Tomorrow marks the 50th anniversary of the global Hare Krishna movement and 5000 cupcakes will be freely distributed between 7am & 9am at Euston, Kings Cross, Victoria, BBC HQ and GOOGLE HQ to celebrate!

Source:http://www.dandavats.com/?p=29457

Fifty years ago, a 70-year-old monk travelled from India to the United States in the hope of starting a spiritual revolution.

His name was Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada and on July 13, 1966 he incorporated the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), formalising what is widely known as the Hare Krishna movement.

ISKCON now runs 602 temples, 54 schools and 65 farming communities across the globe.

This month, the New Govardhana Hare Krishna community at Eungella, near Murwillumbah in northern New South Wales, hosted about 1,000 visitors to mark the 50th anniversary of ISKCON.

New Govardhana president Ajita Dasa said the milestone proved the Hare Krishnas belonged to a serious religious institution.

“It means the establishment has gone through what most religious organisations have gone through,” he said.

“We’ve had teething problems, we’ve dealt with it, and the fact ISKCON is still around helping people means it’s here to stay.”

ISKCON belongs to the Vedic or Hindu culture with its philosophies based on the Sanskrit texts the Bhagavad-gita, Bhagavat Purana and Srimad Bhagavatam.

Devotees practice bhakti yoga and worship Lord Krishna.

New Govardhana devotees

Ajita said there were about 2,000 Hare Krishna devotees in northern New South Wales, with about 100 living permanently at New Govardhana.

Jivjago moved to the community five months ago after being invited by a devotee he met at a Queensland music festival.

“I wanted to see a community or some people living this lifestyle, so they said ‘come visit the farm, but you might never leave’ and I’m still here,” he said.

“I was searching for a spiritual community that supports this calling we have to understand ourselves and our relationship with the universe or the source.

“I’ve found peace. I used to have a bit of anxiety and depression but it was just because I was lacking spiritual balance.”

The village also plays host to many international visitors like South Korean woman Jhulan who has lived on-site for two years.

“I was travelling and looking for something, for some truth, and I’ve found it here,” she said.

“I didn’t have money and they had a free feast every Sunday and I came here and fell in love.

“I believed in a higher consciousness but I didn’t call it God, now I call it Krishna.”

Everyday Hare Krishnas

Devotee Krishnarupa Devi Dasi lives near New Govardhana and said most Hare Krishnas were “everyday people” with ordinary lives.

“We have a core group who are celibate monks and women who live in an ashram environment and their entire focus is temple service, and then we have a very broad congregational group who have mortgages, children, work,” she said.

“But their faith is not something they just turn on on a Sunday like many other religions; an average devotee will focus and meditate a lot on their spiritual life.

“From a practical level, they might not have so much time to do specific service in the temples but their inner life is very rich and devotional.”

Krishnarupa is ISKCON’s women’s representative on the Australian national council.

She said the movement had been perceived by some as sexist in the past.

“There was a little period in our history when it was harder for women to take leadership roles — a few short years,” Krishnarupa said.

“In the last few decades, women have taken much more managerial roles and have a voice in the management of the temples.

“It varies in degrees depending on the temple, but here in Murwillumbah we have an equal role and lead some of the temple classes and prayers.

“Women can be perceived as second class citizens in Vedic society, but it’s actually not correct.”

Krishnarupa became a Hare Krishna in the 1970s when the movement was new to Australia.

“I thought I would either be a Carmelite nun or a Buddhist nun and when I finished high school, I started to train as a teacher and during that time I had a lot of the usual angst-ridden years of growing into myself,” she said.

“The Hare Krishna movement had just started in Melbourne and I was interested, but not quite ready.

“Some months later, a friend of mine became a Hare Krishna and I went to see him at the temple thinking ‘oh my goodness, he’s been brainwashed, I’ve got to go and save him’.

“He gave me the Bhagavad-gita and said ‘have a read of this book’ and then I became a devotee.

“What attracted it to me was that it answered my questions in a philosophical and rational way, and it made me feel very satisfied and content.”

Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-07-11/hare-krishna-community-celebrates-50-years-as-religious-movement/7585602

“I’m spending a day with Hare Krishnas next week.”

“Oh, you be careful Leanne.”

“Why?”

“They all take drugs.”

“Have you been reading that Daily Mail again Dad?!”

To be fair, my Dad was not the only one who voiced concern or raised an eyebrow when I told him I was spending a day with a relatively unfamiliar religious group. And everyone begged the question, ‘Why?’

To be honest, I couldn’t say exactly. I knew nothing of the faith, bar that when I worked in an office in Soho many years ago, every evening the ring of bells, drums, singing and chanting would chime through my office windows, as the Tottenham Court Road Hare Krishna group passed by. My colleagues would often make comments, not always approving. I however was envious. There I was, sat in a sterile air-conditioned box, staring numbly at a spreadsheet and battling yet another computer-screen induced headache. And there they were, having the time of their lives, singing and dancing, looking deliriously happy and free of such Western imprisonment. I wanted in.

Six years and a lot of life experience later, I found my opportunity. On one of my other adventures I was told about an all female Hare Krishna Temple in Walthamstow, run by a lady called Kamala. A few texts between Kamala and I were exchanged and it was set that one week later I would visit the house and stay overnight. At first I was ecstatically excited but as the days passed I grew nervous.

“They’re all on drugs Leanne.”

“Isn’t it a cult?”

“What if they try and brain wash you?”

Flippant comments stirred my brain and I began to wonder what I was doing. Bar a recommendation from a near stranger, I knew nothing of these people, the place or the faith. I didn’t even have the address! I turned to Google. As I typed in Hare Krishna, the first suggestion came up: ‘Hare Krishna CULT’. Oh crap.

I started to worry. Should I be going? I had a talk with my gut – a very good friend of late. Surprisingly, Gut seemed ok about the situation; it was Head that was spinning out of control. So I told Head to bog off and find something else to worry about.

But when Friday came, Head was still there. Rain poured down as I walked the completely unfamiliar streets of Walthamstow and I again began to feel uneasy. That week’s insanely horrific incident, which had occurred in Woolwich in the name of religion, had stirred my fears of unknown streets, people and beliefs. What was I doing? It was bank holiday Friday. Why wasn’t I hanging out with my mates instead? Gut told me to carry on walking.

As I reached 631 Forrest Road, I read the brightly painted sign that read ‘Bhakti Yoga‘. As I looked for the way in, I noticed two men standing outside the shop next door, eyeing me suspiciously. I eyed them suspiciously back. The front door to the temple was ajar so I nervously pushed it open and walked in.

Immediately my fears dissipated. From the grey skies of the outside world, I was hit with a wash of colour; pastel pink and purple walls and a warmth that felt uncannily like home. An attractive and unexpectedly conventional looking lady from Manchester bounded towards me smiling. I’m not entirely sure what I was expecting but ignorance suggested someone far more alternative. “You must be Leanne?’ she beamed, “I’m Kamala. I’m so pleased you made it.”

Kamala showed me around the house, which was filled with the aromas of incense and home cooking. “And here is the lounge. If you find it a bit too much for you, feel free to just come up here and take time out. Make the place your home.”

She explained that today the devotees were celebrating the birth of Lord Nrsimhadeva, who is half man, half lion. Devotees pray to Lord Nrsimhadeva for protection and to eradicate their material desires. We discussed the fact we were both brought up as devout Catholics but as adults have abandoned the faith, finding it rather negative and guilt ridden. It was comforting to have something so primary in common.

After a few introductions to several ladies creating an enormous feast in the kitchen, I was led, mint tea in hand, into the main prayer room. Singing and chanting was well under way and Kamala sat me down on a prayer mat. When the song finished she introduced me to the group and stated that I was a comedian. I winced, fretting that now everyone would be nervous of me, assuming me to be the woman who has come to mock their faith. They didn’t judge however, simply smiled and welcomed me in.

Kamala opened a hymn book, from which people were taking turns to lead sung prayers. She pointed to a foreign text and highlighted the English translation below. I couldn’t even follow the lyrics never mind sing them. I felt a little awkward being at the front with Kamala and everyone watching me not join in, so after reading the English text I closed my eyes and simply listened. I was astounded by how beautiful their voices were. When the next song ended I whispered to Kamala, “Are you only allowed in if you can sing?” She laughed and repeated this to the whole group. I felt embarrassed but they accepted the compliment graciously.

Towards the end of each song, the group became more jubilant and ecstatic, banging drums and clanging tiny cymbals. Without looking at them, I could ‘hear’ the smile on their faces. It made me smile too.

About two hours in I slipped away to the kitchen for some water, parched from the hard work of listening to people sing. Little did I know that all the devotees had been fasting from both water and food for the last 24 hours. And there I’d been, heedlessly swigging mint tea in front of the entire congregation.

Whilst in the kitchen I assisted one of the devotees in cooking the vegetarian feast. As I ‘helpfully’ watched her toil away, she told me of the faiths core beliefs. We discussed karma and reincarnation and the notion that past sins affect our current lives, no matter how well we live our lives today. It was a concept I found hard to accept. Regardless, she neither preached nor tried to convert me. She also said that whilst it is almost impossible to be perfect, as long as we are always striving to be better people, we are heading in the right direction.

At around 9pm we were invited into the prayer room to give an offering to Lord Nrsimhadeva. There were now around 50 people singing and chanting. We took it in turns to pour a concoction of what I believe was ghee, sugar, yogurt, guda and honey over a statue of Lord Nrsimhadeva. I had a childlike excitement of doing something so unusual.

The energy was electric as people swung joyfully up and down the room, singing, clapping, beating and clanging. I joined them in the dancing and clapping and I looked around the room to see everyone’s faces beaming with delight.

When the singing finally came to a close, we sat and ate a delicious feast. Devotees came and sat with me, keen to find out more about the ‘comedian’ who had come to write about them. Everyone was kind and open and most interestingly, not a great deal different from myself. A lovely lady, again a former Catholic, sat with me for an hour. She reiterated something that many others had also stated, that there was no pressure for me to convert or to come regularly. She said I was welcome any time, whether next week or in a year. She even encouraged me to bring friends. I’m sure those vehemently against religion (which seems to be increasingly the norm these days) will see this as a cunning ploy to reel me in. But I can quite honestly say that I would happily return and enjoy all that the temple and the devotees have to offer without feeling any pressure to become a devotee myself.

In the past, I have heard the derisory term ‘Happy Clappers’ used to describe Hare Krishnas but I now see this as a rather ironic affront. They do clap and they are indeed very happy but not because of any drugs, brainwashing or cult-like behaviour. From what I witnessed, Hare Krishnas simply relish in the unity of being together, believing in something that to me seems inherently pure. Of all faiths, this seems like one of the most joyous. And with the world being the way it is today, who doesn’t need a little more joy in their lives?

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/leanne-davis/hare-krishna-for-a-day_b_3372838.html?edition=uk

I was reminded while reading the Srimad Bhagavatam today, that this is an election year.

…rogues and thieves in the guise of protectors arrange for a voting system, and in the name of democracy they come to power by hook or crook and exploit the citizens. Even long, long ago, asuras, persons devoid of God consciousness, became the heads of state, and now this is happening again. The various states of the world are preoccupied with arranging for military strength. Sometimes they spend sixty-five percent of the government’s revenue for this purpose. But why should people’s hard-earned money be spent in this way? Because of the present world situation, Kṛṣṇa has descended in the form of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. This is quite natural, for without the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement the world cannot be peaceful and happy.
( from purport to SB 10.1.17)

Full test and purport

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
By His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Canto Ten, Chapter 1, Text 17

bhūmir dṛpta-nṛpa-vyāja-
daityānīka-śatāyutaiḥ
ākrāntā bhūri-bhāreṇa
brahmāṇaṁ śaraṇaṁ yayau

bhūmiḥ—mother earth; dṛpta—puffed up; nṛpa-vyāja—posing as kings, or the supreme power personified in the state; daitya—of demons; anīka—of military phalanxes of soldiers; śata-ayutaiḥ—unlimitedly, by many hundreds of thousands; ākrāntā—being overburdened; bhūri-bhāreṇa—by a burden of unnecessary fighting power; brahmāṇam—unto Lord Brahmā; śaraṇam—to take shelter; yayau—went.

TRANSLATION

Once when mother earth was overburdened by hundreds of thousands of military phalanxes of various conceited demons dressed like kings, she approached Lord Brahmā for relief.

PURPORT

When the world is overburdened by unnecessary military arrangements and when various demoniac kings are the executive heads of state, this burden causes the appearance of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As the Lord says in Bhagavad-gītā (4.7):

yadā yadā hi dharmasya
glānir bhavati bhārata
abhyutthānam adharmasya
tadātmānaṁ sṛjāmy aham

“Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion—at that time I appear Myself.” When the residents of this earth become atheistic and godless, they descend to the status of animals like dogs and hogs, and thus their only business is to bark among themselves. This is dharmasya glāni, deviation from the goal of life. Human life is meant for attaining the highest perfection of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, but when people are godless and the presidents or kings are unnecessarily puffed up with military power, their business is to fight and increase the military strength of their different states. Nowadays, therefore, it appears that every state is busy manufacturing atomic weapons to prepare for a third world war. Such preparations are certainly unnecessary; they reflect the false pride of the heads of state. The real business of a chief executive is to see to the happiness of the mass of people by training them in Kṛṣṇa consciousness in different divisions of life. Cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ (Bg. 4.13). A leader should train the people as brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas, vaiśyas and śūdras and engage them in various occupational duties, thus helping them progress toward Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Instead, however, rogues and thieves in the guise of protectors arrange for a voting system, and in the name of democracy they come to power by hook or crook and exploit the citizens. Even long, long ago, asuras, persons devoid of God consciousness, became the heads of state, and now this is happening again. The various states of the world are preoccupied with arranging for military strength. Sometimes they spend sixty-five percent of the government’s revenue for this purpose. But why should people’s hard-earned money be spent in this way? Because of the present world situation, Kṛṣṇa has descended in the form of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. This is quite natural, for without the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement the world cannot be peaceful and happy.

Source:https://theharekrishnamovement.org/2016/07/11/krishna-has-descended-in-the-form-of-the-krishna-consciousness-movement/

“In the village of Panihati, Raghunatha dasa obtained an interview with Nityananda Prabhu, who was accompanied by many kirtana performers, servants and others.” CC Antya lila, 6.43.

