New Vrindaban: Back to Godhead Magazine Article – February 1969
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BTG Cover - Volume 1, Number 23, February 1969

BTG Cover – Vol 1, # 23, February 1969

New Vrindaban

Back to Godhead Magazine article - February 1969

by Hayagriva Dasa

A spritual concept of community life

One practical aspect of the Krishna Consciousness Movement is now taking form in the hills of West Virginia. This is a report on the development and the philosophical background of that important project.

“You have New York, New England and so many ‘new’ duplicates of European places in the USA why not import New Vrindaban in your country?” -A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, in a letter to his disciples

New Vrindaban, a spiritual community united in the pursuit of Krishna Consciousness, is now taking shape under the guidance of our Guru Maharaj, A. C . Bhaktivedanta Swami. Now the hills of West Virginia are vibrating daily with the Maha (Hare Krishna) Mantra, and it is certain that the forests, fields and mountains are no longer in West Virginia they have entered the spiritual sky of Vaikuntha. By the mere touch of sound, everything at New Vrindaban is Krishna-ized. And by the mercy of the spiritual master, America is seeing a resurgence of God consciousness.

The conception and purpose of New Vrindaban are best set forth in the letters of Swamiji himself. Primarily, the place is intended to serve as an amiable location for reviving our dormant God consciousness. In New Vrindaban, remembrance of Krishna is easy because the atmosphere is conducive: “We can remember Krishna in every moment. We remember Krishna while taking a glass of water, because the taste of water is Krishna. We can remember Krishna as soon as we see the sunlight in the morning, because the sunlight is a reflection of Krishna’s bodily effulgence. And as soon as we see moonlight in the evening, we remember Krishna, because moonlight is the reflection of sunlight. Similarly, when we hear any sound, we can remember Krishna because sound is Krishna, and the most perfect sound, transcendental, is Hare Krishna, which we have to chant 24 hours. So there is no scope of forgetting Krishna at any moment of our life, provided we practice in this way.”

The atmosphere of New Vrindaban is suitable for such a remembrance process it is cosmic, rural, woodsy. Under the Milky Way, Kirtan the chanting of Hare Krishna to the accompaniment of musical instruments expands. Orion, Saggitarius, Virgo all vibrate to the cymbal rhythm, the sounds loosed in the night, broadcast from the mountains of planet earth. The firmament revolves around Vrindaban the Maha Mantra twirls it about.

Life revolves about the Maha Mantra the charting of the Holy Names. There is Kirtan, group chanting, every morning and evening. Aritik cymbal clashing, offering to the Deity is performed before dawn and four times throughout the day. The morning Kirtan is usually over before sunrise. Then morning “Prasadam,” food first offered for the pleasure of the Lord, is taken, usually cereal, and the day’s chores begin. There is much work at New Vrindaban, and all participate.

The system and purpose of New Vrindaban is set forth specifically in the letters of Swamiji:

“Vrindaban conception is that of a transcendental village, without any of the botheration of the modern industrial atmosphere. My idea of developing New Vrindaban is to create an atmosphere of spiritual life where people in the bona fide divisions of society namely, Brahmacharies [celibate students], Grihasthas [householders], Vanaprasthas [the retired], and Sannyasis [renounced holy men] will live independently, completely depending on agricultural produce and milk from the cows.” (8/17/68)

“To retire from activities is not a very good idea for the conditioned soul. I have very good experience, not only in our country, but also in your country, that this tendency of retiring from activities pushes one down to the platform of laziness, and gradually to the ideas of the hippies.

“One should always remain active in Krishna’s service, otherwise strong Maya [illusion] will catch him and engage him in her service. Our constitutional position being to render service, we cannot stop activity. So NewVrindaban may not be turned into a place of retirement, but some sort of activities must go on there. If there is good prospective land, we should produce some grains, flowers and fruits, and keep cows, so that those living there may have sufficient work and facility for advancing in Krishna Consciousness. In India, actually, Vrindaban has now become a place of the unemployed and of beggars. Kirtanananda has already seen it. And so there is always a tendency toward such degradation if there is no sufficient work in the service of Krishna. ” (7/14/68)

From the beginning, as Swamiji suggested, the program at New Vrindaban has been geared to enable the student to progress along the path of devotional service, and so there is work going on all the time. And the program is sufficiently diversified to accommodate a variety of talents, dovetailing them in Krishna’s service.

As in the many transcendentalist farms of 19th century America, the concept of life at New Vrindaban is that of plain living and high thinking.

