Tulasi

We can understand how pure is the service which Tulasi offers to Sri Krsna. So we should always endeavor after becoming the servant of Tulasi devi. I do not know who has taught you that part of a Tulasi plant may be cut off and then replanted? From the Tulasi plant you can cut off only leaves for offering them to Krsna, never for cutting and planting. That is an offence. The manjaris (seeds) can be offered in water and it makes the water fragrant and tasteful. And the manjaris can be planted for growing new Tulasi plants. Yes, the prayer you have enclosed is bona fide. Tulasi devi never goes back to Godhead, she is always with Godhead. She is a pure devotee and thus she has appeared on this planet to render service to Krsna by being offered in all temples throughout the world by being offered up to the lotus feet of Krsna.”

(SPL to Radhaballabha dasa, January 6th, 1972)

There are few things as heart breaking as when a devotee’s Tulasi plant dries up. As the winter approaches in India, we should be more careful in our service towards Tulasi. We can take some basic precautions

1. Making sure that she is not left out in the hard winter of North India. Try keep her under some shade, so she does not get too cold dew falling on her, or build a temporary shade for winter.

2. We can bring her inside the house in the night, if making a shade is not practical for some of us. In that case please bring her outside during day time to get some sunlight.

3. Please water her carefully, not too much (leaves turn black) or too less. Please keep a sharp eye on the soil and water accordingly,

4. It is a good practice to give her a mild bath on a sunny afternoon. We can mix a little natural soap (free from animal fat) in water and spray on her leaves. After an hour or so we can spray normal water and we will immediately see the difference on her leaves. This also prevents breeding of insects on her leaves.

5. In case we see insects breed under her leaves then we can mix pure neem oil (8-10 drops in 500ml water) with the soap, as described above, Spray fresh water after 1-2 hours.

6. Besides daily singing her pranam mantra and arti, it might be a good practice to pray to her daily to remain healthy, seeking forgiveness for all the offenses we might be committing in her daily service and still requesting her to kindly inspire in our heart how to serve her best.

I’m copying some questions a devotee asked Srila Prabhupada on Tulasi and his answers via letter in 1965.

• Q: Is each Tulasi a separate jiva soul or an expansion of one pure devotee?

• A: Tulasi is one devotee who appears wherever there is devotion to Kåñëa.

• Q: Where does her spirit soul go when she leaves this body?

• A: Tulasi’s body is spiritual.

• Q: When tulasi is being cared for by householders in their homes, must two aratis still be offered?

• A: If possible

• Q: When tulasi is being cared for by householders in their homes, may they use her leaves and manjaris on their home offerings or should they take them to the temple?

• A: Tulasi leaves should be offered to the Deity.

• Q: When tulasi is being offered arati by the householders, must she have a ghee lamp?

• A: If possible

• Q: Is it offensive to turn the baby tulasis back into the soil when they appear?

• A: Yes

• Q: There are even questions concerning tulasi’s aratis. We have always offered her incense, ghee lamp, and a flower. Is this correct?

• A: Yes

• Q: In the manual, it states that tulasi should not be pruned. Does this mean trimming the branches which no longer have leaves or life fluids flowing through them?

• A: You may cut the dead branches, but what is the necessity?

• Q: We were told you once spoke the “four regulative principles of tulasi care” which will keep her from getting sick: (a) keep her moist; (b) keep her clean; (c) give her morning sunlight (at least); (d) give her two aratis a day. Is this bona fide?

• A: I never said that

• Q: May tulasi be made into a tea after she has been offered?

• A: No

• Q: May devotees carve tulasi wood for Deity paraphernalia?

• A: Yes

• Q: When tulasi leaves her body and the body is too soft for carving beads, how should she be used? Should a small fire sacrifice be performed?

• A: Use the wood for beads as far as possible, the balance may be placed within the earth.

• Q: We have a letter from you requesting that no sprays be used on Tulasi-devé . May we use a spray of buttermilk and whole wheat flour dissolved in water which coats her leaves to keep spider mites from causing tulasi to leave her body?

• A: I said no chemical sprays

• Q: Does tulasi sleep? Should she be left undisturbed after nightfall?

• A: Undisturbed means what?

• Q: Is it permissible to use scissors to cut her manjaris, and when transplanting, to use knives to loosen her from her pot?

• A: Use common sense and if you have none then consult with others

• Q: Is it an offense to step on or across her shadow (or the shadow of any pure devotee)?

• A: No

• Q: For two years we have been waiting permission to use the following two prayers plus translations and a translation of the already existing prayer. Please tell us if these are bona fide. (I haven’t copied them here)

• A: Don’t try to introduce something new. The most important thing is the love and devotion.

HH Satsvarupa Maharaj commented as below on the above Q & A in his book Srila Prabhupada Nectar.

Devotees will probably always continue to inquire how they may increase or improve the performance of Deity worship and their other service activities. Prabhupäda gives some important guidelines here when he writes, “Don’t try to introduce something new. The most important thing is the love and devotion.” Not simply by adding more mantras and more paraphernalia do we increase the standard of devotion. At the same time, Prabhupäda gradually introduced more of the temple activities as time went by and he saw that the devotees were able to do it. As far as possible, we should try to gather Prabhupäda’s authoritative instructions and follow them, such as this valuable collection of advice about tulasé worship.

Vidyä-devé däsé was impelled by her devotion to tulasé to ask Prabhupäda many questions about her worship, but Prabhupäda, by his short replies, reminds us that even on a practical basis, tulasé is kept alive and well by the love and devotion of her worshipers. That is the main ingredient.

Pundarika: I remember one time I was in Mayapur in 1976 and was serving as a pujari. One day I was collecting tulasi manjaris from the tulasi plants that grew around the temple. All of a sudden Prabhupada’s servant yelled down, “Pundarika, come upstairs. Srila Prabhupada wants to talk to you. Come right now.” When I got there Prabhupada told me, “Never touch tulasi with a knife.” I had been cutting the tulasi manjaris with scissors and Prabhupada said, “Never touch tulasi with a knife.” So I learned to pick by hand the tulasi manjaris and not a knife.

( Srila Prabhupada rememberances- Sidhanta dasa)

I am copying links to some websites which might help those devotees who may wish to know in more detail on how to serve Tulasi properly. As climate and soil varies from each location, my strong advice will be to first cross check, whatever we may read and feel inspired to apply, with the local temple/ devotees.

http://www.deityworship.com/worship/worshipping-tulasi-devi/cultivation-care-of-tulasi-devi

https://iskconklang.wordpress.com/2008/08/08/tulasi-tips-from-iskcon-vancover

http://www.stephen-knapp.com/tulasi_devi_handbook.htm

Below is a link to various seminar and glorification of Tulasi by senior devotees.

Seminars on Tulasi and other pastimes

We should be clear in our consciousness that Tulasi is not merely a Holy plant but that she is personality and as an aspiring devotee it is in our best interest to build a relationship with her, serving her with Love and Devotion is first step in that direction. Tulasi devi has manifested in this world to render service to Krishna, and not to us, and as aspiring servant of the servants, it will do us much good to serve her in best possible manner.

So I am very glad that you are seriously interested, and Kåñëa is pleased upon you. And that you are sincerely trying, I can understand from these tulasé plants. Yes. This is the practical demonstration. Unless there is bhakti, this tulasé plant will not grow. We must be very much thankful to our Govinda däsé. She first of all cultivated the tulasé plant in Hawaii. And now our tulasé plants are distributed. So she has done a great service. I think I gave her the seeds, and she very nicely done it. Now everywhere we see tulasé plant. It is very pleasing. So the same thing—Deity worship and watering the tulasé plants, chanting sixteen rounds at least, and observing the rules and regulation, regulative principle… Then your life is successful. Don’t neglect. Very seriously continue. And in this one life you are going back to home, back to Godhead. It is sure. I am not flattering you. Kåñëa says, man-manä bhava mad-bhakto mad-yäjé mäà namaskuru, mäm evaiñyasi asaàçayaù [Bg. 18.68]. Asaàçayaù, “Without any doubt, simply following these rules and regulation,” mäm evaiñyasi, “you come back to Me.”

( SPL 1st August, 1975, New Orleans Farm)

All glories to Tulasi Maharani.

All glories to Sri Guru and Gauranga.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Your servant,

Giriraj dasa

Source:http://www.dandavats.com/?p=33798

Sutapa das, UK: Prayojana prabhu is cleaning and maintaining the temple running… but he puts up a book table outside the shoe room so he can do his bit for the marathon. Now that’s what I call the sankirtan spirit! I’m going over to buy a book from him just to receive it from his transcendental hand :)
Mother Kulangana is also right there, encouraging and inspiring the marathon at every step. We are blessed to have such vaisnavas… Their spirit is the fuel behind this endeavor to please Srila Prabhupada :)
Three days have gone and we have reached 3,000 books! See the latest scoresheet here: https://goo.gl/pOjHwZ

Source:http://www.dandavats.com/?p=33801

Indradyumna Maharaj:

I was remembering this evening one incident about how merciful Lord Caitanya is to even the most fallen, sinful rascals. As Prabhupada mentions, Jagai and Madhai–they were not comical characters; they were deeply sinful criminals. I remembered how once we were doing a Christmas marathon in Paris and we would send our devotees to the train stations. The girls particularly would go on the trains and distribute books to the people just before the train left. As the train started to go, they would jump off. One young French girl, small girl, very pretty girl, very delicate girl, I remember she was a very good book distributor, and she happened to approach a man on the train in a compartment. She walked into the compartment and gave him a Krsna book. He looked at her for a moment, then he took the Krsna book, and he was so strong that he tore it almost in half. Then he threw it on the ground, stood up, and began stomping on it. She broke down in tears. And he was such a demon that he grabbed her and dragged her by her hair through the compartment and literally threw her off the train. The train had just started, and he threw her off the train. She dislocated her shoulder, and she had blood coming from her hair down her neck. She landed on her face. She had this bruise for weeks. I think she fractured a bone there. I was somewhere nearby, and someone came to get me. So I came, and we had to carry her back to the temple. And we were cursing that man. We were cursing him. Still, it was the marathon, and she was back on the marathon four days later.