When the devotee meets his Lord there will be love exchange that could melt even the hardest rock. This was seen when Raghunatha dasa met Lord Nityananda Prabhu on the bank of the Ganges at Panihati. Lord Nityananda was by nature very merciful and instructed Raghunatha dasa to make a festival and feed all of His associates yogurt and chipped rice. By the blessings of Sri Niyananda Prabhu, Raghunatha das ultimately received the mercy of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. The essence being that one readily becomes eligible to receive the highest benediction from the Supreme Lord, attaining love of God, simply by serving the devotees. Eager to reenact the pastimes of Panihati, the devotees of Indonesia, under the guidance of HH Subhag Swami, organized the Panihati Cida Dahi festival on 19 June, 2016 at Merta Sari beach, Sanur, Bali. This has now become an annual festival where devotees from different parts of Indonesia gather together, along with their deities of Gaura Nitai, to take part in the festivities. This year the festival committee was led by devotees from Radha Madhava Temple, Gianyar.

“These public festivals have proven very effective in spreading knowledge about Krsna consciousness to all the citizens.” SPL to Galim dasa, November 20th, 1971.

“….this unique procession has convinced them that our men are very nice and they can organize a great crowd without any violence. That is a fact if people actually want peace and tranquility, they must support this movement whole heartedly and we shall execute our prescribed duties very seriously and sincerely.” SPL to Madhudvisa, 14th April, 1970

Organizing such great festival was not easy because it needed great effort to make it successful. The committee of the festival had made preparations since six months back. Formerly they were supposed do the festival in one beach in Gianyar but seeing that they were unable to procure the permission from the local authority then they decided to have the festival at Mertasari Beach again where the devotees had a very successful cida dahi festival last year. A week before the festival the committee felt doubt to celebrate it because the funds they had was far less than that what was estimated for the festival. Adiprana prabhu took initiative to help the committee to organize the festival. When the devotees begin to depend completely upon the causeless mercy of the Lord, becoming humble and offering heartfelt prayers then the Lord bestows His unlimited blessings making impossible into possible, making the devotees’ faith in Him more firm and the exchange of feelings more relishable.

H.H. Subahag swami maharaj personally came to participate in the festival just after the temple opening and Ratha Yatra at Medan. Maharaja arrived a week before festival to inject extra energy and encourage devotees to be more enthusiastic in welcoming the festival.

A day before festival, the devotees were busy collecting the necessary items for the festival. They prepared a huge pandal at the Merta Sari Beach. Some devotees went to market to buy vegetable and fruits, and other things that was needed for the festival. In the evening devotees prepared the fruits and cut the vegetable that would be used the next day. The flat rice was sent from Singapore by Kadamba Kanana prabhu. Maharaj was really concerned about the festival and he curiously asked the devotees about the progress of the preparation. Maharaj also went to beach where devotees decorated the pandal and the temporary altar that was prepared to hold all the Gaura Nitai deities who would come the next day from different temples in Bali. On that day Indra deva was so merciful that he poured heavy rain to clean the beach and made the shores of the Mertasari purified to welcome the Lordships.

On the day of the festival, early morning final checkup of the preparation was overseen by Subhag Maharaj himself. At 09.00 am the devotees from all round Bali came carrying their Gaura NItai deities from their respective temples. The deities took Their place on the altar that that was beautifully decorated with flowers. Groups of bhajan from the temples one by one performed bhajan before the abhiseka. The pujari then offered bhoga and arati.

At 12.00 am the deities were put on palanquins and were made ready to be taken to the sea. Devotees gathered in line and carried the deities to the beach to take a bath. The deities entered the waters, followed by the men and children and then ensued a wonderful bathing ceremony and it appeared as if the deities would not want to come of the water. Finally the deities returned to the altar for abhisheka. Pacamrita, juice and panca gavya were prepared to bath the Lord. H.H. Subhag Swami Maharaja performed the abhiseka. A melodious brahma samhita was recited by the devotees while the abhiseka was going on. The bhajan team sung hare Krishna mahamantra along the procession. After abhiseka, Maharaj mixed the cidha before it was offered to the Lord. While the pujari dressed the deities, maharaj gave lecture on Caitanya Caritamrita about the origin of the Chida dahi festival. At the end of the class, maharaj asked the devotees whether they were feeling happy …spontaneously all devotees answered “yes”. Then maharaj further elaborated that Srila Prabhupada made this ISKCON to make people happy. After the offering and arati , the cida dahi mahaprasad was distributed to one and all. Again this was accompanied by ecstatic chanting and harinam. Many visitors to the beach also received mahaprasad. Many books were also distributed.

“We are finding these festivals very successful for attracting the citizens to our activities. More and more these festivals may be held, at least very large festival in a year, simply for glorifying Krsna in public places.” SPL to Bhakta dasa, November 20th, 1971

Devotees in Tolai, Sulawesi also celebrated Cida Dahi festival on the same day as Bali. Tolai is special because the first Cida Dahi Festival in Indonesia was held there and from there it has spread out to many places in Indonesia.

We take the opportunity to express our utmost gratitude to all the wonderful devotees who came forward to help in the most amazing ways. There were the ones who arranged the pandal, the funds, kirtan, prasadam, abhiseka and also those ones who took care to keep the place clean. A warm thank you to all the devotees. Special thanks goes to the team of devotees from Radha Madhava temple, Gianyar. We would also like to thank HH Kavichandra Swami and HH Ramai Swami, GBCs of Indonesia for their continuous support. We also thank HH Subhag Swami for being personally present at the festival and encouraging the devotees to carry on with different aspects of Sankirtan and thus remain close to Srila Prabhupada.

Source:http://www.dandavats.com/?p=29428

A paper by the Sastric Advisory Council (SAC)

Members participating in the authorship of this paper: Drutakarma Dasa, Gopiparanadhana Dasa, Purnacandra Goswami, and Urmila Devi Dasi

“The rules and regulation are that nobody should accept blindly any guru, and nobody should blindly accept any disciple. They must behave, one another, at least for one year so that the prospective disciple can also understand, ‘Whether I can accept this person as my guru.’ And the prospective guru also can understand, ‘Whether this person can become my disciple.’ This is the instruction by Sanatana Gosvami in his Hari-bhakti-vilasa.” (Srila Prabhupada, Bg 13.1-2 lecture, 25 February 1975, Miami)

“In the Mantra-muktavali: By living together for one year they can ascertain from seeing each other’s nature whether they can act as guru and disciple. Indeed, there is no other way to determine this.” (Hari-bhakti-vilasa 1.74)

“It is imperative that a serious person accept a bona fide spiritual master in terms of the sastric injunctions. Sri Jiva Gosvami advises that one not accept a spiritual master in terms of hereditary or customary social and ecclesiastical conventions. One should simply try to find a genuinely qualified spiritual master for actual advancement in spiritual understanding.” (Srila Prabhupada, Caitanya-caritamrita, Adi 1.35 purport)

“Self-deceived persons sometimes accept leaders or spiritual masters from a priestly order that has been officially appointed by the codes of material life. In this way, they are deceived by official priests.” (Srila Prabhupada, Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 17.185 purport)

SAC’s Mandate given by the Executive Committee of the GBC

Early in 2004, the Executive Committee (EC) of the Governing Body Commission (GBC) of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) wrote to the
Sastric Advisory Council:

“Srila Prabhupada states that it is the responsibility of the prospective disciples to examine and test their prospective guru prior to initiation. Given that the GBC gives tacit approval to gurus via their no-objection procedure, it could be that the prospective disciple’s desire to examine their prospective guru prior to initiation is compromised. Although there are many glorious descriptions of the qualities of guru in sastra, it is the duty of prospective disciples to not automatically assume those qualities are possessed by all ISKCON gurus. Rather, they should objectively examine their prospective guru. There is prima facia evidence that suggests that prospective disciples do not take this responsibility seriously. Therefore we request the Sastric Advisory Council (SAC) to research the balance between the responsibility of ISKCON to protect its members from unqualified gurus and the duty of the prospective disciples to give proper attention to the study of their prospective gurus prior to initiation.”

The SAC is free to accept or reject requests from the GBC. We decided to accept this particular request because we accept that there is truth in the premise of the EC’s statement.

Normally, the SAC submits papers to the GBC containing only philosophical and historical evidence, but in this case we felt that we could not address the philosophical issue of the responsibility of the aspiring disciple to test the prospective guru without also addressing practical issues of policy within ISKCON. We wrote to the EC expressing this, and they said that the GBC would be willing to receive a paper from SAC that included policy recommendations.

Introduction

In sastra we find some rare examples of aspiring disciples being directed to particular gurus. For example, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura was directed by his father, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, to approach Srila Gaurakisora Dasa Babaji. In earlier times, Lord Brahma told the demigods to accept Visvarupa:

“O demigods, I instruct you to approach Visvarupa, the son of Tvashta, and accept him as your guru. He is a pure and very powerful brahmana undergoing austerity and penances. Pleased by your worship, he will fulfill your desires . . . .” (Bhag. 6.7.25)

These above examples do not contradict the statements found in Hari-bhakti-vilasa seen later in this paper. Even if advice is received from others, the aspiring disciple still has the full responsibility of making the ultimate decision. The aspiring disciple is responsible for choosing, testing, and evaluating a guru. The sastric injunction is that a guru and disciple mutually test each other for a year in the course of personal association.

There are, however, several aspects of current ISKCON practice and understanding that make it difficult for an aspiring disciple to personally test a guru. The current procedure and understanding of the guru authorization process is one such obstacle. And there are others. Therefore SAC recommends that the GBC consider the following initial suggestions:

1)Devotees should be helped to understand that it is their responsibility to test their prospective guru, as recommended by Srila Prabhupada and the previous acaryas.
Generally, this should be done in consultation with trusted senior devotees.

2)Devotees seeking initiation from a spiritual master in ISKCON should be informed that they can choose any qualified senior devotee in good standing as their diksha-guru, not just those who are already initiating.

3) The GBC should openly encourage all senior devotees in good-standing who are qualified ISKCON representatives to accept the role of a spiritual master.

The Responsibility of the Disciple to Test the Spiritual Master

When it is clear to aspirants that their choice is not limited to those already taking disciples, it should also be clear that they have the opportunity to study the qualifications of a whole range of possible spiritual masters, apart from those who are already initiating.

In ISKCON the range of acceptable spiritual masters is, however, limited by a certain principle. There are different sampradayas and sangas, and the members of those sampradayas and sangas, although respecting each other, follow their own leaders.
The eternal leader of our sanga, ISKCON, is Srila Prabhupada, and he had his own special vision about how to practice and spread Krishna consciousness. Devotees in ISKCON have decided to follow Srila Prabhupada because he is the one who saved them and is bringing them to Sri Krishna. They understand Prabhupada as the most empowered Vaishnava acarya of modern times mainly because his vision and method of world-wide preaching is most effective for people in general. Not every Vaishnava guru in the world has this same personal vision and mood. Accepting a guru who does not have the same vision and mood as Srila Prabhupada would create disharmony in the Society he created. Therefore, if someone is attracted to a guru who is functioning outside of ISKCON, the best arrangement is that he or she goes outside ISKCON to associate with that guru in the kind of environment the guru has created. Thus ISKCON members are limited to choose as guru only qualified devotees serving in ISKCON. (Note: This point could be explained to new devotees in a brochure on this topic to help them understand why such an ISKCON policy exists.)

But before making a final choice, they should personally test the guru. The testing may be in terms of basic qualifications: “Is this guru representing Srila Prabhupada and the previous acaryas in the best way? Am I capable of accepting instruction from this guru?” Or the testing may extend to more personal requirements. A disciple may wonder, “Will this guru deal with me personally? Will this guru respond to my letters? Will I have a chance to personally serve this guru?” These considerations should be tested in advance.

This is in line with the instructions of Srila Prabhupada, who recommended that a disciple personally test a guru for at least one year before accepting initiation. Such recommendations can also be found in Hari-bhakti-vilasa, which gives practical instructions for executing devotional service in the Gaudiya Vaishnava line. This responsibility to personally test and judge the guru remains whether or not the prospective guru already has diksha disciples. In other words, a prospective disciple should not think, “Well, this guru already has disciples. This means that he is qualified, and so I don’t have to test him myself.” The disciple still must examine the guru.

“Blind following and absurd inquiries. These things are condemned in this verse. Blind following means: “Oh, there is a svami. So many thousands of people are following. Let me become his disciple.” This is called blind following. You do not know what is that svami, whether he is a svami or a rascal. You do not know. But because everyone is going, “Oh, let me become his disciple.” This is blind following, without any knowledge, blind following.”(Prabhupada BG lec. 4.34-39, 12 Jan. 1969, LA)

References for a Guru-sishya Mutual Examination Period

Hari-bhakti-vilasa—a section from the first vilasa
(translation by Gopiparanadhana Prabhu)

Text 73 tayoh pariksha canyonyam / ekabdam saha-vasatah
vyavahara-svabhavanu- / bhavenaivabhijayate

The two of them should live together and test one another for one year. This test is fulfilled by observing one another’s behavior and character.

atha parikshanam

The mutual examining is described as follows.

mantra-muktavalyam,

74 tayor vatsara-vasena / jnatanyonya-svabhavayoh
guruta sishyata ceti / nanyathaiveti niscayah

In the Mantra-muktavali: “By living together for one year they can ascertain from seeing each other’s nature whether they can act as guru and disciple. Indeed, there is no other way to determine this.”

srutis ca,

75 nasamvatsara-vasine deyat

There is also the statement of sruti: “One should not give (the vishnu-mantra) to one who has not resided with one for a year.”

sara-sangrahe ’pi,

76 sad-guruh svasritam sishyam / varsham ekam parikshayet

77 rajni camatyaja doshah / patni-papam sva-bhartari
tatha sishyarjitam papam / guruh prapnoti niscitam

And in the Sara-sangraha: “A proper guru should test for one year a disciple who has taken shelter of him. The faulty acts of a minister accrue to the king, and a wife’s sins fall on her husband. Similarly, a guru certainly obtains the sinful reactions accumulated by his disciple.”

krama-dipikayam tu,

78 santoshayed akutilardratarantaratma
tam svair dhanaih sva-vapushapy anukula-vanya
abda-trayam kamala-nabha-dhiyati-dhiras
tushte vivakshatu gurav atha mantra-diksham

“The Krama-dipika, however, says this: ‘Without deception and with a heart moist with affection, one should satisfy him with one’s own wealth, with the work of one’s body, and with favorable words. He should do this for three years, remaining sober and thinking of the guru as non-different from the lotus-naveled Supreme Lord. Then, when the guru is satisfied, he may speak the mantra in the initiation ceremony.’ ”

Commentary

evam “varsham ekam pariksha ca tato diksheti niscitam” tatra sri-gopala-mantra-vara-dikshayam varsha-traya-guru-sevanantaram eva diksheti tatra tattva-vidam matam likhan diksha-praktana-guru-seva-vidhim ca sankshepena darsayati, santoshayed iti….abda-trayam ity atra visesho granthantarad drashtavyah; tatha hi, “trishu varsheshu viprasya shatsu varsheshu bhu-bhritah / viso navasu varsheshu pariksha tu prasasyate // samasv api dvadasasu tesham ye vrishaladayah” iti. yac ca sarada-tilakadav uktam, “ekabdena bhaved vipra bhaved abda-dvayan nripah / bhaved abda-trayair vaisyah sudro varsha-catushtayaih” iti. tad atyanta-purva-parisilita-vishayam iti vivecaniyam.

