hare krishna

Yes, but they are not ordinary, conditioned beings. They are mad with love for Krishna. And even if they think 'my Krishna', its the self same Krishna they're all thinking of.
What I mean is that the absolute truth, Brahman, is 'one without a second'. Truth is truth; the individual understanding of Truth is relative, unless one is fully realized.

 

i love Krishna dasa's recordings...i have them all...
http://www.krishnadas.com/main/main.html

if possible, get his cd "Pilgrim Heart" or "Live on Earth"

 

I might just...I absolutely love the one I'm listening to right now...I esp love Kainchi Hare Krishna...the way that he presents the maha mantra is soo beautiful and joyous...

 

On the subject of music, I like 'Krishna Lila' by Cheb i Sabbah -


You can get info on this at

www.chebisabbah.com/

A blend of traditional Indian, and modern electronic - and a very successful one in my opinion.

 

Allah haz spoken 4 Ohshama, an Ih type this 4 the ultimate religion.


one religion HAIR

 

agree Black Bill, the brijabhasis think "my Krishna" but the experience is one of "our Krishna" all are swimming in a joyous love while the conditioned sectarianist thinks "my God" and all over the world, all the my God's battle in war

it will be a great step towards world peace when all see that "my God" is "our God"

 

gracias...i'm always looking for new music...will check out

 

I agree.

 

Nitai: "Thus consciously engaged in devotional service in the association of devotees, a person gains distaste for sense gratification, both in this world and in the next, by constantly thinking about the activities of the Lord. This process of Krishna consciousness is the easiest process of mystic power; when one is actually situated on that path of devotional service, he is able to control the mind."

Prabhupada:



bhaktya puman jata-viraga aindriyad
drsta-srutan mad-racananucintaya
cittasya yatto grahane yoga-yukto
yatisyate rjubhir yoga-margaih


So the whole process of understanding the Absolute Truth... Absolute Truth means the Supreme Person, the Supreme Being, Absolute. There is no contradictory. Krsna and Krsna's name, Krsna's form, Krsna's activities, Krsna's paraphernalia, Krsna's attributes--everything Krsna. That is called Absolute Truth. There is no difference. Krsna and Krsna's form is not different. Krsna's hand and Krsna's leg not different. Just like we have got difference: this left hand is different from the right hand; the nose is different from the ear. We have got. Because this is called sagata-vigata-vibheda(?). Krsna hasn't got that thing. That is called Absolute. It is stated in the Brahma-samhita, angani yasya sakalendriya-vrttimanti. Angani, we have got different parts of the body, limbs, for different purposes. But Krsna can serve any purpose from any limbs of His body. Krsna can eat by seeing only. Krsna can go by thinking only. There are so many description that Krsna is Absolute. So these contradictory things, how one can understand of the Absolute? He is absolute, advaya-jnana. Absolute means no duality; everything is one.

So viraga, bhaktya puman jata-viraga aindriyad. Here our material disease is that we want to satisfy our sense. This is material life. The whole material civilization is going on, we have repeatedly said... Advancement of civilization means advancement of sense gratification. That's all. So bhakti means just the opposite. So, so long we are, I mean to say, very much interested in sense gratification, there is no question of bhakti. That is not possible. So we have to reduce the tendency for sense gratification by increasing our devotional activities. That is the process. Therefore it is said, bhaktya puman jata-viraga. Viraga, from where? Viraga means distasteful. Virakti. The other word is virakti: "No, no, I don't like." That is called viraga.

Raga means attachment, and vi means vigata. Vigata-raga. And from viraga--vairagya. Jnana-vairagya. This is wanted. Human life is meant for jnana and vairagya. Two things required. We are continuing this material existence on account of raga, attachment, attachment for sense gratification. That is the cause of material bondage. Material bondage means, we have explained several times, to accept one body, then create another body. We have got now this human form of body, and according to our, I mean to say, affection or infection to different qualities of the nature, we are creating another body. So in this way we are entangled. So unless we become viraga, viraga aindriyat, sense gratification... These different changes of body are being possible on account of sense gratification. Nature or God or Krsna will give me full facility. Just like in the Western countries especially, they are now trying to become naked, nudies. So nature will give them to stand naked like a tree, or tree, for many years. "You are so fond of become nudie. All right, you stand up here for ten thousand years without any dress." Nature will give you. Those who have no discrimination for eating--"Anything, damn rascal, let me. Give me. I will eat it"--"All right, then you can take the body of a pig and eat up to stool."

So nature will give you. Karanam guna-sango 'sya.



purusah prakrti-stho hi
bhunkte prakrti-jan gunan
karanam guna-sango 'sya
sad-asad-yoni-janmasu


Why we are getting different bodies? Because we have got different tendency for sense gratification. Indriya, aindriyat. This is the disease, material disease. Everyone has got tendency for sense gratification, but not all of them of the same type. They have got different types. So our material bondage means these different types of sense gratification. Therefore we have to stop this. We have to be detestful from this sense gratification. Then our spiritual life will begin. That is possible by bhakti.

