a.c. bhaktivedanta swami
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| Prabhupada Letters :: 1971 a.c. bhaktivedanta swami |
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Aug 12, 2006 Thursday, 12 August, 1971 London My Dear Sons, Please accept my blessings. Upon the recommendation of His Grace Visnujana Maharaja I have gladly consented to accept you three as my duly initiated disciples. Your beads are duly chanted on by me and are enclosed herewith. I have given the spiritual names as follows: Sankarasana Das (Stephen B.): Sankarasana is another name for Visnu. Parasara Das (Ron): Parasara was the father of Vyasadeva. Pulasta Das (Chris P.): Pulasta means name of a great sage. Visnujana Maharaja tells me that in his absence, while he is opening one center in San Antonio, you three boys are maintaining nicely there in Austin. So you are all very qualified and you have been trained up under the expert guidance of Visnujana Swami. So you should all work cooperatively to push on this movement there in Texas and make our Austin center a grand success. That is my request to you all. Always be engaged in Krishna's business and stay fit in spiritual life by strictly following the regulative principle, by chanting at least 16 rounds of beads daily and without fail, by studying all our books and by regularly going for street Sankirtana. These make for our very strength in spiritual life and if you will follow them faithfully then your going back to home back to Godhead will be certain. Hoping this will meet you all in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami letters | 19:00 | 12 August, 1971 London My Dear Giriraja, Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated 5th August, 1971 and have noted the contents carefully. So far the Mayapur program is concerned, if Indira Gandhi is not available, then forget this program. I have tried from here to induce the high commissioner for India to write Indira Gandhi, so we should do our best. If it is not possible, then there should be no ceremony. She has not flatly denied us. She said if she is on the Bengal side she would come. So find out the date when she will be on that side. So far as getting signatures of some big men in Bengal, Tarun Kanti Ghosh is a big congress leader so why he can't help in this connection? He must know Indira Gandhi very well personally. Gurudasa and Yamuna shouldn't go to Africa. I have already advised them. Rather Gurudasa and Tamala Krishna should go to Delhi and organize that center. There is much business there so I have advised them to go. The small Deity which Yamuna is receiving may be taken to Delhi in order to make the dharmasala a permanent center. Wherever we go, our Deities must be installed. So they may not go to Africa and waste time. Brahmananda has already gone there. We have got enough business in India. So it is better that Tamala and Gurudasa exert their energy for recruiting members in Delhi. That is still an open field. In Calcutta you are working very nicely so stick to Calcutta and do your best. I don't think that the coupon program will be very successful. It is a long term business. You will need 1100 men to collect 1100 rupees but if you convince one life member then that 1100 Rs. is there. So this coupon system is not congenial. They can be given to some reliable men to collect, though. For example one person takes 10 coupons and distributes them, returns with the money and takes another 10. In this way he is engaged and can distribute to his friends. But our men cannot do this work. That is not possible. It is nice if you can hold kirtana in factories and some foremen in the factory may deliver coupons also and we will collect the money. It is best to have such meetings on the salary payment day. Then it will be very easy for anyone to contribute Rs. 1/-. You should encourage Tarun Kanti Ghosh as much as possible. Give him daily a little prasadam and give him opportunity to hear Hare Krishna Mantra. That will induce him more and more to this movement. He has got an inclination to spread this movement but has not associated with good devotees. So if you give him a chance to associate with you then he may turn out to be a great help to our movement. Similarly Mr. Bajoria. The Deity should be gorgeously decorated with flowers, ornaments, and new dresses. I think in this connection Yamuna is very expert. For dressing at least Yamuna should be in charge and for offering of bhoga Dayananda may go on with his duties. At least two devotees should take care of the Deities constantly. If you are feeling tired, you may take rest. Your body is very valuable. It is dedicated to Krishna, so you must take care of the body very carefully. The best medicine is to rest and chant Hare Krishna Mantra, along with the doctor's prescription. Hare Krishna Mantra is bhavausadhi, the panacea for all material disease. Keep on with the practice of writing articles; in the midst of your heavy duties go on writing something