New Vrindaban Hosts Homeopathic Flu Protection Presentation
→ New Vrindaban Brijabasi Spirit

FLU PROTECTION

with Homeopathy…

Find out how to Protect and Support your Immune system prior, during and after a Flu outbreak.

Answers to such questions as:

  • What is the best way to get immunity?

  • “The best offense is a good defense.” How can I strengthen my immune system?

  • Is the Flu virus really the enemy? Maybe it plays a role in improving health…

flu

WHEN: December 1st, 3PM

WHERE: Lodge building. Room to be announced

This is a free information session

 WORKSHOP GIVEN BY: Visvadhika dd (Joanne Alves DCHM)

Volunteer Opportunities this Weekend
→ The Toronto Hare Krishna Temple!

Volunteering at Toronto’s Hare Krishna Temple is always a most rewarding experience!  As you may know, the Hare Krishna Temple is famous for providing several thousands of plates of prasadam (spiritualized food) at many Yoga Conferences and Food Shows in Toronto each year.

This coming weekend Nov 22-24th is one such Food Fair, and we need YOUR help to make it successful!
If you are available to help out, please fill out this form and indicate your availability! We will get in touch with you shortly.

Learning digests slowly
→ The Enquirer

विद्य कालेन पच्यते

“vidya kālena pacyate”

We can digest different things at different rates. Fruits digest so quickly, for example – that you increase your risk of indigestion if you eat them with or just after other foods. Vegetables digest more quickly than grains, and so on. But what substance takes the longest time to digest?

vidya kālena pacyate

Knowledge / learning is the most difficult substance to “digest” (to really make full use of).


Why Does the Soul Have a Form? (And other questions)
→ The Enquirer

Question: The population of India is around 1.2 billion now. It was a much smaller number in the 15th century. I am not mocking, but how did so many souls come into being?

Human beings, no matter how many, are a tiny minority. There are more living entities on the tip of a pin than there are human in India. Each bacteria is a soul. More than that, every atom (irreducable quark) is a soul. There are an infinite number of souls. Sometimes the number of instances of a species fluctuates. Some species even become extinct, but the number of souls is constant at “infinite.”

Souls do not “come into being.” They eternally exist. “नित्यो नित्यानां” (nityo nityānāṁ)the upanishads say (Katha Upanishad, I believe). An infinite number of souls eternally exist. Also पूर्णं अदः पूर्णं इदं (pūrṇaṁ adaḥ pūrṇaṁ idaṁ – “from the infinitely complete comes the infinitely complete – Iśa Upanishad).

Question: Has it been written in any scriptures that there will be a lot more souls yearning to merge into Sri Krishna in Kali Yuga than in the other Yugas?

No. Quite the opposite, in Kali Yuga very few human beings seek mokṣa.

Question: Why does the Soul need to take a form?

This is an excellent question!

What is a “soul”? Bhāgavata Purāṇa 2.10.8 explains that a “soul” is the conscious entity which possesses three qualities: divinity (power of perception), substance (the body, sense organs that facilitate perception), and individuality (a specific point of view, from which one perceives).

The soul is consciousness, but consciousness cannot do anything (even perception) without it’s three intrinsic qualities of divinity, substance and individuality. So the soul inherently requires to have (1) an individual, subjective point of view, (2) to have substances and structures which facilitate its interaction with the world – a “body”, and (3) to have divine empowerment to extend its consciousness through individuality and into the substantial body.

That’s the long answer. The short answer summarizing the same thing is “the soul needs a form because the soul is an individual entity.” Individual entities require an individually distinct locus – some type of form.

If you ask why the soul must be an individual entity, the answer is “because it is consciousness.” Consciousness means awareness. When you are aware of something, you comprehend it from your point of view. So, the principle of subjectivity, and thus individuality, is inherent within the principle of consciousness.

