gita. In India he had already completed a translation, spanning well over a thousand pages, but it was stolen. In March 1966, Prabhupada was adjusting to life in the Western world when he met with another loss: his typewriter, cassette recorder, and several books were taken from him. But he was resilient and determined to complete his work. In 1967 he finished the new manuscript, again over a thousand pages, and resolved to get a major publisher so that his message would be heard throughout the world.
At the time, Allen Ginsberg, famous poet of the Beat Generation, was visiting the New York temple, and he was enjoying a friendly relationship with Srila Prabhupada. Since Ginsberg was an experienced published author, Prabhupada asked him to show the manuscript to his benefactors, which Ginsberg did. But they were unimpressed, claiming the book had little commercial value.
Prabhupada then gave the manuscript to Rayarama Dasa, an early disciple with some experience in the publishing world. Rayarama, too, was unsuccessful in his attempts, his contacts explaining their hesitation in much the same way that Ginsberg’s did.
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01 Jul 2011
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in Hayagriva das, The Hare Krishna Explosion
Tags: Allen Ginsberg, chanting Hare Krishna, Dai Nippon Press, Guru and the Poet, hayagriva das, krsna consciousness, Lord Chaitanya, New Vrindaban, prabhupada, Srila Prabhupada, the hare krishna explosion
The Hare Krishna Explosion
by Hayagriva das
Part III: New Vrindaban, 1968-1969
Chapter 17
The Guru and the Poet
In his room, Prabhupada reads from an advance copy of Teachings of Lord Chaitanya, which he has paid Dai Nippon Press to print. Prabhupada is very pleased.
“Now that they have done this nicely,” he says, “we can make immediate plans to print our Krishna book.”
Kirtanananda and Pradyumna prepare prasadam for distribution tomorrow. New announcements are posted on campus: SWAMI BHAKTIVEDANTA AND ALLEN GINSBERG: A NIGHT OF KRISHNA CONSCIOUSNESS IN COLUMBUS. MAY 12. TRANSCENDENTAL PASTIMES. ECSTATIC ILLUMINATIONS.
Prabhupada talks about the financing of “the Krishna book,” which is to be a summary of the Tenth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam, dealing specifically with the pastimes of Lord Krishna in Vrindaban and Mathura. George Harrison is particularly interested and has offered to donate printing expenses.
“Just see how these books are attracting,” Prabhupada says. “My Guru Maharaj always said that books are the big mridanga.“
At nine p.m., Allen Ginsberg enters. He has just flown in from Louisville, Kentucky. Concluding a long tour of college poetry readings, he is eager to return to his Cherry Valley farm in upstate New York. When he sees Prabhupada, he smiles broadly.
“Hare Krishna!” he says. As always, Allen touches Prabhupada’s feet, offering obeisances, then sits cross-legged on the floor. “So, we’ll sing tomorrow?”
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11 Jun 2011
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in Hayagriva das, The Hare Krishna Explosion
Tags: Allen Ginsberg, aratik offerings, bhagavad-gita, hayagriva das, Krishna consciousness program, New Vrindavan, New Vrindavan West Virginia, Srila Prabhupada, the hare krishna explosion
The Hare Krishna Explosion
by Hayagriva das
Part III: New Vrindaban, 1968-1969
Chapter 16
Krishna, The Flower-bearing Spring
I return to West Virginia in time for a major snowstorm. Aghasura Road becomes a shimmering white path through a fantasy land of icicles. In the little farmhouse, nucleus of our transcendental village, it is impossible to keep warm. Cold air somehow seeps through the old floorboards and cuts through cracks. We stoke the woodfire in the steel oil drum. At night, the oil drum glows crimson, like a self-contained galaxy in the dark blue cold of space.
We are spared the worst northwest winds sweeping down from the Arctic and Canada, and across the plains from northern Ohio, for our wise pioneers built the little house on the eastern side of Govardhan Hill. Still, the sun rises late, reluctantly. We sit two hours in the predawn darkness, chanting aratik mantras, reading Bhagavad-gita, and stoking the fire. There are always logs to cut, brambles to break, firewood to haul in to dry before burning.
The predawn hours are the coldest. We stand wrapped in blankets before the little altar as Kirtanananda offers incense, camphor, ghee, water, handkerchief, flower, peacock fan, and yak-tail whisk to the Radha Krishna and Jagannatha Deities.
“When making aratik offerings,” he writes Prabhupada, “is it proper to meditate on the different parts of the Lord’s body?”
