09 Mar 2011
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in Letters by Srila Prabhupada
Tags: 16 rounds, back to Godhead, bona fied spiritual master, devotional service, initiated disciple, Ravindra Gupta das, Srila Prabhupada
Vrindaban, Tuesday, 12 February, 1974:
Dear Ravendra Gupta, please accept my blessings. I have only recently received your letter of February 6, 1974, due to travelling.
I am very glad to hear you are following my instructions by chanting 16 rounds daily. In order to chant offenselessly, so that the chanting will have the greatest effect, one must avoid the four sinful activities.
You have asked “How serious would it be for me if I should miss the golden opportunity to become your initiated disciple?” You should know that the value of accepting a bona fide spiritual master is more than we can calculate.
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05 Mar 2011
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in Narada-bhakti-sutra
Tags: brahma-buta, brahman, brahmojyoti effulgence, devotional service, Narada Muni, Narayan, pure love of God, self realization, Spiritual Life, Srila Prabhupada, Srimad Bhagavatam
Narada-bhakti-sutra Text 2
Translation & Purport by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
TRANSLATION
Devotional service manifests as the most elevated, pure love for God.
PURPORT
As stated before, after attaining the highest stage of self-realization, one becomes situated in devotional service to the Lord. The perfection of devotional service is to attain love of God. Love of God involves the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the devotee, and the process of devotional service. Self-realization, the brahma-bhūta stage, is the beginning of spiritual life; it is not the perfectional stage. If a person understands that he is not his body and that he has nothing to do with this material world, he becomes free from material entanglement. But that realization is not the perfectional stage.
The perfectional stage begins with activity in the self-realized position, and that activity is based on the understanding that a living entity is eternally the subordinate servitor of the Supreme Lord. Otherwise, there is no meaning to self-realization. If one is puffed up with the idea that he is the Supreme Brahman, or that he has become one with Nārāyaṇa, or that he has merged into the brahmajyoti effulgence, then he has not grasped the perfection of life. As the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.2.32) states,
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04 Mar 2011
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in Bhagavat das, Book Changes, Devotee's
Tags: bhagavad-gita, Bhagavat das, book changes, devotee, Gour Govinda Swami, Jayawaita Swami, Krishna, Sanskrit, Srila Prabhupada, Srimad Bhagavatam, Surpreme Personality of Godhead
Leave the books alone!
by Bhagavat das
My Dear Godbrothers and Godsisters:
Please accept my most humble obeisances! All Glories to Srila Prabhupada!
I am very glad that we as disciples of Srila Prabhupada are finally doing something about this great offense to our Spiritual Master. I would like to tell three stories that are personal experiences of mine with Srila Prabhupada and his books. It is my earnest hope that these stories will once and for all lay to rest the controversy of anyone ever editing Srila Prabhupadas books.
The first story takes place in Mayapur where Srila Prabhupada was talking about why he came to the material world.
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04 Mar 2011
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in Chanting Hare Krishna, Krishna Consciousness
Tags: Caitanya-caritamrita, chanting Hare Krishna, hansadutta das, Hare Hare, Hare Krishna, Hare Rama, Krishna consciousness, Krishna Krishna, Srila Prabhupada
Krishna Consciousness in a Nutshell
By Sriman Hansadutta Prabhu
Self-realization the Aim of Life
Krishna consciousness is the original consciousness of every living being, and it is explained in different Vedic literatures. One of these literatures is the Chaitanya-charitamrita. Chaitanya-charitamrita means “characteristic of the eternal living force”. Every living being is eternal by nature, and because he is eternal, he cannot be happy in this material world, which is a temporary arrangement, however wonderful it may be. It is the duty of every living entity to learn the science of Krishna, or the science of the self, and to make himself perfect. He will attain freedom from the temporary world of material creation by reviving his original love of Krishna. In this way, he will return home, back to Godhead, which is the aim of all human endeavors, be they scientific, economic, artistic or cultural.
No one lives forever
Every living creature is subjected to four basic miseries, beginning with birth, continuing into old age and disease, and ending in death. No one wants to be miserable—everyone wants to be happy—but material nature functions in such a way that no one can be happy.