The question can arise if the soul must have a form in the state of mokṣa, liberation. The answer is that the soul can extinguish the tangibility of its existence by remaining devoid of a form and losing itself entirely into the non-active, almost non-existent brahman, but this is a very rudimentary, elementary level of enlightenment / mokṣa. The soul can go beyond Brahman and enter the reality of Bhagavān, a reality known as Vaikuṇṭha (which is synonymous with nirvāṇa). In that condition the soul is real, tangible, and thus still has three qualities: divinity, individuality and substance. The difference is that the substance provided to the soul in material existence is an illusory substance generated by transformation of māyā-śakti, but the substance of the form provided to the soul in Vaikuṇṭha is a real substance generated by transformations of yogamāyā-śakti.

Denst-Desapego-body-art


A World of Names
→ 16 ROUNDS to Samadhi magazine

“The enlightened person endeavors only for the minimum necessities of life while in the world of names. Such a person is intelligently fixed and never endeavors for unwanted things, being competent to perceive practically that such endeavors are merely hard labor for nothing.” -Srimad Bhagavatam 2.2.3

Commentary by Srila Prabhupada

The bhagavata-dharma, the spiritual way, is perfectly distinct from the way of fruitive activities, which are considered by the transcendentalists to be merely a waste of time. The whole universe, or for that matter all material existence, is moving on as jagat, simply for planning business to make one’s position very comfortable or secure; although, everyone sees that this existence is neither comfortable nor secure and can never become comfortable or secure at any stage of development. Those who are captivated by the illusory advancement of material civilization (following the way of phantasmagoria) are certainly mad. The whole material creation is a jugglery of names only; in fact, it is nothing but a bewildering creation of matter like earth (solids), water (liquids), and fire (heat). The buildings, furniture, cars, bungalows, mills, factories, industries, peace, war, or even the highest perfection of material science, namely atomic energy and electronics, are all simply bewildering names of material elements with their concomitant reactions of the three modes of illusion. One who knows them perfectly well is not interested in creating unwanted things for a situation which is not at all reality, but simply names of no more significance than the babble of sea waves. The great kings, leaders, and soldiers fight with one another in order to perpetuate their names in history. They are forgotten in due course of time, and they make a place for another era in history. But the devotee, the transcendentalist, realizes how much history and historical persons are useless products of flickering time. The fruitive worker aspires after a big fortune in the matter of wealth, sex, and worldly adoration, but those who are fixed in perfect reality are not at all interested in such false things. For them it is all a waste of time. Since every second of human life is important, an enlightened person should be careful to utilize time cautiously. One second of human life wasted in the vain research of planning for happiness in the material world can never be replaced, even if one spends millions of coins of gold. Therefore, the transcendentalist desiring freedom from the clutches of maya, or the illusory activities of life, is warned not to be captivated by the external features of fruitive actors.

Human life is never meant for sense gratification, but for self-realization. Srimad-Bhagavatam instructs us solely on this subject from the very beginning to the end. Human life is simply meant for self-realization. The civilization which aims at this utmost perfection never indulges in creating unwanted things, and such a perfect civilization prepares people only to accept the bare necessities of life or to follow the principle of the best use of a bad bargain. Our material bodies and our lives in that connection are bad bargains because the living entity is actually spirit, and spiritual advancement of the living entity is absolutely necessary. Human life is intended for the realization of this important factor, and one should act accordingly, accepting only the bare necessities of life and depending more on God’s gift without diversion of human energy for any other purpose, such as being mad for material enjoyment. The materialistic advancement of civilization is called “the civilization of the demons,” which ultimately ends in wars and scarcity. The transcendentalist is specifically warned herewith to be fixed in mind, so that even if there is difficulty in plain living and high thinking, he will not budge even an inch from his stark determination. For a transcendentalist, it is a suicidal policy to be intimately in touch with the sense gratifiers of the world, because such a policy will frustrate the ultimate gain of life.

