Hare Krishna Society

Lectures : Arrival Addresses and Talks : February 9, 1975 : 750209AR.LA :

Prabhupāda: This life is meant for reviving our lost Kṛṣṇa consciousness. There is Kṛṣṇa consciousness… (babies crying) Otherwise how it is happening that this place was a church and nobody was coming, so much so that they had to sell it to others? We purchased it. When I first came here to see this church, there was nobody. The place is the same. The people is the same. I have not brought men from India. Why it is crowded now? This is the proof that in everyone’s heart Kṛṣṇa consciousness is there. Nitya-siddha kṛṣṇa-bhakti sādhya kabhu naya. It is not artificial way of taking something sentimentally. Otherwise how in my absence all these boys and girls are maintaining the status quo very nicely? I am very glad. That is required. This is the proof that in everyone’s heart there is Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Article by: Damagosha dasa

Hare Krsna

What follows is a few quotes from Srila Prabhupada where he nicely explains how important is the one
quality of submissiveness. We hear it briefly given in BG 4.34 about approaching a bona fide spiritual master in service and submission and then our natural spiritual inquires will be fruitful, being blessed by the pleased spiritual master.
So to whom should this submissiveness be directed? Only to ones initiating spiritual master or to anyone who gives us spiritual guidance? There are basically two types of gurus-diksa (initiating) and siksa(instructing) and Srila Prabhupada explains that they both are equal. One can even get guidance from somebody as low as a prostitute-as did Bilvamangal Thakur, and advance in spiritual life. These things are to be considered thoughtfully by the serious student, without malice or envy.

Hare Krsna
damaghosa das
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CC Adi 1.35 Purport
One should always remember that a person who is reluctant to accept a spiritual master and be initiated is sure to be baffled in his endeavor to go back to Godhead. One who is not properly initiated may present himself as a great devotee, but in fact he is sure to encounter many stumbling blocks on his path of progress toward spiritual realization, with the result that he must continue his term of material existence without relief. Such a helpless person is compared to a ship without a rudder, for such a ship can never reach its destination. It is imperative, therefore, that one accept a spiritual master if he at all desires to gain the favor of the Lord. The service of the spiritual master is essential. If there is no chance to serve the spiritual master directly, a devotee should serve him by remembering his instructions. There is no difference between the spiritual master‘s instructions and the spiritual master himself. In his absence, therefore, his words of direction should be the pride of the disciple. If one thinks that he is above consulting anyone else, including a spiritual master, he is at once an offender at the lotus feet of the Lord. Such an offender can never go back to Godhead.
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Article by: Narasimha dasa

Submitted by: Yasoda nandana dasa

Great devotees in our Gaudiya Vaisnava Sampradaya never desire to end their lives out of mundane frustration or pain, like conditioned souls often do. Such an idea is certainly a ridiculous apa-siddhanta concoction.

Sometimes we hear that maya-iskcon is full of pure, hardworking devotees. This is possible only if they have carefully avoided hearing from its leaders, most of who have read Tamal’s writings, heard his speeches and followed his advice. Tamal claims that Srila Prabhupada was moaning in pain and asking for poison to end His life. This is highly offensive apa-siddhanta. Because most disciples of the gbc have heard such offensive apa-siddhanta without protest and without counteracting it, most are likely implicated in guru-aparadha and apa-siddhanta.

“The living entity in his conditioned stage identifies himself with the body, but when he identifies himself with the Lord within himself, he becomes just as free as the Lord, even while in the body.”

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Article by: Damagosha dasa

Sri Nimbarka Debates a Jain Monk

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta
Saraswati Thakura Prabhupada

…It is said that one day a sannyāsī from a Jain sampradāya
came to Mathura and invited all the learned scholars
there to a debate on the scriptures. This Jain sannyāsī
scholar desired to conquer the entire country by proving
the uselessness of Vedic religious principles. However,
Nimbaditya, the vaiṣṇava monk from Vaidurya Pattana,
effortlessly refuted all the arguments put forward by the
Jain sannyāsī by quoting scriptural evidence.
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Lectures : Festival Lectures : His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Prabhupada’s Disappearance Day, Lecture — Bombay, December 22, 1975 : 751222DB.BOM :