Anyway, what happened–it is quite a miraculous thing, in the mood of the purport today. That man was a banker from Spain–a very wealthy banker–and he had been in Paris doing business. The train went to Madrid. It took a day and a half or something like that. As a joke he kept that book to show his wife, to show her what he did, how he had stomped on the book and thrown that nonsense girl, that beggar, off the train. He said, “See what I did to the book,” and he put it on the kitchen table. What happened was the maid came that day, and the wife had gone shopping and the husband had gone to the bank. The maid came, and she took the book. She thought that it was one of the family’s books and that somehow it had been damaged–a car had run over it or something. So she dusted it off and repaired it as best she could and put it in the library in the man’s study.

About a year went by, and unfortunately that man’s wife died in a car accident. His son ran away, and his daughter got married to some low- class person. He ended up all alone, and he was just so despondent. When his wife died he went into a deep depression. His kids had left, and his wife had died in a head-on car crash. He was just devastated, devastated. So, he was in his study, contemplating suicide, and he happened to look up on the bookshelf. He was actually looking for the Bible, although he wasn’t a very religious man. As Krsna says in the Bhagavad-gita, four types of persons approach Him–usually the person in distress. So he was looking for the Bible, and he saw that book.

Something compelled him to take that book out, and he opened it up and started reading it–the Krsna book–and he read the part where Vasudeva is preaching to Kamsa. In that discussion Vasudeva mentions the principles of reincarnation and how the living entity goes from one body to the next just like the worm who carefully places the front part of his body, then picks up the next portion, and goes on. There is some analogy like that given by Prabhupada. And it gave the man some solace to think that his wife was not actually dead but that she had just changed bodies. It was nothing he had ever thought of in his life, but it gave him just enough faith not to kill himself.

So, the man went to sleep, and then he awoke in the morning. He was supposed to go to work, but somehow he was drawn back to that book, which was still on the table. So he went back and read it. For three days he stayed home–he didn’t go to work; he just read that book. And he had a complete change of heart. The book gave him so much solace– that what had happened was his karma; that he had to be forbearing, had to be tolerant; and that his wife had only changed bodies. He was just ripe for that knowledge. He thought about it a lot for a week. Then, you know what he did? He looked in the back of the book, and he saw there was an address. The book was in French, but he spoke French. He found the address and called the temple in France and found out there was a temple in Madrid, and he went to the temple.

When the temple president opened the door, this man was in a business suit, and he was on his hands and knees. He was saying, “Please forgive me. Please forgive me.” The temple president was a relatively new devotee. He said, “Excuse me?” He thought this guy was mad. The man said, “Please forgive me for what I have done.” And the temple president said, “Well, do you want to come in and talk a little?”– because he could see that he was nicely dressed. So the man came in and talked in the office, and he revealed how many years before . . . He had the Krsna book with him, and he said, “I destroyed this book, number one. And I was very rough with one of the members of your society.” And he started crying. He said, “I just want to apologize, because she was trying to deliver me and I treated her so roughly. I am just so sorry.” Then he said, “Is there anything I can do?” The devotee was new, and he didn’t know how to respond. So the man just said, “Let me write you a check.” He wrote out a check for a large sum of money, gave it to the devotee, and left.

That was Wednesday. On Sunday, the temple president was giving a lecture and he saw the banker sitting in the back of the temple room listening. Every Sunday the man would come to the temple, and he would listen. Some time went by. He wasn’t old, maybe forty or so; he was fairly young and successful. One day he told the temple president that he wanted to move into the temple and become a devotee. No one could believe it, because he was so affluent. And guess what service they gave him? He was the temple treasurer for some time. [laughter] Then came the Christmas marathon, and he asked if he could go on the marathon. He was kind of older, but the devotees said, “Okay, you can go.” He went out, and he actually did quite well. Then he asked, “I don’t want to be the temple treasurer. I just want to distribute books.” So that’s what he did. He became a book distributor

Then we had a festival. I think it was in Italy, if I am not mistaken. There was some big festival, and that girl came to the festival, and that devotee came to the festival, and they met. And he was just crying and crying, and he was begging, “Please forgive me.” Now, if a Vaisnava is offended, a Vaisnava does not hold a grudge. So she said, “No, it is all right.” It was a pretty amazing story, and I told our GBC, Bhagavan dasa, and we discussed it sometimes, how amazing that story was.

The years went by, and I lost track of that devotee. I don’t know what happened to him. By then, things had kind of disintegrated in the yatra, and I went back to Spain some years ago, but I couldn’t find that devotee. I don’t even remember his name, but I remember the day that happened, and I was actually thinking about that verse in the Bhagavad-gita where Krsna says, “Those who are particularly sinful, I push them into various abominable species of life where they never see the light of day again.” But here is an example of the mercy of Lord Caitanya, that someone who was so sinful somehow received some causeless mercy and then he in turn became a deliverer of that process.

So it is quite obvious from that incident and from so many stories the sankirtana devotees have–the underlying principle is that Lord Caitanya is delivering the fallen souls and that He is the most munificent incarnation.

Hare Krsna. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu ki jaya! Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!

Giriraj Maharaj : I also know that devotee, the Spanish banker. His name is Surya- narayana dasa. When I was trying to assist in Spain, he was very committed. By then he had moved to Barcelona, and he was very active in the temple. Then eventually he got married again. Some years later I gave a class in Vrndavana, and he came up to me afterwards. He was very enlivened. Now, after hearing your talk, I am thinking that I should try to trace him and give him a call or something. He did a lot of service.

Source:http://www.dandavats.com/?p=3296

Voltaire wrote: “Appreciation is a wonderful thing: It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.”
And in her prayer about the power of bhakti, Queen Kunti uses the word, “grnanti” (“appreciating”) to say that those who appreciate other’s devotional service are themselves performing high grade devotional service, just by deeply appreciating how others are doing their service. Queen Kunti says, these “appreciators” will come to see the Lord directly.
As we become purified, our ability to appreciate Krsna and His devotees increases more and more.

Really, the soul is naturally and eternally an appreciator. The Vedas say: eko bahu-syam: “The one Lord has become many.” Why? Vedanta Sutra answers: Anandamayo bhyasat, “For enjoyment.” In other words, the soul, Krsna’s part and parcel, exists for Krsna’s pleasure and has the eternal privilege of appreciating Krsna, Krsna’s devotees, and the process of devotional service.

Krsna is an ocean of attractiveness, but what makes His attractiveness forever increase is the dynamic relationship between Him and His devotees. “A pure devotee does not want anything from Krsna; he simply wants to serve Him. And Krsna also looks for the opportunity to serve His devotee. Krsna is always as anxious to please His devotee as the devotee is to please Him … This is spiritual competition.” SSR 8

Seeing Radharani (Krsna’s supreme appreciator) Krsna thinks: “There is constant competition between My sweetness and the mirror of Radha’s love. They both go on increasing, but neither knows defeat.” (Cc Adi 4.142) “Whatever pleasure I get from tasting My love for Srimati Radharani, She tastes ten million times more than Me by Her love.” (Cc Adi 4.126)

Appreciation for Krsna moves the devotee to smile, to dance and to serve. In his Samhita, Brahma describes how in Goloka, “every word is a song, every gait is a dance.” There the residents move out of a joy driven by their overflowing appreciation for Krsna, Krsna’s devotees and devotional service.

To this end, one evening during our hari nama sankirtana performance in Palo Alto, CA, I watched as an elderly women smiled broadly upon beholding our devotees chanting blissfully on the sidewalk. Soon the force of her appreciation moved her to clap her hands to the beat of the kirtana; soon after that she swayed with obvious happiness, waving her hands in the air.

People spend their whole lives looking for things and people to appreciate. They flock to natural scenes like the Grand Canyon, eulogize talented or famous singers, writers and athletes, and gaze at beauty in all its forms …

Bhakti yoga is the simple act of connecting all such appreciations to Krsna and His devotees. Watering these seeds of appreciation brings forth the beautiful creeper of prema, pure love for the Supreme Person, the only true satisfaction of the soul.

Humbly in service and with deep appreciation of your association, 
Vaisesika Das

Source:http://www.dandavats.com/?p=33806

Voltaire wrote: “Appreciation is a wonderful thing: It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.”
And in her prayer about the power of bhakti, Queen Kunti uses the word, “grnanti” (“appreciating”) to say that those who appreciate other’s devotional service are themselves performing high grade devotional service, just by deeply appreciating how others are doing their service. Queen Kunti says, these “appreciators” will come to see the Lord directly.
As we become purified, our ability to appreciate Krsna and His devotees increases more and more.

Really, the soul is naturally and eternally an appreciator. The Vedas say: eko bahu-syam: “The one Lord has become many.” Why? Vedanta Sutra answers: Anandamayo bhyasat, “For enjoyment.” In other words, the soul, Krsna’s part and parcel, exists for Krsna’s pleasure and has the eternal privilege of appreciating Krsna, Krsna’s devotees, and the process of devotional service.

Krsna is an ocean of attractiveness, but what makes His attractiveness forever increase is the dynamic relationship between Him and His devotees. “A pure devotee does not want anything from Krsna; he simply wants to serve Him. And Krsna also looks for the opportunity to serve His devotee. Krsna is always as anxious to please His devotee as the devotee is to please Him … This is spiritual competition.” SSR 8

Seeing Radharani (Krsna’s supreme appreciator) Krsna thinks: “There is constant competition between My sweetness and the mirror of Radha’s love. They both go on increasing, but neither knows defeat.” (Cc Adi 4.142) “Whatever pleasure I get from tasting My love for Srimati Radharani, She tastes ten million times more than Me by Her love.” (Cc Adi 4.126)

Appreciation for Krsna moves the devotee to smile, to dance and to serve. In his Samhita, Brahma describes how in Goloka, “every word is a song, every gait is a dance.” There the residents move out of a joy driven by their overflowing appreciation for Krsna, Krsna’s devotees and devotional service.

