Hare Krishna Society

Everyone can see God

Journey of self discovery book chapt 2 by Srila Prabhupada-

Srila Prabhupada:People sometimes ask, “Have you seen God?” or “Can you show me God?” Sometimes we meet these questions. So the answer is “Yes, I am seeing God. You can also see God; everyone can see God. But you must have the qualification.” Suppose something is wrong with a motorcar; it is not running. Everyone is seeing it, but a mechanic sees it differently. He’s qualified to see it with greater understanding. So he replaces some missing part, and immediately the car runs. But although for seeing a machine we require so much qualification, we want to see God without any qualification. Just see the folly! People are such rascals, they are such fools, that they want to see God with their imagined qualifications.

Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā, nāhaṁ prakāśaḥ sarvasya yogamāyā-samāvṛtaḥ: [Bg. 7.25] “I am not exposed to everyone. My energy, yogamāyā, is covering Me from their vision.” So how can you see God? But this rascaldom is going on—this “Can you show me God?” “Have you seen God?” God has become just like a plaything, so that cheaters advertise some ordinary man by saying, “Here is God. Here is an incarnation of God.”

Na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ prapadyante narādhamāḥ [Bg. 7.15]. Sinful rascals, fools, the lowest of mankind—they inquire like that: “Can you show me God?” What qualification have you acquired by which you can see God? Here is the qualification: tac chraddadhānā munayaḥ. One must first of all be faithful (śraddadhāna). One must actually be very much eager to see God. …..

There is a story in this connection. It is very instructive, so try to hear. One professional reciter was publicly reciting the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and he was describing that Kṛṣṇa is very highly decorated with all kinds of jewels when He goes to tend the cows in the forest. So, there was a thief in that meeting, and he thought, “Why not go to Vṛndāvana and plunder this boy? He’s in the forest with so many valuable jewels. I can go there and catch the child and take all the jewels.” This was his intention. So he was serious. “I must find that boy,” he thought. “Then in one night I shall become a millionaire.”

The thief’s qualification was his feeling: “I must see Kṛṣṇa! I must see Kṛṣṇa!” That anxiety, that eagerness, made it possible for him to actually see Kṛṣṇa in Vṛndāvana. He saw Kṛṣṇa in just the same way as the Bhāgavatam reader had described. Then the thief said, “Oh, You are such a nice boy, Kṛṣṇa.” He began to flatter Him; he thought that by flattering Him he would easily take all the jewels. Then he proposed his real business: “May I take some of these ornaments? You are so rich.”

“No, no, no,” said Kṛṣṇa. “My mother will be angry! I cannot give them away.” Kṛṣṇa was playing just like a child.

So the thief became more and more eager for Kṛṣṇa to give Him the jewels, but by Kṛṣṇa’s association he was becoming purified. Then at last Kṛṣṇa said, “All right, you can take them.” Then the thief became a devotee immediately, because by Kṛṣṇa’s association he had been completely purified. So somehow or other you should come in contact with Kṛṣṇa. Then you’ll be purified.

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1.) KB 2-17…Lord Kṛṣṇa told King Yudhiṣṭhira that He becomes conquered by the love of one who has conquered his senses. One who has not conquered his senses cannot conquer the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is the secret of devotional service. To conquer the senses means to engage them constantly in the service of the Lord. The specific qualification of all the Pāṇḍava brothers was that they always engaged their senses in the service of the Lord. One who thus engages his senses becomes purified, and with purified senses one can actually render service to the Lord. The Lord can thus be conquered by the devotee by loving transcendental service.

2.) August 28 1973 London…

This is recommended, that Kṛṣṇa’s kathā should be heard from the realized source. San-mukharitām. Sat means devotee. Sat. Oṁ tat sat. San-mukharitāṁ bhavadīya-vārtām. Then sthāne sthitāḥ, you can remain in your place. It doesn’t matter whether you are a brāhmaṇa or a śūdra or American or Indian or… It doesn’t matter. You keep yourself in your position. Simply go there. Where these things are discussed authoritatively, you hear. Śruti-gatām. Śruti-gatām. Śruti means the ear. You just give the aural reception of the words of realized soul. San-mukharitāṁ bhavadīya-vārtāṁ sthāne sthitāḥ śruti-gatām. You can keep yourself… It doesn’t require that you have to change your position. Simply you have to hear from the right source.