“It has thus been said that ‘There should be testing for one year, and then initiation.’ In this regard, when the initiation is with the best of mantras, the Sri Gopala mantra, diksha should be performed only after serving the guru for three years; this is the opinion of those who know the truth. Recording this opinion, the passage beginning santoshayet briefly sets forth the processes of initiation, along with the preliminary service to the guru…. Further particulars about this three-year period can be found in other books, as for example, ‘It is best to test a brahmana for three years, a kshatriya for six years, a vaisya for nine years, and sudras and others for twelve years.’ It is also said in the Sarada-tilaka and other texts, ’A brahmana is tested in one year, a king in two, a vaisya in three, and a sudra in four.’ This, we should distinguish, refers to what was practiced very long ago.” (Dig-darsini-tika by Srila Sanatana Gosvami)

Statements by Srila Prabhupada on a Mutual Examination Period

1) “Unless one is prepared that ‘I am accepting somebody as my spiritual master. I must accept whatever he says,’ if there is any doubt, that ‘I cannot accept his words verbatim,’ then one should not accept him as spiritual master. That is hypocrisy. One must be first of all convinced. Therefore it is the duty of the spiritual master and the disciple to associate—that is the injunction of Sanatana Gosvami—for some time, and both of them should study. The disciple should study “whether I can accept this saintly person as my spiritual master.” And spiritual master also will see “whether I can accept this boy, this person, as my disciple.” That is the way. But sometimes the time is reduced. That doesn’t matter. But the principle is this, that before accepting a spiritual master you can examine him, you can scrutinize him, but not after accepting him.” (Srila Prabhupada Initiation lecture, 13 July 1971, LA)

2) “First of all you find out the person, that one who is better than you. Then you submit. Therefore the rules and regulation are that nobody should accept blindly any guru, and nobody should blindly accept any disciple. They must behave, one another, at least for one year so that the prospective disciple can also understand, ‘Whether I can accept this person as my guru.’ And the prospective guru also can understand, ‘Whether this person can become my disciple.’ This is the instruction by Sanatana Gosvami in his Hari-bhakti-vilasa.”
(Srila Prabhupada Bg 13.1-2 lecture, 25 February 1975, Miami)

3) “So therefore the process is before accepting a guru, one must hear him at least for one year. And when he’s convinced that “Here is actually a guru who can teach me,” then you accept him, guru. Don’t accept whimsically. This system now should stop that somebody’s coming for three days—“Prabhupada, initiate him.” Why? First of all see whether he’s fit for becoming a disciple; then recommend. Otherwise, don’t recommend. Because the cheap recommendation is creating havoc. One is not fit for becoming a student, disciple, and he’s accepting discipleship, and after three days he’s going away. This should not be allowed. Therefore, in the Hari-bhakti-vilasa by Sanatana Gosvami it is directed that the spiritual master and the disciple must meet together at least for one year so that the disciple may also understand that “Here is a person whom I can accept as my guru,” and the guru also can see that “Here is a person who is fit for becoming my disciple.” Then the business is nice.”
(Srila Prabhupada SB 1.16.25 lecture, 21 January 1974, Hawaii)

4) “First of all, you must find out a person who if you can surrender there. Tasmad gurum prapadyeta. Tad viddhi pranipatena [Bg. 4.34]. Pranipata, surrender, that is required first. If you think somebody that he’s not worth surrendering, then don’t make him guru. Don’t make a fashion. First of all you test that “Whether I can surrender?” Pranipatena. Then try to understand.”
(Srila Prabhupada SB 7.6.2 lecture, 18 June 1976, Toronto)

5) “…acceptance of spiritual master must be selected, you see, after careful examination, just like one selects his bride or bridegroom after careful examination. And in India they are very careful because the marriage of the boys and girls take place under the guidance of the parents. So the parents very carefully see. So one has to accept a spiritual master whose guidance will make his life perfect. That is the relation between spiritual master and disciple. It is not a formality. It is a great responsibility both for the disciple and for the spiritual master.
(Srila Prabhupada BG lecture, 2.7-11 2 March 1966, NY)

6) “But if you want to know who is a spiritual master, then you have to test him whether he is speaking exactly like the bona fide spiritual master. Sri Narottama dasa Thakura has explained about this, who is spiritual master. What is that? He says, sadhu sastra guru vakya, tinete kariya aikya. If you want to advance yourself in spiritual science, then you have to test these three things. What is that? Sadhu, saintly person. Sadhu, sastra, scriptures, and spiritual master. Now suppose you want to know who is a spiritual master. Then you have to test whether he’s speaking just like other saintly persons and whether he’s following scriptures. Sadhu sastra. So you have to test a spiritual master by corroborating whether he is speaking according to the scriptural injunction, whether he’s speaking (according) to other saintly persons.”
(Srila Prabhupada TLC lecture, 25 September 1968, Seattle)

7) “Suppose you are going here. You are coming here to learn something. When you are convinced that “Swamiji knows the thing,” when you are convinced, then you accept. Then you ask for initiation. Otherwise don’t do it hesitatingly or knowing half. Therefore in the system it is enjoined that the spiritual master also observe the disciple at least for one year, and the disciple also studies the spiritual master at least for one year. So when both of them are convinced that “He can be my spiritual master” or “He can be my disciple,” then the relationship is established. We initiate our students.”
(Srila Prabhupada BG lecture 4.34-39, 12 January 1969, LA)

8) “It is imperative that a serious person accept a bona fide spiritual master in terms of the sastric injunctions. Sri Jiva Gosvami advises that one not accept a spiritual master in terms of hereditary or customary social and ecclesiastical conventions. One should simply try to find a genuinely qualified spiritual master for actual advancement in spiritual understanding.” (Srila Prabhupada, Caitanya-caritamrita, Adi 1.35 purport)

This last reference makes it clear that a real candidate is one who is serious and has studied sastra to the point of being able to recognize who is a genuine spiritual master; not that ISKCON should base its guru system on the uninformed neophyte. We would do better to lean towards a system that educates its aspirants. It is also obvious that such aspirants are the ones who then make the choice. Furthermore, the above condemnation of the acceptance of a spiritual master in terms of ecclesiastical convention casts a negative light on our present system. Finally, the last sentence places the onus on the aspirant to find out who is genuine and compatible.

Gurus Should Test Disciples

Although in this paper we are emphasizing the duty of the disciple to personally test and evaluate a prospective guru, it follows from the statements of the Hari-bhakti-vilasa and Srila Prabhupada that the guru should personally test and evaluate his prospective disciple.

In fact, a guru who does not test a disciple runs the risk of committing the offense of preaching the holy name to the faithless. A diksha-guru takes the responsibility of recommending the disciple to Sri Krishna, and suffers if the disciple commits some mistake.

1) “If a servant makes a mistake, the master is punishable because he is responsible for the offense.” (Bhag. 6.3.30 purport)

2) “But when a living entity plays the part on behalf of Krishna, he also takes the responsibility for the sinful activities of his devotees. Therefore to become a guru is not an easy task. You see? He has to take all the poisons and absorb them. So sometimes—because he is not Krishna—sometimes there is some trouble. Therefore Caitanya Mahaprabhu has forbidden, “Don’t make many sishyas, many disciples.” But for preaching work we have to accept many disciples—for expanding preaching—even if we suffer. That’s a fact. The spiritual master has to take the responsibility for all the sinful activities of his disciples. Therefore to make many disciples is a risky job unless one is able to assimilate all the sins… Therefore your question was—when I suffer is it due to my past misdeeds? Was it not? That is my misdeed—that I accepted some disciples who are nonsense. That is my misdeed.” (PQPA 6: The Perfect Devotee)

We should also note that if a guru does not properly test devotees before accepting them as disciples, the bad behavior of unqualified disciples will hurt the reputation of the Krishna Consciousness Movement, not just the individual guru. Therefore, the responsibility of a guru to test disciples should be taken as very important. This duty of the diksha-guru—the one who officially brings someone into the sampradaya—is similar to the responsibility of a university admissions officer who wants to bring in students who will have a high chance of academic success and of whom the school will be proud.

Delegation of the Responsibility to Personally Test

Personal testing should always be considered the standard because it is declared by guru, sadhu and sastra. But this standard has been modified in ISKCON in the following ways: (1) A disciple sometimes delegates his responsibility of testing the guru to others such as leaders or committees in the institution. (2) A guru sometimes delegates his responsibility to test his prospective disciples to others such as temple presidents. These modifications do not relieve the guru or disciple of their ultimate responsibilities in this matter. The prospective disciple is ultimately responsible for the choice of guru, and the guru is ultimately responsible for accepting a disciple.

The choice of a guru should always be considered primarily the personal responsibility of a prospective disciple. Therefore, delegation of that responsibility to others should not be encouraged, and what to speak of mandated. Rather, official policy should always encourage personal and direct testing. Similarly, it is the responsibility of the guru to test prospective disciples. Therefore, delegation of that responsibility to others should not be mandated. Rather, official policy should always encourage personal and direct testing of disciples. It is better to risk having disciples and gurus make their own mistakes and thereby acknowledge their own responsibility, not least of all because doing so is the sastric injunction.

It is presently ISKCON law that a guru cannot accept a disciple unless there is a recommendation from a temple president or a similarly situated person. In this way,
some of the responsibility for mutual testing has been delegated to a third person who could possibly interfere with the process. Although Srila Prabhupada himself established the precedent of delegation, even he experienced problems with it, as when he said that devotees were being recommended too easily for second initiation and called for a “boiling of the milk”. SAC, in their discussions, have not tried to resolve this issue, but feel that it should be considered in the future.

According to sastra there is a great responsibility for the aspiring disciple to personally test the guru. But in ISKCON this is not always possible, especially when gurus have large numbers of disciples. Disciples’ delegating their responsibility to the institution for testing gurus has become quite common in ISKCON, so much so that many take it to be the standard. This is especially true for devotees aspiring for initiation from gurus who already have many hundreds of disciples and who may not often visit the aspirant’s geographical location.

The aspiring disciple is confronted with some important decisions: “Shall I choose a guru whom I can test in a personal way through direct association? Or shall I choose a guru I am not able to test through direct association?” These considerations are individual, and individuals have the freedom to decide for themselves. We hope, however, that the aspirant will consider the choice of guru very carefully in reference to sastra, in consultation with trusted senior devotees, and on the recommended method of direct personal association. But no matter which of these methods the aspirant applies, he assumes the ultimate responsibility for testing the guru’s qualifications.

Conclusion

We conclude that sastra, tradition and Srila Prabhupada place the ultimate responsibility to test whether or not a guru is bona fide on the prospective disciple. Therefore, if we wish that new aspirants understand their need to examine a guru, we should move our guru-authorizing system as close as possible to the traditional form and terminology.

Policy Recommendations

As SAC members explored the concept of disciples testing their guru, they began to understand that ISKCON’s process of guru-authorization is an integral factor in this topic. Therefore the SAC team was led to research and write about the process of guru-authorization in this paper.

As a modern international organization, ISKCON must express Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition and practice in ways appropriate for the modern world. This has meant giving the institution a role in the guru-selection process in ways that depart from the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition. If there are going to be such departures from the tradition in the name of institutional integrity, they should be minimal.

Such departures should be minimal in regards to (1) the way a devotee assumes the role of guru in ISKCON, (2) the way a guru is tested by disciples, and (3) the way a guru tests his disciples. In whatever ways these functions differ from tradition, they should be grounded in other, similar aspects of tradition to ensure protection from deviation.

In the next section of this paper, the SAC team has tried to draw examples from Gaudiya Vaishnava history and tradition to offer credence to the present guru-authorization system in ISKCON. However, we had no choice but to do so from examples not specifically related to the topic of guru and disciple. In other words, ISKCON is using a system that can only be scripturally justified by referencing unrelated principles and examples and then extrapolating them to match the present system. This suggests that our present guru-authorizing system is not close enough to tradition.

The remaining portion of this paper focuses on the topic of guru-authorization which is integral to an aspirant’s testing and choosing a spiritual master.

Blessing-Seeking

Presently, members of ISKCON generally use the term “authorization”, “nomination” or “no-objection” when discussing the procedure for devotees accepting the service diksha-guru. Although we do not find sastric evidence for bureaucratic entities granting authorization to gurus, we do find evidence that devotees who are ordered to begin an important service first take the blessings or permission of senior Vaishnavas. For example, when Srila Krishnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami was ordered to write the Caitanya-caritamrita, he took the permission of the senior Vaishnavas, his gurus and the Deity as well. Kaviraja Gosvami did this because it was considered standard Vaishnava etiquette. And at that time and place, this etiquette was well-established within Gaudiya Vaishnava society. But today, in our Society, these etiquettes are not so well-established. Therefore ISKCON has institutionalized the process of blessing-seeking.

It is a principle of Vaishnava etiquette that one receives blessings or permission from senior Vaishnavas before performing an important service. This is, however, specifically for the benefit of the prospective guru himself, not for the organization. Blessings provide spiritual protection and security to keep one free from Maya’s influence. Therefore it should be highly recommended that all prospective spiritual masters take advantage of Vaishnava blessings and approach those senior Vaishnavas with whom they have a relationship. In this way, the blessings become meaningful and potent.

Srila Krishnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami, on his own volition, took blessings or permission from the leading Vaishnavas in Vrindavana before taking up the service of writing the Caitanya-caritamrita:

a) “I took permission from Srila Vrindavana dasa Thakura by praying at his lotus feet, and upon receiving his order I have attempted to write this auspicious literature.”