So the kaniṣṭha–adhikārī, in the beginning… It is not that kaniṣṭha, beginning, if anyone immediately becomes so advanced. It is not advancement; it is foolishness. Just like somebody, they declare that “Kṛṣṇa is everywhere. Why should we go to the temple?” Then if Kṛṣṇa is everywhere, He is not in the temple? Huh? What is this argument? If Kṛṣṇa is everywhere, He is also in the temple. But in the temple I worship directly, and what is the utility?Kṛṣṇa is everywhere. I am not so advanced that I can see everywhere Kṛṣṇa. Who can seeKṛṣṇa everywhere? That is very advanced stage. Premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti–vilocanena santaḥsadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilokayanti [Bs. 5.38]. If you become so advanced that you cannot live without Kṛṣṇa for a moment, then Kṛṣṇa is everywhere. Where is that training? Where is that advancement? Even if I advise, try to meditate, I meditate upon my wife, upon my children, on my business. This is not the stage of seeing Kṛṣṇa everywhere. That requires training.That requires advanced knowledge. Prema. Kṛṣṇa is so kind, ye yathā māṁ prapadyante [Bg.4.11]. If a devotee cannot live for a moment without seeing Kṛṣṇa, he is visible… A devotee… Not for the neophyte devotee. So there are different stages.

So this is not fact that Kṛṣṇa is within your mind; therefore you should not got to the temple, you have become so advanced. No. Better… [break] …śilā-dhīr. Do not consider that “Here is a stone Kṛṣṇa.” Kṛṣṇa is everything. Stone is also Kṛṣṇa; simply you have to be qualified how to talk with stone Kṛṣṇa. That is your qualification. You have to qualify yourself; otherwise Kṛṣṇa is stone, Kṛṣṇa is water, Kṛṣṇa is sky, Kṛṣṇa is everything. So this is the philosophy. Kṛṣṇa saysbhūmir āpo’ nalo vāyuḥ khaṁ mano buddhir eva ca: [Bg. 7.4] “I am everything.” That’s a fact. So why do you say there is stone Kṛṣṇa? Kṛṣṇa is everything, if you have got the eyes to see, you can see Kṛṣṇa everywhere and everything.

So this is the beginning. Therefore you require pravṛtti and nivṛtti to understand how you should think, how you should live, how you should eat, how you should sleep. This training is required. Why it is required? Because to get out of this material bondage, where the birth, death, old age and disease is compulsory.

(below is some harvested coriander plants which we will dry for later spicing in cooking for Krsna)

690323LE.HAW Lectures 245873/530501

We have created a civilization that one must earn thousands of dollars, then he can

live like a gentleman. Is that successful life? And for earning that

thousands of dollars he has to work so hard, just like animal, beast.

No. That is not successful life. Successful life is that, that we

should make our bodily necessities of life as far as required, not

more than that. I want to eat something. God has given sufficient

food. You grow. You live anywhere. You grow foodstuff. You grow

grains. You grow fruits. You grow vegetables. Keep cows. Take milk.

You can live anywhere. You haven’t got to go fifty miles off with a

car to attend your office at six o’clock with velocity of hundred

miles’ speed. Is that successful life, do you think? So where is

successful life? We are proposing successful life.

4 seasons planting is what is going on here in these two pictures. The above photo is the greenhouse in early summer filled with tomato plants-about 85 of them, as well as pepper starts in the pots along the path.
Below is the present greenhouse with all tomatoes removed and a multi-cover crop laid down in 2 out of 4 beds. The third bed has plastic covering the dirt and beans are drying temporarily there. The last bed has crimson clover coming up (still in seed form) for about 80% of it, and along the inside edge, we have 6 kinds of winter greens and lettuces already seeded in the ground.

760706rc.wdc Room Conversation
—
July 6, 1976, Washington, D.C.

Prabhupāda: You economically prove that Kṛṣṇa consciousness is simple and inexpensive life.

Devotees: Yes, jaya, mercy.

Prabhupāda: Food, diet, living condition, healthy, hygienic, everything. You prove that this is the best way of life. That’s a fact. From all sides, prove that Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is essential for the human society, to make them happy in this and the next life. That is a fact.

