Planet ISKCON

Insights

Srila Prabhupada:

From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Antya 5.88, purport:

“To inundate the three worlds with nectar is the purpose of the pastimes of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. How this could be possible was exhibited by Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami and later by Thakura Narottama dasa and Syamananda Gosvami, who all represented the mercy of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Now that same mercy is overflooding the entire world through the Krishna consciousness movement. The present Krishna consciousness movement is nondifferent from the pastimes performed by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu when He was personally present, for the same principles are being followed and the same actions performed without fail.”

From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Antya 6.124:

“The Supreme Personality of Godhead always resides either in the heart or in the home of a devotee. This fact is sometimes hidden and sometimes manifest, for the Supreme Personality of Godhead is fully independent.”

From Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.5.8, purport:

“The eternal relation of an individual soul with the Supreme Soul Personality of Godhead is constitutionally one of being the eternal servitor of the eternal master. The Lord has expanded Himself as living beings in order to accept loving service from them, and this alone can satisfy both the Lord and the living beings. The Personality of Godhead is the last word in transcendental realization. The Absolute realized as impersonal Brahman or localized Supersoul, Paramatma, is less productive of transcendental bliss than the supreme personal realization of His glories.

“The compiler of the Vedanta-darśana is Vyasadeva himself. Yet he is troubled, although he is the author. So what sort of transcendental bliss can be derived by the readers and listeners of Vedanta which is not explained directly by Vyasadeva, the author? Herein arises the necessity of explaining Vedanta-sutra in the form of Srimad-Bhagavatam by the self-same author.”

From Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.5.11, purport:

“A saint is far above the level of an ordinary man. He is always absorbed in glorifying the Supreme Lord because by broadcasting the holy name and fame of the Supreme Lord, the polluted atmosphere of the world will change, and as a result of propagating the transcendental literatures like Srimad-Bhagavatam, people will become sane in their transactions.”

From Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.5.13, purport:

“There are thousands and thousands of literary men all over the world, and they have created many, many thousands of literary works for the information of the people in general for thousands and thousands of years. Unfortunately none of them have brought peace and tranquillity on the earth. This is due to a spiritual vacuum in those literatures; therefore the Vedic literatures, especially the Bhagavad-gita and the Srimad-Bhagavatam, are specifically recommended to suffering humanity to bring about the desired effect of liberation from the pangs of material civilization, which is eating the vital part of human energy. The Bhagavad-gita is the spoken message of the Lord Himself recorded by Vyasadeva, and the Srimad-Bhagavatam is the transcendental narration of the activities of the same Lord Krishna, which alone can satisfy the hankering desires of the living being for eternal peace and liberation from miseries.”

From Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.2.18, purport:

“The miseries and mixed happiness of all living beings are only of different degree and quality, but no one is free from the miseries of birth, death, old age and disease. Similarly, everyone has his destined happiness also. No one can get more or less of these things simply by personal endeavors. Even if they are obtained, they can be lost again. One should not, therefore, waste time with these flimsy things; one should only endeavor to go back to Godhead. That should be the mission of everyone’s life.”

Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami:

From Every Day, Just Write Volume 1: Welcome Home to the One Big Book of Your Life:

“This image came to mind: a lily has no thorns like the rose or horns like the ram. It is beautiful without giving others pain. Can I be like that? Give others the best?”

From Every Day, Just Write, Volume 3: A Sojourn in Tapo-bhumi:

“Don’t wait. Remember that Hindu man in London who ran after the devotees carrying Londonisvara out of his house?

“‘Wait, I’ll bring them to you in the right way.’

“No, they couldn’t wait. In writing, words don’t wait either.
They are like gopis running out in the night to the sound of
Krishna’s flute. Their brothers and husbands call, ‘Stop!’

“‘No, we won’t stop. We’re going to Krishna. No one can stop
me. I’m going to the Lord of the horizon, the darkish one.’

“And they go.
and my words go
west and east in taxis
not stopping for
Thomas Wolfe
or cleverness or
bounce.