Zero to Zero
→ 16 ROUNDS to Samadhi magazine

Once there was a pleasure-seeking cat and a wise mouse that lived as pets. The cat was interested wholly and solely in eating nice foodstuffs, taking long naps, fending off competitors who encroached on his territory, and enjoying lovemaking – indeed, your typical back alley feline. This cat, we’ll call him Tom, worked hard to have all these things nicely available by hustling and competing amongst other cats for long hours during the day. Although he had an arduous routine, his one concession was being able to come back home at night to enjoy his carnal commodities. The mouse, on the other hand, who also lived in the man’s house, was confined to a cage (we’ll call her Minnie) and was simply at the mercy of the owner to provide for all bodily necessities.

The mouse, who was keen and knowledgeable about life, saw the cat’s daily endeavors through the wire mesh of her cage and spoke to Tom with compassion:

“My dear friend, how are you faring? How is your peace and sanctity? I see you struggle every day to make nice arrangements for food and sex, working at the cost of your own precious time and health. Has all of this made you happy and successful? Please tell me plainly.”

Tom, resting on his side, with a voice infused with a slight purr said, “I am as happy as I can be. I have to work and struggle, but I get to enjoy too. And enjoying makes me happy. I figure, let me take advantage now because it will all be finished one day.”

“If that is true, then why cause yourself so much pain to pursue pleasure? I am being supplied automatically, and yet because you want more than what is provided by your owner, you have become frantic,” was the sharp reply.

Tom, now taking umbrage, changed his tone from a slight purr to a slight snarl. “You say this though you are confined to a cage, mouse. What freedoms do you have compared to me, who can roam freely and enjoy life as I please?”

Minnie, with an amused smirk on her whitish mouth, commented that “Although I am in a cage, my mind remains placid, but although you can travel anywhere, your mind, being disturbed, always accompanies you. I am not put into anxiety because I have faith in my maintainer, but because you think you maintain yourself, you have so much distress.”

The Rat Race of Illusion

It is a popular and easy application to use philosophy as justification, even moral obligation, for increasing or maintaining a high grade of sensuality. Popular idioms, like ‘Carpe Diem’ and ‘You only live once,’ promulgate it; celebrities evoke envy of it; religions often justify it; advertisements plant desires of it; indeed, it is enmeshed in every aspect of a culture hinged by capitalism alone. One such exemplary philosophy is that we all came from nothing and it was by accident that we were manifested, and we will become nothing once more after death.

In refutation to this ideology, if all your endeavors ultimately add to nothing or zero and you came from nothing, then why endeavor so hard? It’s all nothing anyway; and, anyone who seriously believes such a philosophy should find working for nothing to be truly a pointless pursuit.

Secondly, there is no practical experience in which something comes from zero. In fact, we have every type of experience to assert the opposite as true – everything comes from something else. History teaches us that there is always an initial cause for every effect.

Clearly illogical and nonsensical, the only reason for such a philosophy is to substantiate one’s acting whimsically according to one’s own desires. After all, you only have this short window of manifestation by which to act for pleasure before returning to zero status. But because you are just a zero, why place importance even on this?

Ironically, such a philosophy does not bring greater happiness or freedom – its true intention. Actually, one who takes to unbridled enjoyment becomes more inured to obeying the orders of the mind and senses, thereby losing freedom, which is evinced by the gradual degradation of the higher sentiments afforded a human being.

The Bhagavad Gita states in chapter 2:

“While contemplating the objects of the senses, a person develops attachment for them, and from such attachment lust develops, and from lust anger arises. From anger, complete delusion arises, and from delusion bewilderment of memory. When memory is bewildered, intelligence is lost, and when intelligence is lost one falls down again into the material pool.”