Note- Sometimes we get criticized about what we send out in articles (what else is new?) But here is the proof and order by Srila Prabhupada that we are not just concerned with ourselves and our own spiritual life, but with everybody else who may be less fortunate than us. He mentions it should be noted above, that we want to show how this vedic model of living is the BEST way to live in this world-not only in the next, but this lifetime as well.

Hare Krsna
Damaghosa das

Hare Krsna- Recently I have been sending out articles detailing why and how we should grow our own food.
Many of you probably wonder- what is wrong with this person? Why should I pack it all in and move to the country? Is he crazy? Why would I do this, when I have my paycheck coming in every month? I am secure here in my house/apt in the city. Remember seeing those guys on the streets of anywhere, holding sandwich boards, proclaiming the repent-world will end in 5-6 days !! ? Maybe we have not seen it, but there are people who still do this. They are called fanatics by “normal” people . So below we have compiled some actual facts by “normal” people, academic financial leaders (like Harvard Univ) who show the financial breakdown of how wealth has imperceptibly slipped from the average American middle class into the hands of the very very rich and powerful. We are probably not going to be able to stop that trend in the near future, but what we can do is assure safe and reliable economic growth and stability in our own lives. And how to do that is described below.
Hare Krsna
Damaghosa das
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Everybody should watch this 6 minute video below, of wealth distribution in America-it is mind boggling ! And the link does work, because I just checked it.

Not only does it show the huge disparity between the rich and poor, but also the perception of Americans of what they think and the actual reality of the situation.

Our brain washing by the so called leaders is now complete ! They have us convinced and we have all surrendered to “their plan for material success”-instead of God’s plan, Krsna’s plan. Watch it, its short, but it will literally blow you away with how bad the economic climate has now become in America-and this is supposed to be the wealthiest country in the world?

Here are a few point summarized in this video:

1.Only 1% of all Americans own 40% of all the wealth

2. the bottom 80%, that’s 8 out of 10 Americans, has only 7% of the total wealth

3. the top 1% takes home 24% of all the income. In 1976 that amount was 9% so it has tripled in the last 30 years

4. the top 1% own 50% of all stocks, bonds, mutual funds and the rest of us are just scraping by-most not

even investing at all.

5. the average American worker has to work for one month to make what the average CEO makes in one hour !

https://www.dailyfinance.com/on/Wealth-Inequality-in-America-viral-video-Politizane/?icid=maing-grid10%7Chtmlws-main-bb%7Cdl1%7Csec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D278339

And after you watch it-then decide if what Srila Prabhupada is telling us (below) is actually a viable solution-especially for the mass of people, yes even us “devotees” too !! We should be the one’s leading this charge back to some stage of at least economic normalcy !! What to speak of spiritual lives.

Hare Krsna

your comments welcome

Damaghosa das

(oh, one more thing-I just watched a PBS commentary on the Amish religious group in America-90% of their members choose to remain for life, IN their farming/family group AFTER experiencing the “outside world” for two years. They, when the youth reach the age of 16-18 go outside for two years, and look at the rest of the “world”-then they decide to go or stay)

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730711r6.lon Conversations 337713/530501
So in this way, either of these three, sufferings going on. But
those who are sleeping, they cannot understand that this is suffering.
Just like animals. They cannot understand. That is sleeping stage. And
when one is awakened, he will think “I don’t want all these
sufferings. Why they are imposed upon me? How I can avoid?” That is
intelligence. So human being, unless he comes to this platform of
intelligence, he is animal. The animal cannot do any remedy. You take
one animal to the slaughterhouse. He cannot do anything. So sleeping
means to remain in ignorance. And awakened stage means in knowledge.
So intelligence means one must have knowledge. That is intelligence.
So this division–brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya, sudra–means the highest
intelligent class man is called brahmana. He knows. He’s in knowledge.
Brahma-bhutah prasannatma na socati na kanksati. Next intelligent,
less, is the ksatriyas. Next, the vaisyas. And the sudras, they are
like, almost like animals. They have no independence. Just like animal
has no independence. A dog, without a master, he cannot live. His life
is very precarious. So at the present moment, however one qualified
may be, unless he gets a good job, he’s just like a dog, a street dog.
He may be very highly qualified, technologically, but if he does not
get a job, then he’s useless. He’ll go. “Sir, can you give me any