PURPORT: “Srila Krishnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami took permission not only from the Vaishnavas
and Madana-mohana but also from Vrindavana dasa Thakura, who is understood to
be the Vyasa of the pastimes of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.” (Caitanya-caritamrita Adi-lila 8.81)

Maharaja Prataparudra, on his own volition, took the permission of the devotees before massaging the legs of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu:

b) “Following Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya’s instructions, the King had given up his royal dress. He now entered the garden in the dress of a Vaishnava. Maharaja Prataparudra was so humble that with folded hands he first took permission from all the devotees. Then, with great courage, he fell down and touched the lotus feet of the Lord. As Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu lay on the raised platform with His eyes closed in ecstatic love and emotion, the King very expertly began to massage His legs. The King began to recite verses about the rasa-lila from Srimad-Bhagavatam.” (Caitanya-caritamrita Madhya-lila 14.6)

To refer to the process of seeking blessings as an act of Vaishnava etiquette does not trivialize it. Rather, it exalts it:

“My dear Sanatana, although you are the deliverer of the entire universe and although even the demigods and great saints are purified by touching you, it is the characteristic of a devotee to observe and protect the Vaishnava etiquette. Maintenance of the Vaishnava etiquette is the ornament of a devotee. By observing the etiquette, you have satisfied My mind.” (Caitanya-caritamrita Antya-lila 4.129-130, 132)

It is consistent with our tradition that a prospective guru asks for the blessings or permission of senior devotees before starting to take disciples. Our present system has institutionalized a process of senior devotees voting or offering no-objection to prospective gurus. But we do not find that this institutionalized blessing-seeking process is mentioned by guru, sadhu or sastra as the way that one is authorized to become a guru.

This system has been created to enable some institutional oversight. The institutional oversight of prospective gurus is needed, but it can be performed in a different way as we shall suggest later. The very first point to understand is how a devotee is actually authorized or empowered to assume the service and role of a spiritual master in Gaudiya Vaishnavism and in our ISKCON movement.

Empowerment

The actual order or empowerment to initiate disciples comes from the order of one’s spiritual master:

Svarupa Damodara: [The professor asked me] how do you know that guru is qualified, spiritual master is qualified? Then I said [answered] everything is written in the sastras, so we have to follow according to the injunctions written in the sastras. So all the qualifications of a pure devotee, of a bona fide guru, is written there. Just like you are a professor of physics in the university. Before you came, you had some qualification, degree of doctors. And then there is a committee to decide you whether you are qualified for the post. So it is selected by a committee of members and then they interview and then they find out your qualifications. If they find that you are qualified for the post, so you are selected as a professor. It’s like that in the spiritual field also. There are revealed scriptures and there everything is written what will be the qualification of a guru and then how to choose a bona fide one. So everything is written, you should follow the injunctions of the revealed scriptures accordingly.

Prabhupada: Committee is his spiritual master, he orders that you do this.
(Morning Walk, 1-3 October 1972 LA)

Therefore Caitanya Mahaprabhu says, amara ajnaya guru haya tara sarva-desa, tara ei desa. He’s asking everyone to become a spiritual master. So how everyone can become a spiritual master? A spiritual master must have sufficient knowledge, so many other qualifications. No. Even without any qualifications, one can become a spiritual master. How? Now the process is, Caitanya Mahaprabhu says, amara ajnaya: ‘On My order.’ That is the crucial point. One does not become spiritual master by his own whims. That is not spiritual master. He must be ordered by superior authority. Then he’s spiritual master. Amara ajnaya. Just like in our case. Our superior authority, our spiritual master, he ordered me that ‘You just try to preach this gospel, whatever you have learned from me, in English.’ So we have tried it. That’s all. It is not that I am very much qualified. The only qualification is that I have tried to execute the order of superior authority.
(Bg. 2.2 Lecture, 3 August 1973 London)

Brahmananda: He’s asking when did you become the spiritual leader of Krsna
consciousness?
Prabhupada: When my Guru Maharaja ordered me. This is the guru-parampara.
Indian: Did it…
Prabhupada: Try to understand. Don’t go very speedily. A guru can become guru
when he’s ordered by his guru. That’s all. Otherwise nobody can become guru.
Indian woman 2: (Hindi)
Prabhupada: (Hindi) Sadhi mam prapannam. “I am surrendered to You. Whatever You
say, I shall carry out.” That’s all.
Indian man: When did he tell you to…?
Prabhupada: What is the business, when did he tell me? And why shall I disclose
to you? It is so very insignificant thing that I have to explain to you?
Indian man: No, I am just curious when…
Prabhupada: You should be curious within your limit. You should know that one
can become guru when he is ordered by his guru, this much.
(Lecture, Bhagavad-gita 7.2, Nairobi, 28 October 1975)

In the case of Srila Prabhupada’s diksha disciples, a general order to become spiritual master has been given many times by His Divine Grace both orally and in writing. Therefore, all diksha disciples of Srila Prabhupada who are properly following his instructions are in fact already authorized and empowered to initiate disciples. To work within ISKCON, however, a preacher must agree to cooperate with the organization and thus seeks the blessings of senior Vaishnavas within the Society. But this seeking of blessings would be best performed if it were not officially mandated. Rather, it could be done at the discretion of the devotee who plans to accept disciples.

The references in the next section demonstrate that Srila Prabhupada intended and ordered all of his disciples to become spiritual masters.

Srila Prabhupada’s Intentions

Srila Prabhupada made his intentions clear about all of his disciples becoming spiritual masters:

Atreya Rishi: How many qualifications does a spiritual master have in terms of being a spiritual master?
Prabhupada: One qualification: he is a devotee of God. That’s all.
Atreya Rishi: Does he have to be designated by the former spiritual master? He has to be devotee…
Prabhupada: Oh, yes, oh yes.
Atreya Rishi: …surrendered and designated. That is…, identifies disciplic succession: both surrender and designation.
Prabhupada: And by the result.
Atreya Rishi: And the result of activity.
Prabhupada: So far designation is concerned, the spiritual master authorizes every one of his disciples. But it is up to the disciple to carry out the order, able to carry out or not. It is not that spiritual master is partial, he designates one and rejects other. He may do that. If the other is not qualified, he can do that. But actually his intention is not like that. He wants that each and every one of his disciple become as powerful as he is or more than that. That is his desire. Just like father wants every son to be as qualified or more qualified than the father. But it is up to the student or the son to raise himself to that standard.
Atreya Rishi: Yes, I understand.
Prabhupada: If you are incapable of raising yourself to the standard of becoming spiritual master, that is not your spiritual master’s fault; that is your fault. He wants, just like Caitanya Mahaprabhu said, amara ajnaya guru hana [Cc. Madhya 7.128], By My order, every one of you become a guru. If one cannot carry out the order of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, then how he can become a guru? The first qualification is that he must be able to carry out the order of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Then he becomes guru. So that carrying out the order of Caitanya Mahaprabhu depends on one’s personal capacity. Amara ajnaya guru hana. (Room Conversation, 29 June 1972, San Diego)

Every student is expected to become Acarya. Acarya means one who knows the scriptural injunctions and follows them practically in life, and teaches them to his disciples. …Keep trained up very rigidly and then you are bona fide Guru, and you can accept disciples on the same principle. But as a matter of etiquette it is the custom that during the lifetime of your Spiritual Master you bring the prospective disciples to him, and in his absence or disappearance you can accept disciples without any limitation. This is the law of disciplic succession. I want to see my disciples become bona fide Spiritual Master and spread Krishna consciousness very widely, that will make me and Krishna very happy. (Letter to Tusta Krsna, 2 Dec. 1975)

I want that all of my spiritual sons and daughters will inherit this title of Bhaktivedanta, so that the family transcendental diploma will continue through the generations. Those possessing the title of Bhaktivedanta will be allowed to initiate disciples. Maybe by 1975, all of my disciples will be allowed to initiate and increase the numbers of the generations. That is my program. (Letter to Hamsaduta 3 Jan. 1969)

Now is the time for the members of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness to distribute krsna-bhakti all over the world and thus follow the orders of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. The Lord has ordered everyone to become a guru (Cc. Madhya 7.128): amara ajnaya guru hana tara’ ei desa. (Cc. Madhya 15.41 purport)

So there is no bar against anyone; anyone can become a spiritual master provided he knows the science of Krsna. This is the only qualification, and this science in essence is contained in Bhagavad-gita. At the present moment, thousands of spiritual masters are needed to spread this great science throughout the world. (Raja Vidya ch.7)

He must not take on unlimited disciples. This means that a candidate who has successfully followed the first twelve items can also become a spiritual master himself, just as a student becomes a monitor in class with a limited number of disciples. (Easy Journey ch.1)

Ordered by Sri Guru and Gauranga

The following are just a few of the numerous instances wherein Srila Prabhupada ordered his disciples to take up the duty of becoming spiritual masters:

So our request is that every one of you become a guru. That is Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s order. He wants that everyone must become a guru. How? That He says: yare dekha tare kaha ‘krsna’-upadesa amara ajnaya guru hana tara’ ei desa. (Bg. 7.1 Lecture, 20 Dec. 1975 Bombay)

Who is actually guru in the parampara system? Evam parampara-praptam imam rajarsayo viduh [Bg. 4.2]. So we have to take the authority of become guru from Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the same thing. Within five hundred years His order is that amara ajnaya guru hana: [Cc. Madhya 7.128] “You cannot become guru all of a sudden. You must take order from Me.” He is jagad-guru. So Caitanya Mahaprabhu says you, all of you, to become guru and deliver. Because there are so many innumerable fallen souls in this age-mandah sumanda-matayo manda-bhagya hy upadrutah [SB 1.1.10] — we require hundreds and thousands of gurus. But not cheaters. This is the time when requires hundreds and thousands of gurus. But who will become guru? That is Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s injunction, amara ajnaya: “By My order you become guru. Don’t be all-of-a-sudden guru. Become guru on My order.” (Speech to Devotees, April 7, 1976 Vrndavana)

“I give you order. You, every one of you become a spiritual master.” “Oh, I have no qualification. How can I become spiritual master? It requires high knowledge, Sanskrit understanding.” “No, you don’t require anything. Simply you speak krsna-upadesa.” What is krsna-upadesa? Krsna says, sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja [Bg. 18.66]. You simply go door to door and say, “Please surrender to Krsna.” Then you are spiritual master. I have done this. What I have done? I have gone to your country to say this thing, that “Here is Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. You surrender; you become perfect.” That is being done. So it is not very difficult to become spiritual master. Simply you have to become very serious and sincere to the service of Krsna. (Bhag. Lecture, 4 Nov 1973 Delhi)

“Take My order and you become a spiritual master.” How? “Simply speak Krsna consciousness, that’s all. Simply speak on Krsna’s message, krsna-katha.” There are two kinds of krsna-kathas. One is the Bhagavad-gita, and the other is Srimad-Bhagavatam. So this is the propagation of Krsna consciousness. (Lecture 11 Dec 1968 Los Angeles)

Lord Caitanya says that “Every one of you become the spiritual master, every one of you. Why one, two? Every one of you.” “Oh, spiritual master is very difficult job.” No. No difficult job. Caitanya Maha… Amara ajnaya: “Just try to carry out My order. That’s all. Then you become spiritual master.” And if you interpolate, if you put something nonsense, rubbish, to show your so-called rascal’s education, then it is spoiled. Immediately spoiled. And if you present as it is, then it is pure. (Lecture 9 May 1969 Columbus)

So our request is that every one of you become a guru. That is Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s order. He wants that everyone must become a guru. How? That He says: yare dekha tare kaha ‘krsna’-upadesa amara ajnaya guru hana tara’ ei desa. This is guru. Suppose you are family member. So many living entities, you sons, your daughters, your daughter-in-law, or children, you can become their guru. Exactly like this you can sit down in the evening and talk about the Bhagavad-gita, yare dekha tare kaha krsna-upadesa. You haven’t got to manufacture something. The instruction is there; you simply repeat and let them hear—you become guru. It is not difficult at all. So that is our preaching. We do not want to become alone guru, but we want to preach in such a way that every, the chief man, or any man, he can become guru in his surroundings. Anyone can do that. Even a coolie, he can also, he has got family, he has got friends, so even though he is illiterate, he can hear the instruction of Krsna, and he can preach the same. This we want. (Lecture, 20 Dec 1975 Bombay)

Since the order to become spiritual master has been amply given by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Srila Prabhupada, strict disciples of Srila Prabhupada are already authorized to accept disciples. Preachers have agreed to cooperate and obtain the blessings of senior devotees within our Vaishnava community. But it would be better if this seeking of blessings was not officially mandated because it would then be closer to tradition. It could be done at the discretion of the devotee who plans to accept disciples. Such a devotee should be encouraged to seek blessings from whomever he sees fit.

Once this more traditional system is established, gradually it will become clearer to new aspirants that they are not limited in their choice of spiritual master only to gurus who are already accepting disciples. ISKCON leaders should explain to devotees that they can choose any devotee in good-standing who has the proper qualifications as guru as given in the scriptures.

In light of this understanding, the GBC may wish to consider other changes in the current procedures.

Increasing the Number of Gurus

If the GBC are seriously interested in emphasizing the role of the aspiring disciple in personally testing his prospective guru, then they may wish to increase the number of initiating spiritual masters in ISKCON. Otherwise, the GBC will find itself in the position of trying to place the burden of examination on the aspiring disciple, while in reality he or she has little chance to do this. If there were more gurus, this would increase the chance that an aspiring disciple could actually observe and test a guru for a year.

There are several ways that an increase in gurus could be accomplished:

a) New devotees aspiring for initiation should be instructed in all possible ways that they are not limited in their choice of guru to devotees who are already initiating. In this way, there can be a disciple-driven increase in the number of gurus. Presently, there are devotees in good-standing who are qualified to be gurus but are not coming forward on their own accord to “apply for the post.” But if approached by sincere aspirants, this will encourage them to take up the responsibility.

b) There may be qualified devotees not currently initiating who have been approached by aspirants but who are still reluctant to take up this service. ISKCON leaders could positively encourage such devotees to take up the service.

c) Two years ago the GBC passed a resolution that disciples of living gurus, in exceptional circumstances, may also become spiritual masters in ISKCON. The GBC may want to encourage gurus with senior disciples to give blessings to such qualified disciples to begin taking their own disciples. In other words, new devotees can approach anyone in good-standing as guru, even a disciple of a living guru, but that prospective guru would require the blessings of his guru in order to begin initiating.

The Traditional System for Choosing Gurus was Not Bureaucratic

The traditional system for becoming a guru was not similar to the bureaucratic system for producing the ordained clergy of modern religions. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura gave warnings against bureaucratic systems.