“Vrindaban does not require to be modernized, because Krishna’s Vrindaban is a transcendental village. They completely depend on nature’s beauty and nature’s protection. The community in which Krishna preferred to belong was the Vaishya community, because Nanda Maharaj [Krishna's foster father, with whom He spent His childhood while on Earth] happened to be a Vaishya king, or landholder, and his main business was cow protection. It is understood that he had 900,000 cows, and Krishna and Balaram used to take charge of them, along with Krishna’s many cowherd boy friends. Every day, in the morning, He used to go out with His friends and cows into the pasturing grounds.

“So, if you seriously want to convert this spot into New Vrindaban, I shall advise you not to make it very much modernized. But as you are American boys, you must make it just suitable to your minimum needs. Nor should you make it too much luxurious, as generally Europeans and Americans are accustomed. Better to live there without modern amenities, and to live a natural, healthy life for executing Krishna Consciousness. It may be an ideal village where the residents will have plain living and high thinking.

Walking path to the original New Vrindaban farm.

Walking path to the original New Vrindaban farm.

“For plain living we must have sufficient land for raising crops, and pasturing grounds for the cows. If there is sufficient grains and production of milk, then the whole economic problem is solved. You do not require any machines, cinema, hotels, slaughter houses, brothels, nightclubs all these modern amenities. People in the spell of Maya are trying to squeeze out gross pleasure from the senses, which it is not possible to derive to our heart’s content. Therefore we are confused and baffled in our attempt to get eternal pleasure from gross matter. Actually, joyful life is on the spiritual platform, and therefore we should try to save our valuable time from material activities and engage it in Krishna Consciousness. But at the same time, because we have to keep our body and soul together to execute our mission, we must have sufficient (not extravagant) food to eat, and that will be supplied by grains, fruits and milk.

“The difficulty is that the people in this country want to continue their practice of sense gratification, and at the same time they want to become transcendentally advanced. This is quite contradictory. One can advance in transcendental life only by the process of negating the general practice of materialistic life. The exact adjustment is in Vaishnava philosophy, which is called ‘Yukta Vairagya.’ This means that we should simply accept the bare necessities for the material part of life, and try to save time for spiritual advancement. This should be the motto of New Vrindaban, if you at all develop it to the perfectional stage.” (6/14/68)

Regarding New Vrindaban’s cow protection program, Swamiji has written:

“We must have sufficient pasturing ground to feed the animals all round. We have to maintain the animals throughout their lives. We must not make any program for selling them to the slaughter houses. This is the way of cow protection. Krishna by His practical example taught us to give all protection to the cows, and that should be the main business of New Vrindaban. Vrindaban is also known as Gokula. Go means cows, and Kula means congregation. Therefore the special feature of New Vrindaban will be cow protection, and by doing so, we shall not be the losers.

“In India, of course, a cow is protected, and the cowherdsmen derive sufficient profit by such protection. Cow dung is used for fuel. Cow dung dried in the sunshine is kept in stock for utilization as fuel in the villages. They get wheat and other cereals produced from the field. There is milk and vegetables and the fuel is cow dung, and thus they are self-sufficient, independent, in every village. There are hand weavers for the cloth. And the country oil-mill (consisting of a bull walking in a circle around two big grinding stones, attached with yoke) grinds the oil seeds into oil.

“The whole idea is that people residing in New Vrindaban may not have to search for work outside. Arrangements should be such that the residents will be self-satisfied. That will make an ideal ashram. I do not know whether these ideals can be given practical shape, but I think like that, that people may be happy in any place with land and cow, without endeavoring for the so-called amenities of modern life which simply increase anxieties for maintenance and proper equipment. The less we are anxious for maintaining our body, the more we become favorable for advancing in Krishna Consciousness.” (6/14/68)

A devotee at the original New Vrindaban farm.

As for the development of buildings, Swamiji has given specific instructions for temples and living quarters. At present New Vrindaban includes 133 acres (with more land available in the future) of pasture, forest, ponds, mountains and streams. So there are varied settings for numerous buildings. Swamiji advises:

“Concentrate on one temple, and then we shall extend one after another. Immediately the scheme should be to have a temple in the center, and residential quarters for the Brahmacharies or Grihasthas surrounding it. Let us go ahead with that plan at first.