Minnie knew that a higher authority was supplying her and instead of over-endeavoring to pursue more sense gratification; rather, she spent her time accruing wisdom, and because of her wisdom, she was content despite having seemingly less freedom than Tom. Indeed, the mind is apt to bring one misery if it is not controlled because “For him who has conquered the mind, the mind is the best of friends; but for one who has failed to do so, his mind will remain the greatest enemy” (Bhagavad Gita 6.6).

Tom may maintain his belief in the ‘zero to zero’ paradigm, but since no evidence or even inference is given to prove such a claim, and no lasting happiness derived from it, how can Tom remain sincere to such a belief? Rather, we should be real about what our intentions are, instead of using sense gratification to try to manipulate objective reality and genuine happiness like a cheap game of cat and mouse.

Relish The Taste
→ Japa Group

When we eat delicious prasadam, we tend to relish the taste and slow down our eating to experience all the flavours.
In our chanting we should do the same....don't be in a hurry to finish your rounds, really relish the taste of chanting by pronouncing the words and syllables clearly - by giving everything to the Holy names, the Lord will certainly reward us.
This respectful chanting will invoke the Lord's reciprocation and we can leave behind us mechanical Japa and really experience a sweet taste for chanting the Holy names.

The Village of Water
→ travelingmonk.com

Pani Gaon means the Village of Water. It is where the great sage Durvasa Muni had his asram 5,000 years ago in Vrindavan. Our parikrama party travelled for two hours in boats down the Yamuna river to visit the ancient and spiritually potent site. We had bhajan, class and prasadam. Then taking the blessings of [...]

When suitcases had no wheels
→ KKS Blog

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 02 October 2013, Melbourne, Australia, Srimad Bhagavatam 2.3.2-7)

old suitcaseWe can’t waste time trying to take away all the problems in our life; problems are built-in. I am going to tell you a fairytale – just listen carefully. Once upon a time, a long time ago my dear children, believe it or not, there was a time when suitcases had no wheels. Really!

And in those days, believe it not, people used to carry it by handle in the hand. They would have to hold the suitcase in one hand until the fingers were bent and couldn’t straighten… and then they tried the other hand for a while. Sometimes, they would put the suitcase on the shoulder, sometimes on their back and even on the head! In so many ways, people were carrying suitcases. Those were the days.

The austerity of suffering in the material world is like that. I had some realizations. Once, I was in the city of Amsterdam. It is a city in which it rains a little more than Melbourne; there is a bit more wind than Melbourne and the winter is a bit colder than Melbourne.

So, I was walking there on the street with a red nose and the eternal drop on the nose. I walked past this shop window and there was this poster: blue sky, blue ocean and beach! And somehow, before I knew it, I had bought a ticket to Kenya.

islandSo, Kenya, “Here I come,” and I went to the beach. I was there on the beach and there were coconuts everywhere and I was drinking coconuts and I was enjoying. There were cashews, not peanuts, that were very cheap. On the beach, it was HOT!

Hot at last but a bit too hot so I decided to go sit under the palm tree; the palm tree was there – from the poster. So, I was there, sitting under the palm tree and suddenly, “Bloph!” What was that – a scorpion!

Wow, I thought, wait until I get back home and tell them the story of how I single-handedly fought off this dangerous scorpion. This holiday is a big success and then, “Bloph!” Another scorpion, “God, you know. I’ll just go for a swim.” Then someone said, “You can’t swim now, it is high-tide!”

I said, “I’m from Holland. I can swim. No problem.”

They said, “No, you can’t because the sharks are coming over the reef in high-tide!”

Sharks! So, I couldn’t swim; I couldn’t sit under the palm trees. Finally, I was sitting on the beach with a towel over my head and realizing that the suitcase of karma had gone from one hand to the other hand. First, I was freezing and wet in the rain, and now I was roasting on the hot beach but my karma was simply still following me around.

That is the nature of the material energy, you try to fix a problem and it comes back in another way because karma is like that. Therefore, it is an illusion when we think that we are going to fix the material world.