To this end, one evening during our hari nama sankirtana performance in Palo Alto, CA, I watched as an elderly women smiled broadly upon beholding our devotees chanting blissfully on the sidewalk. Soon the force of her appreciation moved her to clap her hands to the beat of the kirtana; soon after that she swayed with obvious happiness, waving her hands in the air.

People spend their whole lives looking for things and people to appreciate. They flock to natural scenes like the Grand Canyon, eulogize talented or famous singers, writers and athletes, and gaze at beauty in all its forms …

Bhakti yoga is the simple act of connecting all such appreciations to Krsna and His devotees. Watering these seeds of appreciation brings forth the beautiful creeper of prema, pure love for the Supreme Person, the only true satisfaction of the soul.

Humbly in service and with deep appreciation of your association, 
Vaisesika Das

Source:http://www.dandavats.com/?p=33806

Radha Damodar dasa: Srila Prabhupada asked that his disciples go out and distribute his books. In the early days the main engagement of the devotees was to go to the busiest part of the city and blissfully sing the Hare Krishna mantra accompanied at first by guitars and kartals (cymbals) and later by mrdunga drums and kartals. So, we started to also ask the passing people to buy a book or maagazine and even went door to door to sell books but the result wasn’t satisfying. People weren’t interested and only gave us a little change to get rid of us. About 1975, mostly due to the ideas of Tripurari dasa, we developed a new technique called “undercover Samkirtan” or “karmi clothes Samkirtan”. Samkirtan means to publicly glorify the Lord. We would put on Western style clothes such as shirts and trousers or even suits and the men would wear wigs or hats. We wore Identification Badges or carried some kind of license or certificate and went to every crowded place. Our main method was “the numbers game” which was to keep on asking for a donation from as many people as you could. The number of donations, quarters, dollars, etc. added up and any man could collect a hundred dollars or more in a day. The money went mostly to the BBT press to pay for the printing of Srila Prabhupada’s books.

So we would go to malls, shopping center parking lots, sports events, State Fairs. The best place to go was to the airport terminal because it was always crowded, you rarely met the same people twice and you were inside, protected from the elements of weather. Airport officials did not like us but the courts had to uphold our right to preach in a public place as long as we did not sell but merely “accepted donations”. We would hand out a small gift such as a stick of incense or a lollipop to get the people to stop. Then we would give them a brief statement of our need for donations for a good cause and if they gave a donation we would give them a large or small book and then run to the next prospect. In this way, many thousands of enthusiastic young men and women blitzed every store, every home in every town and village in the U.S., Europe, India, and everywhere else in the world between 1975 and 1985. More about this in my next essay “The Good Old Days” but now my personal recollections of distributing or preaching to celebrities:

One day in 1974, I was distributing at the door of a Target Department Store in Denver, Colorado. I was dressed in an orange dhoti and was handing out incense and magazines. At noon I called the temple and the president told me that “Bob Dylan was just here looking like he stepped off an album cover with faded jeans and tussled hair. He just went into the temple room and chanted on his beads for a couple of hours while the devotee couple that he’s travelling with collected all the prasadam (remnants of the Lord’s foodstuff) they could and bought books and posters.”

A few minutes later Puspa dasa came up and introduced himself and said, “Bob wants to see you in the van.” I picked up my box and went out to the van and there he was, strumming his guitar on the floor of the van. “Please come in,” he said.“Please have some prasadam.” Puspa and his wife gave me a big tray of all kinds of prasad such as sweets, halavah, vegetables and rice with milk to drink. I looked about - all around the top of the van walls were colourful pictures torn from Back to Godhead magazine and on his guitar was a picture of Lord Krishna on the body and the logo of Srila Prabhupada on the neck. I praised his involvement in IsKcon but Bob appeared very shy. Puspa suggested that Bob sing the song about Krsna that he’d just wrote so he sang “Come to Krsna, Hari Bol” and they sang along with enthusiasm. I then thanked them and left, going back to my Samkirtan.

At the Denver airport I met Timothy Leary, who is famous for synthesizing the hallucinogenic drug LSD. He was familiar with our philosophy, so we were chatting. I had a gulab jamon (a juicy sweetball) and I had just persuaded him to put the whole stick sweetball in his mouth when a female devotee from the temple said, “How nice, now you won’t have to be a ghost,” and he spat it out into an ash tray saying, “ I want to be a ghost, ” and he walked away.

I distributed at the Denver airport about 40 hours a week for many years. Usually I would pin a carnation on the lapel of a traveller and ask for a donation, then give them some literature. One day, the other devotees called me over to try to get a donation from Rock guitarist Gregg Allman. He was on his way to Vail for a ski vacation with his wife, singer Cher and her daughter Chastity. I showed him the book Bhagavad Gita and they all listened nicely to me for half an hour, then he gave me $5, a good donation in those days and I gave him the Gita.

One day, I saw actor-singer-dancer Sammy Davis Jr. coming through the airport. I gave him a flower and asked for a donation. His companion said, “Look, we get this all the time. We just can’t…” but Mr. Davis snapped, “Listen, give me a couple of bucks for me!” His friend gave me a dollar very reluctantly but didn’t want a magazine. A few minutes later I gave Mr. Davis a Bhagavad Gita and he put it under his arm and said, “thank you, I promise to read this.”

The Beach Boys were running with their luggage to catch a plane but Mike Love came over to me and said,“oh, wow I could really use a Bhagavad Gita where I’m going, would $5 be allright, I never carry much money when I travel.”

I often met the Turtles. They had read our books before and were not interested but they were friendly and would joke and play around with me.

I met John Denver in the baggage claim and he said he liked out literature and he gave $4 for a couple of magazines.

I recognized Clint Eastwood in the baggage claim, old and tired looking in a dark suit but when I approached him I was driven away by a young lady who gave me a good tongue lashing, poking my chest with her finger nail. Mr. Eastwood looked apologetic.

When I saw Ronald Reagan, then Governor of California and Presidential candidate coming up the hall, surrounded by reporters and photographers, I went right up and pinned a flower on his lapel and asked for a donation. He just said, “thank you, this is very lovely indeed.” He shook my hand hard and asked me to vote for him.

A few of us met the rock group called the Mothers of Invention at the Denver airport, they were very amusing. Frank Zappa was wearing a T-shirt with his own picture on it and he gave us his baggage claim stub, saying “you ought to be able to get $5 for this,” and he gave us his comb, saying “ you ought to be able to get $20 for this!”

I met comedian Jerry Lewis several times, although he was willing to discuss, he wasn’t interested in Krishna Consciousness and never took a book. One day I saw him walking up the concourse with elegant young ladies on each arm and when he got to the limo pick up area he was yelling “Where’s my bags? I brought 20 bags and I want to see them all right here!”

At the Las Vegas airport I distributed literature to many celebrities including golf pro Jack Armstrong, comedian Red Foxx, Elvis impersonator Big El and the actor who starred in the TV show “Palladin.”

I met comedian Danny Thomas at the Las Vegas airport and offerred him a small Krsna Book. He said, “ No thank you son, I have that book at home. I’ve read it.” He gave $5.

I had a long talk one day with singer Rod Stewart. He said he didn’t like devotees, our philosophy or the pushy way we distribute books but a couple of weeks later I saw sitting with book distributor Bopadev dasa talking quite warmly.

One day, in Las Vegas I saw Leader of the Opposition Tip O'Neil coming down the concourse, very drunk. I pinned a flower on him and asked for a donation. He said, “Son, I’m a U.S. congressman,” he gave me his card,“I don’t give to the people, I steal from them! HA HA HA.”

I met the Zoo Director of the Denver Zoo while distributing there. He drove up and told me how much he disliked the prescence of preachers, such as myself, at his facility. I asked him what his philosophy was and he said, “ I believe man is a carnivore, and my greatest happiness in life is to eat every species!” He then told me of his travels in the four directions’ such as “I’ve been to the North and eaten walrus and bear.” And then he said, “I realize that some animals are going extinct, therefore I want to eat them first! I don’t want to miss anything.” Actually there’s a club in America that has large charity funding dinners where members pay thousands of dollars to dine on dinners of rare Endangered Species prepared by hotel chefs.

There were others, but that’s all I remember right now.