Then what will be the result? The result is by hearing, hearing, hearing, one day you’ll be able to conquer over the unconquerable, Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is unconquerable. Nobody can conquer Him. But you hear, you’ll be able to conquer Him, simply by hearing about Him. Therefore this hearing process is so important from the right source.

3.) BG 3.41–Therefore, O Arjuna, best of the Bhāratas, in the very beginning curb this great symbol of sin [lust] by regulating the senses, and slay this destroyer of knowledge and self-realization.

Faith explained by Srila Prabhupada...

July 21 1975 SF

Prabhupada:…So without faith, you cannot make advance. The skeptics, they have no faith. Therefore they are lost. You must have faith.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Śrīla Prabhupāda? What is that ingredient or what is that thing which causes faith to develop in one? From someone becoming…

Prabhupāda: Purity. Purity. The more you become pure, the faith is firm.

Nārāyaṇa: So faith comes from previous pious activities?

Prabhupāda: No, may not be previous activity. You believe the authority, spiritual master.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: That comes from purity, faith.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: As purity develops, one becomes more faithful.

Prabhupāda: Yes. That purity is said, ādau śraddhā: “Beginning is faith.” Now tato sādhu-saṅgaḥ: “You mix with faithful men.” Then it will develop. Otherwise, if you take simply initiation and then sleep, then faith will be lost. That is happening.Therefore it is said, adau śraddhā tato sādhu-saṅgaḥ. You accept faith, maybe blindly. Now you make further progress by mixing with advanced devotees. Then it will remain fixed. Otherwise you will loss.

Bahulāśva: Faith is fixed by knowledge?

Prabhupāda: No, faith may be blind, but it increases. If you stick to faith and follow the principles, then it will increase. Svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ. Just like… Yasya deve parā bhaktiḥ yathā deve tathā gurau. So if you have got faith in spiritual master then you will advance. If you have no faith, then it will be lost.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: And unless one is pure, he will not have faith.

Prabhupāda: No.

Paramahaṁsa: Isn’t it is also like a child?

Prabhupāda: Yes, yes. Everyone is child. So the father says, “Do this. That’s all.” Like “Write ‘A.’ ” He does not know what is A. But the father says, “You write like this.” That will increase his education.

Paramahaṁsa: But doesn’t it come first because of trust?

Prabhupāda: Yes, trust. Without trust, without faith, you cannot advance even an inch. So therefore it is required.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Right. Prabhupāda, what are the symptoms of purity?

Prabhupāda: Just like I do not know where this pathway goes. But you show me, “This way.” So without faith, how can I go? If I have no faith, then I cannot move even an inch. I believe, “Yes, he is all right. Let me go.” This is faith. I do not know whether it is going, which way it is going. So without faith, you cannot move an inch. So faith must be there, either it is true or blind.

Yadubara: So everyone has faith.

Prabhupāda: Yes, everyone has. Therefore the direction should be taken from the perfect, and with faith you will make progress.

Nārāyaṇa: Śrīla Prabhupāda, but Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā that wherever one puts their faith, He gives them the steadiness to worship in that way. So how come so many people, they put their faith in all these false gurus or people that impose themself as ones who are in knowledge and then they become fooled? Is this previous activities? Sinful activities?

Prabhupāda: What is that?

Jayādvaita: You explained that in your lecture yesterday, that Kṛṣṇa is in the heart and He is giving direction to remember or to forget, that sometimes He is directing to remember Him, sometimes to forget Him.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Because if you have no faith, then Kṛṣṇa will not give you instruction. When he is faithless, he will not make progress. Stops.

Nārāyaṇa: But people are putting their faith in so many different places.

Prabhupāda: “So many” means he has no faith in anything.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Prabhupāda?