 

 

Vrindavan is All-Pervading, November 15, Brahmanda Ghat, Gokul, Vraja, India
Giriraj Swami

11.15.13_03.VrindavanGiriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.13.60.

“Pradyumna Prabhu said that after reading so many Sanskrit and Bengali texts, he perceived that there was something different about Srila Prabhupada’s writings—Srila Prabhupada taught how to apply the principles of bhakti-yoga on a global scale. Generally the scriptures are taken to be for devotees, or aspiring devotees—how they can practice sadhana-bhakti and become purified. And, generally the scriptures are read and explained in relation to the individual practitioner. But Srila Prabhupada applied the same principles on a global scale. And that should be part of what we take with us from our time in Vrindavan. Of course, we want to keep the Vrindavan mood personally, we want the Vrindavan mood in our homes, we want the Vrindavan mood in our temples. But we should also try to encourage people to become Krishna conscious, so that the whole world can become like Vrindavan.”

Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.13.60

Pani Gaon, the Village of Water. It is where the great sage Durvasa Muni had his asram 5,000 years ago in Vrindavan (Album 81 photos)
→ Dandavats.com

Indradyumna Swami: Pani Gaon means the Village of Water. It is where the great sage Durvasa Muni had his asram 5,000 years ago in Vrindavan. Our parikrama party travelled for two hours in boats down the Yamuna river to visit the ancient and spiritually potent site. We had bhajan, class and prasadam. Then taking the blessings of Durvasa Muni we headed back up the Yamuna completely transcendentally satisfied Read more ›

Thursday, November 14th, 2013
→ The Walking Monk

ATROCIOUS SCAMS ARE REVEALED TO THE WALKING MONK!!!
 
Gainesville/Orlando, Florida
 
Scams Galore!
 
Bare feet.  Sand.  Temperatures in the 30’s Fahrenheit.  The conditions are so alright.  Spurts of walking make the day perfect and complete.
 
Just before I delivered a class from the Bhagavatam at Krishna House, I had that great pleasure to trek some streets in Gainesville with a group of fresh air enthusiasts.  In Alachua, I had a brief jaunt to the future location of the Krishna.com distribution center which allowed my limbs to loosen after a rare massage session.  Then, after a fantastic meal at the home of Sesha and Madhumati, another short but sweet trek permitted an aid towards digestion.
 
Over the course of the last few days I have spent time with people of varying professions – legal and medical field as well as those in the pharmaceutical and including youth leaders.  I heard from them some spell bounding, if not hair raising, tales and remarks of self and public deception.  The remarks from the medical people were something like, “Clients in their 60’s, 70’s and even 80’s, some ready to pass on, are desperate for what they consider their saving grace, Viagra.”
 
Here’s another one.  Hing (asafetida) has animal byproducts in it.  Most of my friends love this spice.  They might tune out or turn off when they hear what this plant resin is cut with.  Tapioca is another food tainted with material you won’t want to hear about.  And ahimsa (non-violent) mrdanga drums that come from India, well, don’t trust the flyers, they are lying through their teeth.  The best hide for such a drum is sourced from young, defenseless calves who are not allowed to die naturally.  The reality is old cows don’t provide good drum heads.
 
“Scams galore!” might be a good way to describe some of what is going on.
 
It took a drive, and not a walk, to Orlando to contemplate the cheating that occurs.  In any event, the wrap up program for the day was held at the ISKCON Orlando Center where I was asked to speak on the benefits of seeing divine energy as personal versus impersonal.  “God is a person, someone to communicate with, and you can never label Him as a cheat as you could the people of this Earth.”
 
May the Source be with you!
 
6 KM

How do we see spiritualists who want to control others to maintain their own position?
→ The Spiritual Scientist

From Stoka Krishna P

It is observed that people try to control situations, other people so as to maintain their positions. This is also observed in spiritual institutions wherein people try to exercise control over others/situations so as to be recognised as great devotees or have leadership positions, despite practicing Spiritual Life. However we don’t find these people getting Angry.
Does this kind of Control fall in the category of Lust or is it manipulation/duplicity?
Does duplicity has any place in Spiritual Life?