job?” “No vacancies.” A dog like. Just like dog goes, moves the tail,
“Can you give me some food.” Somebody gives him, “Eh! Hut!” This is
the position.
Therefore in this age kalau sudra-sambhavah. In
Kali-yuga, there is no brahmana, no ksatriya. There are some vaisyas.
And all sudras. Because they cannot live without being engaged by
somebody else. And the whole civilization is going on, big, big
factories, big, big… What is that? Sudras. They are creating sudras.
“People should be dependent.” Unless you work… Therefore people are
going fifty miles away, going… I have seen in New York. People are
coming from the other side… What is that?
Hamsaduta: Connecticut
Prabhupada: No, no. Staten Island?
Hamsaduta: Staten Island.

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How to live in this kali yuga

Hare KrsnaTo All
Pranams
All Glories to Srila Prabhupada

What follows are 10 excerpts from various conversations with Srila Prabhupada about how to live in this wonderful age called Kali yuga. His wisdom and advice is appreciated by those who follow him and try to do what he asks of us. And what does he ask us to do? Become happy, by this advice.

Hare Krsna your humble servant,

Damaghosa das

—————————- 1) 740312mw.vrn Conversations 354338/530501

Tamala-Krsna: In our centers we are awarding brahmana initiation, second initiation… Prabhupada: No, no. Initiation should go on. Even… You do not understand what I have said, that that is for Vaisnava. A Vaisnava and Visnu… Just like Krsna is Visnu, He’s not human being, but He was acting like human being, similarly, Vaisnava is transcendental. But for proper management of the material world, one should be acting like brahmana, one should be acting like ksatriya. That is required. Just like actually we are doing so. Some of you are preaching, and some of you are cleansing the temple. It does not mean that a sannyasi who is preaching, he is better than that man who is cleansing. The… Their position as Vaisnava is the same. But for the management, one is cleansing, one is seeing the construction, one is going to preach, like that. That should be there. It is not that “Because I have taken sannyasa, therefore I cannot any more do anything.” If need be, he has to act as ksatriya. Or a sudra. It doesn’t matter.

Hrdayananda: Oh. Prabhupada: Doesn’t matter. But manage, for management, this division must be there. Otherwise it will be mismanagement. Yes. A Vaisnava coming to the position of doing the work of a sudra does not mean he has become sudra. He’s Vaisnava. Try to understand this point. Just like in the stage. If you want to play something, one must be king, one must be queen, one must be…, but neither of them king or queen. That is stage play. Similarly to manage things in the material world we have to… Guna, karma. Karma there must be. Therefore the karma should be done, executed, according to quality. ———

2) 740312mw.vrn Conversations 354353/530501 Make a small unit of community and show ideal life, not idle life. Ideal life. .. In India the, the brahmana class, they say, “Oh, I am born in brahmana family. Why shall I do this work?” You see. Therefore the whole society has gone to hell. In your country still, they accept any kind of work. It doesn’t matter. And here, in India, if he happens to be a brahmana, he’ll not take any kind of work. Means… Just like plowing. He’ll not agree. Therefore so much land. The ksatriya is thinking, “I am ksatriya.” The brahmana is thinking, “I am brahmana.” And the land is lying fallow. There is no production. He will go to the office and fight with the pen as a ksatriya. And instead of studying Vedas, he’ll study the rules and regulations given by the office. But he’ll not come to plow. Therefore this scarcity of food. He’ll go to a mill to work as ordinary laborer. (Hindi) He’ll not come. So much land we see lying unutilized. And they’re crying for grain. Why? The same example.

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Hare Krishna Society

The proof that Krsna Consciousness is dormant in everyone’s heart-SP

Submissiveness-to whom is it to be directed???

Raghunatha Das Goswami Decides to Commit Suicide

How Nimbarka Acarya got his name

what is pravritti and nivritti marg ?? SP explains

Srila Prabhupada is proposing successful life–see photos

Srila Prabhupada wanted us to write and prove this Krsna Consciousness is the BEST way to live

If you think you are getting richer -by your work-you’re not ! And here is the proof

Intelligence means-he must be independent–SP

How to live in this Kali yuga

How to live in this kali yuga