Below are 2 conversations and one purport where Srila Prabhupada is warning
about not cultivating pure bhakti and instead think- this bhakti yoga is an easy process-just chant Hare Krsna and thats all you have to do. It is, if we do it correctly, but done incorrectly with the wrong conceptions of philosophy behind it, we could become an atheist, or a mayavadi, or a sahajiya. Without proper guidance from the pure devotee, it is easier to become one of these than a pure devotee. For further guidance in these matters, see below…..
Hare Krsna
damaghosa das
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1.)March 1 1975 Atlanta conversations—One who is completely free from all sinful activities, they can become pure devotee. So even after becoming free from sinful activities, if one has got some motive, then he is also not pure devotee. Pure devotee means without any material motive: “God is great. I am His subordinate. I must love God. I must render service to God.” This is pure devotee. And if I go to God, “Please give me my bread,” that is not pure devotee, because he has got some purpose. As soon as his purpose is fulfilled, he may turn nondevotee. Just like one of my German Godbrothers said that in Germany during the last war, Second World War, many women used to go to the church to pray to God to get back their husband, son, or brother. But nobody came back. And they became atheist: “There is no God. We prayed so much, and my father did not come, my brother did not come, my son did not come.”So motivated devotion is sometimes frustrated, and they become atheist.
2.)Feb 25 1975 room conversation-
Rāmeśvara: Just like this Alice Coltrane. She has done her small part. She made this record album with Govinda Jaya Jaya and Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Prabhupāda: That is… That will be a good thing. But when he (she) does it properly it will be more effective, because there is… If one does not chant in the process, then gradually it degrades. The offense will increase. There is chance.
Universal creation-how it takes place
For those of us who would like to understand how the universal creation takes place
(at intervals) here is the description from the Bhatgavat Purana-Srimad Bhagavatam.
(SB 3.10.verses 12-30 in the matter of creation)
This cosmic manifestation is separated from the Supreme Lord as material energy by means of kāla, which is the unmanifested, impersonal feature of the Lord. It is situated as the objective manifestation of the Lord under the influence of the same material energy of Viṣṇu.
This cosmic manifestation is as it is now, it was the same in the past, and it will continue in the same way in the future.
There are nine different kinds of creations besides the one which naturally occurs due to the interactions of the modes. There are three kinds of annihilations due to eternal time, the material elements and the quality of one’s work.
Of the nine creations, the first one is the creation of the mahat–tattva, or the sum total of the material ingredients, wherein the modes interact due to the presence of the Supreme Lord. In the second, the false ego is generated in which the material ingredients, material knowledge and material activities arise.
The sense perceptions are created in the third creation, and from these the elements are generated. The fourth creation is the creation of knowledge and of working capacity.
The fifth creation is that of the controlling deities by the interaction of the mode of goodness, of which the mind is the sum total. The sixth creation is the ignorant darkness of the living entity, by which the master acts as a fool.
One cannot factually love anything unless he is fully developed in the loving service of the Lord.–SP
SB 3.9.33-When you are free from the conception of gross and subtle bodies and when your senses are free from all influences of the modes of material nature, you will realize your pure form in My association. At that time you will be situated in pure consciousness.
SB 3.9.42-I am the Supersoul of every individual. I am the supreme director and the dearest. People are wrongly attached to the gross and subtle bodies, but they should be attached to Me only.
PURPORT–The Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead, is the dearest in both the conditioned and liberated states. When a person does not know that the Lord is the only dear most object, then he is in the conditioned state of life, and when one knows perfectly well that the Lord is the only dearmost object, he is considered to be liberated. There are degrees of knowing one’s relationship with the Lord, depending on the degree of realization as to why the Supreme Lord is the dear most object of every living being. The real reason is clearly stated in Bhagavad-gītā(15.7). Mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ: the living entities are eternally parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord. The living entity is called the ātmā, and the Lord is called the Paramātmā. The living entity is called Brahman, and the Lord is called the Parabrahman, or the Parameśvara. Īśvaraḥ paramaḥkṛṣṇaḥ [Bs. 5.1]. The conditioned souls, who do not have self-realization, accept the material body as the dear most. The idea of the dearmost is then spread all over the body, both concentrated and extended. The attachment for one’s own body and its extensions like children and relatives is actually developed on the basis of the real living entity. As soon as the real living entity is out of the body, even the body of the most dear son is no longer attractive.Therefore the living spark, or eternal part of the Supreme, is the real basis of affection, and not the body. Because the living entities are also parts of the whole living entity, that supreme living entityis the factual basis of affection for all. One who has forgotten the basic principle of his love for everything has only flickering love because he is in maya The more one is affected by the principle of maya, the more he is detached from the basic principle of love. One cannot factually love anything unless he is fully developed in the loving service of the Lord.