“They want to be with Krishna.”

From My Dear Lord Krishna, A Book of Prayers:

“How can I get closer to You? By my desire. My desire will be shown by my actions. As I preach on Your behalf, praise You, serve You in the nine processes of devotional service, You will show me Your mercy. I do desire to know You better. I want to think about You more, talk about You more, and gain greed to be with You. Gopa-kumara could gain Your audience on a particular planet just by desiring it and chanting his mantra in private. A chariot would appear before him and take him to the place of his desires. I chant, but no chariot comes. My desires are not so strong.

“I wish to make them stronger. All I can think of practically is to remain steady. I can’t think of spectacular increase. By steady service, with time, I may improve . . .”

From Free Write Journal #132:

“Memories of Tom Hopkins

“Graham Schweig (Garuda dasa) has written a substantial obituary on Tom Hopkins and distributed it widely to the academic community. I may add a few anecdotes of my own relationship with Professor Hopkins. He taught religion at Franklin Marshall College in Pennsylvania. This college was close to ISKCON’s Gita-nagari farm community, and Professor Hopkins used to bring classes of his students to Gita-nagari on a yearly basis. I had met many professors of Indian religions in my work with ISKCON’s Library Party, but Tom was the most favorable and friendly of all. He accepted Prabhupada’s writings has authoritative in the line of disciplic succession from the great Vaishnava acaryas.

“During those years I attended several meetings of the American Academy for Religious Studies, held annually in the United States. One year, in the 1970s, when the anti-cult movement was going strong, I attended to collect petitions from the professors stating that they accepted ISKCON as a bona fide religious movement. Tom Hopkins helped me very much in gathering signatures from his colleagues. The year I collected signatures, I was also invited to join an informal meeting of professors who taught Hinduism held in a hotel room. I brought a big pot of Krishna prasadam consisting of mixed vegetables. I remember Tom Hopkins so much enjoying the prasadam that he had three helpings, whereas the other professors limited themselves to one helping.

“Another time I met with Tom at Subhananda dasa’s apartment, where Subhananda’s wife served us pizza. It was 1972, I was a newly initiated sannyasi, and I was strict about controlling my tongue, so I limited myself to one slice of pizza. But Tom ate three full slices and commented how much he liked it. He was really fond of Krishna prasadam!

“After Prabhupada’s disappearance, when I was installed with ten others as an initiating guru, Tom asked me how did I feel now that I was “supreme.” I told him that I felt pretty much the same. He chuckled and said he thought I would say that. I met with him on a number of occasions, and I always enjoyed his company. I think his very favorable attitude toward Prabhupada and support of ISKCON assures Tom Hopkins of a higher birth.”

“Vishala dasa, an iconic long-time book distributor, passed away on February 22. His behavior was a little eccentric, but he loved Srila Prabhupada. In the early morning Vishala would be present when Prabhupada left for his walk, and he loudly recited a Vedic prayer, such as: “We think we have met your goodness . . .” Once Prabhupada cut off his prayer and said, “Do something practical.” Vishala immediately began cleaning the floor with a squeegee. He always carried a bookbag ready to distribute Prabhupada’s books.”

“Staying with the devotees through thick and thin is pleasing to Krishna and is the highest goal.”

From Every Day, Just Write, Volume 1: Welcome Home to the One Big Book of Your Life:

“I pray for guidance. I would like to write something straight from my heart in Krishna consciousness. I don’t want to be like that guy in Paris who said he felt the Light ‘right here,’ and ‘that’s all I know.’ I want to surrender even though I fail to do so. Please keep me on course gently, as is my nature, and allow me to read your holy books with faith. Please excuse me and make me more learned, more simple, more pure. Lord of my heart, I pray for this.”

From Begging for the Nectar of the Holy Name:

“The rounds were inattentive.

“Any redeeming factors?