Therefore here it is said, bhaktya puman jata-viraga. Bhakti is so powerful that if you engage yourself in the bhakti-marga or bhakti-yoga... Here it is said, rjubhir yoga-margaih. Rjubhih means very easy to perform. How? Now, drsta-srutan mad-racananucintaya. Drsta. You can see Krsna. Krsna is kind enough. Although Krsna is beyond our vision--we cannot see with these eyes Krsna--but Krsna has agreed to be seen by you or by us. How? He has assumed this arca-vigraha. Krsna, this vigraha--don't think it is stone. Even it is stone you think, but Krsna can become visible before you like a stone, because you cannot see beyond stone. That is Krsna's mercy. Because your eyes or senses are so imperfect that you cannot see Krsna present everywhere in His original spiritual... We have got difference between spiritual and material. We have got because we are imperfect. But Krsna has no such distinction. Because He is Absolute, He can become spiritual, He can become material, as He likes. That does not make any difference of Krsna. Then how Krsna is almighty, all-powerful? He can change matter into spirit, spirit into matter. That is Krsna. So don't think that, as the atheist class men, they think, that "They are worshiping an idol." Even it is an idol, still Krsna. That is absolute. That is absolute nature of Krsna. Even you think it is stone, it is metal, it is wood, still, He is Krsna.

So how He is Krsna, that will require your bhakti. Here it is said, bhaktya, anucintaya. If you are thoughtful, if you are philosopher, and plus bhakti, then you will understand that even Krsna is present here just like a stone, but stone is also Krsna. How stone is also Krsna? Now, Krsna says in the Bhagavad-gita,



bhumir apo 'nalo vayuh
kham mano buddhir eva ca
ahankara itiyam me
bhinna prakrtir astadha


Me prakrtih: "It is My nature." Bhinna me prakrtir astadha. So stone is another formation of earth. Earth, water, air, sky, mind, intelligence--they're all Krsna. Because Krsna says, bhinna me prakrtir astadha. (aside)That's all right. Get up. Nothing is different from Krsna. Everything is Krsna's energy. The Mayavadi philosophers, they think that "Because everything is God, everything is Krsna, then where is Krsna? Krsna is finished." But actually that is not. Krsna is Krsna; at the same time, He is everything. That is Krsna. That we can understand by bhakti. Therefore it is said, bhaktya. Bhaktya. In Bhagavad-gita also, Krsna said, bhaktya mam abhijanati. These things can be understood not by ordinary person without any devotion. One who is bhakta, he can understand that Krsna is everything and everything is Krsna. Krsna is everything--that is drsta. When a bhakta sees a tree, he sees Krsna. That is bhakta's vision.

It is explained in the Caitanya-caritamrta,



sthavara-jangama dekhe na dekhe tara murti
sarvatra haya nija ista-deva-sphurti


A devotee, sthavara-jangama... Sthavara means which cannot move. Just like tree, it cannot move, or a mountain, it does not move. And jangama means moving. Just like we are moving, animals are moving, and other, so many other, living entities, they are moving. So a advanced devotee, he sees both of them, the standing, immovable and movable, but he does not see immovable or movable; he sees Krsna. There is another statement in the Brahma-samhita, premanjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena santah sadaiva hrdayesu vilokayanti. Sadaiva means always. Sada eva, sadaiva. Who sees? Now, one who is devotee, one who is fully absorbed in love of Godhead, premanjana-cchurita, or whose eyes are anointed with love of Godhead. Not this eye. Premanjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilo... That bhakti required. Premanjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena. Santah, saintly person, sadaiva hrdayesu vilokayanti. That is the position of santah, always seeing Krsna. He does not see anything else except Krsna everywhere, but in everything, everywhere, the energy of Krsna.

 

I will give you a practical example. If you love your child, if you see the shoe of the child, immediately you see your child. If you see the toy of your child, you see your child immediately. If you hear the voice of your child, immediately you see the child. This is practical. Similarly, if you have actually developed love of Krsna... And Krsna has explained that everything is expansion of His energy; therefore nothing exists except Krsna. And if you have developed your love for Krsna, whatever you see, you will see Krsna. That is called bhaktya. Bhaktya, drsta, and sruta. Sruta means Vedic literature, sruti. You hear from authentic literature. Just like in the Brahma-samhita it is stated, cintamani-prakara-sadmasu kalpa-vrksa-laksavrtesu surabhir abhipalayantam. Now, apart from Brahma-samhita, we have heard, devotees have heard, that Krsna in Vrndavana used to go with His cowherd boyfriends in the pasturing ground. So hundreds and thousands of devotees are there in Vrndavana. They have not seen, but they have heard. They have not practically seen, but they have heard only. And they have seen the picture of Krsna with His boys, cowherd boys, or gopi friends. So a devotee can see and hear and immediately realize Krsna. That is possible because he has developed love. Premanjana-cchurita.