Ignoring this basic truth, modern thinkers, politicians, scientists, educators and artists are all struggling against the stringent laws of nature. They think by material adjustments they will find the happiness they hanker for. In spite of all comforts and the advancement of science, economics and politics, no one is happy—if for no other reason than life is temporary.
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04 Mar 2011
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in Hayagriva das, The Hare Krishna Explosion
Tags: beads, chant and sing the Lord's holy names, chapter 5, devotees, Hare Hare, Hare Krishna, Hare Rama, hayagriva das, Krishna Krishna, Mott Street, Rama Rama, Srila Prabhupada, Swamiji, the hare krishna explosion, The Hare Krishna Movement, vegetarian
The Hare Krishna Explosion
by Hayagriva Prabhu
Part I: New York, 1966
Chapter 5
The Hare Krishna Explosion
“If Krishna sees you are taking one step toward Him,” Swamiji says, “He will take ten toward you. He is so happy to see you turn to Him. He is more eager to see us return to Godhead than we are to go.”
Back in the Mott Street apartment, I stare at myself in the mirror and repeat my new name. “Now you are Krishna’s,” I think, inspecting the new kanthi beads around my neck. “These are Krishna’s dog collars, and they don’t come off.”
We all optimistically resolve to try to follow the rules. For most of us, meat eating and gambling pose no problems. Rules governing sex and intoxicants, however, force some rapid changes in living patterns. I decide to convert the old Mott Street apartment into a brahmachari ashram. Down come the psychedelic posters, and up go pictures of lotus-eyed Krishna.
The next day at the temple, we find a new notice posted on the bathroom door. There are additional rules and regulations written neatly in ink by Swamiji himself.
NOTICE
All initiated devotees must attend morning and evening classes. Must not be addicted to any kind of intoxicants, including coffee, tea and cigarettes. They are forbidden to have illicit sex-connections. Must be strictly vegetarian. Should not extensively mix with non-devotees. Should not eat foodstuffs cooked by non-devotees. Should not waste time in idle talks nor engage in frivolous sports. Should always chant and sing the Lord’s holy names, Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna. Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.
Thank you.
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, Acharya
Umapati says nothing when he reads the notice. Rayarama simply chuckles.
“No coffee, no tea,” he says, shaking his head.
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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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02 Mar 2011
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in Books by Srila Prabhupada, Sri Caitanya-Caritamrta
Tags: back to Godhead, Lord Caitanya, Madhya-lila, madman, mercy, Sri Caitanya-carimrta, Srila Prabhupada, Srimad Bhagavatam
Sri Caitanya-caritmrta
by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Madhaya-lila Vol. 5 Text 237-239
TRANSLATION TEXT 237
“Be patient and return home. Don’t be a crazy fellow. By and by you will be able to cross the ocean of material existence.
PURPORT
As stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.14.58):
samāśritā ye pada-pallava-plavaṁ
mahat-padaṁ puṇya-yaśo-murāreḥ
bhavāmbudhir vatsa-padaṁ paraṁ padaṁ
padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadāṁ na teṣām
This material world is just like a big ocean. It begins with Brahmaloka and extends to Pātālaloka, and there are many planets, or islands, in this ocean. Not knowing about devotional service, the living entity wanders about this ocean, just as a man tries to swim to reach the shore. Our struggle for existence is similar to this. Everyone is trying to get out of the ocean of material existence. One cannot immediately reach the coast, but if one endeavors, he can cross the ocean by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s mercy. One may be very eager to cross this ocean, but he cannot attain success by acting like a madman. He must swim over the ocean very patiently and intelligently under the instructions of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu or His representative. Then, one day, he will reach the shore and return home, back to Godhead.
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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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28 Feb 2011
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in Devotional Service, Narada-bhakti-sutra
Tags: Absolute Truth, bhakti, devotional service, jnana-yoga, joyfulness, karma yoga, liberation, mystic processes, Narada Muni, Srila Prabhupada
Narada-bhakti-sutra
Translation and Purport by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Text One
TRANSLATION
Now, therefore, I will try to explain the process of devotional service.