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura writes in Sri Caitanya Sikshamritam (p. 242) that Putana
represents a deceitful guru. Obviously, the Gaudiya Vaishnava sampradaya does
not wish to have deceitful persons taking the role of guru. It might seem that
one way to avoid this is to institute bureaucratic controls. However, in his commentary, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura argued that bureaucratic systems for producing ordained clergy are not the way to ensure qualified gurus:

“It is not from any deliberate opposition to the ordained clergy that these observations are made. The original purpose of the established churches of the world may not be always objectionable . . . But no mechanical regulation has any value even for such a purpose. The bona fide teacher of the religion is neither any product nor the favorer of any mechanical system. . . The mere pursuit of fixed doctrines and fixed liturgies cannot hold a person to the true spirit of doctrine or liturgy.” (Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, printed in the January l932 edition of The Harmonist, or Shree Sajjanatoshani, “Putana”, part 1)

Some devotees may discount these words of Srila Sarasvati Thakura, bringing up the seemingly contradictory fact that he started and led a spiritual organization. However, that would be a mistake. Referring to a properly qualified spiritual personality, Srila Sarasvati Thakura said, “In his hands no system has likewise the chance of degenerating into a lifeless arrangement.” So Sarasvati Thakura does not reject all systems. Some system should be there, but it should be, as much as possible, like the traditional system of guru selection, with minimal bureaucracy. We should not rush into imitating the bureaucratic systems for ordaining clergy found in modern religions.

Srila Prabhupada has also written against officially appointed gurus:

“Self-deceived persons sometimes accept leaders or spiritual masters from a priestly order that has been officially appointed by the codes of material life. In this way, they are deceived by official priests.” (Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 17.185 purport)

Srila Prabhupada has also given many general warnings against the over-centralization and over-bureaucratization of ISKCON.

“Forget this centralizing and bureaucracy.” (letter to Karandhara, Bombay, 22 December 1972)

“Krishna Consciousness Movement is for training men to be independently thoughtful and competent in all types of departments of knowledge and action, not for making bureaucracy. Once there is bureaucracy the whole thing will be spoiled.” (letter to Karandhara, Bombay, 22 December 1972)

Our point in bringing up these warnings is not to say that the current system is completely wrong, or that the gurus that have gone through this system are just official priests. However, we do think that it would be an improvement if the system for guru authorization in ISKCON resembled more the traditional system and resembled less the modern systems for appointing official priests. We are not advocating the removal of all institutional oversight of the guru authorization and selection process. Some minimal institutional oversight should always be there. We are simply suggesting that it would be better to emphasize the education of devotees to choose the right guru by personal testing as the primary system, with institutional oversight applied afterwards to correct things if wrong choices are made.

A decentralized and non-bureaucratic institutional form of disciples and gurus engaging in mutual testing meets the criteria given by Srila Prabhupada and Srila Sarasvati Thakura, and it avoids the pitfalls they mentioned. Perhaps the main pitfall is the fact that with a bureaucratic process, once a person starts taking disciples, other prospective disciples get the impression that the guru has been “certified”; thus they often forgo the proper process of mutual testing.

We should also note that there are religious and secular organizations which have decentralized and non-bureaucratic forms. Such forms are not anarchies. Some of these organizations are very effective in achieving their purposes and protecting their core principles.

Again, ISKCON has a legitimate concern over who represents it and who can officially accept disciples. However, the leaders of ISKCON also have an obligation to fulfill this duty according to guru, sadhu, and sastra. There are enough admonitions against bureaucracy and centralization to conclude that our institutional concern about the purity and loyalty of gurus is possible to accomplish in ways that are decentralized and non-bureaucratic.

“Bhakta Joe”

One argument against a decentralized system is the “Bhakta Joe” argument. Those who put forward this argument are convinced that Bhakta Joe or Bhaktin Mary are completely incompetent to hold the primary responsibility for choosing a guru (although guru, sadhu, and sastra state that aspiring disciples have the primary responsibility for this choice). To those who make the “Bhakta Joe” argument, we draw their attention to the following points: (1) If we cannot train our Bhakta Joe’s and Bhaktin Mary’s to differentiate a bona fide guru from a hole in the wall, or if they are not intelligent enough to be so trained, we are in big trouble. They should learn about the qualifications of a bona fide guru from sastra, sadhu, and guru and then make their decision ideally on the basis of the recommended process of personal association with gurus or prospective gurus who are members of ISKCON in good standing. (2) SAC also advocates that Bhakta Joe consults with senior devotees about their choice of guru, and (3) in the last resort, if after all good training and advice, Bhakta Joe makes a decision that turns out to be incorrect, then the organization will step in to rectify the situation by taking action against the wayward guru; this is what is already happening in practice anyway.

SAC does not believe that exams are required, but it should be required that aspirants read a booklet that we prepare, or sit in some lectures based on this booklet.

General Recommendations

From guru, sadhu, and sastra we learn that it is the duty of an aspiring disciple to test a prospective guru for a year. To help establish this principle in practice, the GBC may wish to consider the following recommendations:

1) The GBC should state clearly and repeatedly that devotees are free to choose any qualified devotee in good-standing as guru, not just those who are already initiating.

2) The GBC should suggest that a devotee, by his heart, intelligence, study of the scriptures, and consultation with trusted senior devotees, carefully try to choose his guru. And once he has some indication, he should study that person’s qualifications very carefully in light of sastra and not assume that the person is qualified due to having received permission to act in that role.

3) The GBC should inform new aspirants that delegating the responsibility for testing the guru is not traditional and thus risky. The aspiring disciple and the prospective guru have a grave responsibility to take every possible precaution in making a thoroughly informed decision, for which they themselves are ultimately accountable.

A Suggestion for Balancing the Responsibilities

The mandate given to SAC by the EC puts the question of guru choice in terms of the relative responsibilities of the individuals and the institution. This reflects the underlying fact that Srila Prabhupada wanted us all to carry out our practice of Krishna consciousness within the framework of an institution, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, in which the ultimate managerial authority is the Governing Body Commission. This means that the GBC has an interest in the qualifications of the gurus chosen by individual members of the Society. And therefore the GBC has, through decisions taken over the past thirty years, come up with the present system for a devotee accepting the role of a guru. But, if SAC reads the mandate for this paper correctly, the GBC also wishes to emphasize the traditional responsibility of the prospective disciple in evaluating the qualifications of a guru.

The GBC desires to exercise some control over who represents ISKCON as initiating gurus. The SAC proposes, however, that the present system does not provide effective safeguards, and at the same time it stifles initiative. In other words, applying for the guru post and approaching devotees for recommendations does not sit well with truly humble Vaishnavas. And it’s the truly humble who are most worthy to become our Society’s gurus.

We should also be aware from the history of other sampradayas and religions of the real danger of gradual corruption. Even if apparent purity were maintained for some time by a bureaucratic regulating system of authorization, the eternal temptations of misusing the status of guru for self-aggrandizement could ruin the system and the institution. In future generations we, like other sampradayas, could become burdened with gurus who collect disciples mainly for money and power. Such corruption could occur even while maintaining the external appearance of bureaucratic purity. Therefore SAC suggests that the GBC shift their oversight to mainly after-the-fact. Exactly how this is to be implemented should be decided by the GBC.

SAC members also feel that the procedure of determining no-objection to giving initiation should be simple. The main questions to ask are, “Is this devotee chanting a daily minimum of sixteen rounds and following the four regulative principles?” and “Is he loyal to Prabhupada and ISKCON?” These questions can be answered easily, even without the separate procedure of no-objection that leaves the GBC to blame when permission has been granted to someone who later deviates.

Srila Prabhupada gave instructions about how to recognize and expose false or incompetent gurus:

“The whole situation has been spoiled by these so-called rascal gurus who gives his own opinion. This is our plain declaration: Let any rascal guru come. We can convince him that he is not guru, because he is speaking differently. We can challenge any rascal.” (Prabhupada Lecture: What is a Guru? — London, August 22, 1973)

Journalist: I think an awful lot of our readers, and an awful lot of people in the United States, are terribly confused with the many people who claim to be gurus and gods and who pop up in this country, one after the other after the other, and they say that –
Srila Prabhupada: I can declare that they are all nonsense.
Journalist: I wonder if you could elaborate on that a little bit.
Srila Prabhupada: I can say, furthermore, they’re all rascals.
Journalist: For example, the famous one who sells meditation mantras?
Srila Prabhupada: He is rascal number one. I say it publicly.
Journalist: Could you explain, give me a little background on that, and why, because our readers —
Srila Prabhupada: From his behavior I can understand he is rascal number one. I do not want to know about him, but what he has done makes it obvious. But the wonderful thing is that people in the Western countries are supposed to be so advanced — how are they befooled by these rascals?
(Journey of Self Discovery 4.1 Show-bottle Spiritualists Exposed)

It appears that the Vaishnava system relies principally on the “exposure” system for maintaining the quality of gurus. In fact, this is how ISKCON has also practically operated in the past. Bureaucratic processes about the suitability of a person to function as guru before the person has actually functioned as a guru have not proved successful as an effective guarantee. The actual behavior of the person as guru has, in practice, turned out to be the only effective basis for determining merit. One might argue that such a system does not guarantee that a guru will remain fixed on the spiritual platform, but that is true of any system.

It seems to us that if a devotee is apparently in good-standing and wishes to accept disciples it is best to let the devotee accept disciples after a period of mutual testing between guru and disciple for at least a year. The institutional check against unfit gurus should be applied not a priori but a posteriori, in terms of attention to the actual behavior of the guru. If it turns out that the guru is unfit, this fact will be exposed.

This a posteriori system is mentioned in Sri Harinama-cintamani:

“The guru-disciple relationship is eternal. If both maintain their pure positions and are bona fide, their eternal relationship is never jeopardized. However, if the spiritual master is later exposed as perfidious, the disciple must immediately repudiate him. The same is to be done by the spiritual master if the disciple is similarly exposed. If such repudiation is not carried out by both parties when necessary, they stand to be doomed.” (Sri Harinama-cintamani, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Ch. 6)

End

Being warm is an internal job. It starts in the heart.

Are you warm-hearted? Are you forgiving, detached, happy? Is your false ego a good distance away from you? Do you wake up thinking what interesting (or even magical) things will happen to you today by the movements of providence, time, and the touch of Krishna?

To start your internal heater take some time to chant Hare Krishna in the early morning hours. Wrap yourself in a blanket, sit cross legged with back straight, light a candle, and take out your beads. Do at least 15 minutes (2 rounds on the beads). The more you do the more warmth you generate. The clouds in your mind will dissipate and you will sense your internal spiritual self.

Read some verses from the Gita to remind you that you are not this body, you are the soul, and relationships on that level is what truly makes you happy, and therefore automatically warm.

Then take a hot non-caffeine drink. The heat of the drink will warm you up. The lack of caffeine will build your natural strength.

Now you are ready for the rest of the day – you will be warm no matter the weather or what may arrive on your life path.

ps: Be careful to avoid things that make you cold:

Bitterness, envy
Taking yourself too seriously
Needing to be right
Over worry, over anxiety
Thinking you are the doer, that it’s all up to you

A great teacher in the line of Bhakti once said – “We have scattered our love in this world among so many material things.” Love, by nature, is generous. It flows freely and gives it self openly. Yet it can be elusive, shallow, and ultimately temporary – as are all things connected to this world.

Where does love come from? Where is its source? Is there a reservoir somewhere with unlimited supplies? This is the search of the bhakti yogi. If love – that experience, that emotion, that feeling – is considered the highest experience of this life, how can we achieve it in its deepest, richest, most powerful expression?

In the Bhakti spiritual tradition, Krishna, the all-attractive supreme absolute truth, is considered the fountainhead of love, the source, the reservoir, and the perfection of love. By loving Him our life, and our moods of love, are fully and completely satisfied. Such love is available for all, but it is not cheap. We must truly want it and actively pursue it.

To begin to connect to the source of all love, we can start by gathering some of our ‘scattered love’ and directing it towards Krishna. We can seek pockets of divine love in sacred places and spiritually minded people, and plant ourselves there. We can become lovers of pure love, seeking that love which is untinged by lust or selfish motives. We can study the exchanges of love between Krishna and his devotees, and learn the ways of those closest to Krishna who love him the most and who, it it said, have purchased Him by their love.

As a focus for all of the above, we can set up an altar in our home. This can be as simple as a picture and a candle or as elaborate as a dedicated meditation room. It’s a sacred place that reminds us not to get distracted in our search for the topmost love, for the absolute truth. It can also serve as a place where we can offer our love, express our feelings, be quiet, be alone. An altar gives us permission to slow down, to take time out and tend to the important work of the spirit.

The unlimited reservoir of love awaits us all. Our scattered love will seek its purest expression if we point it in the right direction. It’s never too late to start and it’s where we all belong.

“No man is an island,” the great poet once wrote.

We are not alone in our suffering, in our diseases. We are not alone on the highway on the way to work, in the football stadium, watching the tv. We are not alone in our grief, in our outrage, in our happiness. Yet at times we feel so alone, so estranged, so disconnected, even in a crowd.

And so lonely.

Who has not known it, or felt it, or seen it?

We are lonely because we have forgotten Krishna, and forgotten who we are. We have forgotten that Krishna is with us in the heart. The Upanishads describe it’s like two birds in a tree, one is busy eating the fruit, and the other watching. the supersoul, the watching bird, is always with us. Always. But he waits for us to make the first move, to turn to him and say something. Truly we are never alone. Ever.

Try this when you are swept with a sense of loneliness, and the fear and sadness with it. This often happens at night as we lay down to sleep, or if we are ill. “I am situated in everyone’s heart’, Krishna says in the Gita, ‘ and from me comes knowledge, remembrance, and forgetfulness.’ Just think of Krishna, the original personal source of divine love, power, beauty, and energy. Feel loved and supported. Talk to Him. Or just be still in the connection.

The absolute truth is not an idea, it’s a relationship. It’s not about being correct, but of being connected. Krishna, the supersoul ‘bird’ in the heart is not leaving us, no matter who we are or what we have done. We need to turn and exchange with Him. When we face the sun our shadow falls behind us. So too when we connect with Krishna – the shadow of loneliness will be behind us. Forever.

 Our process is not repression, it is not just simply abstinence – to give up illicit activities and let the pushing of the senses rage within. This is not possible for us. NO! We must engage in devotional service and then devotional service begins to absorb us. There will be no time for sense gratification and after a while, there will be much taste for devotional service!

