ISKCON Deity Darshan - 10.07.2012

Essence of Sadhana Bhakti

The essence of sadhana bhakti is to carefully consider and follow the path displayed by the previous and the present mahajanas (great personalities). One should not neglect the practice of remembering the pastimes of the Lord, for devotional service should be performed with the mind as well as the body. 

--Srila Narottama Dasa Thakura
Sri Prema-bhakti-candrika 2.2

 

Remembering Srila Prabhupada

Srila Prabhupada held a final meeting with his disciples in the afternoon, granting, as he had done the year before, the entire assembly of devotees darsana in his room. Srila Prabhupada sat on his ornate wicker asana below the stained-glass windows. On Prabhupada's right sat Pusta Krsna; on his left, Hari-sauri.

Devotees and guests filed into the room, placing various gifts on Prabhupada's desk -- donations of money, baskets of fruit and nuts wrapped in coloured cellophane, jars of honey, dishes of sweets, and bouquets of flowers.

The mood was happy and festive. Newly-initiated Hari dasi presented her young daughter before Srila Prabhupada, asking if he could give the child a spiritual name. Prabhupada spoke up softly. "Puspa," he said.

The pair offered their obeisances and sat down.

It appeared Hari dasi had started a trend. Girimakha approached Srila Prabhupada with the same intention. "Can you give my daughter a spiritual name?" he asked.

Prabhupada smiled. "You can call her Rose."

Girimakha looked astonished. "What sort of name is that, Srila Prabhupada?"

Prabhupada answered Girimakha with a slight twinkle in his eye. "It is the name of a flower."

When everyone was seated and the room quiet, Prabhupada spoke encouragingly to the young men and women who sat before him. The orders of the spiritual master, he explained to them, were first and foremost in a devotee's life. One should become perfect and then help others to become perfect. This, he continued, was real preaching. "Amara ajnaya guru hana tara' ei desa. Become guru, and try to make others guru. This is the desire of Lord Caitanya."

Prabhupada stressed that the Deity worship should go on without any reduction in standards. "Remain humble and enthusiastic," he said, "and go on worshipping the Deity, gorgeously."

Prabhupada ended the darsana by asking for questions. One young girl asked, "Should we always do what the temple authorities say?"

"Yes," answered Srila Prabhupada.

"In all circumstances?"

"Yes."

Gopikanta raised his hand, and asked, both as an affirmation of his service as a full-time book distributor, and for the benefit of others, "We know there are many things that please you, Srila Prabhupada. We would like to know what would please you the most."

Prabhupada's reply was brief and to the point. "Understand Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam, become perfect and distribute this knowledge to your fellow countrymen."

Prabhupada drew the darsana to a close. Since no auspicious event would be complete without distribution of prasadam, Prabhupada personally handed a sweet to each devotee as they slowly filed past. They thus happily received Krsna's mercy in the shape of coconut balls, laced not only with sun-dried currants and honey, but also with the potent blessings of Krsna's pure devotee.

- From "The Great Transcendental Adventure" by HG Kurma Prabhu

Vrindavan Daily Darshan - July 09, 2012

Brhad mrdanga. It must be beat

Sunday, 25 April 1976

Before his massage, Srila Prabhupada sat with his senior disciples. He was happy to hear that four or five new men had started coming regularly to the temple since his arrival last week, and had commenced to regularly chant on beads. He also expressed his pleasure to hear that the book distribution was going on well in Melbourne. But he wondered why Guru Krpa had not been encouraging parties of travelling book distributors to visit the country areas of Australia like they had done under Madhudvisa Swami. Guru Krpa explained that, apart from sending devotees overseas to raise funds for various projects, he preferred to keep the bulk of his men in Melbourne. Prabhupada told Guru Krpa, "We make no distinction between big city and village."

"But we can get more people to the temple and make more devotees if we concentrate on it," explained Guru Krpa.

But Prabhupada saw with a broader vision. "Brhad mrdanga. It must be beat," he said. "It is better for them to assimilate the knowledge by reading than to come, and for some time sentimentally chant and dance. That will have a permanent effect. Even if they get a small book, it will be very beneficial."

- From "The Great Transcendental Adventure" by HG Kurma Prabhu

'Just continue Chanting; All problems will be solved'- Srila Prabhupada

Srila Prabhupada visited the Hyderabad farm for two weeks during December 1976. He had a lot of hope for the project and had assigned three managing trustees—Mahamsa Swami, Hamsaduta Swami, and myself—to get it going. Unfortunately, due to miscommunication, paranoia, and a desire for control, there were big misunderstandings building up between Mahamsa Swami and the two of us.

Srila Prabhupada tried to mediate, sometimes jolting me with statements such as “Do not be bureaucratic” and even instructing me to “go out in back, fight it out with Mahamsa like cats and dogs, finish this up, and get the project going.” We all felt frustrated and wanted a solution, but we were not talking with each other.