“Also, you will be pleased to note that I’ve asked Goursundar to make a layout of the whole land, and I shall place 7 different temples in different situations, as prototypes of Vrindaban. There will be seven principle temples, namely, Govinda, Gopinath, Madan Mohan, Shyamsundar, Radha Raman, Radha Damodar, and Gokulananda. Of course, in Vrindaban there are, more or less, big and small, about 5,000 temples; that is a far distant scheme. But immediately we shall take up constructing at least 7 temples in different situations, meadows and buildings. So I am trying to make a plan out of the description of the plot of our land. And the hilly portions may be named Goverdhan. On the Goverdhan hillsides, the pasturing grounds for the cows may be alloted.” (8/23/68)

In conclusion, New Vrindaban is a means of attaining life’s ultimate goal in the service of the Lord, Sri Krishna. The sincere participants can thereby please the spiritual master by progress in Krishna Consciousness, and when the spiritual master is pleased, Lord Krishna is pleased.

“Now we can work with great enthusiasm for constructing a New Vrindaban in the United States of America. People who came here from Europe to this part of the world named so many new provinces, just like New England, New Amsterdam, New York. So I also came to this part of the world to preach Krishna Consciousness, and by His Grace and by your endeavor, New Vrindaban is being constructed. That is my great happiness. Our sincere endeavor in the service of the Lord, and of the Lord’s assistants, to make our progressive march successful these are two important things to be followed in the spiritual advancement of life.

“I think it was Krishna’s desire that this New Vrindaban scheme should be taken up by us, and now He has given us a great opportunity to serve Him in this scheme. So let us do it sincerely and all other help will come automatically. I am very glad to notice in Kirtanananda’s letter that he has realized more and more that the function of New Vrindaban is nothing physical or bodily, but purely spiritual and for the glorification of the Lord, Sri Hari [Krishna]. If we actually keep this view before us, certainly we shall be successful in our progressive march.” (8/23/68)

From Vrndavana to Villa Vrndavana
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KKS kirtana slotFrom Bhumi Vrndavana in India, Kadamba Kanana Swami travelled on to Villa Vrndavana, a beautiful Hare Krsna Villa situated close to Florence in Italy. Maharaja, together with many fantastic kirtaniyas like Amala Harinama, Tarana Caitanya and Ojasvi, filled the 12 hours of daily kirtan with beautiful and ecstatic melodies. Maharaja also gave daily classes, first focusing on the Srimad Bhagavatam and then, during the weekend, lecturing on harinama verses from the Caitanya Caritamrita.

Please find below, the lectures and some of the kirtans by Kadamba Kanana Swami during this stay. To download the audio files, right-click on each title and “save target as”. Further down you can also find photos depicting this stay. If you cannot view the slide show, please visit flickr.

 

Lectures

KKS – Srimad Bhagavatam – 05 July 2013 in Villa Vrndavana, Italy

KKS – CC. Adi. 7.20-21 – 06 July 2013 in Villa Vrndavana, Italy

KKS – CC. Adi. 7.76 – 07 July 2013 in Villa Vrndavana, Italy

 

Kirtanas

KKS – Kirtana I – 06 July 2013 in Villa Vrndavana, Italy

KKS – Kirtana II – 06 July 2013 in Villa Vrndavana, Italy

KKS – Kirtana I – 06 July 2013 in Villa Vrndavana, Italy

 

From Vrndavana to Villa Vrndavana
→ KKS Blog

KKS kirtana slotFrom Bhumi Vrndavana in India, Kadamba Kanana Swami travelled on to Villa Vrndavana, a beautiful Hare Krsna Villa situated close to Florence in Italy. Maharaja, together with many fantastic kirtaniyas like Amala Harinama, Tarana Caitanya and Ojasvi, filled the 12 hours of daily kirtan with beautiful and ecstatic melodies. Maharaja also gave daily classes, first focusing on the Srimad Bhagavatam and then, during the weekend, lecturing on harinama verses from the Caitanya Caritamrita.

Please find below, the lectures and some of the kirtans by Kadamba Kanana Swami during this stay. To download the audio files, right-click on each title and “save target as”. Further down you can also find photos depicting this stay. If you cannot view the slide show, please visit flickr.

 

Lectures

KKS – Srimad Bhagavatam – 05 July 2013 in Villa Vrndavana, Italy

KKS – CC. Adi. 7.20-21 – 06 July 2013 in Villa Vrndavana, Italy

KKS – CC. Adi. 7.76 – 07 July 2013 in Villa Vrndavana, Italy

 

Kirtanas

KKS – Kirtana I – 06 July 2013 in Villa Vrndavana, Italy

KKS – Kirtana II – 06 July 2013 in Villa Vrndavana, Italy

KKS – Kirtana I – 06 July 2013 in Villa Vrndavana, Italy

 

18.38 – Discover the right way to enjoy our right to enjoyment
→ The Spiritual Scientist

We all feel that enjoyment is our right.