Prabhupāda: As soon as you say, “so many,” that means he has no faith. He is faithless.

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At the end of the above conversation Srila Prabhupada says….

..” Because if you have no faith, then Kṛṣṇa will not give you instruction. When he is faithless, he will not make progress. Stops.”

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Sripada Hrdayananda Babaji Maharaja was born in Radha Kunda and has been a pujari for 78 years. He lives next to the Radha Damodara Temple. At the beginning of the interview, upon being asked if he knew Srila Prabhupada, Babaji Maharaja began to cry, “Never have I seen anyone do sadhana like he did. I have lived all my life in Vraja and I have never seen anyone like him. Prabhupada did many arduous things, he worked very hard there at the Radha Damodara Temple. At that time it was austere, undeveloped, and very muddy and dirty with no facilities.”

“Many years later, when I heard that it was actually he who had been chosen by Caitanya Mahaprabhu to spread the Hare Krishna Maha-Mantra around the world, I was not surprised.”

“Prabhupada spread this Krishna consciousness by the mercy of Rupa Goswami. Prabhupada used to pray to Rupa Goswami, “You please give me your mercy.” And then he got that mercy. I know this because I saw some things he did at the Radha Damodara Temple. My room is still located in the same place as it was then, in 1964 or ’65. Many times in the middle of the night, at midnight or 1 or 2 in the morning, I would hear a voice crying from inside the courtyard by Rupa Goswami’s samadhi mandira. That voice was calling out and crying but I did not know what it was because I was trying to take rest. But one night, on the full moon, I heard that voice again, so I climbed up to the roof of our house and looked down into the Radha Damodara courtyard.

I saw something very amazing. Srila Prabhupada was sweeping the courtyard of Rupa Goswami’s samadhi. He was bending down with a small broom and as he swept the ground by the samadhi, he was crying out, “He Rupa! He Sanatana! He Gurudeva! Please give me your mercy.Without your mercy I cannot do anything. Give me the mercy. Give me the strength that I may fulfill your orders.” Then, I realized that it was he who almost every night was calling out as he was sweeping like this.”

ALL GLORIES TO HIS DIVINE GRACE A.C. BHAKTIVEDANTA SWAMI SRILA PRABHUPADA

Book Changes: Only with The Consent of the Author

Only With the Consent of the Author

BY: GARUDA DAS, PhD

Srila Prabhupada has been consistent over the years in his instructions on editing, that they should be, as he wrote in a letter to Rupanuga Prabhu in 1970: “Our editing is to correct grammatical and spelling errors only, without interpolation of style or philosophy” (Los Angeles: February 17, 1970). Almost exactly two years later, Srila Prabhupada had his publishing contract with Macmillan Publishing Company modified under the revisions clause, no. V. to say that revisions were allowed only with the consent of the author, and he initialized this.

I believe that Jayadvaita Swami has honestly admitted his revisionist editing of the MAC 72 edition was never ordered by Śrīla Prabhupāda, nor did Śrīla Prabhupāda ever give his consent to Jayadvaita Swami to conduct such editing and revisionist work on the BBT books.

Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books affect us all. They are his vāni. They are the heartbeat of the Movement. They are what Śrīla Prabhupāda said to rely on after he departed. Does anyone reading this depend on Jayadvaita Swami’s initiatives that are independent of Śrīla Prabhupāda’s instructions that forbid interpolating or changing or revising as something vital to their connection to Śrīla Prabhupāda and the paramparā?

It is interesting to note that in the language of the contract within this clause it is stated, “When the revisions are not made by the Author, the Publisher shall cause such fact to be evident in the revised subsequent edition.” The BBT/Jayadvaita Swami have neglected to declare all the revisions that were made as revisions of the editor and not the original author in the revised second edition of 1983.

Brothers and sisters in Krishna bhakti sevā reading this: Shortly I will be proposing to the BBT board to bring the BBT publishing and editorial standards to a new level of professionalism and devotional fidelity to Śrīla Prabhupāda’s instructions on the matter. So far I have found my intereactions with BBT representatives very cordial and very conducive to dialogue, so I will keep pursuing this for the sake of bringing greater unity among the devotees and greater peacefulness in their hearts.