“Yes, of course, because it’s the holy name, it’s always a good thing to chant. But because it can be so much more—and because you are playing your own part so poorly—you think you failed. Unremitting, no change in the solid wall. But even the most solid walls (like the Great Wall of China, the Berlin Wall, the Iron Curtain) all come down with time. Srila Prabhupada speaks of a caterpillar who becomes a butterfly simply by thinking about it.

“But for now, a wall.”

From A Poor Man Read the Bhagavatam, Vol. 1:

“Neither the sages nor Suta Gosvami is interested in introducing political or material welfare programs. There are already so many people working for political upliftment, cessation of poverty, and conservation of the planet’s dwindling resources. All of these people can argue that their cause is the most urgent, or even that it is a spiritual program. But those causes aren’t the most urgent. Only those practicing Krishna consciousness can be confident that their work is purely spiritual and that it is for the absolute and ultimate good of all people.

“Unless people come to understand that they are spirit souls, servants of the Supreme Soul, and that they must perform sacrifice to please God, then no relative cause can save them. Therefore, to educate and enlighten people about their constitutional nature is the most urgent work; education can save them from ruin at death.”

“Prabhupada wanted everyone to begin chanting despite their questions. In 1966, Swamiji started us off at once with his drum rhythms and powerful kirtanas. Soon he was handing out our karatalas and teaching us how to keep the beat. We clashed and sang along happily. Then immediately he gave philosophy to sustain us. The philosophy flowed through the hard rocks of our hearts, the dirty chunks of coal, the long habits of unclear and abusive thinking. ‘This is going on.’ Both instantly and gradually, he revealed the Absolute Truth.”

From Every Day, Just Write, Volume 1: Welcome Home to the One Big Book of Your Life:

“Suddenly I remembered how I heard Bill Clinton give his acceptance speech earlier this month. I was in Italy and picked it up on short-wave radio. In the same way, spiritually, we can be with Krishna by the ‘radio’ of our chanting and hearing. It’s not just us chanting, but Krishna is with us if we want Him. Serve by chanting.”

“What makes me happy? The fact that I sing Hare Krishna and I’m a devotee in Krishna consciousness.

“The happiness I feel comes in being cleansed in heart by the giving up of sinful activities. To become free from sin, you first have to get knowledge, and that comes by associating with knowledgeable persons. They are rare in this world. By God’s grace, I met a pure devotee of Krishna, His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. He taught me that love of God is the source of true happiness. He transformed my life for the better. This makes me so happy that I like to sing about it.”

From Readings in Vedic Literature, Preface:

“My plan to write this book grew out of encouragement from professors in whose classes I taught while touring as a lecturer for the Los Angeles Center for Vedic Studies. In November, 1973, Dr. Alton Becker invited me to speak before the faculty and students of the Center for South and Southeastern Studies at the University of Michigan. My paper proposed a fresh attitude toward Vedic studies: an attempt to appreciate the Vedic knowledge on its own merits, as it exists apart from the interpretations of empirical Western scholarship. Dr. Becker found the viewpoint enlivening and advised me to develop it further. From conversations with college students who knew only the current Vedic textbooks, I became convinced that students of Vedic literature would be more enthusiastic if they could believe that the literature they were studying was not merely a hodgepodge of myths but could actually give them a new and coherent view of life. My travels led me to meet with Vedic scholars such as Dr. Edward Dimock (University of Chicago), Dr. Thomas Hopkins (Franklin and Marshall College), and Dr. Joseph O’Connell (University of Toronto). All of these gentlemen saw my outline, and they confirmed that this book would be useful as a foundation for Vedic studies.

“My own interest in the Vedic tradition began in 1966. In that year I met His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who in the previous year had arrived in the United States to teach Vedic culture. I had received a B.A. in. English literature from Brooklyn College, and I was doing graduate work toward a career as a writer. But I decided instead to devote my life to studying the Vedas, and in September 1966, Srila Prabhupada accepted me as his sisya (disciple). I have been a personal secretary to Srila Prabhupada since 1970, and in 1972, I received the sannyasa order of life (awarded for scholarship and renunciation). Overall, for the last ten years I have been studying the Vedic literature, writing articles about it, and lecturing in United States colleges on behalf of the Center for Vedic Studies.