And Gita wisdom declares that we are right. But it cautions us against assuming that this right makes any and every form of enjoyment right.

To understand, let’s compare enjoyment with eating. We all have a right to eating. But does that make eating anything and everything right? Certainly not.

Infants tend to explore the world with their tongues. Starting with their fingers, they put into their mouth whatever they can lay their hands on. They may put a knife in their mouth – or even their stool. Attentive mothers gently but firmly stop their precious babies from eating such things, and give them something better to eat. Are they violating their infants’ right to eat? Not at all. They are simply training their babies in the right way to enjoy the right to eating.

The same applies to enjoyment. We are souls who can relish our joyful spiritual nature by reciprocating spiritual love with Krishna, our eternal Lord and lover.

As we are spiritual beings, material things as sources of enjoyment are simply incompatible with our nature, just as a knife as food is incompatible with the human digestive system. Material things even if they initially promise enjoyment eventually imprison our consciousness in the material body, thereby subjecting us to the agonies of old age, disease and death. The Bhagavad-gita trains us, as would a caring mother, when it (18.38) cautions that enjoyment at the material level turns poisonous and painful.

Of course, we don’t have to give up all material things; we can use them to serve Krishna. Accepting Krishna as the source of ultimate enjoyment and using material things to reciprocate love with him is the right way to enjoy our right to enjoyment.

***

That happiness which is derived from contact of the senses with their objects and which appears like nectar at first but poison at the end is said to be of the nature of passion.

How can devotees engage in charity so that they will not become bound in karma?
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From Trivikrama P

Does that mean prabhu that If devotees were to do charity, then that good karma will not bind them? Since you suggested that devotees should do acts of charity(wherever possible, spiritual or material), does it mean that the charity done by devotees will not bind them?
I once heard in H.H. Radhanath Maharaj's lecture that he suggested that you tell the recipient of the charity to recite 'Hare Krishna', then that charity is spiritualized. What should be our consciousness that will make this act of charity spiritual and not bind us?

To hear the answer podcast, please click here

During their spiritual advancement, do devotees see the Supersoul in their heart? How?
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From: Rahul
While reading Bhagavad Gita I came across verse 13.25 and the translation is as follows "Some percieve the Supersoul within themselves through meditation others through the cultivation of knowledge and still others through working without fruitive desires."

How can a devotee percieve the supreme soul which is present within his body.I can understand the a person can percieve the presence of the soul through the presence of consciousness thats pervading within the body.But I am curious to know how a devotee can percieve the supreme soul who is the friend of the individual spirit soul.What are the symptoms of a person who has percieved the supreme soul within his heart.Is he able to witness the 4 handed form of visnu.?

The only example I came across is dhruva maharaj who witnessed the supreme soul.And my question is can we witness the supreme soul like dhruva maharaj if we chant the hare krsna mahamantra?

To hear the answer podcast, please click here

Focusing On One Point
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Today I heard a lecture by Giriraj Swami from a very nice Japa retreat. He was talking about the principle of focusing on one point to control the mind. He spoke about how our eyes tend to wander as we chant and this causes the mind to wander also, following the path of the eyes.

Today I tried this method - I focused on one point and chanted my rounds like this and it worked! My mind remained fixed and I was able to hear the Holy names properly.

Please try this method and you will be surprised by the results.

All glories to the chanting of the Holy names of the Lord!

Focusing On One Point
→ Japa Group


Today I heard a lecture by Giriraj Swami from a very nice Japa retreat. He was talking about the principle of focusing on one point to control the mind. He spoke about how our eyes tend to wander as we chant and this causes the mind to wander also, following the path of the eyes.

Today I tried this method - I focused on one point and chanted my rounds like this and it worked! My mind remained fixed and I was able to hear the Holy names properly.

Please try this method and you will be surprised by the results.

All glories to the chanting of the Holy names of the Lord!

Does commitment to ideology make us blind to objective understanding?
→ The Spiritual Scientist

From: Keshav
Is the Marxist view that , " Idealogy leads to blindness after a distance " true ?
Any person in real life follows a idealogy and also the truth is relative for everyone ,so how can one be sure of his path ?
When a person follows a idealogy ,his thoughts , his intellect works according to  his idealogy ,but his idealogy can not answer every question . Does owing to a idealogy closes doors for open thinking and knowledge of the absolute truth ?