Agnideva Prabhu is here. I am really happy that he is. He was in Radhadesh also and they were so insistent that he would sing that song that Srila Prabhupada wrote; the song with the long name that I can never remember, where Prabhupada was expressing his desire to be with Krsna again. Everyone wanted Agnideva Prabhu to sing that song and they had printed song sheets that were so small that it was just unreadable and he did not have his reading glasses.

Then instead of singing, he began to speak. Actually, I was happy that he spoke, it was meant to be akirtan event but he spoke. I liked it because he spoke of something that he had been a part of. He spoke of the history of how certain bhajans came into our movement, how they were translated, how they were being sung and how the melodies came about. He gave us history and that was a gift. It was something unique which he was a part of, and it was something that he could share. I was very appreciative of that, and things like that which are very interesting will naturally be attractive. Then you can forget the senses – at times like that you do not have to worry about the senses. At times like that your attention is there and you are absorbed.

In this way, we look for the next opportunity to get absorbed, ‘Is there anything special going on?’Devotees have a radar, they are always looking everywhere. You have to develop these antennae, these radars for ‘special juice’. Wherever it is, find it and somehow or other get to it! In this mood, we will find that these material issues – the senses, desires and needs – they are not so much in the forefront.

By Sacinandana Swami

“There is no death” wrote Herman Hesse, “only fear of death. But that can be cured.”

In the Srimad-Bhagavatam, King Pariksit who was cursed to die within seven days asked his exalted spiritual master Sukadeva Goswami about overcoming the fear of death. Sukadeva gave a very practical answer in which he explained how one can transcend material consciousness and become fixed in god consciousness.

tasmad bharata sarvatma bhagavan isvaro hari
srotavyah kirtitavyas ca smartavyas cecchatabhayam

“….One who desires to be free from all miseries must hear about,
glorify (do kirtana) and also remember the Personality of Godhead,
who is the Supersoul, the controller and savior from all miseries.”
(Srimad-Bhagavatam, 2.1.5)

Hearing about Krshna is the life-giving elixir for the soul in this world. By drinking it regularly you will first become aware of and then absorbed in the lord. This is called Krishna samadhi – attaining the level of Krishna and standing by his side. In his presence our soul will be illuminated and safe. Where the lord is, there is no fear! Let me conclude with a text from the Srimad-Bhagavatam:

“Therefore, O king Citraketu, carefully consider the position of the atma. In other words, try to understand who you are — whether body, mind or soul. Consider where you have come from, where you are going after giving up this body, and why you are under the control of material lamentation. Try to understand your real position in this way, and then you will be able to give up your unnecessary attachment. You will also be able to give up the belief that this material world, or anything not directly in touch with service to Krishna, is eternal. Thus you will obtain peace.”
(Srimad-Bhagavatam, 6.15.26)

May all beings live in the peace of knowing who they are!

Bhaktivedanta Manor, London has planned a packed week of events from 13th to 17th July to celebrate the 50thanniversary of ISKCON’s incorporation. 

The events start on the actual day of incorporation on 13th July with a ‘Day of Gratitude’ that will see 5000 cupcakes being distributed to commuters at key locations in central London to say 'thank you'. This will be followed by a special ceremony of offerings to Srila Prabhupada in the form of poems and prayers, and an exquisite lunch for disciples of Srila Prabhupada.

Ajay Kumar from Bhaktivedanta Manor, who was the brainchild for the 5000 cup-cake distribution programme says, “This is a simple act of Love through distribution of prasdam, and something that we have been doing right from the beginning of our movement. What more of a thank you can we say to London than giving them our birthday cake?” 

On 14th, January, a select interfaith programme will witness Christian representatives coming together with Vaishnava devotees to discuss the importance and relevance of devotion for the spiritual seeker.

Later, Srila Prabhupada Gardens, a specially themed and landscaped section of Bhaktivedanta Manor will inaugurated on 16th July with an abhisheka ceremony of Srila Prabhupada.

This will be  followed by the launch of Yogesvara Das’ new book, 'Swami in a Strange Land'. The book tells the story of the early days of the Hare Krishna Movement and its founder, Srila Prabhupada. It draws from the author’s insider-perspective, interviews, and existing literature to weave together a stirring chronicle of one of the most extraordinary personalities of our time.

The grand finale for the Incorporation Week is on 17th July, when a 50-ised Ratha Yatra will roll through the streets of central London to commemorate the achievements of Srila Prabhupada and ISKCON in the last 50 years.

Several senior Prabhupada disciples, temple presidents, community members and congregational leaders are expected to attend the incorporation week events.

“Many senior devotees that have had a history with Bhaktivendanta Manor will attend, making it a reunion of Srila Prabhupada’s disciples,” explained Devaki Dasi, National Coordinator for ISKCON 50 in the UK. “Srila Prabhupada Gardens is themed around five concepts: enquiry, homage, service, wisdom and shelter. These  themes represent the relationship between the guru and his disciple based on the Bhagavad-gita. 

Senior disciples of Srila Prabhupada will be present at each of the themed areas of the garden, reciting special words relevant to that section.

“An important part of our celebrations is the Gratitude Tree,” continued Devaki Dasi. “This tree is in the main building of the temple, where devotees collect a hand made leaf, write their note of gratitude to Srila Prabhupada, and place it on the branches of the tree. In Srila Prabhupada’s Quarters, we have kept a basket where devotees can write a poem or prayer of gratitude and place it there. This way, every devotee will have an opportunity to glorify Prabhupada and express their gratitude to him.”

After the incorporation week celebrations, all temples in the UK will be gearing up to celebrate Janamasthmi with their own local 50th anniversary themes.

Gauri Das, Managing Director of Bhaktivedanta Manor, while addressing devotees who were planning the event, concluded by saying, “It is very important to pause and relish this moment of the Incorporation day of ISKCON.  We are so busy in our daily lives and rituals that we may forget to pause, acknowledge and show our gratitude to Srila Prabhupada for the gifts he has given us.  This is the week to do it.”

Source: http://iskconnews.org/uk-to-herald-incorporation-day-with-packed-week-of-events,5682/

Annual Ratha Yatra festival of Lord Jagannatha in Kampala, Uganda.
The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) held the annual Rath Yatra festival of Lord Jagannatha on Saturday in Kampala.

The event is held annually in July. Rath Yatra involves moving deities Jagannath, Balabhadra, Subhadra and Sudarshana on a chariot called a ratha or rotho.

The procession led by a band started from the ISKCON Hare Krishna temple on Dewinton road, through Siad Barre avenue before ending at the SSDM temple in Nakasero, where prayers and dinner were held.

With live instruments being played coupled with clapping and dancing, followers chanted “Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna-Krishna, Hare-Hare; Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama-Rama, Hare-Hare”. Others held onto the ropes attached to the chariot.

It is believed that one touch of the holy rope of Lord Jagannatha’s chariot can free one of all types of sinful reactions,” according to Rajni Tailor, the ISKCON patron.

This year’s local theme was all about the gratitude for helping Uganda go through a peaceful electoral process.

ISKCON was founded in 1966 by His Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada and is headquartered in Mayapur village, near Calcutta, India. It draws spiritual sustenance from the Bhagavad Gita (Song of the Blessed One), a most sacred Hindu scripture.

Source: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=29341

Car festival gets off to a colourful start - Rath Yatra organised by ISKCON in Visakhapatnam, India.
Sumit Bhattacharjee: Men, women join in traditional attire to pull ropes of the chariot
The annual chariot festival or ‘Rath Yatra’ of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Goddess Subhadra, was marked with religious fervour, here in the city on Wednesday.
Over 1,000 people lined up to pull the ropes of the chariot carrying the deities during the Rath Yatra organised by International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON).
Ritual of ‘Chherapanhara’ or sweeping of the road and the chariot, before the start of the ‘yatra’ was performed by Visakhapanam MP K. Haribabu in the presence of ISKCON – Visakhapatnam president Samba Das and former Vice-Chancellor of Andhra University G.S.N. Raju.
While many men and women dressed in colourful traditional attire joined to pull and ropes, the others danced to the chant of ‘Hare Krishna’.
The procession, started from the Gandhi statue opposite GVMC office and meandered its way through Dabagardens, Jagadamba, Beach Road to Andhra University convocation hall. The convocation hall will be the makeshift ‘Gundicha ghar’ or the house of Lord Jagannath’s maternal aunt.
Due to the procession, there was a huge traffic jam all along the route, despite the presence of traffic police, as men and women joined the ‘yatra’ all along the route.
“The deities will remain there for about nine days and daily puja will be performed,” said Mataji of ISKCON.
This is the 50{+t}{+h}anniversary of ISKCON and globally 555 Rath Yatras will be taken out to mark the occasion, by the end of the year, said Samba Das.
At Ukkunagaram
At the Jagannath Temple in Ukkunagaram, CMD of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant P. Madhusudan performed the ‘Chherapanhara’ donning the traditional attire of a king.
A large number of devotees, employees and locals joined the celebration and actively pulled the chariot through the streets of the VSP Township amidst the chanting of the Lord’s name and dancing to the beats of ‘mridang’ and cymbals.
P.C. Mohapatra, Director (Projects), D.N. Rao, Director (Operations), Raychoudary, Director (Commercial), along with their family members offered prayers.
The evening was laced with colourful cultural programmes comprising Sambalpuri Folk dance and Odissi dance. The festival will culminate on July 17.
Utkal Samaj
The festival was observed with all religiosity by the Utkal Sanaskrutika Samaj and the ‘Rath Yatra’ began from the Utkal Temple with the customary cleaning of the chariot by Pramod Chandra Deo Bhanj.
The colourfully-decked up chariot with the three deities was pulled by devotees from the temple premises at Dasapalla Hills to the Gundicha Ghar at Lawsons Bay.
The chariot passed through All India Radio, HPCL Millennium petrol bunk, Andhra University gates, Chinna Waltair, VUDA Park, Peda Waltair Junction, Geeta Ashram to Lawsons Bay.
Highlight was the performance by the Sarala Ghanata Nritya troupe from Odisha. According to president of the samaj, S.C. Choudhury, former Chief Commissioner of Customs, the deities will be in Gundicha Ghar till July 13 and will return (Bahuda Yatra) on July 14, to the temple premises.
Regular pujas will be taken up at the Gundicha Ghar, during the Lord’s stay, said secretary of the samaj, S.K. Panigrahi.

Source: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=29343

By Vanamali Dasa

Being a devotee of Krsna and a follower of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada brings with it certain responsibilities: rising early, bathing regularly, maintaining regulative principles (including abstinence from meat-eating, illicit sex, intoxication, and gambling), and of course daily chanting the Hare Krsna maha-mantra. But as well as these basic principles of spiritual life. Srila Prabhupada’s followers have inherited a great mission, a mission that has been handed down throughout the millennia in our line of disciplic succession. That mission, which epitomizes the mercy and compassion of Krsna and His pure devotees, is the respiritualization of a godless society.

Srila Prabhupada showed by his own example how to spread Krsna consciousness, and he left countless instructions on how to do it. Most important, he told us that his books translations of Vedic literature with his commentary could revolutionize human thought. He encouraged his followers to distribute his books profusely in order to redirect people’s attention from materialistic endeavors to spiritual life, or service to the Supreme Lord, Sri Krsna.

Desiring to assist in Srila Prabhupada’s mission, I find myself on a cold and blustery winter morning in Sydney rather nervously picking up a box of books and making my way to the van and the awaiting devotees. This is my first attempt to distribute Srila Prabhupada’s books, and my mind is a kaleidoscope of thoughts and emotions as I take my place in the back with the other men.

There is Bhakta Richard, a strong but gentle young man from Tonga. He left the simple life of his tropical-island home and came to Australia looking for the pleasures of a technologically advanced society. He found only frustrated and disappointed persons who had all the modern conveniences but had lost touch with their spiritual dimension. Then one day he read one of Srila Prabhupada’s books and found Krsna, the reservoir of all pleasure.

Then there’s Bhakta Brett, a fresh-faced university student who found the answers to the really important questions of life at the Hare Krsna club on campus. Now, with freshly shaven head and rosy cheeks, he looks like the picture of innocence and vitality.

Our driver and party leader is Krtagama dasa from Germany. He was traveling around the world when he stumbled upon a Hare Krsna restaurant, and his spiritual life began.

I settle back to chant on my beads as we wind through the early-morning traffic. Praying for strength and purity of purpose, I find solace from the pangs of apprehension I’m feeling on my first day with the book-selling team. In a somber state of mind, I reflect on the present condition of “humanity” a strangely alien term when compared with the activities I know are going on around me: abortion, drug abuse, prostitution, murder, rape, cow slaughter, and so on. It’s a civilization gone awry, forgetful of its spiritual identity and its responsibility to obey the laws of God, spiraling downward into the dark abyss of atheistic, materialistic doom.

I remember the words of Srila Suta Gosvami in the Srimad-Bhagavatam: ThisBhagavata Purana is as brilliant as the sun, and it has arisen just after the departure of Lord Krsna to His own abode, accompanied by religion, knowledge, etc. Persons who have lost their vision due to the dense darkness of ignorance in the age of Kali shall get light from this Purana.” Fortified by this knowledge, I wait peacefully as we park the van. I then set off with humble confidence and determination.

Sam is a barber who for the last forty years has conversed with clients on every conceivable topic of public interest from the opening of the harbor bridge to the World Expo. His conclusion: “God don’t exist. Science and hard work that’s the answer to all our world problems these days. It helped us in the past, and it will help us in the future. We don’t need any belief in God.”

He likes me, though, because I’m smiling and I seem to be working hard. So I get a chance to explain to him that although science has made many changes in the world, it hasn’t eradicated the problems of birth, death, old age, and disease. We suffer from these problems today just as others did in the past, and we will continue to suffer from them into the future. Though scientists claim they’ll solve these problems in time, they never will, because science can’t change the powerful laws of God that control the universe.

I show him the Bhagavad-gita and explain how it gives real scientific knowledge for understanding our eternal, spiritual nature, and how our suffering is due only to misidentification with the body as the self. I explain that actions on the spiritual platform don’t create bad reactions, and so they reduce our suffering. This can be confirmed, I explain, by anyone who seriously practices spiritual life.

He likes the philosophy but doesn’t buy a Gita. He takes a Back to Godheadmagazine, though, and an invitation to our restaurant He says he’ll bring his wife along for a “fancy Hare Krsna meal.” As I leave, he waves and wishes me well in my endeavor.