Source:http://www.dandavats.com/?p=33808

“Prabhupada: …I.A.S. civil service examination before one man is posted in some responsible office. Similarly, to be recognized by Krsna, as He says na ca tasman manusyesu, one has to pass examination, severe test of examination. All the big, big devotees we see. Narada Muni, before becoming Narada Muni, he had to pass through severe examination, test. That chance is there in the human form of life, to pass the examination, test. But they are passing this human life with ordinary animal propensities. They are not trained up to pass the examination and be recognized by God. That civilization is lost, Vedic civilization, to prepare the human beings for passing the test, examination for being recognized by God.

tapasa brahmacaryena samena ca damena ca tyagena satya-saucabhyam yamena niyamena va

These things are required, tapasa brahmacaryena.
Atreya Rsi: To pass the examination, one must follow a strict, austere life.
Prabhupada: Yes. Tapasa brahmacaryena, beginning tapasya, austerity. Brahmacarya, celibacy. Tapasa brahmacaryena samena damena, controlling the senses, controlling the mind. Tyagena, by renunciation. Satya-saucabhyam, by following truthfulness and cleanliness. Yamena niyamena va, by practicing yoga, yama-niyama. These are the different items of being qualified. But all these things can be done by one stroke, kevalaya bhaktya, by engaging oneself in devotion, vasudeva-parayanah.

kecit kevalaya bhaktya vasudeva-parayanah agham dhunvanti kartsnyena niharam iva bhaskarah

One becomes qualified by one stroke of bhakti to Vasudeva. Just like the sunrise immediately dissipates the fog. Agham dhunvanti kartsnyena niharam iva bhaskarah. In the Kali-yuga, this one item of bhakti can make one perfectly fit candidate to pass the examination. Agham dhunvanti kartsnyena niharam iva bhaskarah. What is this nonsense life? There is no tapasya, no spiritual culture,”

(New Vrndavana, 1976)
Prabhupada: Now questions?
Devotee (1): So is there ever, for someone whose determination wavers and slackens here and there, is there ever a point where the neophyte devotee is in danger of just forgetting everything and falling, tumbling completely back?
Prabhupada: Everyone is neophyte. He should practice determination, that’s all. If he cannot practice, then why should he enter into this association? Let him remain aloof. One who has entered with the determination that “I must practice,” so if he cannot practice, then why this make show that “I belong to Krsna consciousness movement. I am initiated.” Why this farce? He must practice with determination that “By practicing I’ll be success.” That is wanted. He has no determination, why should he make a show? Drdha-vrata. Bhajante mam drdha-vratah. Drdha-vrata, that is wanted, determination. Hmm, go on. When one is determined, his success is assured. If he’s not determined, then success or failure.
Devotee (1): Can one develop determination gradually?
Prabhupada: Why gradually? When you promise before your spiritual master that no illicit sex, no gambling, no meat-eating, why should you fall down? If you have no determination, why should you promise in presence of the Deity, fire, spiritual master, Vaisnava? Why do you make this farce, if you have no determination? If you want to make it a farce, that depends on you. But you should not.
Devotee (1): When we make that promise…
Prabhupada: Yes, you should not fall down, that is determination. That is gentleman’s determination, that “I have given my promise. Why shall I fall down?” That is determination. “I must respect promise.” That is called drdha-vrata. So he’ll success. Where is the difficulty? There is no difficulty. But if we want to cheat, that is another thing. If we have no determination, we should not take up this life. Therefore, chance is given that “Stay with us for six months or one year, be determined. Then be initiated.” If you are not determined, what is the use of false initiation?
Devotee (1): Sometimes this weakness seems to be…
Prabhupada: Weakness there, you should rectify weakness. Why you should give any importance to weakness? Weakness is weakness. Rectify it.
Kuladri: This promise is the minimum determination.
Prabhupada: Hmm?
Kuladri: This promise of following four regulative principles, chanting sixteen rounds daily, that is the minimum determination. Then, from there, he must increase.

(Morning Walk at Stow Lake, March 23, 1968, San Francisco)

“Prabhupada: We should forego sleeping even. The real regulated life is that if sixteen rounds is not completed, then we have to forego sleeping. You should take out hours from sleeping. We should be… The main thing is that we should always be careful that… We are going, we have taken up a very responsible task, Krsna consciousness. So we should be very much careful in discharging the duty. The devotee should be so much careful that he’ll always see “Whether this moment is spoiled or utilized?” Avyartha-kalatvam. Avyartha-kalatvam, that “My time may not be wasted.” He should be so careful, “Whether my time is being wasted?” and time wasted, the time we engage for our bodily necessities, that is wasted. Generally, conditioned souls, they are simply wasting their time. Only the period which we have engaged in Krsna consciousness, that is utilized. So we should be very much careful whether time is being wasted or being utilized.
Devotee (1): Sometimes, well, if you (we) slept less, we could do more for Krsna, but at the same time you (we) would be very tired. I mean, you could be… Well, you could regulate that.
Prabhupada: Yes. Practically everything depends on practice. Abhyasa-yoga-yuktena cetasa nanya-gamina. Abhyasa-yoga. Abhyasa-yoga means yoga practice… Practice it. So this whole Krsna consciousness movement is to practice transfering from one kind of consciousness to another. So we require practice. Just like one man can run few miles. I cannot run even one mile. He has practiced. We see some boys, they run, run on. They practice. Practice it. Strength of the heart increasing by practice. And if I run, my heart will be palpitating. Because I have no practice. So by practice, everything can be attained. Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. (break) …determination. And this determination is increased by celibacy. Brahmacarya is recommended to keep oneself determined. A brahmacari, if he determines something, he executes. He has got that strength of mind. Those who are too much addicted to sex life, they cannot be determined. They cannot be fixed-up. They are fluctuating, changing.”

(Lect SB. 6.1.13-14 NY 7/27/71)
Vimarsanam means to be thoughtful. Without being thoughtful, philosopher, how one can understand, what is his position? Thoughtful. And that thoughtfulness comprehends so many things. Tapasa. One has to learn it by tapasya. Just like if one wants to pass M.A. examination, then he has to go school, follow the principle of the schools, college, study, and take some pains. Then gradually he’ll come a passed M.A. student. And if he plays all the day on the street, how he can…? That is not possible. Therefore the process is being explained by Sukadeva Gosvami: tapasa. First thing is tapasya, austerity. Even it is painful… Austerity’s painful. Brahmacarya is painful. Because we want, unrestricted, to do everything. But no. As soon as it is regulated it appears to be painful. When it is practiced, it is not painful. One brahmacari in Indian city, in severe cold, he was sleeping in the open air, without any covering. And it was severe cold. But it was practice. During Magha-mela, many saintly persons come there on the bank of the Ganga, Ganges. This year we had our own camp; we have seen. The whole night they are sitting in the open air, without any covering.
So practice. So practice means if you undergo austerity, tapasya, everything will be practiced. That is a Bengali proverb: sarire na mahasaya(?). Mahasaya is a word used in India, a very respectable gentleman, mahasaya. So this sarira, this body is mahasaya. Ya sa haye sa taicha(?). Whatever he’ll practice, it will be accustomed. So practice. So here this Krsna consciousness movement is bringing them to the practice. Therefore you find, so nice, boys and girls, they’re practiced. As soon as they’re neglectful to the practice—-falls down. They cannot stay. Immediately goes out. So that is called austerity, tapasya. Practice. Practical life. So these are the processes.

tapasa brahmacaryena samena ca damena ca tyagena satya-saucabhyam yamena niyamena va deha-vag-buddhijam dhira dharmajnah sraddhayanvitah ksipanty agham mahad api venu-gulmam ivanalah

Venu-gulmam ivanalah. Just like there is a jungle—so many unwanted creepers—so you set fire. Everything will be burned into ashes and the field will be cleared, cleansed. So it is said: deha-vag-buddhijam dhira dharmajnah sraddhayanvitah. Those who are dhira… Dhira and adhira. Dhira means sober and adhira means extravagant. There are two classes of men, dhira and adhira. Here Sukadeva Gosvami’s speaking of the dhira. Who is dhira? Dhira means in spite of provocation, in spite of something present which agitates the mind, one remains, I mean to say, in his position, steady. He’s called dhira.

The dhira example is given by Kalidasa Pandita, a great poet in India, Sanskrit poet, long, long ago. He has written one book: Kumara-sambhava. Kumara-sambhava. In our college we read that book in Sanskrit class. Kumara-sambhava. So he has given one example of dhira about Lord Siva, Mahadeva. He was meditating and the demigods, they had a plan, that “The demons are fighting with us. We are being defeated. We want a commander in chief, who must be born out of the semina of Lord Siva.” But he was in meditation. So how to do it? So Parvati, she was sent. She was young girl. And she was worshiping the genital of Lord Siva. So a young girl, touching the genital, and she’s present, but still Lord Siva was in meditation. So Kalidasa—-here is the example of dhira. He’s called dhira. In spite of presence of a young girl touching the genital, he’s not, I mean to say, disturbed.

Just like Haridasa Thakura. You have heard the Haridasa Thakura. He was chanting Hare Krsna mantra, and somebody wanted to cut down. He was young man. So young prostitute was sent at dead of night. And he, she proposed… Haridasa Thakura said, “Yes, it is very nice proposal. Please sit down. Let me finish my chanting, and I shall enjoy.” So it became morning. The prostitute became, I mean to say, perturbed. And Haridasa Thakura replied, “I am very sorry. I could not finish my chanting. Please come this night again.” The first night, second night…, third night the prostitute fell down on his feet and said, “Sir, this was my intention. I was induced to do this act by some man who is your enemy. So kindly excuse me.” So Haridasa Thakura replied, “I knew that. But because you came to me, therefore I allowed you to come here, three days, so that you may be converted to be a devotee. So now take these chanting beads. You sit down. Go on chanting. I am leaving this place.” Here is another dhira.

So here it is said, deha-vag-buddhijam dhira dharmajnah. One who has control, deha, the body, vak, the words, buddhi, intelligence—they are dhira. So this tridandi. This tridandi-sannyasa means to become dhira, controlling sarira; deha, the body; vak, words; and intelligence. These things should be utilized. How? By dhira, those who are dhira. Dharmajna. One who knows actually the principle of religion. Dharmajna. Deha-vag-buddhijam dhira dharmajnah sraddhayanvitah, ksipanty agham mahad api. So because our life is continuously committing sinful activities, from time immemorial… You do not know when it began. Evolution, many births. Therefore this life is meant for rectifying all mistakes that we had committed in our previous life or in this life. How? By this process. Ksipanty agham. Agham means the resultant action of sinful life. Mahad api. Although it is very great, mahad api, how? Venu-gulmam, venu-gulmam ivanalah. Just like if you set fire to unwanted grass and creepers in the field. You set fire, and they will be all burned. Similarly, by this process, tapasa brahmacaryena, you can liquidate all of your sinful activities of life and you become purified.