Unless one is advanced in krsna-prema, love of Krsna, he cannot see. He cannot understand. There is another verse in the Srimad... Atah sri-krsna-namadi na bhaved grahyam indriyaih. So these blunt senses... By these blunt senses even we cannot understand what is the name of Krsna, why these people are chanting Hare Krsna. We cannot understand. Atah sri-krsna-nam... Because Krsna realization begins from the name. Therefore name, Krsna's name, and Krsna is not different, absolute, but we cannot realize. But the practice, if you practice chanting Hare Krsna, then you will realize. Sevonmukhe hi jihvadau svayam eva sphuraty adah. When you actually, in devotional attitude, chant Hare Krsna mantra... Therefore it is advised that you should avoid the offenses in chanting. Then you will... By simply chanting Hare Krsna mantra, you will realize. Atah sri-krsna-namadi na bhaved grahyam indriyaih, sevonmukhe hi jihvadau. Jihvadau. Now, krsna-bhakti begins from jihva, from the tongue. People will be surprised, "How is that?" Yes. You can utilize your tongue simply by chanting and tasting krsna-prasadam. Then you will become krsna-bhakta.

Therefore it is so easy. Susukham kartum avyayam, in the Bhagavad-gita. Susukham kartum avyayam. To execute devotional service it is very easy and susukham, very nice and pleasing also. Just like this chanting and dancing. Even the child takes pleasure, what to speak of others? Others may be sophisticated, but a child is not sophisticated. When there is dancing and chanting, a child comes in front and he dances. Unless he feels pleasure, how does he do it? This is practical. He has not been taught, but he comes. As soon as he comes, he also takes part with the elderly person, chanting and dancing. And if you give him prasadam, he will also accept. Anyone will accept. Therefore in the Bhagavad-gita it is said susukham and kartum avyayam. Kartum avyayam. Avyayam means whatever little service you render, that is permanent settlement. If you come here and dance and chant or ring the bell or anything about the aratrika, if you see, drsta--anything you do, that is your permanent credit.

Therefore, for the common man, this chance is given. This temple is meant for that purpose, that people will come see the Deity. The Deity is Krsna. Don't think otherwise. Krsna has agreed to be dressed by you. If you think of Krsna, about His virad-rupa, you will fail to bring dress for that virad-rupa. His head is on the sky; another leg is on the Patala. That is also true. But you cannot conceive of Krsna in His virad-rupa and at the same time dress Him and give Him something to eat. That is not possible. Therefore Krsna has become so merciful. Here, of course, the Deity is very big. Not very big. In Hyderabad we have got three times bigger Deity, like... But you can have a small Deity. Many Vaisnava, they carry Deity with them, a small Deity in a small box, and they worship. So Krsna... Anor aniyan mahato mahiyan. He can become bigger than the biggest and the smaller than the smallest. That is Krsna.

 

So real thing is bhakti, bhaktya. Therefore it is said, bhaktya puman jata-viraga aindriyat. And the more you serve Krsna, serve Krsna... You give Krsna to eat; you give Krsna to be dressed nicely. Then you will forget dressing of yourself. Now see these devotees. They are dressing Krsna so nicely, they are satisfied with that dressing of Krsna. They are not very much busy for dressing themselves. This is bhakti-yoga, viraga. Everyone is very busy how to dress himself very nicely so that he may be attractive, but if you try to dress Krsna nicely, then you will forget yourself how to dress nicely. Is it not practical? Anyone will agree. These Vaisnavas, these boys, they are young boys. The girls, they are... They don't care for their dress because they are dressing Krsna. This is the way. You dress Krsna nicely. You give Krsna nice foodstuff. Then you will forget, "Oh, I will have to satisfy my tongue in this way and that way, by chop, by cutlet, by going to restaurant." You will forget. Therefore it is called bhaktya puman jata-viraga aindriyat. The materialistic persons, they are simply busy for satisfying the senses. Go to the hotel; satisfy the tongue. Go to the cinema; hear the cinema song, see nice girls, and so on, so on. But these devotees, they are not interested at all. The cinema is here, a few steps away, but you will never see a student or a disciple of Krsna consciousness will go to that nonsense place. Practical you can see. Why it has become possible? Bhaktya puman jata-viraga aindriyat. It is practical. The more you engage yourself in devotional service, the more you will forget your sense gratification process. And as soon as you become completely detestful for sense gratification, then you are liberated person, fit for going back to home, back to Godhead. This is the process.