Answer Podcast

If we get angry with our children while trying to guide them about right or wrong, is that due to controlling mentality? How can we best guide them?
→ The Spiritual Scientist

From Munish P

While growing children..we tend to loose temper quite often assuming we are helping them to differentiate between what is right and what is wrong..given the kind of exposure children have these days outside home. Would you equate that propensity also with tendency to control children and hence loosing temper very often. What alternative we can use while dealing with children? Pl help

Answer Podcast

341. Final Kartik month day 2013
→ 9 Days, 8 Nights

Today was the final evening of the Kartik month where devotees offer a candle to the Lord and sing the damodarastakam prayers for a month. Of all the ones I have attended over the years, this year was the one I took more seriously and sincerely. Was at temple everyday and got a chance to worship the Lord directly without fail. The evening todaywas accompanied by plenty of guests, devotees and kirtaneers! Sucharu Prabhu gave it all tonight :) My ears are ringing from the kartalas though….

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340. Harinam Planning
→ 9 Days, 8 Nights

Attended a super exciting and well prepared presentation by Nanda Mandir on the importance of Harinam in Melbourne city. Although, there have been a few devotees who roam the main city centre once or twice a week, the intention now is to step up with a more coordinated, well orchestrated, well-presented, better organized and covering more regions of Melbourne for 2014. Big dreams, big planning and a big team – how else can we enter every town and every village of Melbourne! Wish us all the best ! Jai !

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Srila Prabhupada Visits New Vrindaban – June 30th, 1976.
→ New Vrindaban Brijabasi Spirit

Srila Prabhupada at the Bahulaban Temple, 1976.

Srila Prabhupada at the Bahulaban Temple, 1976.

Srila Prabhupada Visits New Vrindaban – June 30th, 1976.

Excerpt from Hari Sauri’s Trancendental Diary.

Srila Prabhupada was not well again today and had an ashen pallor when he came out of his room. He took only a very short walk, and for class simply had Pradyumna read the verse and purport and then speak on it.

The verse was a good descriptive of the typical materialist. “O my friends, sons of demons! In this material world, even those who are apparently advanced in education have the propensity to consider, ‘This is mine, and that is for others.’ Thus they are always engaged in providing the necessities of life to their families in a limited conception of family life, just like uneducated cats and dogs. They are unable to take to spiritual knowledge; instead, they are bewildered and overcome by ignorance.”

After hearing Pradyumna give his explanation Srila Prabhupada added just a few comments. He said he had personal experience of how foolish people become when they claim ownership of their surroundings. “We have seen practically in India. During the partition days, when the Britishers left India, they gave a parting kick by dividing Pakistan and India. So I have seen in my own eyes there was fighting between the Hindus and Muslims for at least one week in Calcutta and heaps of dead bodies there were. So the fighting was between Hindu and Muslim, but when they died the body is piled up and it was taken for burning or to throw away. So the land remained there and these people fighting between themselves, that ‘this is mine, this is mine,’ they finished their life. The land remained where it was. So this is called illusion. Aham mameti, ‘it is mine, it is yours.’”

He spoke for only five minutes and returned to the house. When Srila Prabhupada is unable to discourse on Krsna conscious philosophy, it is a serious matter indeed.

* * *

There have been confusing reports about the ownership of the temple in Fiji. Upendra has written expressing his concern and he enclosed a draft copy of a trust document and constitution. Money is being collected in ISKCON’s name, but it is unclear whether the deed of the land is actually in ISKCON’s name or privately held by Mr. Deoji Punja, Vasudeva dasa. Dealings between the GBC and Vasudeva prabhu are said to be strained, and there is talk of a separate board of trustees being set up.