To hear the answer podcast, please click here

A child is born not just through the genitals but through the heart
→ The Spiritual Scientist

The heart is situated within the chest, and although instrumentally the son is born with the aid of the genitals, he is actually born from within the heart. According to the heart's situation, the semen takes the form of a body. Therefore according to the Vedic system, when one begets a child his heart should be purified through the ritualistic ceremony known as garbhadhana.

Srimad Bhagavatam 5.5.20 purport

Marvelous
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“The extraordinary result derived from chanting the transcendentally empowered and eternal name of Krsna just a few times cannot be satisfactorily described, even by persons like Lord Siva or Lord Brahma. So marvelous is the holy name that immediately upon chanting, the chanter attains the supreme destination.” [Brhad Naradiya Purana]

Bhaktivedanta Hospital opens in Mayapur
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View the Gallery: Bhaktivedanta Hospital Opening Gallery We are happy to announce that By the causeless mercy of Sri Pancattava, Sri Sri Radha Madhava, Lord Nrisimhadev & Lord Jagannatha, Lord Baladev and Srimati Subhadra Devi and by the blessings of all of you, Bhaktivedanta Hospital- Mayapur Health Care Centre, Mayapur will start it’s service from [...]

The post Bhaktivedanta Hospital opens in Mayapur appeared first on Mayapur.com.

Radhanath Swami Recalls Srila Prabhupada’s Visit to the Original New Vrindaban Farmhouse – June 1976
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Srila Prabhupada meets his old friend Kaliya (the cow) on the path to the New Vrindaban farmhouse.

Srila Prabhupada meets his old friend Kaliya (the cow) on the path to the New Vrindaban farmhouse, 1976

 

“That’s the First Cow of New Vrindaban, Srila Prabhupada.”

Radhanatha Swami recalls a 1976 visit Srila Prabhupada made to the old farm quarters in New Vrindaban. Prabhupada had lived in that primitive woodland setting for a month in 1969 when it was the entire New Vrindaban. Although he had frequently visited the growing New Vrindaban project, Prabhupada had never gone back to the old farmhouse.

“If you can clean this place up, I will bring him up,” said Kirtanananda Swami, but later he changed his mind. “We are not going to bring Prabhupada up here. He’ll say it looks like a jungle. It is not proper.” Radhanatha was disheartened to hear it, because he was the pujari of the Deity Radha-Vrndavananatha, who resided in the little temple farmhouse. He had been feeling it would be the perfection of his devotional service to Radha-Vrndavananatha if the pure devotee, Srila Prabhupada, would come to associate with Him. He decided to at least bring a picture of Radha-Vrndavananatha for Srila Prabhupada to see.

One day during Srila Prabhupada’s visit, Kirtanananda Swami introduced Radhanatha to Srila Prabhupada and told him he had been making Srila Prabhupada’s sandesa.

“Very nice,” Srila Prabhupada replied. Radhanatha then showed Prabhupada an eight-by-ten picture of Radha-Vrndavananatha. Srila Prabhupada looked at Them silently and meditatively for about a minute. Then he began glorifying Lord Krsna. He said Krsna in Vrndavana is the sweetest. When Krsna stays in Mathura, Dvaraka, that is city beauty, but when He is in the village of Vrndavana, His beauty is the sweetest. While saying this, Srila Prabhupada continued to glance at the picture of Radha-Vrndavananatha. He then spoke of how Krsna goes out to the pasturing ground with His buffalo horn and flute to herd the cows and play with His friends. Krsna and His friends would get so absorbed in their play that mother Yasoda would have to go out and get Krsna to bring Him home.

“Where are these Deities?” Srila Prabhupada asked Kirtanananda Swami.

“They are at the original farm,” said Kirtanananda Swami, “the place you stayed many years ago.”

“You can take me there to see Them?” asked Srila Prabhupada.

“It is very difficult to go there,” Kirtanananda Swami replied. “The road is very bad. It would be uncomfortable for you.”

“You have a jeep?” Srila Prabhupada suggested.

Seeing Srila Prabhupada’s persistence, Kirtanananda Swami said that they would make all arrangements for his going there.