One day, looking for solace, direction, and inspiration, we all—separately but at the same exact moment—reached the door to Srila Prabhupada’s room. When we entered, we were astounded by what we saw: The sun was shining through the window, bathing Srila Prabhupada with golden-white rays. His eyes were firmly closed but without strain or tightness. He sat upright behind his desk, on his cushion, his right hand in his bead bag. You could see how attentively he was fingering the beads, and you could hear their clacking as he rubbed them between his fingers. You could even see the bag’s cloth rustling around them. His face was serene, but there was every indication that he was fixed in hearing the holy name. As he chanted—Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare—his tongue rolled in his mouth and his lips moved in a circle. He seemed to be tasting something delicious, chewing it with care to savor every bit. His chanting was quite distinct; the words were clear and articulate, and he pressed down on each syllable. His head swung slightly side to side with a bit of an up-and-down movement.

Simultaneously, all three of us thrust our hands into our bead bags and joined His Divine Grace in japa. At least for the moment, we were united and transcendent to our differences. Together, as brothers, we watched him with wide-open eyes, delighting in this rare vision. After some time, Srila Prabhupada opened his eyes for a moment and without moving his head looked gently but seriously at us, one after the other, and pronounced, “Just go on chanting and all your problems will be solved.”

Srila Prabhupada’s disciple Tejiyas dasa sent me this remembrance, and I thought to share it with you. – HH Giriraj Swami

Real Purpose of ISKCON - Sadhu Sanga

“By service of the Absolute Truth, even for a few days, a devotee attains firm and fixed intelligence in Me. Consequently he goes on to become My associate in the transcendental world after giving up the present deplorable material worlds.” 
(SB 1.6.23)


With that firm, fixed intelligence we should remain focused on the goal of Krishna and not be distracted by the paltry pleasures and petty perturbations of this deplorable material world. It is deplorable because, although by nature we are eternal, full of knowledge, and full of bliss, the material world is full of ignorance and misery, and furthermore it is temporary. Also deplorable is that we come to the material world to forget Krishna and try to take His place. But when our intelligence becomes fixed on the goal of Krishna, we can go to Krishna and become His personal associate.


Sometimes there are problems. Of course, there are always problems in the material world; even in the association of devotees there can be problems. But we should not forget our real goal. Srila Prabhupada wrote, “Although there may be some difficulties within our society [ISKCON], these things are not very important. What is important is that we should simply fix our mind on Krishna’s lotus feet. This is His instruction in the Bhagavad-gita [man-mana bhava mad-bhakto]. So we associate with one another so that we can assist each other in hearing and chanting about Krishna. That is the purpose of our society, to assist each other in hearing and chanting about Krishna. This you will not find in the materialistic society, where all hearing and chanting is simply concerned with sense gratification. So, our desire is Krishna, and we want to go back home, back to Godhead, where Krishna lives eternally. So you simply follow my instructions as I have given them to you and surely your life will be a success.” (Letter dated November 22, 1974)


This is the real purpose of our society, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness: to become Krishna conscious—to chant and hear about Krishna and fix our minds on Krishna, mainly through the process of chanting and hearing in the association of devotees.

We should always keep in mind what is the purpose of our society. As Srila Prabhupada mentioned directly in his letter, and indirectly in the verse and purport, and throughout his books, it is to fix the mind on the lotus feet of Krishna and assist each other in hearing and chanting about Krishna and remembering Him. With that perspective we can make progress without being unnecessarily distracted by the petty problems, or so-called problems, of the material world—because we are fixed on the goal. We have to deal with the material world—we have to keep the body and soul together and to do so many things to live in this world. And we have to expand the mission of Krishna consciousness—that was very much Srila Prabhupada’s mood, gosthy-anandi. But again, as Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura said, “The best gosthy-anandi is a bhajananandi who preaches.” So when we actually experience that bliss, that ananda, in bhajana, in chanting and hearing about Krishna, we get the conviction and inspiration and potency to actually preach, to touch people’s hearts with Krishna consciousness.

So we should remain fixed on our goal and the process to achieve it. And as this verse says, after even only a few days of being engaged in the service of the Absolute Truth a devotee attains firm and fixed intelligence in Krishna and consequently, after giving up the present deplorable material worlds, goes on to become Krishna’s associate in the transcendental world.

— HH Giriraj Swami

The Yoga of Cow Protection

Cows with a calf produce milk in amounts far greater than what is needed or really healthy for her calf and will offer an abundant supply of milk to the human members of her family.

It’s easy enough to understand cow protection from the standpoint of yoga as an ethical philosophy: ahimsa requires us to refrain from violence against all living beings, not just human beings. But the first principle specific to cow protection in yoga philosophy is not really about cows; it’s actually about the engagement of bulls for the production of grains.