Bhakti yoga-beginning with hearing,is the authorized process for returning to the spiritual world
SB 3.9.10 purport…Therefore, one who is not situated in the principles of devotional service to the Lord should not pose himself as a religious leader of the innocent public. The Īśopaniṣad emphatically forbids this nonsense in the following mantra:
andhaṁ tamaḥ praviśanti ye ’sambhūtim upāsate tato bhūya iva te tamo ya u sambhūtyāṁ ratāḥ (Īśopaniṣad 12) A person in ignorance of the principles of religion who therefore does nothing in the matter of religion is far better than a person who misguides others in the name of religion without reference to the factual religious principles of devotional service. Such so-called leaders of religion are sure to be condemned by Brahmā and other great authorities.
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SB 3.9.11-O my Lord, Your devotees can see You through the ears by the process of bona fide hearing, and thus their hearts become cleansed, and You take Your seat there. You are so merciful to Your devotees that You manifest Yourself in the particular eternal form of transcendence in which they always think of You.
PURPORT-…The Lord sits on the lotus heart of the devotee in the eternal form the pure devotee desires, and thus the Lord does not part from the devotee, as confirmed in the previous verse. The Lord, however, does not disclose Himself to a casual or unauthentic worshiper to be exploited. This is confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (7.25): nāhaṁ prakāśaḥ sarvasya yoga-māyā-samāvṛtaḥ. Rather, by yoga-māyā, the Lord remains concealed to the nondevotees or casual devotees who are serving their sense gratification. The Lord is never visible to the pseudodevotees who worship the demigods in charge of universal affairs. The conclusion is that the Lord cannot become the order supplier of a pseudodevotee, but He is always prepared to respond to the desires of a pure, unconditional devotee, who is free from all tinges of material infection.
…the only answer to this question”–SP
SB 3.9.7-O my Lord, persons who are bereft of the all-auspicious performance of chanting and hearing about Your transcendental activities are certainly unfortunate and are also bereft of good sense. They engage in inauspicious activities, enjoying sense gratification for a very little while.
PURPORT-The next question is why people are against such auspicious activities as chanting and hearing the glories and pastimes of the Lord, which can bring total freedom from the cares and anxieties of material existence. The only answer to this question is that they are unfortunate because of supernatural control due to their offensive activities performed simply for the sake of sense gratification. The Lord’s pure devotees, however, take compassion upon such unfortunate persons and, in a missionary spirit, try to persuade them into the line of devotional service. Only by the grace of pure devotees can such unfortunate men be elevated to the position of transcendental service.
SB 3.9.8-O great actor, my Lord, all these poor creatures are constantly perplexed by hunger, thirst, severe cold, secretion and bile, attacked by coughing winter, blasting summer, rains and many other disturbing elements, and overwhelmed by strong sex urges and indefatigable anger. I take pity on them, and I am very much aggrieved for them.
PURPORT–A pure devotee of the Lord like Brahmā and persons in his disciplic succession are always unhappy to see the perplexities of the conditioned souls, who are suffering the onslaughts of the threefold miseries which pertain to the body and mind, to the disturbances of material nature, and to many other such material disadvantages. Not knowing adequate measures for relieving such difficulties, suffering persons sometimes pose themselves as leaders of the people, and the unfortunate followers are put into further disadvantages under such so-called leadership. This is like a blind man’s leading another blind man to fall into a ditch. Therefore, unless the devotees of the Lord take pity on them and teach them the right path, their lives are hopeless failures. The devotees of the Lord who voluntarily take the responsibility of raising the foolish materialistic sense enjoyers are as confidential to the Lord as Lord Brahmā.
we will give you television next week, but your starving, we don’t care for
June 17 1974 Germany Conversations
Prabhupada:…After all, nature is producing. We do not know how to deal with nature. Therefore there is scarcity, and we say, “over-population.” There is no question of over-population. There are so many hundreds and thousands of birds within this forest, other animals. They have no problems of over-population. Eh? (pause) All these men, who are living in these villages, so what is their means of livelihood? Agriculture or industry? Or service?
Haṁsadūta: I think mostly they work at some… Well, some service, yes.
Prabhupāda: Factory.
Haṁsadūta: Employed at some factory. But very few people actually work on the land. And we can see so much land. No one is working. ‘Cause by machine, they can work so quick on the land. [break]
Prabhupāda: This should be exemplary, that our community shall live in this way and save time for spiritual advancement of life. This example should be shown to the whole world, that “Here is a community. They have no problem, and they are simply interested in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.” This will be the idea. Is it possible?