So the bhakti gives you chance to see Krsna, as you can see now. On this seeing or any other kind of seeing, they are the same thing. There is no difference. When Arjuna was seeing Krsna face to face--Krsna was teaching Bhagavad-gita--that seeing of Krsna and when you read Bhagavad-gita, it is the same thing. There is no difference. Somebody, they say that "Arjuna was fortunate enough to see Krsna face to face and take instruction." That is not correct. Krsna, He can be seen immediately, provided you have got eyes to see. Therefore it is said, premanjana-cchurita... Prema and bhakti, the same thing. Premanjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena santah sadaiva hrdayesu vilokayanti. I will recite one story in this connection, that one brahmana in South India, in Ranganatha temple, he was reading Bhagavad-gita. And he was illiterate. He did not know neither Sanskrit nor any letter, illiterate. So the people, neighborhood, they knew that "This man is illiterate, and he is reading Bhagavad-gita." He is opening the Bhagavad-gita, "Uh, uh," like that he was. So somebody was joking, "Well, brahmana, how you are reading Bhagavad-gita?" He could understand that "This man is joking because I am illiterate." So in this way, Caitanya Mahaprabhu also happened to be that day in the Ranganatha temple, and He could understand that "Here is a devotee." So He approached him and He asked, "My dear brahmana, what you are reading?" So he could also understand that "This man is not joking." So he said, "Sir, I am reading Bhagavad-gita. I am trying to read Bhagavad-gita, but I am illiterate. So my Guru Maharaja said that 'You must read eighteen chapters daily.' So I have no knowledge. I cannot read. Still, Guru Maharaja said, so I am just trying to carry out his order and opening the pages, and that's all. I do not know how to read it." Caitanya Mahaprabhu said that "You are crying sometimes, I see." Then, "Yes, I am crying." "How you are crying if you cannot read?" "No, because when I take this Bhagavad-gita book, I see one picture, that Krsna is so kind that He has taken the chariot driver, sarathi, of Arjuna. He is His devotee. So Sri Krsna is so kind that He can accept the position of a servant because Arjuna was ordering, 'Keep my chariot here,' and Krsna was serving him. So Krsna is so kind. So when I see this picture within my mind, I am crying." So Caitanya Mahaprabhu immediately embraced him, that "You are reading Bhagavad-gita. Without any education, you are reading Bhagavad-gita." He embraced him.

So this is... How he was seeing the picture? Because he was a lover of Krsna, it doesn't matter, he could read these slokas or not. But he was absorbed in love of Krsna and he was seeing, Krsna was sitting there, and He was driving the chariot of Arjuna. This is required, not that education. Bhaktya mam abhijanati. Krsna said, "Not by passing M.A., Ph.D." Bhaktya: "Simply by bhakti." Bhaktya mam abhijanati yavan yas casmi tattvatah. And bhaktya, the practical example, if you become pure bhakta, then you will forget all this material sense enjoyment. Bhaktih paresanubhavo viraktir anyatra syat. This is the test of bhakti. But if you have got taste for material enjoyment and at the same time you advertise yourself that you have become a bhakta, that is not bhakta. One who knows who is a bhakta, immediately detect that "Here is not a bhakta." Ei dharma dadi.(?) He has got the tilaka and kanthi simply for advertisement. He is not a bhakta, because he has got material taste.

So the bhakti means bhaktya puman jata-viraga aindriyat. From indriya, this word has come, aindriya, "pertaining to indriya." Everyone in this material world is engaged in sense gratification. That is the only... The cats, dogs and so-called civilized man is simply nunam pramattah kurute vikarma, doing all kinds of sinful activities. Why? Yad indriya-pritaya aprnoti, simply for sense gratification. Simply for sense grat... This is material world. And spiritual world means there is no question of sense gratification. Simply they want to satisfy Krsna. That is spiritual world. Just like Vrndavana. What is the picture of Vrndavana? Vrndavana means there mother Yasoda, Nanda Maharaja, the Radharani, the gopis, the cowherds boys, Sridama, Sudama, the land, the water, the trees, the birds--everyone is trying to satisfy Krsna. That is Vrndavana. Vrndavana means nothing. When Krsna left Vrndavana for Mathura, all of them become dead. That is Vrndavana. Similarly, you can live always in Vrndavana, always in Vaikuntha, if you are mad after Krsna. That was the teachings of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. By His practical example, He showed. When He was in Jagannatha Puri, He was mad always, day and night. Last twelve years of His life was passed in madness. Sometimes He was falling down on the sea, sometimes somewhere, sometime, day and night, just like mad. ^

So of course, that is not possible. But that is sunyayitam jagat sarvam. When you will find everything vacant, govinda-virahena me, without Govinda, that is the highest state of devotional service. But that is possible. That is possible, that bhaktya puman jata-viraga aindriyad drsta-srutan mad-racananucintaya. If you become a bhaktya, you will find... Anything, creation, you will find Krsna's intelligence. If you take one flower and see the constitution, how this flower is made, how the color is displayed, how it has come into existence, if we are intelligent, we can see Krsna's racananucintaya, how Krsna has created intelligently. That is premanjana-cchuri... Actually, it is created by Krsna. Parasya saktir vividhaiva sruyate. Don't think like rascal, "It has come out automatically." Does thing come outs automatically? Why not your luci, puri, and everything comes automatically? Why you have to take so much trouble? No automatically. It has Krsna's hand, but you cannot see. You cannot see. But those who are learned, they can see. Parasya saktir vividhaiva sruyate svabhaviki jnana. This is the Vedic instruction. Everything, in every creation, there is hand of the Supreme Lord. Isavasyam idam sarvam. But one who has got eyes to see, he can see Krsna, anucintaya, by thinking, by thoughtful, not like rascal, "It has come automatically." Why? Nothing comes automatically. How it comes automatically? That is rascaldom. It has come through the intelligence of Krsna. But His power is so fine and so accurate that svabhaviki jnana-bala-kriya ca. If you paint one picture of flower, you will have to arrange for so many things. Still, it will not be perfect. And this flower has come so perfectly. Does it mean there was no brain behind it? You nonsense. There is brain. And Krsna says that mayadhyaksena prakrtih suyate sa-caracaram: "Don't think prakrti, nature, is working automatically, no. Under My direction." So one has to eye, one has to develop that eye. Premanjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena. Then one can see how things are going on. That is required, bhaktya. Bhaktya puman jata-viraga aindriyat. This will be possible. ^