The first thing is tapasya. The first… Tapasya means you have to accept some austerity. The same example can be given that the doctor says… Suppose a diabetic patient. So doctor prohibits him that “You cannot eat. You have to starve for some days.” So I do not like to starve, nobody likes to starve. But because doctor says you have to starve, if you want to cure a disease, then I have to voluntarily accept, accept starving. This is called tapasya: voluntarily accept some miserable condition of life. That is good. And human life is meant for that purpose.

So tapasya is required. Without tapasya you cannot make advancement in spiritual life, or life of knowledge. If you simply give away…, in the animal propensities of life, eating, sleeping, mating and defending and don’t accept the process of tapasya, then your human life is failure. You have to accept some tapasya if you want to make solution of the problems of life. Sukadeva Gosvami first recommends tapasya. Just like here, in our institution, whoever comes and becomes an initiated member, we first of all ask them to undergo tapasya. Tapasya. Especially in your country, it is a great tapasya to give up illicit sex life, to give up intoxication up to the point of smoking and tea drinking, and to give up meat-eating, and to give up gambling. Although they’re only four, but it is very difficult to give up these four items. Even Lord Zetland, in England, when he was asked to do this, one of my Godbrothers, Lord Zetland, Marquis of Zetland, he inquired from my Godbrother, “Swamiji, whether you can make us brahmana?” So he said, “Yes, why not? You have to give up these four principles of life, prohibited: no illicit sex, no intoxication, no gambling, and no meat-eating.” The Lord Zetland replied “Impossible.” Yes, it is impossible. Because in Europe and America, this is the way of life from the very beginning. And from India, our Indian gentlemen come here to learn this art, how to do it nicely. And they think it is advancement. India is automatically taught this tapasya by their culture, but they come here to forget that culture and accept another type of life.
But real, real fact is if you want to advance in spiritual understanding, if you want to make a solution of all the problems of your life, then you have to accept this life of austerity, tapasya. Restriction. Restriction is meant for human beings, not for the animals. Just like in our common dealings, when you drive your car, you have got some restriction. You cannot drive your car on the left side. That is offense. “Keep to the right.” You cannot drive your car when there is red light, or yellow light. You have to follow the restriction. But the dog, if it keeps to the left or crosses the street when there is red light, it is not punished, because it is animal, dog. But if you violate the laws, you’ll be punished. Why? That means you have got advanced consciousness. If you do not follow the rules and regulation, then you are nothing but animal. Human being, human life means voluntarily accepting the laws, the rules and regulation. That is human life. But now the propaganda is that everyone, one wants to be free, no regulative life. This is animal life. Just try to understand. The regulations, lawbooks, restrictions, they are meant for human being, not for animals. And if you want freedom from all restrictions, then you come to the animal life. Therefore Sukadeva Gosvami recommends first tapasya. If you want to stop the problems of life, then you have to accept the life of austerity, tapasya.
And what is the tapasya? That is also… Brahmacaryena. Brahmacaryena. Brahmacaryena means restricted sex life. Real meaning is no sex life, no sex, celibacy, completely. This is tapasya. Therefore, according to Vedic culture, the first beginning of life is brahmacari. (break) But in the brahmacari life there is no sex life. Only in the grhastha life there is sex life, married life. I was reading the other day a magazine, Watch… What is that? Watchtower. So this paper was criticizing so many immoral activities in the Christian world. And one item I was surprised to read that a Christian priest has sanctioned marriage between man to man. That was written there. I do not wish to discuss all those things, but people are degrading for want of this tapasya. People are not taught how to execute tapasya life, tapasvi life. Simply by criticizing will not do. Practically you have to be trained in the life of tapasya. Then it will be effective. Just like we are doing. Here, in our Krsna consciousness movement, in every center, everyone, at least who are living within this temple, must get up at four o’clock to perform the aratrika. This morning I was asking somebody that if you cannot rise, then you cannot live in this temple. Because this temple is meant for tapasya, not for extravagancy. Unless you follow the life of tapasya, you cannot make progress.
So this temple, we are inviting everyone to live here, to live with us, and practice tapasya. Then your life will be advanced. Then you’ll understand what is your constitutional position, what is God, or Krsna, what is your relationship with Him, what is the aim of life, how to execute it, how to make life successful. These things are taught here. This is called tapasya. And in the Vedas it is said that those who are executing the regulative life of tapasya, they are brahmanas. Etad viditva yah prayati sa eva brahmanah. Etad aviditva yah prayati sa krpanah(?). These are the Vedic injunctions. One who is dying… Everyone is dying. Nobody can live here permanently. That’s a fact. But one who is dying after executing the life of tapasya, he’s a brahmana. And one who is dying like cats and dogs, without any execution of tapasya, he’s called krpana. The two words are there in the Vedic literature: one is brahmana and one is krpana. Krpana means miser, and brahmana means liberal, broad-minded. Brahma janati iti brahmanah, or one who knows the Supreme, the Absolute Truth, he’s brahmana. And one who does not know, that is animal. This is the difference between animal and man. Man should be educated to understand the Absolute Truth. Therefore in the human society there is school, colleges, universities, philosophers, scientists, mathematician. Because human life is meant for knowledge. The animal life, they’re not required to take education. They are simply busy with how…, with the business how to eat, how sleep, how to mate and how to defend. That’s all.
So the tapasya life begins from celibacy, brahmacaryena. Sukadeva Gosvami recommends. Brahmacarya is described in the sastras that smaranam kirtanam kelih preksanam guhyam asanam(?). Sex life, smaranam, thinking of sex life, that is against brahmacarya. Complete celibacy means one should not think of even sex life. Smaranam. Or talk of sex life. Our modern literature, newspaper and everything, simply full with talks of sex life. But this is against brahmacarya life. Smaranam kirtanam keli. And actually indulging in sex life. Preksanam: looking, overlooking a nice boy or nice girl, that is also against brahmacarya. Guhyam asanam: whispering between girls and boys, that is also against brahmacari. Guhyam asanam sankalpam. Then determination of sex life. Vyavasaya: endeavoring how to effect sex life. So when we can stop all these activities, that is real brahmacarya. It is very difficult at the present age. Etan maithunyam astangam pravadanti manisinah vikarita brahmacaryam eda astanam laksanam iti(?). So brahmacarya means that you cannot think of sex life, you cannot talk of sex life, you cannot whisper about sex life, or you cannot endeavor for sex life. These eight types of activities in sex indulgence are against brahmacari life. But here it is prescribed that if you want to make solution of the problems of life, then you adopt, you have to adopt a life of tapasya, austerity, which begins from brahmacari.
To summarize this brahmacarya life in this age, we have given a simple formula, that “No illicit sex.” Sex is there. Sex is not bad. In the Bhagavad-gita it is said, dharmaviruddhah kamo ’smi: “Sex life which is not against the religious principles of life, that is I am.” Krsna says. So dharmaviruddha, according to Vedic civilization, one should have sex indulgence only once in a month. That is the prescription. And when the wife is pregnant there is no sex life. That is dharmaviruddha. That is not against the religious principles. Even in your life, married life, if you indulge sex life more than once in a month, or in pregnancy, that is against religious principles. So Krsna dharmaviruddhah kamo ’smi: “Lust, sex indulgence, which is not against the rules of religious principles, that is I am.” That means only for begetting children, nice children, so that there may not be disturbance. Unless there are nice population, children born in a systematic way, how you can expect peace in the world? That is described in the Bhagavad-gita. When there are varna-sankara the whole world becomes hell. This is described in the Bhagavad-gita. So the life of austerity begins from the life of celibacy, brahmacarya. So brahmacarya, the descriptions are given here, how you can execute brahmacari life. You cannot think of sex life, you cannot talk of sex life, you cannot whisper about sex life. There are eight types of different regulation to stop sex life. But these things are very difficult in this age. Therefore we have simply summarized that don’t have sex life beyond the married life. That is not good.
Then how brahmacarya can be executed? That is also given here: tapasa brahmacaryena samena. Samena means controlling the mind. The yoga system, astanga-yoga system, practicing the asana, sitting posture, breathing exercise, controlling the senses from outside engagement, pratyahara, these are, this yoga system is meant for controlling the mind and controlling the sense. If there is no control of mind and no control of senses, the so-called yoga practice is bogus. It has no meaning. Yoga indriya samyama. Yoga means to control the senses. That is the real meaning of yoga. So if one is unable to control the senses… I have seen in some yoga practice institution in New York. They are practicing some, this asana, and just after finishing, immediately smoking. You see. This much control they learned. So these, these are all bogus. This is not yoga system. Yoga system is not so easy, especially in this age. Yoga system means to control the senses, control the mind; and control the mind means you have to control so many things—your eating, your sleeping, your behaving. These are prescribed in the Bhagavad-gita, how to practice the astanga-yoga. You have to find out a suitable place, a sacred place, a solitary place. Therefore real yogis, they used to go to Himalaya. Sometimes some young men, here, in your country, they inquire from me how to go to Himalaya, and what you’ll do there, going there, Himalaya? So you are not practiced. So instead of practicing yoga in the Himalaya, you practice yoga here. We have come here to help you. Here this Krsna consciousness movement is there. If you are serious about practicing yoga, this, take bhakti-yoga. That will come, how it happens in the next lines.
So this astanga-yoga is not possible in this age—samo damah, controlling the mind, controlling the senses. Because nobody can properly practice the astanga-yoga system. Impossible. It is not only impossible now—even five thousand years ago, when Krsna was advising about this astanga-yoga to Arjuna. Arjuna was not ordinary man. He was friend of Krsna. He was a great son of a royal family. And Arjuna’s name and fame, everyone knows. So he said to Krsna: “My dear Krsna, this yoga practice is not possible to be performed by me. I am unable.” So Arjuna said frankly that he was unable to practice this yoga system. And what we are, in comparison to Arjuna? So this astanga-yoga system is not possible at all in this age. If you are satisfied by learning some sitting posture, artificially, that may give you some chance of good exercise of the body. You can keep good health. But there is no chance of spiritual realization by astanga-yoga practice in this age. So Sukadeva Gosvami says samena. Sama means manasa-niyamam, controlling the mind. The mind’s business is acception, acceptance and rejection. This is mind’s business. Even one is very elevated, the mind’s business is mind’s business. Mind will accept something: “It is very good,” and next moment it will reject. That is mind’s business. But you have to fix up your mind in something which you cannot reject. That is only the lotus feet of Krsna. If you fix up your mind on the lotus feet of Krsna, then your mind cannot go elsewhere. You practice it and you’ll see it. Sa vai manah krsna-padaravindayoh.
Therefore Ambarisa Maharaja fixed up his mind always… Our Krsna consciousness movement we are teaching our students, how to fix up the mind always in Krsna, some way or other. That is the first-class yoga system. And Krsna also advises. (break) …feet, and pray, bhajate. “Krsna, I am Your eternal servant. Kindly again engage me in Your service. Somehow or other, without being engaged in Your service, I have been dragged to the service of maya. Service I am going. I am rendering service. Because I am eternal servant, therefore my serving process is going on. But where it is going on? I am serving my lust, I am serving my anger, I am serving my greediness. So that means, in one word, I am serving my sense gratification. So kindly help me. Instead of serving my sense gratification, let me serve Your sense gratification.” That is yoga. That is first-class yoga. Pray always, fix up your mind in Krsna’s lotus feet, and pray that “I am eternal servant. Now I’m engaged in the service of my sense gratification, and You please help me. I have come to my senses, to engage my(self) in Your sense gratification.” The business is there, sense gratification. But Krsna consciousness means instead of satisfying one’s own senses, one should be ready to satisfy the senses of Krsna. That is Krsna consciousness.