“The attempt herein is to present a Vedic textbook and anthology for undergraduates that allows them to hear a great tradition speak for itself.”

From ISKCON in the 1970s: Diaries:

“Again and again I think, ‘So many devotees are depending on me. Please, Lord, protect me from falldown. As I pray they be saved, so let me be saved for the benefit of my disciples.’ Simply, blindly dependent in faith on Srila Prabhupada’s will.”

From The Wild Garden:

“Radha-kunda—Just say it simply: I offer my obeisances to Srila Prabhupada. He is my sole connection. Only by his permission do I come here. I have no knowledge of or taste for Radha-Krishna’s pastimes. I am just a fool in a body. But I have this pranama-mantra engraved in my heart. I chant it as my heart’s prayer again and again at Radha-kunda.

Nama om vishnu-padaya krishna-presthaya bhu-tale
srimate bhaktivedanta-svamin iti namine
namas te sarasvate deve gaura-vani-pracarine
nirvisesa-sunyavadi-pascatya-desa-tarine”

From Writing Sessions, May Apples, Stroudsburg, PA – Queens, NY – Philadelphia, PA (May 5–13, 1996):

“One wants prestige in a place of education he attends. Wants money, sex, security, longevity. But if you strive for those and don’t advance your spiritual cause, you’re no better than an animal.”

“We all want direction from Krishna. But we can’t expect the Lord of Vrindavan to come and dance for us and play His flute as if He’s our servant. You hear of Him and you serve Him – that’s the way.”

“If I don’t realize Krishna consciousness deeply, then when I preach – I feel the credulity gap between where I am and the perfection of the state described in the scriptures.”

Hridayananda Dasa Goswami:

Q: How can God be both a person and also being expanded everywhere?

A:

In a sense the artist is expressed within the artist’s work.

Historically people thought if God created the world, you should see some evidence of that in the creation.

Q: What makes the Bhagavad-gita so special?

A:

It is the only major scripture in all the major world religions which is claimed to be spoken by God.

The Old Testament is the running history of the Jewish people.

Prophets are people who channel God.

To have God come from the spiritual world, as Krishna does, just to give spiritual wisdom is unique.

To have God participate by living a full life and interacting in human society is also unique.

India always had freedom of religion.

In Europe there was freedom of religion during the pagan period, before fanatical Middle Eastern traditions dominated. There was the understanding that there was one God, but He was worshiped by different names and different rituals.

There have always been a lot of people interested in religion in Southern Asia.

Luther just said in effect, “There is another way to be a Christian,” and 150 years of cruelty and torture ensued. Yet in India, the Buddhists taught that all the Hindu books were false, but that only set off debates about the truth and no violence.

The Gita is around not because its followers killed off the opposition but because truth within it, in the course of time, was found to be valuable to many people and so they accepted it.

In the Vedas there is no talk of going over the ocean. Thus the Vedic culture was spread all over that large mass of Asia, Africa, and Europe.

Q (by me): It seems to me religion is meant to bring all people, actually all living entities together, in worship of the source of their existence, but there seems to be so much sectarianism that people are actually being divided. Could you comment on that?

A: America is making progress. In America two-thirds of Christians think you can go to heaven through other religions. The Southern Baptist Convention is losing members among their youth because of their fanaticism.

Bhakti Charu Swami:

From a recorded Q & A session in Paris on May 8, 1993:

On the spiritual platform everyone is satisfied because they have recognition from Krishna.

That Krishna recognizes us it evidenced by the fact He is sitting in our hearts.

Bhaktivinoda Thakura says, “If the whole world recognizes me, but Krishna does not recognize me it is of no value. If Krishna recognizes me, but the whole world does not recognize me I do not care.”

Jayadvaita Swami:

Saint Augustine said, “Believe so that you may understand.” The idea is that by faith you gain access to truths you could not otherwise understand.