So as you engage your indriyas, senses, in the service of Krsna, so it is very easy, that first of all you engage your tongue. Chant Hare Krsna and eat bhagavat-prasada! You will become perfect. Nothing, no other things required. That we are doing. We are distributing prasada and engaging people, "Chant Hare Krsna." This is Krsna consciousness.

Thank you very much. (end)

[741126SB.BOM] Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.25.26 Bombay, November 26, 1974 His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

listen to Prabhupada's lecture here:
http://www.krishna.org/RealAudio/74/74_102_A.ram

 

This was posted on a community and shared with me...its a very lovely article about the history of the Hare Krishna Movement...so I thought I'd share

Who are the Hare Krishnas?

"Wanna buy a flower?"

That's a phrase many of us are familiar with. Collectively we imagine some thin, bald white guy in saffron robes standing at the airport as he asks that very question. We know these people as the "Hare Krishnas". We have seen them in the airports and on the street corners dancing with tambourines and bells. We have seen them selling flowers, books, and even in some cases, baseball caps. If you listen to a Christian preacher speaking about cults invariably he will mention the Hare Krishnas. Yet, your average American can't tell you what these people believe. Are they really some 60s cult? Why the singing and dancing? Why don't they get a real job? Who are these people?

The Movement Comes to the West

If you ask these questions to the average American you will get many different answers. Most believe the Hare Krishnas originated in the 1960s as a product of the hippy movement. In truth the Hare Krishna movement was brought to the West in the 60s. A sixty-nine year old Indian swami (a teacher who has brought his senses under his control) by the name of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (picture here), or Srila Prabhupada for short, travelled to America in order to fulfill the orders he received from his own spiritual master some forty three years before.

His orders were to bring what he termed the "Krishna consciousness movement" to the West. So, with 40 rupees (slightly over $7 US), a box of dry cereal, one suitcase, and 5 cases that contained 200 copies of Srimad Bhagavatam first canto in three parts, Srila Prabhupada arrived on the cargo ship the Jaladuta at Boston's Commonwealth Pier on September 17th, 1965. During the 35 day journey on this steamship, Prabhupada had suffered not one but two heart attacks only to arrive at Boston Harbor with no contacts or supporters and what he later described as "hardly a day's spending money".

Sri Caitanya introduces the Maha Mantra

Srila Prabhupada was a guru, a spiritual master, who was the thirty-third guru in a disciplic succession that goes all the way back to the original form of God, Krishna, who visited India some 5,000 years ago. More recently in the lineage, Srila Prabhupada is the eleventh guru in disciplic succession from an incarnation of God known as Sri Caitanya who appeared in Mayapur, a quarter of the city of Navadvipa, India in the year 1486. Sri Caitanya swept aside the suffocating restrictions of the caste system and taught that love of God was possible for all people, no matter their caste or station in life. He taught that by the chanting of the holy names of God any person could develop love of God and eventually return back to the spiritual world. In his words,"harer nama harer nama harer namaiva kevalam kalau nasty eva nasty eva nasty eva gatir anyatha" which translates as "In this age of quarrel and hypocrisy, the only means of deliverance is the chanting of the holy name of the Lord. There is no other way. There is no other way. There is no other way."

To facilitate the chanting of the names of God, Sri Caitanya delivered a mantra to the people that is called the "Maha Mantra" which means "great chant". The Maha Mantra is composed of several holy names of God and is as follows: "Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare. Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare." It was the chanting of this mantra in the West that quickly caused Srila Prabhupada and his followers to be nicknamed "the Hare Krishnas".

The Gaudiya Vaisnava Movement is Born

As Sri Caitanya's movement caught on in Navadvipa, the local Muslim ruler by the name of Chand Kazi began to believe that the Krishna consciousness movement threatened the established order and therefore the peace of Navadvipa. He ordered his constables to raid the home of one of Caitanya's followers where they smashed the drums used during the chanting of the Maha Mantra. Then he outlawed the chanting and threatened to severely punish any that were found to disobey within the city. Upon hearing this, Sri Caitanya ordered the largest nonviolent act of civil disobedience that had ever been staged in India up to this time. At a prearranged date and time Sri Caitanya, along with one hundred thousand followers, flooded the streets of Navadvipa bringing the city to a screeching halt. As they danced through the city the sounds of the Maha Mantra reached a deafening roar.