Prabhupada writes back no. “The Lord is actually there with you,” he replies. “And you are seeing all of His bodily features, so there’s no need to meditate that way. Food should be offered before aratik…”
Of course, this means getting up earlier to cook. We take turns tending the fire. I don’t thaw out until I’m in my office in Columbus.
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13 Mar 2011
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in Krishna Consciousness, The Hare Krishna Movement
Tags: 26 Second Ave., Allen Ginsberg, Beatles, devotee's, Godbrothers, Godsisters, Hair, krsna consciousness, Lord Shiva, My Sweet Lord, Padmapani das, Parvati, Radha Krsna Temple, Sriman George Harrison, Supreme Personality of Godhead
Forever Grateful to Srila Prabhupada
By Sriman Padmapani Prabhu
Thinking back to the late sixties and early seventies, I fondly remember how the Hare Krsna mantra had already infiltrated contemporary culture due to Srila Prabhupada’s extraordinary efforts to spread the holy names throughout the world. A number of famous musicians and artists had begun to discover the chanting and were promoting it in their records and books.
For example, the Broadway musical “Hair” was a big hit and the accompanying record — which included the chanting of Hare Krsna — became a popular staple on the radio. George Harrison recorded the song “My Sweet Lord” with the melodious chanting of Krsna’s names in the background, and prior to that, the words “Hare Krsna” could be found on one of the Beatles’ albums. Poet Allen Ginsberg, a self-styled leader of the new counterculture, had visited India and picked up the mantra there. He subsequently wrote about the chanting in at least one or more of his poetry books. After meeting Prabhupada at 26 Second Avenue in the Lower East Side of New York, Ginsberg increased his dedication to the holy names and often chanted them during “be-ins” and poetry readings. When John Lennon and Yoko Ono staged their famous “bed-in” at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal in 1969, the devotees were there singing Hare Krsna during the recording of “Give Peace a Chance.” The “Radha Krsna Temple” album produced by George Harrison in 1970 in co-operation with the London devotees could be found in record stores throughout Europe and North America. Such was the widespread influence of Srila Prabhupada’s dynamic preaching efforts even though he had only been in the western world for a short period of time. Srila Prabhupada was already expertly fulfilling the order of his spiritual master, His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Maharaj.
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13 Mar 2011
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in Hayagriva das, The Hare Krishna Explosion
Tags: Allen Ginsberg, bhagavad-gita, bohemians, Digger's, gathering of the tribes, Golden Gate Park, Grateful Dead, Haight Ashbury, Hayagriva, Hell's Angels, hippies, Janis Joplin, Kirtanananda, LSD, Mantra Rock, matchless gifts, Mukunda, psychedelic age, San Francisco 1967, Srila Prabhuapada, Swamiji
The Hare Krishna Explosion
by Hayagriva das
Part II: San Francisco, 1967
Chapter 7
Swami in Hippyland
January 17, 1967. When Swamiji descends from the plane and enters the San Francisco airport, he is greeted by a group of about fifty young people. As he is questioned by the press, he extends his usual transcendental invitations.
“We welcome everyone, in any condition of life, to come to our temple and hear the message of Krishna consciousness,” he says.
“Does that include Haight-Ashbury hippies and bohemians?” a reporter asks.
“Everyone, including you or anyone else,” Swamiji says. “Whatever you are—what you call an acid-head, or hippy, or whatever—what you are doesn’t matter. Once you are accepted for training, you will change.”
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08 Mar 2011
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in Hayagriva das, The Hare Krishna Explosion
Tags: Allen Ginsberg, back to Godhead, hayagriva das, Krishna consciousness, Mantra Rock, Swamiji, the hare krishna explosion, The Hare Krishna Movement
The Hare Krishna Explosion
by Hayagriva das
Part I: New York, 1966
Chapter 6
Back to Godhead
“October 21, 1966. I walk into Swamiji’s room, offer obeisances, and he hands me the first three volumes of Srimad-Bhagavatam, which he had printed in India.
“Here,” he says. “Take and read.”
I open the books. In the front of each, he has written my spiritual name. “With my best blessings, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami.”
“Oh, thank you, Swamiji,” I say.
“That’s all right,” he says, smiling. “Now you compile this Back To Godhead magazine.”
Back to Godhead! That is, we were there once. It’s a question of recovering a lost land. As Swamiji says: “I have come to remind you of what you have forgot.”
Following the orders of his spiritual master, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati, Swamiji began Back To Godhead in 1944. Published bi-monthly in India from 1944 to 1956, Back To Godhead established Swamiji as one of India’s leading personalists. Now Swamiji enjoins Rayarama and me to introduce it to the West.
“Work sincerely,” he tells us,”and make it as big as your Time Magazine.”
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