If you do not first try to understand what Srila Prabhupada is saying, and you pick at his grammar or choice of words or what he said about this or that, then you will lose the essence, the main message.

Narayani Devi Dasi:

From a lecture given in Alachua on Advaita Acarya Prabhu’s Appearance Day:

Although Advaita Acarya was an incarnation of Maha-Vishnu, the source of all universes, His mood was: “I am a servant of Lord Caitanya, a servant of Lord Caitanya. I am a servant of Lord Caitanya, and a servant of His servants.” (Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Adi 6.86)

Advaita Acarya is also described to be an incarnation of Lord Shiva, thus he is considered an incarnation both of Maha-Vishnu and Lord Shiva, Harihara.

Advaita Acarya saw that people were only interested in material activities. He considered that if He induced Lord Krishna to appear, then He could reestablish religion.

Lord Caitanya was at Srivasa Thakura’s house in the mood of Lord Vishnu, and He told Srivasa Thakura’s brother Ramai to go to Advaita Acarya’s house, and say that Lord He worshiped and called for has appeared. “Tell him to come to Navadvipa at once. Lord Nityananda Prabhu is also here.”

Haridasa Thakura thought that people in general would be disturbed that Advaita Acarya Prabhu gave him so much honor although he was not in an elevated social position. Advaita Acarya replied that He would fearlessly follow the conclusion of the scripture that Haridasa should be honored because of His elevated devotion and disregard what people might say.

Chandrashekhara Acharya Prabhu:

Transcribed from a voice message:

“I have to say I’m really, really, really inspired by this idea of taking a vow to do harinama-sankirtana x amount of time per day. . . . Wow! I kind of took a semi-conscious vow to do an hour and a half per day . . . It makes such a big difference in one’s consciousness, my God, it’s like night and day.”

Julicia, an FSU student:

From a conversation at my book table on Landis Green:

[On seeing the Hare Krishna mantra on the cover of “On Chanting Hare Krishna.”]

“Hearing these words makes me feel automatically uplifted.”

Michael, a spiritual aspirant:

From a conversation in Lake Ella park:

“I hope heaven has lectures.”

[It impressed me that his enthusiasm to hear about spiritual topics is so great, he wanted the chance to be there in his next life.]

FSU student and friend of a fashion major:

“Fashion is self-expression, at the end of the day.”

[Fashion is a popular topic of discussion for both devotees and the people in general, and I liked this girl’s comment on it. Fashion is not what Paris dictates or what Fifth Avenue dictates, but what an individual wants to express.]

Krishna Kripa Das:

On masks: Some devotees criticize me for not wearing a mask. Other devotees criticize me for wearing a mask. Sometimes when I sang in public parks, passersby would point to the devotees on the party who were not wearing masks and express great anger. One man accused the unmasked devotees of being cruel and unconcerned for the welfare of others. Hearing such criticism pained me. It is not good for the spiritual lives of such people to criticize devotees because it is displeasing to the Lord. I wear a mask so as to not give the people another reason to criticize the devotees, and in some places, because it is the law, and I do not want my freedom to chant Hare Krishna publicly curtailed by breaking the law.

Of course, it is a nuisance to wear the masks, but on the bright side they keep my face warm during my December in New York City, they keep my lips from getting sunburn during my winter in Florida, and they make me less self-conscious about chanting Hare Krishna on beads in public because the people cannot see my lips moving.

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Sometimes when we are sharing the Hare Krishna mantra or the philosophy of Bhagavad-gita with the public, we encounter people who are immediately attracted, like Julicia above, who upon seeing the mantra in print said, “Hearing these words makes me feel automatically uplifted.” Why is this? Krishna explains in Bhagavad-gita 6.44:

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purvabhyasena tenaiva

“By virtue of the divine consciousness of his previous life, he [the yogi who failed to achieve perfection] automatically becomes attracted to the yogic principles – even without seeking them. Such an inquisitive transcendentalist stands always above the ritualistic principles of the scriptures.”

Thus, we can rejoice in that we have a guaranteed clientele!