This impromptu parade finally converged upon the palace of the Kazi who hid inside out of fear. At the request of Sri Caitanya, the Kazi appeared in order to carry out negotiations. Presenting a calm and logical argument, Sri Caitanya not only convinced the Kazi of their benevolence but eventually even made a convert of him. To this day the followers of Sri Caitanya visit the tomb of the Kazi and pay their respects. Even during Hindu-Muslim riots the chanting of the holy names was allowed within the city limits of Navadvipa. The branch of Hinduism that the followers of Vishnu (Krishna) belong to is called Vaisnavism. So, since the city of Navadvipa is in the Gauda region of India, his followers became known as Gaudiya Vaisnavas. Gaudiya Vaisnavism is the correct term for the "Hare Krishna movement".

Why Srila Prabhupada Brought the Movement to the West

The holy scriptures that Vaisnavas follow were written down 5,000 years ago after the advent of Krishna. These scriptures are called the vedas and instead of promoting a religion they promote a culture, a way of life commonly referred to as vedic culture or Krishna consciousness. It is this culture that Srila Prabhupada travelled across the ocean to bring to the West. He often lamented that in the West men are taught from vast storehouses of knowledge dealing with technology and science, but no one was teaching how to love God.

The hippy movement was evidence that even though the United States was the richest country in the world materially, it was spiritually bankrupt. People were taught they should love God but never given any clear instructions on how to develop that love of God. Therefore he brought the Krishna consciousness movement to a civilization yearning for spiritual knowledge and direction. Since the Krishna consciousness movement was not a religion but the science leading to love of God, Srila Prabhupada felt confident that he could teach the Westerners to love God, whether they called God by Allah, Jehovah, or any other of his many names.

In vedic society there are four "divisions of work" as set out by Lord Krishna: the brahmanas (priests), the ksatriyas (warriors/administrators), the vaisyas (farmers and merchants), and the sudras (workers). Srila Prabhupada was intent on not only distributing the knowledge of Krishna consciousness to the masses, but upon injecting the class of brahmana into western society. If the priesthood was alive and operating within western society then by their actions and dissemination of knowledge they could help lay the groundwork to introduce the other classes into western society as well.

 

Brahminical Culture is Introduced

Srila Prabhupada soon started an organization he named the International Society of Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) and went about establishing temples throughout the West to act as preaching centers for the dissemination of knowledge and spiritual insight. The brahmanas would live in these temples and rely on Krishna for their sustenance. If someone hears the holy names of God or gives in charity to the brahmanas to further Krishna consciousness they are rewarded spiritually and can progress in their journey back to God. So the priests would go out daily preaching, chanting the Holy names, distributing literature and accepting donations for the good of all.

Soon you saw these priests in airports and on street corners practically everywhere. They wore the traditional clothing and hairstyle as described in vedic literature. The color of the robe they wore was saffron indicating their celibacy and renunciation or, if the person was married or seeking marriage, white. They would shave their heads but leave a ponytail in back called a sikha. This was not only for cleanliness but indicated the person's submission to guru and the vedas. The hair is the crown of the head and by shaving it in such a way it showed that the person was more interested in cultivating spiritual life than fulfilling the desires of the flesh. (This hairstyle was even seen in early christianity which a sculpture in the Cathedral of Notre Dame from c. 1300 makes evident). Like Sri Caitanya and his associates 500 years before, these priests would dance and sing the Maha Mantra. The class of worker known as the brahmana had officially arrived in the West.

The Disappearance Day of Prabhupada and His Movement Now

After preaching in the West for eleven years, Srila Prabhupada passed away on November 14, 1977 at the age of 80. Devotees of Krishna say that was his "disappearance day" and do not say he died because, in actuality, since the soul is eternal, no one ever dies. By the date of his disappearance, Srila Prabhupada had translated and written commentary to the 18,000 verses of the Srimad Bhagavatam, the 700 verses of the Bhagavad Gita and the 11,555 verses of the Caitanya Caritamrta. He had created a monthly magazine, Back to Godhead, which at one point had a monthly distribution of over 1 million copies. He had initiated over 5,000 devotees, written over 7,000 letters to those disciples, established 108 temples across the world, travelled around the world 12 times and published 147 books, among many other things.

An article in the New York Times from 1998 estimates there are one million ISKCON devotees around the world. The major religion in Fiji is the Hare Krishna movement. Food for Life, which is the ISKCON food relief program, exists in over 60 countries and serves over 70,000 free meals daily. It is the largest vegetarian food relief program in the world. These days, brahmanas are in the minority in the Krishna consciousness movement. Your average Hare Krishna looks just like anyone else. As a matter of fact, you could even count the great grandson of Henry Ford among their ranks. One thing is for certain: these are the Hare Krishnas...and they're here to stay.
(About the Author: The author is the webmaster of his local ISKCON temple website and is aspiring to one day take initiation from the guru His Holiness Bir Krishna Maharaj).