Source:http://www.dandavats.com/?p=33810

For serving Lord Krsna, is being simple a bad thing?
Giriraja Swami: After successfully launching the Hare Krsna movement in the West, Srila Prabhupada returned to India with plans to build at least three large centers, including one in Mumbai. I worked on the Mumbai project, and because Prabhupada was intimately involved with it, I was fortunate to learn many valuable lessons from him during that time.

In late 1971 a prominent businessman, Mr. A. B. Nair, offered Prabhupada some land in Juhu, on the outskirts of Mumbai. Later we discovered that Mr. Nair was very tricky and cunning. Before taking money for the land from Prabhupada, he had already taken—and kept—money from two other parties.

After Prabhupada signed the purchase agreement and left Mumbai, Yaduvara Dasa and I had to deal with Mr. Nair. We would meet him at his home in Juhu and talk, but we couldn’t understand: Was he our friend, or was he our enemy?

Ultimately, from thousands of miles away in Los Angeles, Prabhupada concluded that Mr. Nair was trying to cheat us.

Eventually Prabhupada came to Mumbai to deal with the matter. Tamal Krsna Goswami told him how Mr. Nair had bluffed me. Perhaps he expected Prabhupada to reprove me. But Prabhupada replied, “Giriraja is simple. What can be done?”

Prabhupada’s words stayed in my mind: “Giriraja is simple.” I considered my simplicity a fault or a disqualification.

Some months later, while reading the book Krsna to Prabhupada during his morning walks on Juhu Beach, I came to the chapter “The Salvation of Trnavarta,” in which Lord Krsna defeats a demon who had assumed the form of a whirlwind. There I read: “After observing such wonderful happenings, Nanda Maharaja [Krsna’s foster father] began to think of the words of Vasudeva [Krsna’s father] again and again.”

Previously we had read how Nanda Maharaja considered Vasudeva a great sage and mystic yogi because Vasudeva had foretold an incident that happened in Vrndavana, where Krsna was living.

Prabhupada remarked, “Vasudeva is a ksatriya [a member of the ruling or martial class]. With political eyesight, Vasudeva predicted, ‘This may happen,’ but Nanda Maharaja, as a vaisya, a simple agriculturalist, thought, 'Oh, Vasudeva is a foreseer.’ ”

I noticed that Prabhupada was applying the word simple to a pure devotee—Nanda Maharaja—and I was surprised. I wondered how a pure devotee like Nanda Maharaja could have a disqualification such as being simple.

So I asked Prabhupada, “Simplicity is not considered a bad quality?”

Prabhupada replied, “No, no. For him it is all right. He is a vaisya, so he should believe like that. And a politician should act like Vasudeva. One should not imitate. For example, a physician does operations, but I should not imitate and take the knife and operate. That is not my business.”

Then Prabhupada explained, “But Vasudeva was thinking of Krsna, and Nanda Maharaja was also thinking of Krsna. As a simple agriculturalist, Nanda Maharaja was thinking of Krsna. And Vasudeva, when he was asking Nanda Maharaja, ÔGo take care of your children there,’ he was also thinking of Krsna. If thinking of Krsna is there, then whether ksatriya or vaisya or brahmana—it doesn’t matter. Everyone gets the same benefit.

"Everyone should understand, whatever I may be, I am an eternal servant of Krsna.’ So if this consciousness is maintained and everyone is engaged in the service of Krsna by his work and by his occupational duty, then he is perfect.”

Prabhupada’s answer was deep. He said that for a person in a certain position simplicity may be a good qualification, and for another it may not be. For a vaisya or a brahmana to be simple may be good, but not for a ksatriya, who has to deal with politics and diplomacy. Yet ultimately it doesn’t matter whether one is a brahmana, a ksatriya, a vaisya, or whatever. What matters is that one works in Krsna’s service and thinks of Him in love—in Krsna consciousness.

Source:http://www.dandavats.com/?p=33814

This was our biggest ISKCON50 event of 2016 in a big theatre-style venue! There was drama, kirtan, special talks, prasadam feast and more.
Watch them here: https://goo.gl/rD6Kif

Source:https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=10154691937954654&id=554134653

Only the pure devotee can pull us out of the material world; this is the only way. Sometimes I look at old Back to Godhead magazines – the very early ones. Those ones were interesting because they were all about Srila Prabhupada; the whole Back to Godhead magazine was about Prabhupada. There was one article that was describing how the devotees were waiting for Prabhupada to come down for a lecture and they had a long kirtan and even when the kirtan ended, Prabhupada still did not come down but nobody cared too much. At the time, the only sannyasi was Kirtanananda. So they asked Kirtanananda to speak and he said, “Where were all of us one year ago? Where were we even six months ago before we got the mercy of a pure devotee.”

It is the mercy of the pure devotee that reaches the devotee. The Supreme Lord appears in this world and he disseminates his mercy in this world and continues to carry that mercy throughout the entire universe through his devotee and it is as good as receiving it directly from the Supreme Lord.

Source:https://www.kksblog.com/2016/11/mercy-through-a-pure-devotee/

Sutapada das: Last of the first deliveries are in. We just offloaded an artic lorry fully loaded with 30,000 books! Seeing all these books piled up is a nerve racking sight. But I’m quietly confident.
Despite our inherent limitations, we gain firm conviction from knowing that the all-powerful will of providence is on our side. With such transcendental back-up, anything is possible. One who is ‘quietly confident’, their surety grounded in humility and dependence, can achieve unimaginable things in this world. Pride, complacency and hopelessness are not found in their dictionary. Seeing themselves as merely instruments, their job is to just “get out of the way” and let the divine magic manifest. Let’s see how the transcendental drama unfolds.
Watch a video about this here: https://goo.gl/hOsZZX

Source:http://www.dandavats.com/?p=33720

Vaisesika Dasa: I met a pathologist recently who works with cancer patients. She explained to me that there is a certain kind of pancreatic cancer that is most deadly and that one who contracts it can survive only a few months, at the most.
She said that because of the often-depressing nature of her job, she and her colleagues have a way of speaking among themselves to lighten the emotional impact when they receive bad news about a patient’s prognosis.
For example, when they read a patient’s lab results and find that the patient has developed the most deadly strain of pancreatic cancer, they speak about it to one another in a somewhat indirect way. 
Among pathologists, a conversation might go like this:

“Did you read the lab report for your patient?”

“Yes.”

“What’s the result?”

“Well, I can tell my patient not to buy the big tube of toothpaste the next time she goes shopping.”

My first impression upon hearing this was that the pathologists’ conversation was almost too glib for the circumstances. After thinking about it a while, however, the phrase, “tell her not to buy the big tube …” stuck in my mind and their conversation began to seem more profound and it also made me question my own life and priorities:

What am I investing in and why? (Am I buying the “big tubes”?)

What people, things, and abilities that I already have, am I taking for granted?

I can also imagine a conversation among higher beings who, upon hearing about my very limited duration of life, might say among themselves: “Tell him not to buy the big tube of toothpaste.”

Life is Short Indeed, the bhakti scriptures clearly and repeatedly tell us that our human lives are shorter than we think! They say, therefore, that we should take excessive care to use every moment for advancing toward the highest goal – going back to Godhead:

“After many, many births and deaths one achieves the rare human form of life, which, although temporary, affords one the opportunity to attain the highest perfection. Thus a sober human being should quickly endeavor for the ultimate perfection of life as long as his body, which is always subject to death, has not fallen down and died. After all, sense gratification is available even in the most abominable species of life, whereas Krishna consciousness is possible only for a human being.” Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.9.29

Source:http://www.dandavats.com/?p=33724

Bhaktimarga Swami: In my humble opinion the following is worth repeating, an excerpt from our script, “Krishna Is” and it is a poeticized segment of the exchange between warrior, Arjuna, and wise Bhagavan (God). Author Bhaktimarga Swami.
ARJUNA: Seeing those before me causes me to shiver.
To lift my bow is as though I had never
Hairs stand on end, mind is reeling.
I’m confused, it’s new, this kind of feeling.
Sri Krishna, I just cannot fight.
There’s something here that is not right.
KRISHNA: Arjuna, you’ve lost your sense of duty.
A man of defense renounced a warrior’s beauty.