PURPORT
Devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā, where the Lord says that a self-realized person is always in the transcendental state known as brahma-bhūta, which is characterized by joyfulness. When one is self-realized he becomes joyful. In other words, he is free from the material contamination of lamentation and hankering. As long as we are in material existence, we lament for the losses in our life and hanker for that which we do not have. A self-realized person is joyful because he is free from material lamentation and hankering.
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27 Feb 2011
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in Srila Prabhupada's Books
Tags: bhagavad-gita, Krishna Conscious, Los Angeles, Nectar of Devotion, Srila Prabhupada, Srutakirti das, Supreme Lord
Prabhupada Reading His Own Books
by Srutakirti Prabhu
Entering Srila Prabhupada’s quarters was always an enlightening experience. Sometimes Srila Prabhupada sat and read his books. Whenever he read it seemed as if someone else had written his books because he didn’t read with the mind of an author who might be looking for editing mistakes or grammatical errors. He read them with the relish of a pure devotee reading the pastimes of the Supreme Lord to whom He was completely attached.
One day in Los Angeles I went into his room to perform my duties and he was sitting and readingBhagavad Gita As It Is. After I offered obeisances he looked at me and said, “If you just read this one book and understand, you will become Krishna Conscious in this very life.”
A few months later when I went into his room, he was reading Nectar of Devotion. He looked at me and said, “This book is so nice. Just by reading this one book you can become Krishna Conscious.”
Srila Prabhupada teaches us by example. He does everything he asks us to do. He requests us to read his books and he does, too.
27 Feb 2011
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in Books by Srila Prabhupada, The Hare Krishna Movement
Tags: bhagavad-gita, bhakti yoga, by the case, devotee, original, Song of God, spiritual books, Srila Prabhupada, The Hare Krishna Movement, wholesale books, yoga
By them by the case!!!
Case of the Original “Classic” 1972 Edition Bhagavad-gita “As It Is” by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
In High Quality Hard Bound Cover.
This is the compact , Complete Edition of Srila Prabhupada’s 1972 Macmillan edition. This edition is the most widely read Gita in the world. Written by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who is the world’s foremost Vedic scholar and teacher. He represents an unbroken chain of fully self-realized spiritual masters beginning with Lord Krsna Himself. Thus, unlike other editions of the Gita, his edition conveys Lord Krsna’s profound message as it is-without the slightest taint of adulteration or personally motivated change. Replete with sixteen full-color plates, this new edition is certain to stimulate and enlighten any reader with its ancient yet thoroughly timely teachings.
Bhagavad-gita is universally renowned as the jewel of India’s spiritual wisdom. Spoken by Lord Sri Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, to His intimate devotee Arjuna, the Gita’s seven hundred concise verses provide a definitive guide to the science of self-realization. Indeed, no work even compares in its revelations of man’s essential nature, his environment and, ultimately, his relationship with God.
Special Features
• Original Sanskrit Text
• English transliterations for each Sanskrit word
• Elaborate commentary
• Complete glossary
• Complete verse index
• High readability
• Profuse full-color illustrations
Original 1972 Complete edition. With translations and elaborate purports by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.
Hard-cover, 1008 pages, 48 color plates. 5″ x 7.5″
20 Books per case!
Note; Also available by the case in High Quality Soft Bound cover
You can purchase these and other of Srila Prabhupada’s original works on-line by visiting
http://www.theharekrishnamovement.com/page/wholesale
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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24 Feb 2011
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in Practicing Krishna Consciousness at Home, Prasadam
Tags: bhakti yoga, devotion, devotional service, God, Krishna, Lord Caitanya, Lord Krishna, love, Prasadam, Srila Prabhupada, yoga
How to Offer Your Food To The Lord
Everything comes from God (Krishna), the air we breath, the water we drink, and the food we eat. But this process of Krishna Consciousness or bhakti-yoga, is the method for re-awakeing our dormant love for God. When you love someone, then there is service. Isn’t this so? A mother loves her baby, and cares for the babies needs; she baths the baby, dresses the baby, feeds the baby etc. So this process of Krishna Consciousness is giving back to the Supreme Lord, in the mood of loving devotional service. Although the Supreme Lord is providing everything, still a devotee thinks, “I want to give something back. I want to offer something to the Lord” Not that we just take from the Lord, ‘O Lord thank you for our daily bread’. No, a devotee wants to bake some bread for the Lord, cook some rice and offer it to the Lord, offer some fruits, and flowers, and water for the Lords pleasure. This is the begining of Love, through service.