Sally and Joan are bank tellers. I find them two floors up in their morning tea room. I introduce myself and the books. Joan tells me she’s had a long interest in vegetarian cooking, and she takes a cookbook and starts to look through it Sally’s father has an interest in reincarnation, and Sally is full of questions as she leafs through the Bhagavad-gita. They are pleased to meet a Hare Krsna devotee, and they inquire at length into the way devotees live.

Eventually Joan decides our cookbook is just what she needs to revitalize her diet, and Sally is convinced that the Gita is the most authoritative book on reincarnation. They each buy a book and agree to come to our next Sunday Feast.

Down the street I enter a locksmith shop. The two men behind the counter are a little shocked to see a Hare Krsna devotee complete with shaved head and robes right there in their premises. I tell them I’m presenting Bhagavad-gita, the oldest and most comprehensive spiritual guide known to man. It contains complete information on the soul, God, karma, and reincarnation.

They look more stunned now and begin to slowly shake their heads, indicating that they have no real interest in such things. Before I can counter with our vegetarian cookbook which strikes a little closer to home with most people a voice from behind me says. “What’s that you said about reincarnation?” I turn around and see a small man in his late fifties sitting on an old safe in the corner. I show him theBhagavad-gita and explain some of the sublime knowledge contained within it, especially that pertaining to the transmigration of the soul from one body to another.

He is extremely interested and asks me to walk outside with him. We exit, passing the two storekeepers, who are still staring blankly in shocked disbelief. He tells me that last year he suffered a major stroke and was taken to the hospital, where the doctors worked for several hours to keep his heart beating. On three occasions during that time, he felt himself to be floating in the room, looking down on the scene of doctors and nurses trying to revive his malfunctioning body.

This profound experience started him on a voyage of discovery, to unearth the true nature of the self. So far his questions had not met with satisfactory answers, but now, in the presence of the glowing knowledge of the Gita, he is feeling that his journey in search of the truth has ended. Obviously experiencing great emotional relief, he buys a copy of the Gita and gives me his name and address. I promise to visit, and we sit and talk until it’s time for me to go back to the van.

As we drive back to the temple, we relate our experiences. We are all happy, feeling satisfaction in our small attempt to fulfill Srila Prabhupada’s pure desire to eradicate nescience from human society.

Yes, being a devotee of Krsna brings responsibility, but that responsibility brings transcendental bliss, which is not available in even the most exalted material posts. When a devotee goes to sleep at night, he is not plagued by memories of a trouble-filled day. Rather, he is filled with great confidence in his chosen mission of life. and he knows there can be only one thing better than the day he has just spent and that’s tomorrow.

Source: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=29351

Almost 49 years ago in 1967, the first Ratha Yatra festival beyond the Indian sub-continent was organized and celebrated in San Francisco. Srila Prabhupada was personally in attendance along with many of his first disciples. This Ratha Yatra survey which has just been published, shows all the Ratha Yatra festivals held across the world and confirms the great work ISKCON is doing and how Lord Caitanya’s mercy is literally spreading out to reach every town and village!

Ratha Yatra Estimate / July 2nd 2016

Global total (including India) = 526 worldwide

1. Anuttama prabhu / 4

USA: DC-1, Baltimore-1, Philadelphia-1, New Vrindavana-1, Harrisburg-1

2. Badrinarayan Swami / 8

USA: LA -2 / Boise/ Denver 3 / SD / Laguna / Ojai

3. Bhakti Bhusana M (See listings under “Virabahu prabhu”)

4. Bhakti-Caitanya M: 52

South Africa: Durban, Johannesburg, Pretoria, Mpumalanga, Capetown, Port Elizabeth, Newcastle, Ladysmith

Mauritius: Mahebourg, Port Louis, Triollet

Russia: 32 (too many cities to list)

Lithuania / 6: Vilius, Kaunas, Siaulliai, Palanga, Klaipeda, Panevezys

Latvia: Riga

Estonia: Tallinn

5. Bhakti Marg M / 11

Canada: Montreal, Toronto, Brampton, Scarborough, Thunder Bay, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Edmonton, Calgary, Saranagati, Vancouver

6. Bhakti-Vaibhava M / 3

Prague – Czech Republic

Wroclaw – Poland

Sofia – Bulgaria

7. Bhakti-vijnana M (see listings under Bhakti Caitanya M – “Russia”)

8. Bhakti Charu M, Bhakti Purusottam M, Bhanu M, Gopal Krishna M, Jayapataka M / See “All India” list etc. The “All-India” list is quite impressive.

9. Bir Krishna M / 6

North Carolina 2

New Orleans 1

Fiji 3

10. Caitanya Candra Carana prabhu (See listings under Bhakti Caitanya M – “Russia”)

11. Chandrasekar Acharya prabhu / 2

Hong Kong / Taipei

12. Devamrita M / Ramai Maharaja / 15

Gita Nagari 1, Australia 6, New Zealand 8

13. Dinasharana dd: 9

Germany: Berlin / Hamburg / Heidelberg / Köln Gauradesh / Leipzig / München / Frankfurt

Switzerland: Zürich / Bern

14. Guruprasad M / 9

Panama

Mexico: 4 (including one down a river in Monterrey)

Trinidad: 4

15. Hrdaya Caitanya prabhu / 9

Holland: Amsterdam, Den Haag, Rotterdam.

Belgium: Antwerp, Ratha yatra for children in Radhadesh

Spain: Barcelona, Madrid, Tenerife.

Portugal: Lisbon (first Ratha Yatra in June this year).

16. Kavicandra M / 22

Thailand: Bangkok, Phuket, Pattaya

West Africa: 1

Japan: Tokyo 2 / Osaka / 1

Indonesia: 15 (With Ramai M)

17. Malati dd / 4

Columbus – 1 / Pittsburgh –1 / Michigan—1 / Oberlin—1

18. Madhusevita p / 4

Italy: Milan – Rome – Florence

France-Paris

19. Niranjana M. / 15

13 in the Ukraine / too many cities to list

Boston / USA

Hartford / USA

20. Praghosa prabhu / 16

UK, Ireland and Scandinavia (minus Finland)

21. Prahladanana M / 4

Croatia: 2

Serbia

Poland 1

22. Radhanath M (see listings in “All-India)

23. Ramai M (see “Indonesia” / Kavicandra M and “Australia” under Devamrita M)

24. Romapada M / 11

USA: Boston, Hartford, NYC-3, NJ, Chicago, Naperville, Minneapolis, Bloomington, St Louis

25. Sesa prabhu / 3

USA: Gainesville: 1 as part of the Univ. of Florida Homecoming parade

Univ. of Central Florida / 2

Orlando

26. Sivaram M / 1

Budapest / Hungary

24. Tamohar prabhu / 11

USA: Florida: Tallahassee, Gainesville (already listed above under “Sesa p”)

Jacksonville Beach, St. Augustine, Clearwater, Tampa, Daytona Beach, Miami,

Alachua, Lake City, Nashville, New Vrindaban (already listed under “Anuttama

prabhu”)

27. Virabahu prabhu / 11

Argentina:2

Chile:1

Santo Domingo:1

Puerto Rico:1

Guyana:5

Surinam:1

• Countries

See accompanying “All-India” list

Bangladesh / 52

Bolivia / 2

La Paz and Cochabamba

Brazil / 5

Suzano, Belo Horizonte, Rio de Janeiro, Camboriu, Salvador

Gulf Region / 29

Mathuradesh 5

Balramdesh 12

Krsnakathadesh 12

Anantanandadesh 1

Malaysia (Jayapataka Maharaja / Simesvara Swami) / 26 with more planned

Malacca, Kuala Lumpur, Jan Alor Star, Seremban, Kuala Kangsar, Port Dickson, Kuching, Kuala Lumpur, Bukit Mertajam, Johor Bahru, Kuantan, Ipoh, Mengelembu Mini, Bahau, Taman Kenar, Cameron Highlands, Skudai,, Kluang, Sitiawan, Kulim Branch, Sg Petan, Klang, Todu, Penang, Sg Siput

Myanmar (Burma) / 7

Peru / 2

Lima and Cusco

Philippines / 1

Manila

Sri Lanka / 1

Colombo

(end)

———-

All INDIA TOTAL = 174

SOUTH INDIA

Andhra Pradesh

Nellore

Vijaywada

Vishakapatnam

Vizianagaram

Tamil Nadu

Chennai

Salem

Coimbatore

Ooty

Erode

Perumbur

Pondicherry

Hosur (3)

Telengana

Hyderabad

Kukatpally (suburb of Hyderabad)

Warngal

Karnataka

Bangalore – 3

Belgaum

Karwar

Khanapur

Nippani

Mangalore

Seshadripuram, Bangalore

Madikeri / Coorg

Kerala

Palghat

Parrassalla

Kannur .

WEST INDIA

Gujarat

Ahmedabad / 3

Baroda

Surat / 2
Anand
Bhavnagar
Dwaraka
Navsari
Vapi
Jamnagar
Rajkot
Bharuch

Mehsana

Maharastra

Juhu

Goregaon / East Mumbai

Chowpatty

Mira Road

Pandharpur
Nagpur
Solapur
Beed
Latur
Sangli

Nigdi

Bhayander

Thane

Chembure

Kandivili west

Borivili

Kandivili lokhandwala east

Kalyan

Palghar

Pune

EAST INDIA

West Bengal

Kolkata / 4

Mayapur

Ranagat

Chatra

Dumdum

Siliguri

Durgapur

Durganagar

Vapi

Durgapur

Berhampore

Maldah

Chatra

Odisha

Bhubaneswar

Jaleswar

Bhadrak

Bihar-Jarikhand

Patna

Silchar

Jamsedpur

Assam

Silchar

Dhekiajhuli

Guahati

Kundanala

Tripura

Agratala

Dharma nagar

Ananda Bazar

NORTH INDIA

Delhi Area

Noida

Punjabhi Bagh

New Delhi / East of Kailash

Rohini / New Delhi

Gurugon

Gaziabad

Faridabad

Greater Noida

Kaavathe Mahankal

Uttar Pradesh

Kanpur -2
Jhansi
Etawa
Chitrakut

Vrindavan

Muradabad

Meerut

Ghaziabad

Noida

Saharanpur

Mathura

Aligarh

Kasganj

Hathrash

Kasganj

Badaun

Barely

Tundla

Firozabad

Rajasthan

Jaipur

Jodhpur

Bharatpur

Chommu

Dholpur

Gangapur City

Haryana

Kurukshetra

Yamunanagar

Panipat

Gurgaon

Faridabad

Panchkula

Kalka

Palwal

Sonepat

Rohtak

Kaithal

Tohana

Ambala Cannt

Ambala City

Karnal

Shabhad

Saharanpur

Machivada

Muzafarnagar

Pundri

Madhya Pradesh

Indore

Ujjain

Bhopal

Jabalpur

Narsinghpur

Gwallior

Punjab

Ludhiana

Patiala

Jalandar

Mandi Govind Garh

Chandigarh

Panchakula

Ambala

Amritsar

Batala

Jamu

Jalandhar

Patankot

Manimajra

Kharar

Himachal Pradesh

Shimlal

Miscellaneous

Guntur

Anantapur

(end)

From Back to Godhead

By Bhurijana Dasa

Duty calls a prince to leave his spiritual practices in the
mountains and set an example of real renunciation as a king.

Perhaps you’ve heard a tale of some wealthy person who renounced this world for the service of God. The Fifth Canto of the Srimad-Bhagavatam relates another kind of story: that of an adept renunciant who becomes a king on the order of the Supreme Lord. Can he resist the pleasures of palace life? Can he spiritually survive? What can today’s man of the world learn from Priyavrata a royal renunciant at the dawn of civilization?

Because Priyavrata was interested in spiritual truth far beyond regality, treasures, and intrigues he had allowed his younger brother. Uttanapada, to become king. After Uttanapada’s death, Svayambhuva Manu, the father of Priyavrata and Uttanapada, ascended Gandhamadana Hill to persuade Priyavrata to renounce renunciation and rule the kingdom.

As father and son met, Priyavrata’s teacher, the sage Narada Muni, listened attentively. Around them were grassy slopes dotted with blossoms of red, purple, and blue. The clear water in a nearby lake rippled as waterfalls spilled from mountain peaks. Other peaks stretched back in the distance. Soft, pleasant breezes were blowing.

Manu spoke first: “Rule the kingdom. Take charge. The scriptures reveal this as your duty. You have a grave responsibility to uphold, and none but you can do it.”

As a dutiful son, Priyavrata was inclined to accept his father’s order. Yet he was fearful. He knew of material life. Despite its promise of grandeur and thrills, it’s doomed. So, why get involved? Why become attached? Priyavrata fully understood the folly of material attachment, yet he still feared pitting the strength of his realization against maya, the potent mystical force that rivets one to the temporary. even against one’s better judgment.

Priyavrata felt himself fortunate to be in training under Narada Muni, a pure devotee of Krsna. Residing peacefully with Narada on Gandhamadana Hill, Priyavrata did not welcome exchanging his wealth of Krsna consciousness for an insignificant kingship within a doomed world. He thus thought it wise to remain aloof, fixed in renunciation. Priyavrata, therefore, conscientiously inquired from Manu, “I foresee my spiritual life deteriorating by accepting such a great earthly responsibility. If I take up the kingship as you are requesting, might it not divert me from my devotional service to Krsna?”

When Manu heard Priyavrata’s reply practically a refusal he felt hopeless. Who else could rule the kingdom? Would he, in his old age, have to reoccupy the imperial throne to protect the welfare of the citizens?

As Manu sat perplexed. Lord Brahma, a pre-eminent spiritual authority and the father of Narada and Manu. arrived on Gandhamadana Hill. Startled, Narada, Manu, and Priyavrata at once stood up, spontaneously joining their palms in reverence. They intoned the appropriate Vedic hymns and offered gifts. Thus, according to the facilities available on Gandhamadana Hill, they affectionately welcomed Brahma.

Brahma glanced benignly at Narada and Manu to show his appreciation for their hospitality and then turned to the renunciant prince and smiled compassionately. “My dear Priyavrata, please listen carefully. I come carrying Lord Krsna’s order. For your true welfare, accept the Lord’s desire as your own. You, as well as all others, are His eternal servant. Even I must carry out the orders of the Supreme Lord, as must Manu and Narada.”

How different is Brahma from modern leaders! Instead of carrying forward injunctions of God. today’s leaders hold proudly to their independent skepticism, which measures progress in skyscrapers, superconductors, and bombs. And we followers blindly submit! If we continue to heed those whose promises feed our whimsical albeit cherished fantasies, our lives, wasted, will end in emptiness and despair. On the other hand, if we break from contemporary conditioning and act according to the authority and desires of Krsna. our path to perfection will be set.