I should note that both Jayadvaita Swami and Dravida Brahmacari have both cut me off and refuse to discuss these vital issues that affect all of us. I’m sorry to have to report this. Dravida wrote the following to me:

After reading your “Commentary on ‘A Note About the Second Edition,'” I’m no longer willing to speak with you.
Dravida dasa

I wrote back to Dravida inviting him to explain to me what he felt was incorrect or troublesome in any way with my commentary on the BBT83’s “A Note About the Second Edition,” and yet I’ve received no response since receiving his last words to me. However, I do find that the BBT Board is far more open to dialogue and progress. I will keep everyone informed of my progress as I am allowed to disclose such matters. I am hopeful that the very dedicated and thoughtful devotees who make up the BBT Board can envision a new BBT that embodies Śrīla Prabhupāda’s instructions for editing and preserving his style and teachings with much greater professionalism, and a new BBT that inspires devotees to bring more and more of the world to Śrīla Prabhupāda’s teachings by illuminating them.

Sp re Why should you interpret my intention with your intention?

Srila Prabhupāda: “Oh, yes. You have no right. Suppose I have written one book. So I have got some intention. So why should you interpret my intention with your intention? What right you have got? You have no right. If you want to speak something of yours, then you write another book. Why you are taking advantage of my book and misleading others?

I want to speak to the public something, I have expressed my opinion in that way. But because it is popular, you are taking advantage of my book and expressing your views. How much cheating, how much cheater you are! Therefore he is suffering, Dr. Radhakrishnan. He has lost his brain. We went to see him, Dr. Radhakrishnan, when I was in Madras.”

(Room Conversation – April 2, 1972, Sydney Australia)

” You can tell them if they change one word from my books it will
spoil everything I have done”

Srila Prabhupada, Vrindaban, India, June 22, 1977 to ynd

Change means rascal

“Change means rascal….Anything change means it is the domain of
rascals, pandemonium”. (Srila Prabhupada, morning walk, Delhi
14/12/75)

Religion means the word of God. And if yearly or quarterly you change
the words, that is not religion. That is not religion. That is mental
concoction. Therefore we are presenting Bhagavad-gita as it is. No
change. Others, they are interpreting in their own way. That is not
Bhagavad-gita. That is something else. (to devotee:) Keep it there. He
will take. In the words of God there is no question of changing. You
cannot change. As soon as you make a change, immediately it is
material; it has nothing to do with spiritual world. The same example,
the law of government is one, and if you make change, that is not law.
Government says “Keep to the right,” you have to keep to the right.
You cannot make “Keep to the left,” no. That is nowadays
happening-which edition of Christianity? There are so many. Therefore
it is, the purport of Christianity is lost.” (Room Conversation
1976)

Do not make addition, alteration.
Results of making additions and alterations.

“Many times they give me very great credit that I have done wonderful.
Yes, I have done wonderful. But what is the reason? Because I am not a
rascal. I speak what Krsna has spoken. That’s all. Very easy. Everyone
can do that. Not only I. Any of you, you can do this. Simply speak
what is…, what Krsna has said. That’s all. Don’t make addition,
alteration. Then you become rascal. Immediately you become rascal.
(Srimad-Bhagavatam Lecture 1.5.29 Vrndavana, August 10, 1974)

______________________

A Very Expert Editor

by the Assembled Devotees

This essay is not an attempt to defend the misbehavior of anyone. However, we beg to remind everyone that even if a devotee does something unsavory at some point, his previous service does not retroactively become an abomination, in need of being purged, replaced or remedied. Would it make sense to re-do the paintings of a devotee artist who later fell into maya? Or to dismantle and re-build a temple constructed with funds collected by methods later called into question, or by devotees whose character turned out to be less than ideal? We should all thank God that our spiritual bank balance cannot be depleted and our particular bank is way too big to fail.