Prabhupada does not like what he calls “phish, phish, phish,” wispered rumors and idle talk, with nothing clearly stated. He therefore wrote directly to Vasudeva stating how things are managed in his ISKCON society and requesting him to clarify what his intentions are.

“My dear Vasudeva das,

“Please accept my blessings. In connection with our ISKCON project in Fiji, I beg to inform you that we are managing our Krsna consciousness movement by the Governing Body Commission, GBC. We have got about 20 GBCs looking after the whole world affair, and above the GBC I am there. Below the GBC there are the temple president, secretary, treasurer in every centre. So the temple president is responsible to the GBC and the GBC is responsible to me. In this way we are managing. But why you are proposing a separate trustee for Fiji? We have up to now no separate trustee. If this is for security purposes, that we can discuss.

“If you have got some new idea please explain to me how you want to manage. But I think Fiji temple cannot be managed in a separate way. But still I will entertain some idea. If you have difference you can write me explaining.”

He told Vasudeva that the deed to the property should be in favor of himself, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder-Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, and could not be dedicated to any office bearer. Suggesting that Vasudeva could be president and Upendra secretary, he firmly stated there was no need for trustees.

“In any circumstance,” he said, “there cannot be a private property in the name of ISKCON. If you want to keep it a private property then the ISKCON name should not be utilised.

“I am very much anxious to get your clear reply to this thing. So many things are unclear, so let it be cleared up.” He requested that a copy of the deed be sent to him in New York.

To Upendra Prabhupada wrote, “Unless the temple is fully under our control, we are not interested. Then we shall call it back. I will decide on receipt of the reply to this letter to Vasudeva dasa (Mr. Punja). So far the Fiji constitution is concerned, where it says: ‘supplying needs to the sick, poor, and orphans, etc.’ That is not our program. We distribute prasadam to everyone, not particularly to the needy. We make no discrimination, rich or poor.”

* * *

After resting most of the morning Srila Prabhupada took his massage, and seemed to recover somewhat. Thus in the afternoon he gave an interview to Mike Darby, a young reporter and good friend of ISKCON, from the Wheeling Intelligencer. Mike had written to Srila Prabhupada in mid-February when he was still at high school for this interview. A thick set young man wearing a sleeveless vest and long sideburns, he was very respectful, genuine and had obviously been reading Srila Prabhupada’s books. Their short discussion touched on Christianity and material scientists, both of whom Prabhupada said were cheating — the so-called Christians by changing the instructions of Christ and the Bible, and the scientists for making false claims about chemicals producing life. Soft-spoken Mike fully agreed with him.

Mike asked Srila Prabhupada if he would tell him something about his spiritual master. Prabhupada didn’t reveal much, except to say in a very straightforward way, “This is spiritual master, one who is representative of God. And one who speaks what God has said, then he’s spiritual master.”
Mike was hoping for something more specific. “But I have never heard anything of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta, and I wondered if you would tell me a little bit about him, if you would.”

Prabhupada was reserved. “What shall I say? He was my spiritual master, and whatever he taught, we are speaking, that’s all. We don’t talk any nonsense.”

When Mike said that he had waited a long time to have this opportunity to meet, Srila Prabhupada was very touched and humbly thanked him. At the end of the interview Mike respectfully asked to have his photogragh taken with His Divine Grace and Prabhupada happily obliged. He had Mike come and sit next to his asana while Visakha clicked away with her camera. Prabhupada liked him and encouraged him to continue visiting New Vrindaban.

Prabhupada decided not to go out and allowed Mike to stay on while Pusta Krsna continued with the Bhavan’s Journal interview. They covered two more of the questions. One asked why many “savants” focus on jnana when the scriptures declare bhakti as the simplest and most direct way to attain spiritual realization. The other was on whether a guru was necessary for spiritual life and how can one recognize his guru. Prabhupada spoke extensively on both points before bringing the meeting to a close at eight o’clock.