 

for the record, maybe in the beginning the devotees wore their traditional garb but by the 1973, male devotees were wearing wigs and going in western garb at the airports and wherever they went so they were not recognizable as being devotees by appearance...and too, sold books without the buyer realizing what they bought...women as well wore western garb and so too were not recognizable as devotees... and too, while they did hand out flowers to raise money, if one failed to give a donation, the flower was asked to be returned...such fund raising practices drew much criticism both within and outiside of Iskcon...today, such practices are no longer used

 

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Bhakti Caru Swami and Book Distribution

"If there is any finger pointing to be done it should be toward those who created all the horrible scandals. To blame Swami Tripurari and other sincere book distributors for the bad reputation of ISKCON is simply ludicrous."

January, 15, 2001
From Bhakti Caru Swami's Email conference, Istagosthi.

"Srila Prabhupada was once told about Tripurari Swami selling a book to a lady by telling her that the book was about the power shortage in California?" Guru Maharaja (Bhakti Caru Swami) said, "I don't know in what context Srila Prabhuada was told that. These are misconceptions that caused so much damage to our society. In my opinion Tripurari caused the most damage to ISKCON. He destroyed book distribution. He introduced lying, changing up, cheating...and if he is so dear to Srila Prabhupada and loves Srila Prabhupada so much, then why did he leave him? Why did he leave ISKCON? These are not personalities to follow. I know that Srila Prabhupada was a very honest and noble man."

----------------------

Response from Brahma das,
January 20, 2001

Dear Bhakti Caru Swami,

Regarding the comments above posted on your Email Conference about Sripad Swami B.V. Tripurari and book distribution. These comments reflect society consciousness at its worst. If Swami Tripurari were a Guru in ISKCON you would not have singled him out. Being outside ISKCON makes him a convenient scapegoat. How book distribution affected the popular appeal of ISKCON began long before anyone named Tripurari was generally known. I joined the movement in 1972. I walked in the temple with sleeping bag in hand at 9am and by 11am I was in the street selling BTGs, long hair and all.

Even then people did not want to be bothered and they mostly just tried to avoid us. We chanted and that sometimes drew a crowd but people never lined up to buy books with money in hand like they did in India. Prabhupada set up the movement around book distribution. We were forced to sell books to support the temples. Every day on book distribution we faced a hostile crowd. If we met a few favorable people it made our day. And this was back in 1972. On top of the local pressure to sell books, Prabhupada wanted money for the India projects and funded them through the BBT. Prabhupada knew we needed some grandeur to be widely appreciated in India and he meant to accomplish this by impressive projects.

At the same time his hardback books were piling up in the warehouses. When Tripurari das brahmacari along with others developed the techniques to sell them Prabhupada was ecstatic. He named Tripurari Maharaja "the incarnation of book distribution" and ordered him to train us all to sell his books. You allude that Prabhupad did not know what was going on in the airports and how his books were being sold. This is not a fact. Swami Tripurari was in constant contact with Prabhupad and explained to him in detail the activities at the airport. Apart from that a number of leaders complained to Prabhupada about the techniques the distributors used and that the public was being alienated by book distribution. Prabhupad dismissed all their objections and strongly brought any dissidents into line.

And you should note he never chastised Tripurari Maharaja in any way about his techniques what to speak of the things you say about him. As a matter of fact Prabhupada often talked and laughed about how the books were being sold and even mentioned the energy crises incident above. Tripurari Maharaja taught the devotees how to present that the solution for every material problem from anxiety to world crises was solved in Prabhupada's books. This did not require lying because it is a fact. Eventually all leaders enlisted Maharaja to train the book distributors in their temple or zone. And in spite of complaints from the public and still from some devotees, Prabhupada pushed us even more. Around 1976 he wrote, "Practically I am whipping them to sell books."

Personally, I was also concerned about public perception so in a Vrndavana darshan I said to Prabhupad, "I think the people don't like that we are bothering them to buy our books and asking them for money." Prabhupad replied something like, "Yes, we are giving them a book about Krishna, taking their money and using it to build this beautiful temple.Then we are inviting them all to come and enjoy it. But instead they want to keep their money, build themselves a palace, and put a fence around it and then post a sign that says 'nobody can come in.' So who is in the superior position?"

From this it was clear to me that Prabhupada knew we were alienating people but he was willing to accept this in order to get the books out, support the temples and build the India projects. And it was evident that he trusted Tripurari Maharaja enough to personally give him sannyas over the objections of the GBC who wanted him to follow the mandatory two year wait called for in their resolutions.

Looking at all this in hindsight, I agree there were excesses and we could have done things better. But even if Miss Manners herself had personally trained us in book distribution etiquette, people would still have complained and fewer books would have been sold. No one likes being continuously bothered for money and that is what we did. At the time of Prabhupada's departure the Western public generally saw us as little more than a bunch of pushy, begging religious zealots. It was after Prabhupada was gone, when the great guru scandals hit the press that public perception changed from considering us simply pushy zealots to seeing the Hare Krishnas as a religious Mafia.