A cow doesn’t give milk unless she has a calf and half of all calves are bulls! And, as our friends at ISCOWP explain on their website:

“The expense of feeding the bulls will be a deficit to the farmer unless he realizes their potential for alternative energy by employing them in tilling the fields and hauling. Otherwise, the farmer, in most countries throughout the world, acquires his economic profit by selling them for meat either directly to the slaughterhouse, the meat industry’s feedlots, or to the veal industry where he lives a short life crammed into a small crate not much bigger than him.

The modern system of agriculture does not realize the alternative energy potential of the bull calf nor the variety of useful bovine dung and urine products (fertilizers, compost, pest repellent, medicines, cleaning products, and biogas fuel to name just a few). Therefore, slaughtering becomes the only economically viable means of management. Most people, accustomed to this viewpoint and seeing no alternative, will throw up their hands and agree, even if they prefer a less violent solution. This is only because they don’t have the facts. They don’t know that the overall value of the ox is greater when he is utilized for work than when he’s slaughtered for meat, and even when not productive a cow or ox produces useful urine and dung.”

An ideal social structure that supports the practice of yoga is one that’s local and sustainable, one in which we eat food that grows where we live, one that’s free from the many downsides of technology and industrialization such as polluting fossil fuels, poisonous pesticides and chemical fertilizers, and artificial economics that tilt the playing field against small, family farms. The protection of cows is not merely a religious sentiment nor is it just a matter of avoiding the bad karma associated with needlessly killing innocent animals: it’s a means to secure the highest benefit for human society, both material and spiritual.

Protecting the Cow

These are nice instructions for milking a cow. The cow must first have a calf so that out of affection for the calf she will voluntarily give sufficient milk. There must also be an expert milkman and a suitable pot in which to keep the milk. Just as a cow cannot deliver sufficient milk without being affectionate to her calf, the earth cannot produce sufficient necessities without feeling affection for those who are Kṛṣṇa conscious. Even though the earth's being in the shape of a cow may be taken figuratively, the meaning herein is very explicit. Just as a calf can derive milk from a cow, all living entities — including animals, birds, bees, reptiles and aquatics — can receive their respective foods from the planet earth, provided that human beings are not asat, or adhṛta-vrata, as we have previously discussed.


(Condition of Cows at Modern Dairy Farms)

When human society becomes asat, or ungodly, or devoid of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the entire world suffers. If human beings are well-behaved, animals will also receive sufficient food and be happy. The ungodly human being, ignorant of his duty to give protection and food to the animals, kills them to compensate for the insufficient production of grains. Thus no one is satisfied, and that is the cause for the present condition in today's world.

(Srila Prabhupada SB 4.18.9-10 Purport)

All problems; one solution - Krsna Consiousness

When there is a scarcity of grain, the government should follow the methods prescribed in the śāstra and approved by the ācāryas; thus there will be a sufficient production of grains, and food scarcity and famine can be checked. Bhagavad-gītā recommends that we perform yajña, sacrifices. By the performance of yajña, sufficient clouds gather in the sky, and when there are sufficient clouds, there is also sufficient rainfall. In this way agricultural matters are taken care of. When there is sufficient grain production, the general populace eats the grains, and animals like cows, goats and other domestic animals eat the grasses and grains also. According to this arrangement, human beings should perform the sacrifices recommended in the śāstras, and if they do so there will no longer be food scarcity. In Kali-yuga, the only sacrifice recommended is sańkīrtana-yajña.



In this verse there are two significant words: yogena, "by the approved method," and dṛṣṭena, "as exemplified by the former ācāryas." One is mistaken if he thinks that by applying modern machines such as tractors, grains can be produced. If one goes to a desert and uses a tractor, there is still no possibility of producing grains. We may adopt various means, but it is essential to know that the planet earth will stop producing grains if sacrifices are not performed. The earth has already explained that because nondevotees are enjoying the production of food, she has reserved food seeds for the performance of sacrifice. Now, of course, atheists will not believe in this spiritual method of producing grains, but whether they believe or not, the fact remains that we are not independent to produce grain by mechanical means. As far as the approved method is concerned, it is enjoined in the śāstras that intelligent men in this age will take to the sańkīrtana movement, and by so doing they shall worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead Lord Caitanya, whose bodily complexion is golden and who is always accompanied by His confidential devotees to preach this Kṛṣṇaconsciousness movement all over the world. In its present condition, the world can only be saved by introducing this sańkīrtana, this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. As we have learned from the previous verse, one who is not in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is considered a thief. Even though he may be materially very advanced, a thief cannot be placed in a comfortable position. A thief is a thief, and he is punishable. Because people are without Kṛṣṇa consciousness, they have become thieves, and consequently they are being punished by the laws of material nature. No one can check this, not even by introducing so many relief funds and humanitarian institutions. Unless the people of the world take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, there will be a scarcity of food and much suffering.
(Srimad Bhagavatam 4.18.8 Purport)