A young boy meets a young girl, and he gives her a flower, carries her books, gives her gifts and offers her service. Similary, we want to love God, so we begin with gifts and service, to develope our love and devotion. So this process of offering very nicely prepeared foods to the Lord is Bhakti Yoga. Yoga means ‘union’, and Bhakti means through loving devotional service. It is a very blissful process. I want to Love God, so let me offer some service, some flowers, some nicely cooked food,etc. And we can link up with God (yoga) by thinking of Him, offering prayers, chanting His holy names, and offering the food we eat.
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24 Feb 2011
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in Krishna
Tags: Bhagavata Purana, Bramhavaivarta Purana, Christians, Hindus, Jews, krishnasmercy, Lord Krishna, Mahabharata, Srila Prabhupada, Srimad Bhagavatam, Srimati Radharani, Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vedas
Lord Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as described by the Vedas. The Vedas are the eternal truths of life originating in India that have been passed down from time immemorial originally through oral reception, and more recently through written scripture in the Sanskrit language. Though there are many different religions in the world each having their own name for God, God is still one. There isn’t one God for Hindus and another for Christians and Jews.
Even in the Vedic literatures, God has many names and many different incarnations and expansions. Lord Krishna is the original of all other expansions. In Sanskrit, the word Krishna means “all-attractive.” Krishna is the most beautiful, powerful, famous, wealthy, wise and renounced. Since He possesses all these opulences at the same time and in full, He is defined as the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
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17 Feb 2011
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in Letters by Srila Prabhupada
Tags: bhakta-visesa, devotees, diksa, GBC, Governing Body Commission, guru, Letters, siksa, Srila Prabhupada, Umapati das
The following is excerpts from letters written by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami about the duty and fuction of the GBC (Governing Body Commision)
In a July 9, 1971 letter to Umapati Das, Srila Prabhupada wrote:
“GBC members are simply to see that things are going on. Other centers have got president, secretary, etc. and they are managing separately. That is the formula. So how is it that the GBC are the final authority? They are simply to examine that things are going on nicely, that is all.”
“GBC men should not dictate very much, simply supervise and see that the standards are maintained.”
(Srila Prabhupada Letter, February 14th, 1972)
“What will happen when I am not here, shall everything be spoiled by GBC? So for the time being, let the GBC activities be suspended until I thoroughly revise the whole procedure.”
(Srila Prabhupada Letter, April 11th, 1972)
“I made the GBC to give me relief, but if you do like this, then where is the relief. It is anxiety for me. This is the difficulty, that as soon as one gets power, he becomes whimsical and spoils everything.”
(Srila Prabhupada Letter, September 12th, 1974 )
“I am training some of my experienced disciples how to manage after my departure. So if instead of taking the training, if in my lifetime you people say I am the Lord of all I survey, that is dangerous conspiracy.”
(Srila Prabhupada Letter, October 8th, 1974)
“But the difficulty is that our GBC men are falling victim to maya. Today I trust this GBC and tomorrow he will fall down. That is the difficulty. If the GBC men are so flickering then what to speak of the others. Unless this problem is solved whatever we may resolve it will not be very useful. “
(Srila Prabhupada Letter, December 16th, 1974)
“The GBC should all be the instructor (siksa) gurus. I am the initiator (diksa) guru, and you should be the instructor guru by teaching what I am teaching and doing what I am doing. This is not a title, but you must actually come to this platform. This I want.”(Srila Prabhupada Letter, August 4th, 1975)
“The GBC (Governing Body Commission) has been established by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada to represent Him in carrying out the responsibility of managing the International Society for Krishna Consciousness of which He is the Founder-Acarya and supreme authority. The GBC accepts as its life and soul His divine instructions and recognizes that it is completely dependent on His mercy in all respects. The GBC has no other function or purpose other than to execute the instructions so kindly given by His Divine Grace and preserve and spread his Teachings to the world in their pure form.”;(GBC Resolution No.1, 1975)
“Now has the GBC become more than Guru Maharaja? As if simply GBC is meant for looking after pounds, shilling, pence. The GBC does not look after spiritual life. That is a defect.”