As most of us are aware, Hayagriva prabhu had some serious failings that manifested at different times in his history with Prabhupada’s mission. In December of 1972, several months after editing of the MacMillan Gita was completed, Srila Prabhupada received reports of Hayagriva deviating from the principles, yet he gave no order, instruction, suggestion or even hint that his work on the MacMillan Gita should be re-done. Whatever opinion others may have of Hayagriva’s character or editorial work is irrelevant. The author of the Bhagavad-gita As It Is, His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, highly esteemed Hayagriva’s literary skills, authorized him to take charge of editing his book, and approved and signed off on the 1972 MacMillan edition of the Gita. The references below show Srila Prabhupada’s great regard for Hayagriva’s editing and writing ability during the period the ’72 Gita was in prepublication, from December, 1969 through the summer of 1972. At least during this period, we know that Srila Prabhupada had categorical faith in Hayagriva as an editor.

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Srila Prabhupada speaks out on false Gurus

15. July 2018 by Prabhupada News 2 Comments

Beautiful Painting of Srila Prabhupada

Srila Prabhupada speaks out on false Gurus

Cheaters and the cheated

We should be very careful before accepting a Guru

“The sastras enjoin that before we take a guru we study him carefully to find out whether we can surrender to him. We should not accept a guru suddenly, out of fanaticism. That is very dangerous.”
(The Science of Self Realization, chapter 2, ‘Choosing a Spiritual Master’)

Ambition to be Guru is very dangerous

“Our mission is to serve (…).
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 20, 1977)

“That is the difficulty. Everyone sees that “Some way or other, I become guru. Then so many persons will offer me respect. Somehow or other, create some situation. Then I become guru.”
This is going on. Not bona fide guru. (…)
They will drink, they will hunt after woman and have some attractive singing or dancing and become guru. What is meaning of guru, they do not know. Somehow or other become popular and become guru. This is going on.”
(Srila Prabhupada Conversation, May 2nd, 1976)

One who is disobedient to the order of the Guru cannot be a Guru

“If you become disobedient to guru, then your business is finished.”
(Srila Prabhupada’s Srimad-Bhagavatam Lecture, August 10th, 1974)

“Because that is offense. Guror avajna. First offense is guror avajna, defying the authority of guru. This is the first offense. So one who is offensive, how he can make advance in chanting? He cannot make. Then everything is finished in the beginning. Guroravajna. Everything is there. If one is disobeying the spiritual master, he cannot remain in the pure status of life. He cannot be siksa-guru or anything else. He is finished, immediately.”
(Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad-gita Lecture, July 4th, 1974)

“The devotee must therefore be very careful not to commit offenses against the spiritual master by disobeying his instructions. As soon as one is deviated from the instructions of the spiritual master, the uprooting of the bhakti-lata begins, and gradually all the leaves dry up.”
(Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya-lila, 19.156, purport)

Beware of false, unauthorized Gurus

“By a false display of religious sentiments, they present a show of devotional service while indulging in all sorts of immoral activities. In this way they pass as spiritual masters and devotees of God. Such violators of religious principles have no respect for the authoritative acaryas, the holy teachers in the strict disciplic succession (…)
Instead, to mislead the people in general, they themselves become so-called acaryas, but do not even follow the principles of the acaryas.”
(Sri Isopanisad, mantra 12, purport)

“One cannot become happy by accepting a false guru. A guru should be accepted as advised in Srimad Bhagavatam (11.3.21). Tasmad gurum prapadyeta jijnasuh sreya uttamam: One should approach a bona fide guru to inquire about the highest benefit of life. (…)
If one is able to obtain the dust of the lotus feet of such a guru, his life becomes successful. Otherwise he is baffled both in this life and in the next.”
(Srimad-Bhagavatam 5.14.13, purport)

“The misguided conditioned soul also approaches so-called sadhus and svamiswho preach against the principles of the Vedas. He does not receive benefit from them, either in the present or in the future (…)
To get some material benefit, the conditioned soul approaches these pseudo sannyasis and yogis for cheap blessings, but he does not receive any benefit from them, either spiritual or material.”
(Srimad-Bhagavatam 5.14.13, translation and purport)