Vivekananda, Aurobindo,and Ramakrsna all victimized by women-we must become attracted to Madan Mohan
Paris June 14 1974 Conversations
Devotee: I was raised up a very strict Catholic, going through Catholic school till I was fifteen years old, but I could not… They were trying to teach love of God, but I could not see that they were also loving God. Even the head priest, he was found having illicit sex relationships with one of the young nuns, and she became pregnant by that and he had to leave. They quietly sent him away without anybody knowing, but later on it came out.
Prabhupāda: That is going on everywhere.
Note–I was also raised up in Catholic schools and witnessed a priest who blooped the church with one of our high school nuns. At the end of our senior year all the boys/men had to go to some monastery for a weekend “retreat” for “purification” by attending rituals and going to mass daily and hearing the priests lecture to us. It was so boring, myself and one other decided to cause some mischief and we both got kicked out from there and had to go see our Parish priest-some Jesuit priest. When I got there he was smoking a very long and smelly cigar, we talked for 3 hours and he could not answer so many questions I posed to him. I concluded then that these people have practically no knowledge of God nor do they practice what they preach.
Devotee: And I saw, “What is the point? They are not even loving God.” They were teaching loving God, but I could not see it.
Prabhupāda: He said that Vivekananda was doing that. You said? Just tell him.
Nitāi: That once I met a little old lady on the streets of Denver when I was distributing books.
Prabhupāda: Old lady.
Nitāi: Very old. She was walking down the street. She was all bent over. And she asked me what I was doing, and I showed her our magazine and explained that we were teaching Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and she said, “Oh, is this yoga? I remember way back when Vivekananda came here. Have you ever heard of him?” So we began talking about Vivekananda. She said that she was there when he made his tour. She was in Denver when he made his tour of the United States, and that he stopped there for one week and lectured. And she went there to see that meeting, but she said that all in all she was disgusted with him because he was so much attracted to the women. She said that he was victimized by the women. They were all trying to get him, and she said so when he went back to India he was a broken man.
Prabhupāda: Yes, he took with him three women. One of them was Sister Nivedita.
Devotee: Also you told us in India about Aurobindo and Ramakrishna. Aurobindo went also. Aurobindo, when that French woman came, he also fell to her, but just to cover it up he has called her “Mother” because in India, when you call someone “Mother...”
Prabhupāda: No, everyone knows he is mother and he is father.
Devotee: Yeah, right. And they don’t think… There is no question of sex. When they think of mother and father, they don’t think of these things. Also with Ramakrishna. He also had his divine mother. You told us a story in Calcutta that he was very debauched. In a village he used to chase the young women. And his brother actually made him famous.
Prabhupāda: It is very difficult to, not to be victimized by woman. It is very difficult.
Krsna Kirtan at Sri Sri Gaura Nitai Mandir
SB 3.5.3-O my lord, great philanthropic souls travel on the earth on behalf of the Supreme Personality of Godhead to show compassion to the fallen souls who are averse to the sense of subordination to the Lord.
PURPORT-To be obedient to the wishes of the Supreme Lord is the natural position of every living entity. But due only to past misdeeds, a living being becomes averse to the sense of subordination to the Lord and suffers all the miseries of material existence. No one has anything to do but render devotional service to the Supreme Lord, Śrī Krsna. Therefore any activity other than transcendental loving service to the Lord is more or less a rebellious action against the supreme will. All fruitive activity, empirical philosophy and mysticism are more or less against the sense of subordination to the Lord, and any living entity engaged in such rebellious activity is more or less condemned by the laws of material nature, which work under the subordination of the Lord. Great unalloyed devotees of the Lord are compassionate towards the fallen, and therefore they travel all over the world with the mission of bringing souls back to Godhead, back to home. Such pure devotees of the Lord carry the message of Godhead in order to deliver the fallen souls, and therefore the common man who is bewildered by the influence of the external energy of the Lord should avail himself of their association.
Note-Today was my birthday and these great souls Navadvipa das, his wife Brajabhumi dasi, and their three children-Ram das, Laksman das and Radharani devi dasi, all came for a short visit to our Ashram and we all did kirtan together after feeding the cows across the road.They brought some very sumptuous Krsna prasadam, left me some in a b-day gift bag, and I haven’t checked it yet, but I think they also left a donation in the temple room box. This is a family of devotees, wonderful devotees, who have understood the Vaisnava Philosophy and practice it daily.
And they are doing what the SB verse states—O my lord, great philanthropic souls travel on the earth on behalf of the Supreme Personality of Godhead to show compassion to the fallen souls who are averse to the sense of subordination to the Lord.
Hare Krsna
All glories to Srila Prabhupada and all the wonderful Vaisnava devotees !!!
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Handwritten Notice from Srila Prabhupada Himself
Subject: Handwritten Notice from Srila Prabhupada Himself
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