For the wise there’s a different point of view
Of eternity—no birth, no death—known by few.

Consider the world, which is full of duality.
Good and bad is its only reality.

The major point is to not lament.
The soul is forever, that is my comment.

Moving through bodies from young to old.
From old to young, the circle does unfold.

ARJUNA: Krishna, what is the force that compels one to do wrong.
If you could please include this in your song.

KRISHNA: It is desire, born of passion—then wrath
That keeps us covered and obscures the path.

Perform your yoga, and your sacrifice
For the creator and then all will be nice.

ARJUNA: Krishna, yoga can be tried for controlling the mind.
But the mind is an instrument of a different kind.

I’m fine if asked to harness the wind.
But the mind cannot be anchored or pinned.

KRISHNA: Begin the process; take it easy and slow.
In the end, there’s freedom; the soul will then glow.

ARJUNA: You are my teacher, mentor and guide.
It was no mistake to have you on my side.

I have come to consider about you there is more.
It’s your cosmic form I wish to explore.

KRISHNA: The form is manifest when we have the eyes.
Otherwise there’s the tendency to despise.

I reveal it to those whose devotion is clear.
When friendship is firm, I then come quite near.

It is surrender through service that is so sweet.
It is surrender that is illusion’s defeat.

ARJUNA: Oh Krishna, my doubt is now gone.
I believe the fight should definitely go on.

KRISHNA: Arjuna, my song is old but alive.
You have your free will, but now let me drive.

Source:http://www.dandavats.com/?p=33726

Madhusudan Hari Das: During the last days of Kartik we had the opportunity to welcome HG Devaki Mataji at the Jagannath Temple in Sesadripuram/Bangalore to launch the course entitled “The Vanaprastha Ashram”. It was well attended by around seventy devotees, who participated over several days in the 15-hour course. Each participant received well composed course materials with powerful quotes from Srila Prabhupada’s purports to selected verses of the Srimad Bhagavatam. Devaki Mataji very skillfully extracted the universal principles of the Vanaprastha Ashram and presented them with realization and conviction, clearly illustrating how we can apply these principles in our modern days. Her presentations were to the point and thought provoking, shaking us up to the facts of reality that this last phase of life is not meant to be lived in comfort, leisure and opulence, surrounded by sweet grand-children charming our hearts with broken language. Rather are we meant to increase austerities, and by simplifying our surroundings, our eating and our externals we can gradually give up more and more the bodily concept of life and deepen our focus on sravanam kirtanam to ultimately prepare for death - our final challenge. In SB 1.15.44. Prabhupada declares that no respectable gentleman would remain in family life until death, because that was considered suicidal and against the interest of the perfection of human life. Such quotes shook up the audience – it was indeed a wake-up call for many of us. It reset the trajectory of life to the most important goal of remembering Krishna at the time of death and going back to Godhead. Our entire lifestyle should be molded around chanting Hare Krishna – something we easily tend to forget when having been lulled into a sense of complacency, with life’s priorities revolving around wife and kids, and earning one’s livelihood. Then Krishna easily moves into the background rather than being in the very center of our lives. Krishna and Srila Prabhupada’s mission are pushed to the back burner while more ‘urgent’ business grabs our mind’s attention. This course urged us to introspect and re-set our priorities with a never experienced intensity. It is a “must” for all age groups - it could just make the difference between making it back to Goloka Vrindavan or having to do another round in this material world. For recordings please see www.therootsofspiritualculture.net

Source:http://www.dandavats.com/?p=33741

Srila Prabodhananda Saraswati: “To those who tolerate thousands of abusive words, millions of the humiliating insults of ruffians, millions of [bodily] miseries caused due to lack of proper food, clothing or shelter, and also tolerate extreme mental despair caused due to the anguish inflicted by lust, etc. — to those who stay in this sporting ground of Krishna, tolerating all these, I offer my obeisances.” 
Excerpt from the new issue of Sri Krishna Kathamrita Bindu.
CONTENTS INCLUDE:

* MAYA’S TRICKS – His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada offers some words of caution for devotees.

* IMPOSSIBLE TO SATISFY EVERYONE – Sri Srimad Gour Govinda Swami Maharaja speaks of the futility of trying to satisfy others in this world and how our only hope is to try to satisfy the Lord.

* HANKERING IS THE ONLY SATISFACTION – A first time translation done especially for this issue of Bindu from a little known medieval Gaudiya text called Prema-pattanam by Sri Rasikottamsa a grand disciple of Sri Raghunath Bhatta.

* OBEISANCES TO THE TOLERANT – Another fresh translation from Srila Prabodhananda Saraswati’s Vrindavan-mahimamrtam.

This issue can be downloaded at the following link:

https://archive.org/details/bindu388

Source:http://www.dandavats.com/?p=33743

A Global Climate Accord (The Paris Agreement) was signed by leaders of 195 countries last December. On page 1 in a report by “nature.com” 1 we read:

The ambitious 32-page package contains a multitude of provisions to accelerate the world’s transition from fossil fuels to solar, wind, nuclear, hydropower and other clean energy sources.

Use of fossil fuel can be described by the Vedic term “ughra karma” or greatly destructive work; but changing to other forms of energy does not address the real problem. Human beings will continue to be a major burden to the Earth until we acknowledge that we are not the owners of the Sun, wind, water or atoms; these are produced and owned by God, and any energy we derive from them must be used for His pleasure. However great the population may be, we are not a burden to the Earth when we use energy in Krishna’s service. But we cannot avoid adverse reactions when we misuse energy for our sense gratification. As a society of Brahmana’s, it is the duty of ISKCON members to inform those who place their faith the Paris Agreement that it does not identify the real problem or give the real solution. This may make us unpopular, but people are suffering due to ignorance, so how can we not tell them the truth?

There is another factor which makes it impossible for devotees to agree with the assertions of the Paris Agreement. As shown below, during Vedic times anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) production exceeded what the agreement asserts is a safe level to avoid catastrophic climate change -and no adverse ecological affect was produced in Vedic times. In short, we cannot accept the Srimada Bhagavatam as the absolute truth and, at the same time accept the premise of the Paris Agreement, even regarding the so called “scientific” data.

In his purports to SB 4.18 6-8, Srila Prabhupada plainly states that planning for economic development for sense gratification and eating food not offered to Krishna is thievery; therefore, at present the world is full of thieves. “ …a thief cannot be placed in a comfortable position…”. Thieves are always a burden to Mother Earth but she is happy to maintain any number of godly citizens. In SB 3.3.14 Srila Prabhupada writes:

Therefore, there is no question of an increase in population causing a burden. The earth became overburdened due to dharma-gläni, or irregular discharge of the Lord’s desire. The Lord appeared on the earth to curb the increase in miscreants, and not the increase in population, as is wrongly put forward by the mundane economist.

Of course, these same points are repeated by Srila Prabhupada numerous times. Srila Prabhupada also pointed out, numerous times, that anyone can see all the vacant land and conclude that the Earth could easily support ten times the current population. On a similar note, we hear descriptions of Vedic societies on Earth where the population was, in fact, many time greater than today. One example is, 9 billion men were given to Krishna in a dowry by a single king (SB 10.58.52).

A large population of Vedic followers means there is a large population of cows. Srila Prabhpada writes “For a Sanätanist (a follower of Vedic principles) it is the duty of every householder to have cows and bulls as household paraphernalia, not only for drinking milk, but also for deriving religious principles”(SB 1.17.3). And during the time of Sukadeva Goswami “Even the poorest of the householders keep at least ten cows, each delivering twelve to twenty quarts of milk” ( SB 1.19.29).

Cows produce tons of GHG. This has been researched and documented. In accordance with the Kyoto Protocol, in 2014, the United Kingdom submitted a national greenhouse gas emissions report to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change2. The research showed the average enteric production of methane (belched gas) of a cow is 110.7 k per head per year (P. 673, Table 3.5.3). Methane(CH4) has a high “Global Warming Potential” (GWP). GWP is the level a gas can trap heat in the atmosphere relative to CO2. According the U.S. EPA, The GWP for CO2 = 1 and the GWP for CH4= 253. So, converted to the standard unit of GHG, every dairy cow produces 110k x 25= 2.75 metric tons annually.

The first page of the report on the Paris Agreement, by nature.com, shows a graph with the 2014 world total GHG emissions at a little under 40 billion metric tons (BMT) annually. It shows the goal of bringing this down to 20 BMT by 2030. This has a 66% chance of keeping global warming down to 2 degrees Celsius. But this would still mean a 2.7 degree rise by 2100 and “This is deep into the territory that scientists expect would prompt catastrophic, irreversible climate changes.” (P.2). So, the Paris Agreement seeks to ultimately set the goal at 1.5 degrees. The report cites Steffen Kallbekken (research director at the Center for International Climate and Energy Policy in Oslo) as saying the 1.5-degree goal would require cuts of 70-95% by 2050. So to avoid catastrophe, according to the highest possible estimate, we would need 40BMT cut 70% = 12BMT.

To put it in perspective, according to the science accepted by the Paris Agreement, at 2.75 metric tons annually per cow, the maximum GHG for a safe world would equal that produced by the breathing alone of 4.5 billion cows. The Bhagavatam describes Vedic societies with every householder owning at least ten cows and human populations of tens of billions, if not trillions. In such a society, the cows breathing alone would produce far more GHG than the scientist say is safe for the planet. But the Scriptures say it is no problem if people are using Krishna’s energy properly in His service.

The United Nations estimates the human population will be 9.7 Billion by 20504. A maximum of 12BMT global emissions, means less than 1.33 metric tons of GHG per person annually. That is 2.66 metric tons for two people. At 2.75 metric tons, a year, a cows breathing would be the entire GHG budget of two people. In addition to methane production, the literature on climate change has abundant descriptions of numerous burdens the cows are putting on the Earth, soil erosion, deforestation, fresh water depletion, etc. Obviously, the vision of the global planners designing things like the Paris Agreement is a future with very few cows. But the cows aren’t the burden, it is humans using the Earth’s resources for sense gratification. It is the duty of ISKCON devotees to use sound reasoning to condemn foolish materialistic plans and their makers. If, instead, we endorse them, intelligent seekers of the truth will be compelled to look for it elsewhere.