But today, are trustworthy spiritual authorities available? Or should each of us fathom God’s desire by obeying the subtle voices within? Quite a dangerous proposition, as, after all, much disturbance and downright evil has been perpetrated upon the world by misanthropes convinced that they carry the will of the Lord. Brahma suggests nothing so impractical to Priyavrata, as he continues to enlighten him:

“As a blind man travels best when led by a person with perfect vision or as a yoked bull pulls most effectively when commanded by his driver, one achieves the foremost benefit from life by accepting the authority of Krsna’s desire, as it is revealed through the Vedic scriptures, such as the Bhagavad-gita and the Srimad-Bhagavatam, and through the words of pure spiritual masters.”

Although Priyavrata readily accepted the wisdom of Brahma’s instruction to dutifully work under the authority of Krsna as it descends through scriptures and spiritual masters, he nevertheless remained puzzled. Which authority should he follow? His guru, Narada, had previously advised him to remain renounced, free from material affairs, and now Brahma, the teacher of Narada, was hinting that he acquire an entire kingdom with its accompanying entourage of queens, princes, and palaces.

Krsna unravels the seemingly inherent contradiction between spiritual life and interaction with the material world in the Bhagavad-gita (18.66). The Lord explains to Arjuna:

sarva-dharman parityajya
mam ekam saranam vraja
aham tvam sarva-papebhyo
moksayisyami ma sucah

“Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender to Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear.” Thus the test of whether an activity is spiritual or material, contaminating or purifying, fit to discard or worthy to continue, is simply whether that activity is congruous with Krsna’s desire. If it is, then the work is spiritual, purifying, and will draw one closer to perfection. If not, that activity, even if appearing glorious, is contaminating and will weave one tighter within the cloth of material existence.

The solution to Priyavrata’s dilemma? Neglect neither authority. Narada had taught Priyavrata to remain renounced; Brahma instructed Priyavrata to become king. Staying renounced while interacting with the material world as a king requires spiritual intelligence. Sri Rupa Gosvami, a great teacher in the disciplic line from Brahma, has defined intelligence as the ability to use matter in the service of Krsna. Since when we die we leave behind all possessions, nothing really belongs to us. A true renunciant, therefore, does not “renounce” what he doesn’t possess, but rather applies all to the service of Krsna, the universal proprietor.

“Do not use your position as king for your own pleasures.” Brahma continued, “or you’ll achieve another material body and thus remain trapped within the web of material suffering. Become king, but as Krsna’s servant. Fix your mind upon pleasing Him. Become distracted neither by the kingdom’s delights nor by its griefs. Tolerate their comings and goings as they appear and depart of their own course. View both the pleasures and miseries as if they were last night’s dream. Remain steady in Krsna’s service.”

“Beware, however,” Brahma warned Priyavrata, “of the mind and senses. If uncontrolled, they’ll arouse you to explore the temporary, entice you to squander your life, and drag you from your goal. Thus, fear not the kingship, but fear the real enemies: an uncontrolled mind and senses. Even if one renounces and travels from one secluded forest to the next, such enemies will cause great danger. On the other hand, even if married, a man who controls his mind and senses will be as secure as a king safely protected within mighty fortress walls. Even a life with wife and children will not harm a self-satisfied, learned soul.”

Controlling one’s mind and senses, as well as true renunciation, is automatically accomplished if one follows the rules and regulations of spiritual life and uses everything in Krsna’s service. “Therefore,” Brahma explained, “one can attain real shelter only by fixing one’s consciousness with devotion at the lotus feet of Krsna.”

But can a king. or even a contemporary man surrounded by earthly pleasures. neglect his selfish and sensuous desires and fix his consciousness with devotion on Krsna? Can he really use everything in Krsna’s service? Yes. if he strictly accepts the practice of chanting Krsna’s names. The key to success love of Krsna will naturally develop within his heart.

harer nama harer nama
harer namaiva kevalam
kalau nasty eva nasty eva
nasty eva gatir anyatha

“In this age of quarrel, there is no other way to attain spiritual perfection than chanting the holy name, chanting the holy name. chanting the holy name of the Lord.” As a plant grows when watered, our affectionate relationship with Krsna flourishes the more we chant His names. Thus our inclination to serve Him increases, whether we, by our fate, are sitting on a royal throne, on a mendicant’s woven mat, or behind a modern desk. We can thus act in pure consciousness, thinking, “I’ve been placed here by Krsna. How can I please the Lord through this work?”

With the help of Krsna. who lives within everyone’s heart, all impediments to this pure consciousness will be overcome. If we are eager to hear about Krsna, well learn from the scriptures how to recognize His existence everywhere. While drinking water we’ll reflect that He’s the taste that quenches our thirst. If we gaze upon a flock of birds in graceful flight well appreciate Krsna’s artistic sense. Well see ability as His gift, wisdom as a particle of His knowledge, and death as His unavoidable representative. All that is glorious within this world we will see as a minute fragment of Krsna’s energy, as we understand that the entire universe is sustained by His potencies.

As we hear about Krsna. we’ll also learn that as the supremely powerful controller. He has full capacity to perfectly please, maintain, and serve all His devotees. Thus we will clearly see the folly of limiting our love to the faulty relationships cramped within our workaday purview. And naturally our yearning to uncover our forgotten personal relationship with Krsna will increase.

To further enhance our yearning. Krsna tells us in the Bhagavad-gita (18.68-69),

ya idam paramam guhyam
mad-bhaktesv abhidhasyati
bhaktim mayi param krtva
mam evaisyaty asamsayah

na ca tasman manusyesu
kascin me priya-krttamah
bhavita na ca me tasmad
anyah priyataro bhuvi

“For one who explains this supreme secret [Krsna consciousness] to the devotees, pure devotional service is guaranteed, and at the end he will come back to Me. There is no servant in this world more dear to Me than he, nor will there ever be one more dear.”

Caitanya Mahaprabhu similarly implored. “Instruct whomever you meet to follow the orders of Lord Sri Krsna as they are given in the Bhagavad-gita and the Srimad-Bhagavatam. In this way become a guruand liberate everyone within your land. Follow this precept, and your life at home shall not obstruct your spiritual advancement.” Any sincere person who preaches according to this order of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu will achieve the Lord’s blessings and become unaffected by the material influences.

We can preach by speaking about Krsna, or we can incorporate our intelligence, money, ability, or time into preaching Krsna consciousness. If one is a scholar, scientist, philosopher, or poet, he can study the energy of the Lord and employ his learning to glorify the Lord’s supremacy. If one is an administrator or politician, he can establish the Lord’s supremacy through statesmanship. If one is a businessman, industrialist, or agriculturalist, he can spend his money for the cause of the Lord, thinking of money as Krsna’s and meant for His service.

Brahma then summarized his instructions to Priyavrata: “Seek the shelter of Krsna through carrying out His order. Thus you will always be protected by the Lord, just as a bee caught within the closed petals of a lotus flower is guarded from the blazing summer sun.”

Priyavrata’s brow wrinkled as he pondered Brahma’s words. As the seconds passed, the chirps and squawks of birds suddenly seemed prominent. No one moved. At last Priyavrata raised his head, and a deep smile spread across his noble face as he bowed to Brahma in dutiful submission. Priyavrata would be king. He had accepted Brahma’s order.

Manu first felt relief, then joy, and finally deep gratitude, as he began to worship Brahma. Narada and Priyavrata, satisfied and free from resentment, stood to watch Brahma as he departed.

Surrendered to the desire of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Krsna, Priyavrata left the solitude and peace of Gandhamadana Hill and began governing his kingdom. He ruled according to religious principles and protected the citizens as his own begotten children. Knowing his determination, thieves and rogues fled. His piety’ brought abundant rain and ample grains and fruits. No excessive taxes disturbed the citizens.

Priyavrata married, begot ten children with his wife. Barhismati, and trained them in pure devotional service. Externally he appeared like an exceptional, powerful king, enraptured by the beauty of Barhismati and entangled within the unlimited complexities, opulences, and powers of royalty, Internally. Priyavrata remained fixed in renunciation, his consciousness lovingly fastened to the lotus feet of Krsna.

After many years of ruling. Priyavrata, to teach us to avoid the fate of materialists who die thinking of wealth, wife, and home, lamented: “Alas, how condemned I have become! I have fallen into material enchantment My plight is as hopeless as that of a wanderer who has tumbled into a deep, forgotten well hidden within a farmer’s unplowed acres. I have been reduced to a dancing monkey in the hands of my wife. But it is finished. I have had enough!”

Thus, toward the end of his life. Priyavrata abdicated his throne. He rejected royalty and divided his opulent kingdom among his obedient sons. Freed from material aspirations and absorbed in heartfelt Krsna consciousness, he returned to the sanctified, simple life of a renunciant Priyavrata had triumphed. He had remained renounced and pure despite his royal position all because he understood the essence of the ancient art of work and dedicated his work completely to the lotus feet of Krsna.

50 HOURS OF KIRTAN IN HONOR OF 50-YEARS ISKCON
Simhachalam, Germany, Aug.11 - Aug.14, 2016.
We are very happy to invite you again to this kirtan event in Germany. In the mood of Srila Prabhupada, we are trying to organize a kirtan to change the vibration on this planet, and in that way strengthen our own devotion. The whole festival will be centered on singing the Maha-mantra. Throughout the day we will have different kirtan parties performing and bringing you to a deep personal experience in the chanting. There will be a nice, spacious temple room, and areas where devotees can discuss their experiences, meet the gurus and enjoy the atmosphere of the festival. We did our all to invite the best kirtan leaders to celebrate this festival with us. All of them are well known for their unique kirtan style. The whole 50 hours, they will lift us up to the transcendental platform.
Those who have already confirmed their participation:
HH Sacinandana Swami, HH Bhakti Vaibhava Swami, HH Kadamba Kanana Swami, HG Prithu Prabhu, HG Vayasaki Prabhu, HG Aditi Dukha Prabhu, HG Dina Sharana Mataji, HG Sarvatma Prabhu
Please check our website regularly for additional information. Thank you for considering attending this 6th Kirtan Mela festival in Germany. We hope you will join us in a happy mood this summer in Simhachalam. Please register as soon as possible on our website http://www.kirtan-mela-germany.de/index.php/en/ (see “Registration” option), the number of participants is limited.

Stoked Govindas Surfers Paradise has won best buffet on the Gold Coast. Unheard of for Vegan restaurants to win…
Here are some reviews:
Junglechick: This place is just incredible. I got the all-you-can-eat just so I could try everything and go back for my favourites! The kofta balls are sooooo good. The staff were wonderful and it’s got a great atmosphere. I’d 100% recommend it!!
Rico: I used to visit the previous Govindas in the Paradise Centre when they were vegetarian. They had excellent vegan food then, but for a long time it wasn’t always plentiful, until the owner started to see the light.
Since they went vegan last year, Hallelujah! - things are much brighter.
Take your pick from their buffet, which includes a separate salad bar. Hot dishes change, but go from vegetable curries and creamy potato bake to the staple kofta balls.
Eating in - that’s what i always do when i’m here - you can get a plate of food for $10 or an unlimited plate - that is, with all the refills you want - for $15. Incredible value!
Sadly, this is the only vegan place in glittering Surfers Paradise. But it’s definitely not a case of “Well, go there because there’s no other choice.”
The food is fresh, the staff are usually friendly, and the cost is low. Really, it’s a fantastic deal in Paradise!
EmmaBarr: The food in this restaurant is absolutely amazing and so delicious. Even my meat eating boyfriend loved it and was happy to go back numerous times. There is such good variety in the buffet and it is all delicious and unbelievably good value for money. I couldn’t recommend this place enough for vegans.
Kiwi Wannabe: Being both a vegan and a food lover, this place was a culinary paradise. At $12.90 for an all you can eat buffet, you can’t go wrong. I thought places like this only existed in my dreams ;-) Half of our group were meat eaters and they loved it too. 
Terrific array of hot and cold options as well as desserts in case you have room left. The staff were friendly and you could tell they really enjoy what they do. It’s just too bad we were visiting otherwise we’d come here all the time!
ChelseaHollins: I’m a pretty slim female and I think I continue to amaze staff/friends at how many times I can go back and refill my plate. It is just so good, it’s really hard to leave. Very cheap, the tofu salad is just amazing and I usually find salads boring.
Potato bake/Kofas/Pasta bake= yum! There’s not one thing there I wouldn’t happily fill my plate with. Their ginger juices are really amazing and have made my sore throats disappear in the matter of an hour.
Only bad thing about this place is they offer non-vegan lasso drinks (based on yogurt). Would be really great if they did this vegan, not just because I would buy it, but because I restrain from supporting non-veganism is anyway possible. But other than that it is just.. wow.
Read more reviews here: https://goo.gl/lzATOx
and here: https://goo.gl/p3mFUY
Their Facabook page: https://www.facebook.com/GovindasSurfersParadise/

Today’s blog is by HH Sacinandana Swami:

There is no death” wrote Herman Hesse, “only fear of death. But that can be cured.”

In the Srimad-Bhagavatam, King Pariksit who was cursed to die within seven days asked his exalted spiritual master Sukadeva Gosvami about overcoming the fear of death. Sukadeva gave a very practical answer in which he explained how one can transcend material consciousness and become fixed in god consciousness.

tasmad bharata sarvatma bhagavan isvaro harih
srotavyah kirtitavyas ca smartavyas cecchatabhayam

“….One who desires to be free from all miseries must hear about, glorify (do kirtan) and also remember the Personality of Godhead, who is the Supersoul, the controller and savior from all miseries.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 2.1.5)

Hearing about Krsna is the life-giving elixir for the soul in this world. By drinking it regularly you will first become aware of and then absorbed in the lord. This is called Krsna samadhi – attaining the level of Krsna and standing by his side. In his presence our soul will be illuminated and safe. Where the lord is, there is no fear!

Let me conclude with a text from the Srimad-Bhagavatam: “Therefore, O king Citraketu, carefully consider the position of the atma. In other words, try to understand who you are — whether body, mind or soul. Consider where you have come from, where you are going after giving up this body, and why you are under the control of material lamentation. Try to understand your real position in this way, and then you will be able to give up your unnecessary attachment. You will also be able to give up the belief that this material world, or anything not directly in touch with service to Krsna, is eternal. Thus you will obtain peace.” Srimad-Bhagavatam, 6.15.26

May all beings live in the peace of knowing who they are!