glorifying the Lord and put our philosophy into words. Writing articles means to express oneself how he is understanding the whole philosophy. So this writing is necessary for everyone. We are making a very nice design for the Mayapur temple here and some expert men who know building well will go there to supervise. Henceforward all who go to India will have missionary visas. The high commissioner will help us in this connection. As soon as the plan is made, somebody will take it to India. At least four or five men will go there this month. Too many cooks spoil the broth. I have therefore asked Tamala and Gurudasa to go to Delhi for organizing a center there. Jayapataka can take care of the accounts and you and Revatinandana Maharaja along with other assistants be engaged in collecting funds. That will be nice. Tamala wants our accounts audited but I have asked for the trial balance and balance sheet, but Tamala is silent on this point. How things will be audited unless accounts are kept systematically according to the scientific accounting system? Scientific keeping of accounts is tested by the trial balance and balance sheet. GBC does not mean to control a center. GBC means to see that the activities of a center go on nicely. I do not know why Tamala is exercising his absolute authority. That is not the business of GBC. The president, treasurer and secretary are responsible for managing the center. GBC is to see that things are going nicely but not to exert absolute authority. That is not in the power of GBC. Tamala should not do like that. The GBC men cannot impose anything on the men of a center without consulting all of the GBC members first. A GBC member cannot go beyond the jurisdiction of his power. We are in the experimental stage but in the next meeting of the GBC members they should form a constitution how the GBC members manage the whole affair. But it is a fact that the local president is not under the control of the GBC. Yes, for improvement of situations such as this I must be informed of everything. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/adb letters | 18:59 | Aug 11, 2006 Wednesday, 11 August, 1971 London My Dear Gurudasa, Please accept my blessings. I beg to draw your attention to my last letter to you dated 28th July in which I pointed out that so many things are undone in India. Therefore it is not advisable that you go outside India at this time. So many matters are pending and how to get our books and BTG printed in Hindi also. I understand that sometimes you are going to Delhi with Tamala in a plane for visiting some officers but that is of no use. So my request to you now is that yourself and Tamala Krishna go to Delhi to organize a center there and make arrangements for printing our books and magazine in Hindi and recruit life members there also. I understand that you have been invited by Syama Dasi in Africa. I don't advise that you associate with her because she is sahajiya. To associate with her will hamper pure devotional service. Besides that you are going there for only one month after taking so much labor. What will be the profit? Will they contribute money for our Mayapur project? Unless our Mayapur project is finalized, I don't think any one of you can go outside of India. My advise is that Tamala and yourself immediately make arrangements for going to Delhi and organize that center nicely. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/adb letters | 18:58 | 11 August, 1971 London My Dear Sudama, Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated 4th August, 1971 and have noted the contents. I am very glad to hear that Karatieya Swami has changed his mind and is wanting to preach also. If he can go to South America that will be very nice. And he should take to preaching very seriously. A sannyasa should be strong minded, not childish. On 10th July, 1971 I sent you one letter in which there was an enclosure to be forwarded to Seiko watch manufacturers in Tokyo, but as of yet I have [PAGE MISSING] letters | 18:57 | 11 August, 1971 London My Dear Gargamuni Maharaja, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your very kind letter dated 31st July, 1971 and have noted the contents. I am so much encouraged to learn that you have come to Kathmandu, Nepal. Please try and organize a center there nicely. It will be a great credit for you. Nepalese are mostly Hindus and they will take to this Krishna Consciousness movement very easily. Simply you have to organize it nicely. Since I went to India I have had some correspondence with one Shekhar Prasad Shrestha (1/111 Dharam Bazar; Koshi Anchal; Nepal). He is very much wanting that we go there and open a center. So you can contact him and do the needful. Perhaps he will be able to help you in Kathmandu also. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/adb letters | 18:56 | 11 August, 1971 London My Dear Gopala Krishna, Please accept my blessings. I beg to thank you very much for your letter dated 8th August, 1971 as well as your Vyasa Puja offering, so nicely composed. I am sending it off to Satsvarupa for future publication. Also I have received your very generous contribution of $200.00 for the Mayapur project; $150.00 by check and $50.00 by cash, delivered this morning by Nandarani Devi upon her arrival here. One thing is that in the future all checks should be made out to some American bank, so that it can be easily cleared and deposited in my account at Bank of America in Los Angeles. The cloth, thermal underwear and pullover are also very nice and useful. Thank you once again. I am so glad to hear that everything is well for you. Hoping you are in the best of health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/adb letters | 18:55 | Aug 9, 2006 Monday, 9 August, 1971 London My Dear David R. Schomaker, Please accept my blessings and offer the same to your good wife Susan. I am in due receipt of your letter dated 3rd August, 1971 and have noted the contents carefully. Thank you very much for your kind appreciations of our Krishna Consciousness movement. I am so glad to hear that you have taken to devotional service and are finding it more and more enlivening. Simply if you will go on, following the prohibitive rules of: no meat eating; no intoxication, no illicit sex life and no gamblings. Regularly chant 16 rounds of beads daily and try to understand this philosophy by reading our books and referring any questions to the devotees there, then surely you will make rapid advancement in Krishna Consciousness. Of that you can be sure. And as far as possible try and associate exclusively with the devotees there. That is strongly recommended for one who is serious to make advancement in spiritual life. So far naming your child is concerned, you as her parents should give her a suitable name and you can add the prefix bhakta dasi, or servant of the devotee, as are we all. Then when she grows up and takes initiation from a bona fide spiritual master, she may be given a new name at that time. I am so glad to note that both you, husband and wife, are qualified to teach and are anxious to do so in one of our community situations. That will be very nice. So if you like, you can make suitable arrangements for going either to Texas or to New Vrindaban, where they may have need for such qualified teachers. So correspond with those centers and find out if it is possible. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami letters | 18:55 | 9 August, 1971 London My Dear Vaikunthanatha and Saradia, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 26th July, 1971 and have noted the contents carefully. Previously I had written you one letter on 24th July, and I hope that you have received it by now. Just now I have come to London after spending two weeks in N.Y. Both these centers are doing very nicely. Also, when I was in Los Angeles, Krishna das came to see me from San Francisco. He was having some doubts but now he is all right and has again begun making plans for going to Moscow. He is very enthusiastic about it. So far Nara Narayana is concerned, presently he is applying for missionary visa so that he can go to Mayapur and help with the construction work there. So he won't be able to go to Trinidad. But you write to say that you are trying to get the use of one of many old temples there for an ISKCON center. That will be very nice, so try for it. BTG and book distribution is going on so nicely there. Especially continue this program enthusiastically. It is so much encouraging. I am so much grateful to you both, husband and wife, that you are so much helping me to fulfill the order of my Guru Maharaja and surely Krishna will give you all facility for making our Trinidad center a grand success and surely He will bless you more and more. Just as soon as you have secured a nice temple and have organized a nice program, I will be glad to come and visit there. That will be very nice. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/adb letters | 18:54 | 9 August, 1971 London My Dear Indira, Please accept my blessings and offer the same to your good husband Vamanadeva Prabhu. I am in due receipt of your letter dated 22nd June, 1971 and just now received by me here in London. I have noted the contents with great interest and especially the very encouraging photographs of your Tulasi Devi garden. You are doing one of the best of services by cultivating Srimati Tulasi Devi so nicely. And she is growing so profusely. That is a sign that you are a great devotee because Tulasi Devi thrives on devotion. Thank you very much. From Hawaii we cannot bring in Tulasi Devi but from St. Louis, she can be sent everywhere. That is very nice. So when you make a big profit what you will do with the money? So you should induce other centers to cultivate Tulasi. One circular should be sent to every center that they should import Tulasi Devi from either St. Louis or Hawaii and at every offering of bhoga to the Deities there must be one Tulasi leaf on the plate. The leaves may be ordered from St. Louis or Hawaii and as soon as possible each center should arrange to care for Tulasi Devi nicely according to the instructions of you or Govinda Dasi who have both become expert. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/adb letters | 18:19 | Aug 8, 2006 8 August, 1971 London My Dear Madhukantha, Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated 2nd August, 1971 and have noted the contents. So far as your getting yourself married, I have no objection provided you agree to some points. First of all you must promise that you will not separate under any circumstances. This marriage is serious business and not to be taken lightly. There is no question of separation in Krishna Conscious marriages. Therefore I am asking all those who want to be married that they sign one paper promising that there will be no separation. Karandhara Prabhu can be consulted in this connection and he should draw up such document in the manner Rupanuga has done in N.Y. Then, if you are feeling able to handle the responsibilities of grhastha life, you can go ahead with the ceremony immediately and with my blessings. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/adb letters | 20:34 | Aug 7, 2006 Saturday, 7 August, 1971 London My Dear Citsukhananda, Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your very encouraging letter dated 28th July, 1971 and have noted the contents carefully. I am so glad to hear that you have gone to Mexico City with Jan and Bhutavhrt Prabhus and have rented a nice house in the central part of the city. From your description I can tell that there is great field for spreading this Sankirtana movement there and if you are sincere and determined in your efforts then surely Krishna will give you all facility. So go on and do things nicely and work very hard to make our newly formed Mexico City branch a grand success. Keep in contact with me occasionally by mail and as soon as you have established yourself nicely there, then as soon as I find opportunity I shall visit Mexico City. Hoping this will meet you all in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/adb letters | 15:51 | 7 August, 1971 London My Dear Acyutananda Maharaja, Please accept my blessings. I beg to thank you for your letter dated 8th July, 1971 and have noted the contents carefully. I am very glad that at least one cottage is set up in Mayapur in our own land so that when I go back again I shall be able to stay there at your care. Mayapur construction will be of grand scale and Tamala wishes that the 1 matter be given to a big contractor, but I think we should do the construction ourselves. Just like my Godbrothers have also constructed big big temples but did not appoint big contractors so far I know. If required I can send somebody expert in construction work to supervise the work there nicely. You are now acquainted with the local market. So I think that if we supervise the building construction work that will save great amount of money. You consider on these points and let me know your views by return mail. Regarding your proposal of a Rathayatra festival as Bhaktivinode Thakura suggested, you may kindly send me a note telling in which book the above statement is there. I shall be very glad to see the article you have written in this connection and if it is ready please send it to me immediately. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/adb letters | 15:50 | 7 August, 1971 London My Dear Hamsaduta, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 3rd August, 1971 and have noted the contents. I am glad to learn that you have now come back to Hamburg. Originally you were there for organizing our movement in central Europe. Now, due to your absence so many things have happened. Krishna Das has left. Your duty is here in Europe. Whatever done is done. You organize there nicely, and stick to that place. Krishna Das has been advised to go to Russia. Presently he can be reached care of San Francisco temple. So be in correspondence with him and help him to get to Moscow. He is very enthusiastic to go there. So stay in Europe and help others--Germany, France, Holland, and organize things nicely. The Kabul proposal sounds very nice and hippies are already there. If you begin your movement with hippies, then gradually the local inhabitants will take interest. Caitanya Mahaprabhu wanted that in every town and village this cult would be spread and the hippies are already spread all over the world and they are our best customer. These hippies are simply frustrated and want something sublime. So we are delivering this sublime movement all over the world and if we do it cautiously and carefully surely we will be successful. Brahmananda has already gone to Kenya and the response has been very favorable. I hope he will do something tangible there. Hoping this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS/adb letters | 15:49 | |
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