1 http://www.nature.com/news/nations-approve-historic-global-climate-accord-1.19021

2 https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/uk-greenhouse-gas-inventory

ttps://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/310779/UK_National_Inventory_Report_Main_1990-2012.pdf

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/310791/UK_National_Inventory_Report_Annexes_1990-2012.pdf

3 https://www3.epa.gov/climatechange/Downloads/ghgemissions/US-GHG-Inventory-2016-Main-Text.pdf ( Table ES1)

4 http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/news/population/2015-report.html

Source:http://www.dandavats.com/?p=33717

Dana-Keli Devi Dasi: Thanksgiving on Govinda’s patio (Tucson, Az.) with music by Gangamantri and Dhiro Datta Prabhu was a heart warming and splendid affair. I arrived shortly before noon when the event began and already there was a long line of enthusiastic folks waiting for the doors to open. The buffet, set with a colorful and healthy array of vegetarian and vegan delights, was an excellent offering from Sandamini devi who has created and managed these great events for over 25 years. A seasoned old Tom turkey roamed freely on the patio, while the musicians warmed to their craft and began to play the songs we loved the most. The bird, Tom, who had been a cherished guest at Govinda’s stood stark still when the diners realized what an excellent photo opportunity they could have. How inspiring to see on Facebook or other news feeds people enjoying a vegetarian Thanksgiving feast while associating with a live Turkey! 
On the patio that perfect afternoon, when Gangamantri and Dhiro Datta played George Harrison’s My Sweet Lord, a few of us ladies could not resist raising our arms in the loving glory of the Lord and expressing our gratitude at that moment when happiness, faith, and vision simultaneously occur. 
I had a conversation with a man, who was a professional musician and had been coming to Govinda’s Cruelty-Free Thanksgiving festivals for many years. He gave thanks to Sandamini Devi for her dedication to the community and her ability to orchestrate the event with so much dignity. We both agreed that the patio of Govinda’s held the most elevated Thanksgiving in Tucson or perhaps anyplace in America. HARE KRISHNA

Source:http://www.dandavats.com/?p=33745

The ISKCON GBC is pleased to announce that appointment of Kamlesh Krishna das as the International Director of the ISKCON Child Protection Office. He succeeds Champakalata devi dasi in this role, and is already actively involved in the service. We thank Champakalata Prabhu for her many years of dedicated service to child protection in the ISKCON Society.

Prior to joining ISKCON Kamlesh Krishna Prabhu worked with the Ministry of Defence in London for a number of years, covering roles in various departments such as defence public relations, personnel management and procurement, attached to the army as a civilian officer.

He was introduced to ISKCON by family members and joined the Brahmacari ashrama at Bhaktivedanta Manor in 1985. He is a disciple of H H Bhakti Charu Swami.

In 1990 he pursued a career in financial services. He has held various senior posts in the banking and financial services industry over his career, as well as establishing his own corporate financial advisory company. Academically he holds a BSc in computer science and is a chartered corporate financial planner.

In his devotional career, he continues to serve on various bodies within the UK, namely UK National Management Council, Bhaktivedanta Patrons Council and finance committees.
Kamlesh Krishna das, has been involved in the service of child protection in the UK since 2010. His main input has been as a panellist for international cases as well as assisting the UK Child Protection Team. Over this period he has attended and completed a number of external training courses relating to child protection facilitated by accredited organisations in the field.
He will be carrying out his service with the assistance of his wife, Gandarvika Devi Dasi. Gandarvika has been serving in Child Protection within ISKCON for the last 18 years and has a wide breath of knowledge and experience in the field of child protection.

Kamlesh Krishna’s main aims as the Director of The ISKCON Child Protection office are to bring greater awareness and importance of Child Protection to ISKCON at all levels. Additionally, in order to ensure a consistent level of well-being and security of our children throughout ISKCON, he wants to deliver training, support and effective organizational structures, so that child protection teams are increased, supported and empowered.

Source:http://www.dandavats.com/?p=33756

Veganism is considered to be holier-than-thou and vegans are sort of telling the rest of the world that we are not compassionate at all, that we are contributing to the slaughter of cows by that fact that we are so lusty and cannot control our tongues. We are so attached to milk products – pizza, ice-cream, butter, etc. and in this way, the Hare Krsnas are contributing to cow slaughter. So what do the Hare Krsnas have to say…?

Well, there are two sides to the story. One side of the story is that we say to the vegans: My dear vegans, you are toothless tigers. Do you really think that you are going to stop animal slaughter? You are dreaming. In this way, it will not happen. Why would people take to your vegan philosophy? Just by moral preaching? Don’t you know that only a small percentage of the world is moral!? The rest of the world would rather let it ‘all hang out’. My dear vegans, we respect you for your idealism but your solution is a material one and therefore it cannot succeed as it lacks the transcendental perspective.

You may not like our argument but still consider it for a moment. Do you realise that if we take milk from any cow, we will offer that milk to Krsna and when that milk gets offered to Krsna then the cow gets eternal benefit. Even if that cow is undergoing temporary suffering in a horrible situation and will be slaughtered, still it will get eternal benefit. Therefore it is better to offer the milk of the cow to Krsna than to fast from milk altogether.

It is only now, for the time being that we are in a society which is upside down, which is all gone astray. Eventually we must manage again to take care of our own cows and more cows must be protected. Cow protection is essential and then we can take the milk of these protected cows and in this way, we can change society. But in the meanwhile, we do not fast from milk because milk is such essential food and not just for bones and calcium, it is also required for finer brain tissue development.

Srila Prabhupada was very adamant about this. In the United States, once there were additives in the milk including vitamin D which generally comes from a non-vegetarian source, often from cod liver oil, and so the devotees were wondering about drinking that milk and Prabhupada said not to worry about it and have it! With the special mercy of Lord Caitanya, there will be protection somehow or other, in this state of emergency.

Nowadays, in Iskcon, veganism is on the rise – more and more Hare Krsnas are turning vegan. This is very interesting! And the vegans say that the milk coming out of the factories today is not even milk anymore; it is just reconstituted chemicals and if Prabhupada was here today, he would tell us to be vegan. I am not so convinced about that and it is a problem, in this whole debate to be vegan or not, to put words in Prabhupada’s mouth. Well, he is not here right now so let us just stick to what he said and NOT to what he would have said because if we go that way, then maybe he would have said, “Today, four regulative principles would not work so let’s have three.” Then we going to be on a slippery slide and I do not know where we are going to wind up.

Source:https://www.kksblog.com/2016/11/vegans-toothless-tigers/

In the morning I was doing a japa walk, and a person told me that today is Ekadasi. He said that whatever auspicious activity we perform gives a multiplied result. This gave me the impetus to set a goal of distributing ten Bhagavatam sets. When I returned home, I saw that I had only two sets. I called the BBT to order eight more, and I planned to distribute them after work. I also
called Vinodh Prabhu and asked him to compose an email to friends and devotees and asked him to join me for book distribution in the evening. We planned to do BIG.

Set 1: After eating breakfast, I met a lady who once came to do some service. She asked about the duties of a woman, which she wanted to teach her daughter. I displayed the Bhagavatam and  showed her the Seventh Canto chapters about varnas and asramas. She agreed to buy a set.

Set 2: During the lunchtime at my office, I was chanting Gayatri. Then a friend asked me what I was doing. I soon started to explain the Bhagavatam. I suggested that his parents will be glad to read the book at their age. He took a set in Telugu.

Set 3: Also during lunch, a friend asked me about Ekadasi (which he has followed for several years without knowing its importance). After sharing with him some glories of Ekadasi, I told him about the Bhagavatam and suggested that his wife, who is now pregnant, read the prayers by Uttara about her child in the womb. He took a set.

Sets 4 & 5: A long-time devotee friend called in the afternoon and shared his difficulties with sadhana. I suggested that he try to distribute Bhagavatam sets today. He didn’t immediately agree. He said that he could not glorify Srimad Bhagavatam because he feels weak in Krsna consciousness. I said, “You simply call ten friends to ask whether they have a set of the Bhagavatams. And quote Srila Prabhupada to your friends: ‘I want that every respectable person has a set of Srimad Bhagavatam and Chaitanya-caritamrita’.” Around 10 p.m., he called back with the news that he’d distributed two sets and wanted to deliver them the following day. He said he chanted his best rounds in a long time owing to the inspiration of distributing two sets on an Ekadasi.

Set 6: Returning from work, I met a colleague who was talking about cultural activities for children and opportunities to speak about stories. I immediately suggested that the Bhagavatam gives culture to the kids and asked him to take a set. Although he didn’t have the money on hand, he agreed to take the set and pay in installments.

Set 7: Feeling tired after work, we tried going door-to-door. Mahamantra Prabhu and Vinodh joined me in the evening, we read two pages of the Bhagavatam and got energized. We knocked on a neighbor’s door and prayed to Srimati Tulasi Maharani. This was the home of an elderly couple, we performed kirtan for ten minutes with them, praying that they would take a set. After the kirtana, even before we began speaking about the Bhagavatam, the lady eagerly asked us if we had the full Srimad Bhagavatamset . She had previously owned a small Bhagavatam book and wanted to have the full set. We showed them the books, which they accepted and asked us to install in their home. The elderly gentleman got us some flowers and arranged for some fruits and a lamp. With these simple offerings, we invited the Lord in the form of the Bhagavatam into the home of these simple-hearted people. Param Vijayate Sri Krishna Sankirtanam!

Sri Rama Dasa,
Hyderbad