And now just when those old scandals were beginning to be forgotten the worst scandal of all has erupted about the schools. If there is any finger pointing to be done it should be toward those who created all these horrible scandals. To blame Swami Tripurari and other sincere book distributors for the bad reputation of ISKCON is simply ludicrous. We should consider what ISKCON would have been like with no book distribution. ISKCON would have consisted of neophyte devotees performing sankirtana and chanting japa while living in whatever small centers they could afford by selling incense and a few books to stores. Although there is nothing wrong with this picture spiritually, it was simply not Prabhupada's idea of dynamic preaching.

 

The grand projects that established ISKCON in India, the farms and beautiful temples in the West, as well as the prestigious international BBT with its various departments would not exist, as we know them today. Seeing things from this view I am confident that Prabhupada knew what he wanted and did what he had to do in order to see his books distributed and his great movement established. If public perception was the most important ideal to consider, than I don't believe Prabhupada would have sent us all out into the streets and airports to bother people to buy books.

I was one of those early airport distributors trained personally by Swami Tripurari. I never once regretted this service I had the privilege to perform for His Divine Grace and neither do most book distributors I know. Your sharp words against Swami Tripurari and book distribution are an insult to all that struggled under those adverse conditions to sell Prabhupada's books.

Those words should be rethought and retracted because they are untrue and reflect your incomplete knowledge of Prabhupada's feelings on the subject. Maharaja, I remember you as a very nice person with a good heart. You should also consider how those words affect the feelings of all those devotees who gave so much of themselves to fulfilling Prabhupada's desire.

It is now almost thirty years after we first began the great push to sell Bhagavad-gitas and Srimad Bhagavatams in the airports and malls of America. It was not an easy task but we did it and still most of us consider those book distribution days the best days of our lives.

Respectfully,
Brahma Das

======================

The name of the conference is: BCS Istagosthi

From: Bhakti Caru Swami
Date: 25-Jan-01
To: BCS Istagosthi

Dear readers,

Please accept my best wishes. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

I just got to know that the above statement (pertaining to Swami Tripurari) was printed in one of the writings by my secretary, Candrasekhar Acarya dasa. I feel extremely embarrassed that such a statement was broadcast in public. I am also extremely embarrassed that I made a statement like this. A godbrother of mine, Brahma Prabhu, wrote the above letter after reading what I said.

I am very thankful to him for correcting me. I also want to request you all not to harbor any negative opinion about Tripurari Maharaja due to my statement about him. As a matter of fact, I am in no position to say such a thing about him. During the early days of ISKCON, he was a great hero of our sankirtan movement. He was one of the pioneers of book distribution and he achieved a lot for Srila Prabhupada. From Brahma Prabhu's letter it will become obvious.

It is a pity that I forgot about all the wonderful things that Tripurari Maharaj achieved for Srila Prabhupada and made such a derogatory statement about him. I feel extremely embarrassed about my mentality and dealings.

I beg forgiveness from all the Vaisnavas whom I have offended by saying such a statement.

Bhakti Charu Swami

-------------------------------

January 25, 2001.

Dear Prabhus and Maharajas,

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. All glories to Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

With straw in my mouth, I prostrate myself at the lotus feet ofHis Holiness Tripurari Maharaja and all the Vaisnavas who feel offended about my reckless and most stupid statement in the BCS istagosthi.

I recieved the greatest chastisement from my spiritual master after he found out that I had posted this statement (which he regrets deeply, as evident in his own letter of apology posted on the conference yesterday.). I have already been punished by his words, and I pray to you all not to hold a grudge against me, because without the forgiveness and good wishes of the Vaisnavas, how can I go on in spiritual life?

Again, I offer my respectful obeisances to you, your Holiness Tripurari Maharaja, as well as to all the Vaisnavas who felt offended by this statement.

I remain,

Yours in the service of Nityananda Prabhu (the forgiver of the foolish), Candrasekhar Acarya dasa,
(BCS Istagosthi Conference Secretary)

 

Who is eligible to execute devotional service, bhakti? Those who are engaged in devotional service, they are not in the material platform. We should understand that. Yato bhaktir adhoksaje ahaituky apratihata. And bhakti is not a business. Anywhere we go, there is business. "If you give me this, then I shall love you. If you satisfy my senses, then I shall love you." Similarly, the other party, he or she also says, "If you satisfy my senses, then I love you. If there is no sense gratification, then I don't love you." That is business. Therefore adhoksaje, with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, there should not be any business. Ahaituki. That is called ahaituki, no cause. "Because God shall give me my bread..." As in the Christian church they go and say, "O God, give us our daily bread." That is also good because he has gone to God. The atheists, they do not like to speak of God, what to speak of praying from God. That is atheist class.

Srila Prabhupada

read and listen to the whole lecture here:
http://www.prabhupadavani.org/Bhagavatam/text/011.html

 

I just wrote something when I got home from practice...and I wanted to share it...so its at your discression to read it:

http://www.livejournal.com/users/svggrdnbeauty/91360.html

Also...if you go back to my main page there's another thing that I wrote...I just figured I'd share and stuff

Haribol!

 

that's it. there are no limits for bhakti.

 

lol. You had no idea how bad I wanted to tell someone that I figured that out...lol. Like I need 'em to think I'm any weirder than usual...lol.