Srila Prabhupada warns of jealous people accepting service in ISKCON

“There are many jealous people in the dress of Vaisnavas in this Krsna consciousness movement, and they should be completely neglected. There is no need to serve a jealous person who is in the dress of a Vaisnava.”
(Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya-lila, 1.218 purport)

“A jealous person in the dress of a Vaisnava is not at all happy to see the success of another Vaisnava in receiving the Lord’s mercy. Unfortunately, in this Age of Kali there are many mundane persons in the dress of Vaisnavas, and Srila BhaktivinodaThakura has described them as disciples of Kali. He says, kali-cela. He indicates that there is another Vaisnava, a pseudo Vaisnava with tilaka on his nose and kanthi beads around his neck. Such a pseudo Vaisnava associates with money and women and is jealous of successful Vaisnavas. Although passing for a Vaisnava, his only business is earning money in the dress of a Vaisnava.”
(Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya-lila, 1.218 purport)

The fate of such false Gurus

“These rogues are the most dangerous elements in human society. Because there is no religious government, they escape punishment by the law of the state. They cannot, however, escape the law of the Supreme, who has clearly declared in Bhagavad gita (16.19-20) that envious demons in the garb of religious propagandists shall be thrown into the darkest regions of hell. Sri Isopanisad confirms that these pseudo religionists are heading toward the most obnoxious place in the universe after the completion of their spiritual master business, which they conduct simply for sense gratification.”
(Sri Isopanisad, mantra 12, purport)

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1.) SB 2.7.19 purport...

The whole process is that all living entities, being constitutionally parts and parcels of the supreme living being, the Absolute Personality of Godhead, have proportionately minute independence of action also. So the preliminary qualification for entering into the devotional service of the Lord is that one become a willing cooperator, and as such one should voluntarily cooperate with persons who are already engaged in the transcendental devotional service of the Lord. By cooperating with such persons, the prospective candidate will gradually learn the techniques of devotional service, and with the progress of such learning one becomes proportionately free from the contamination of material association. Such a purificatory process will establish the prospective candidate in firm faith and gradually elevate him to the stage of transcendental taste for such devotional service. Thus he acquires a genuine attachment for the devotional service of the Lord, and his conviction carries him on to the point of ecstasy, just prior to the stage of transcendental love.

2.) SB 2.7.31 purport…

Here it is clearly mentioned that the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana were extensively busy in the hard labor of their day’s work, and due to the day’s hard labor they were engaged in sound sleep at night. So practically they had very little time to devote to meditation or to the other paraphernalia of spiritual activities. But factually they were engaged in the highest spiritual activities only. Everything done by them was spiritualized because everything was dovetailed in their relationship with Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa. The central point of activities was Kṛṣṇa, and as such the so-called activities in the material world were saturated with spiritual potency. That is the advantage of the way of bhakti-yoga. One should discharge one’s duty on Lord Kṛṣṇa’s behalf, and all one’s actions will be saturated with Kṛṣṇa thought, the highest pattern of trance in spiritual realization.

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July 2 1975 Denver

Devotee (2): What does he experience when he cuts off the outer senses and is able to…

Prabhupāda: Outer senses, what do you mean by outer senses-dead?

Devotee (2): His bodily senses.

Prabhupāda: There is no question of outer senses. Senses purified. What do you mean by outer senses?

Devotee (2): The senses with which you perceive the outer gross…

Prabhupāda: That always remains. But when it is not purified, you perceive material things. When it is purified, you perceive spiritual things.

Devotee (2): So the same gross senses will be able to see spiritual things.

Prabhupāda: Yes, it is purified. Bhakti is the purifying process. I have already said. Not that the eyes are suffering from cataract disease, “Pluck out.” That is Māyāvādī philosophy.

Devotee (2): What does that mean, then, when the yogis withdraw their senses from the objects like it says like the tortoise withdraws his limbs within the shell? What does that refer to then?

Prabhupāda: Hm? What is that? I do not follow.