When the brahmacaris from the old farm heard the news, they were ecstatic. They tried their best to clean and make ready their backwoods temple and planned how to greet Srila Prabhupada. Radhanatha emphasized that Kirtanananda Swami said it was important that the recording of the “Govindam” prayers begin as soon as Prabhupada walked through the doorway to the temple. Therefore, the tape recorder should be cued and placed strategically. A guard should stand down the road and another near the house to signal Prabhupada’s advance toward the temple. Radhanatha, the pujari, would stay poised by the recorder, ready to press the button at the right instant.

Meanwhile, Srila Prabhupada traveled three-quarters of the way to the farm by pickup truck but then decided to walk the last part as his daily morning walk. As he walked, all the “guards” went to join him. Passing a black cow, one of the devotees said, “That’s the first cow of New Vrindaban, Srila Prabhupada.”

“Yes, I know Kaliya,” Srila Prabhupada replied. Finally he walked up to the temple and entered. Somehow, the other devotees were all detained outside and Srila Prabhupada entered the temple room alone. He stood with palms folded, looking at the surprised Radhanatha. A bit belatedly, Radhanatha pushed the button, and “Govindam” began. They then opened the curtains, and Srila Prabhupada stood to one side, looking at Radha-Vrndavananatha. He nodded his head approvingly to the Deities and then to the pujari. After a few moments, Prabhupada went to the rear of the room and sat on the rustic-looking vyasasana. Sublimely and naturally, he began to give the morning Srimad-Bhagavatam class.

Srila Prabhupada takes darshan of Sri Vrindaban Nath at the original New Vrindaban farmhouse, 1976.

Srila Prabhupada takes darshan of Sri Radha Vrindabanatha at the original New Vrindaban farmhouse, 1976.

Radhanatha Swami, interview. Prabhupada showed more than once how he immediately felt quite at home in New Vrindaban, and the Prabhupada-lilamrta describes this in telling of Prabhupada’s first visit there. Although he was accustomed to big cities, as soon as he came to a place like New Vrindaban or to the farm in Hyderabad, he was at ease and quite happy with such primitive living conditions. In India, Prabhupada had also spent most of his early years in the cities: he grew up in Calcutta, had his business in Allahabad, and he traveled as a businessman. But his attraction to such simple forest settings is transcendental. He also told us that Krsna is attracted to such a setting in the original Vrndavana. Prabhupada always became enlivened at the prospects of varnasrama-dharma, village life and cow protection when he came into these settings. It enlivened him to see the Krsna conscious farm developed in a simple setting.

Radhanatha Swami tells that on one occasion in New Vrindaban, Prabhupada said the devotees should stay in New Vrindaban and be satisfied. It was the same thing Kirtanananda had been repeatedly telling the devotees. Now that Prabhupada said it, it became a great confirmation for the devotees there. Prabhupada was satisfied to stay at their farm community and they should follow that example.

- From Prabhupada Nectar by HH Satsvarupa dasa Goswami

08.15 – We can’t change the nature of nature, but we can change the nature of desire
→ The Spiritual Scientist

“And they lived happily ever after.” This is the common end of most novels and movies. That is the dream of all of us, isn’t it?

Puzzlingly, the Bhagavad-gita seems to puncture our dreams. It declares (08.15: duhkhalayam ashasvatam) the world has two essential characteristics that are the polar opposites of the “happily ever after” dream: it is miserable (the opposite of “happily”) and it is ephemeral (the opposite of “ever after”).

Why does the Gita paint such a pessimistic picture of our prospects of happiness? Actually, it doesn’t.

It echoes our heart’s innate conviction: we are meant to be happy – and be happy forever.

But it cautions us against seeking happiness in the world of matter because material nature by its very nature is destructible. And nothing can ever change this nature. We can dream through literatures, movies and technologies, but we just can’t change the nature of nature.

So it is not that the Gita is puncturing our dreams; it is reality that is going to puncture our dreams. The Gita wants to protect us from the agony and the trauma of that puncture.

And that protection comes in the form of its unequivocal assurance that we don’t have to renounce our dreams; we just have to redirect them. We can change the nature of our desires from material to spiritual and live to honor our spiritual nature as beloved parts of Krishna. By so doing, we will live as happily as is possible in this world. And we will eventually attain eternal ecstatic life with Krishna, thereby fulfilling the “happily ever after” dream.

So rather than struggling to change the unchangeable nature of nature, Gita wisdom urges us to strive to change the changeable nature of our desire.

***

After attaining Me, the great souls, who are yogis in devotion, never return to this temporary world, which is full of miseries, because they have attained the highest perfection.