(Srila Prabhupada Letter, November 10th, 1975)
“It is now evident that some of our top men are very much ambitious and there has been so many fall-downs.”
(Srila Prabhupada Letter, January 27th, 1975)
“Our mission is to serve bhakta-visesa and live with devotees. Not that you take the place of the guru. That is nonsense, very dangerous. Then everything will be spoiled. As soon as you become ambitious to take the place of guru—gurusu nara-matih. That is the material disease.”( Srila Prabhupada Conversation, April 20th, 1977)
Pasted from
16 Feb 2011
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in Sri Nityananda
Tags: Adi lila, carutanrtam caitanya bhagavat, Nityananda, Srila Prabhupada, Vrndavan das Thakura
Nityananda Caritamrta
Adi Lila Chapter Nine
by Vrndavana dasa
“All glories to Sri Krishna Chaitanya, the unlimited ocean of mercy. All glories to Lord Nityananda, the dearest friend of the distressed.
All glories to Lord Chaitanya, the life’s treasure and soul of Sri Advaita Acarya, and the priceless treasure house of Sri Gadadhara Pandita. All glories to Lord Visvambhara, the son of Sri Jagannatha Misra and Mother Saci. All glories to all the devotees who are such dear associates of the Lord.
Lord Ananta Sesha appeared in the Radha district on an order given previously by Sri Chaitanya. He remained in the material world according to Mahaprabhu’s transcendental desire.
Sri Nityananda Prabhu, the Lord of the Gaudiya Vaishnavas, appeared in the village of Ekacakra. His father was a brahmana named Hadai Pandita and his mother was Srimati Padmavati devi.
From His early childhood Sri Nityananda Prabhu had a serene disposition and was highly intelligent. He was a reservoir of excellences. His charming beauty overshadowed the attractiveness of millions upon millions of Cupids.
From the time of Nityananda’s birth, everything became auspicious in the district of Radha. Famine, poverty and all kinds of disturbances were totally dispelled.
On the day of Lord Chaitanya’s appearance in Nabadwip, Sri Nityananda, Who was still in Radha, roared with jubilation.
The sound of that roar filled the universe and robbed everyone of his senses.
Some people speculated, “It must be a thunder-clap.” Others thought it was the sound of some impending disaster. Still others said, “We know the reason for this sound. Lord Nityananda, the Lord of the Gaudiya Vaishnavas, is roaring in ecstasy.”
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11 Feb 2011
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in Krishna Consciousness, Spiritual World
Tags: Absolute Truth, God, Krishna, Krishna's Mercy, Srila Prabhupada, Surpreme Personality
Article written by Krishna’s Mercy . org
“Everyone is seeing God in His different aspects; the only difference is that the theist sees God as the Supreme Personality, the most beloved, Krishna, and the atheist sees the Absolute Truth as ultimate death.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Krishna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vol 2, Ch 32)
“Have you seen God? Can you show Him to me?” These are some of the challenging questions often directed at those who are religiously inclined and those who are actively preaching the message of love and respect for the Lord found in India’s most famous religious text, the succinct and complete treatise on Vedic philosophy known as the Bhagavad-gita. Any time a preacher takes to kindly passing on information pertaining to spirituality, there will surely be skeptics, uninterested observers, and those who are not willing to listen. When engaged in ordinary conversation, wherein points and counterpoints are exchanged, generally no conclusion is reached in the end. Therefore in order to learn properly, one must take instruction from someone who has weight, a guru, or spiritual master, one who knows the truth as explained to them by previous authority figures. Yet even when hearing from a guru there is a natural urge to see proof, tangible evidence that God indeed exists. The devotees, those whose eyes have been anointed with transcendental love, see the influence of the Lord everywhere. Yet even the atheists, those who are staunchly against religious principles, are forced to see the influence of the same loveable Divine Entity at every turn, especially at the time that matters most: death.
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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.”
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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The Hare Krishna Movement 