Brahmānanda: He asks, in the yoga system…

Prabhupāda: Yoga system means always see Supersoul; that is real yoga system. Perfection. Dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā paśyanti yaṁ yoginaḥ [SB 12.13.1]. Yoginaḥ, being meditating and seeing the Supersoul, this is yoga. Not that he does not see. He is seeing Supersoul. He is seeing nothing else.

Devotee (1): He doesn’t see the Supersoul with the gross senses, though, does he?

Prabhupāda: Pure senses. He does not… Impure senses and pure senses.

Devotee (2): How can you tell when your senses are getting purified?

Prabhupāda: You will understand Kṛṣṇa more and more. So long your senses are not purified, you will not understand clearly what is Kṛṣṇa. [break] …understanding Kṛṣṇa means detestful to the material world, attached to Kṛṣṇa. Bhaktiḥ pareśānubhavaḥ viraktir anyatra syāt. [break]

Devotee (2): Is it true that eventually by this process we’ll become purified so we can become like śruti-dharas?

Prabhupāda: That you will see when you become purified.

Devotee (2): Then we will actually attain that condition, then.

Prabhupāda: Try to become purified. Don’t imagine and guess, “What will be the condition when I am purified?” This is all nonsense. Try to become purified.

Devotee (2): Then you perceive it.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

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Fasting to get rid of disease instead of taking medicines

Denver July 3 1975

Devotee (4): Śrīla Prabhupāda, if a devotee gets sick, should he go and take medicine?

Prabhupāda: Better not to take.

Devotee (4): Just depend on Kṛṣṇa.

Prabhupāda: Yes, that is very good. What is this?

Kuruśreṣṭha: Rosehips. (Horse hips(?) Forceps(?))

Yadubara: You said the other day, Śrīla Prabhupāda, that we should take care of disease if it comes. Cāṇakya Paṇḍita was also saying fire and so on.

Prabhupāda: That is material consciousness.

Brahmānanda: Fasting is one way of eliminating the disease without taking medicine.

Prabhupāda: Yes. There is a Indian proverb that “Disease and unwanted guest, if you don’t give food, they will go away.” If some guest has come whom you do not want, don’t give him food. Then he will go away. (laughter) Similarly, disease, if you fast, it will go away. [break] …another story: prahareṇa dhanañjaya. One gentleman had eight or nine daughters and son-in-law. So when they came, he was giving them good food and shelter, everything. So then they saw, “We are very comfortably living at father-in-law’s expense.” So they did not want to go. The father-in-law saw, “It is very dangerous that all the son-in-laws are not going.” Then he began to… First day he did not supply salt. So one son-in-law say, “Oh, they are now disrespecful, they have not given salt.” So one went away. And next day, something else, something else, something else, shortened, shortened. So those who were intelligent, they went away. The last one, he was not going. Then his brother-in-laws thought that “Give him good beating.” Then he went away. Prahareṇa dhanañjaya. Others, those who were intelligent, they, when they thought that “Now there is disrespectful dealing, they are not giving everything,” so they gradually… The last one, he was a rascal. He was beaten severely; then he went away.

Yadubara: So if we’re beaten by this material nature, then we’ll go away.

Prabhupāda: No, no. Yes. No, material nature’s business is beating and kicking. That’s his only business. But we are so fool, we are taking, “Oh, very nice kicking.” That is the disease. We accept the kicking as very nice. That is foolishness. We are suffering always by three kinds of…, ādhyātmika, ādhibhautika, ādhidaivika disturbances. There is disturbance in the body, in the mind, disturbance by other living entities, so many, disturbed by climate, disturbed by famine. Always disturbance. Still, we are thinking, “It is very nice place.” This is foolishness. Still, we are trying to improve it. That is foolishness. He does not think that “What is the meaning of improvement? The disturbing is always continuing.” That does not come to his brain. They are making improvement. [break] …improvement, they can say, “This is improvement.” But how long this improvement will go? If there is no rainfall, what this improvement will help? So that is not in your hand. That is ādhidaivika. It depends on the demigods. If they want, they can stop completely, no rainfall. Then what this improvement will do?

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