a.c. bhaktivedanta swami
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| Prabhupada Letters :: 1969 a.c. bhaktivedanta swami |
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5 April 2005 April 5, 1969 San Francisco, Calif. My Dear Syamasundara, Please accept my blessings. I have received one letter from your devoted wife, Malati, dated April 2, 1969, and there is a new return address written on the envelope. I wish that you inform me as to the position of this new address. I also understand from Malati's letter that you have been feeling some disturbance. Perhaps this is because there is difficulty there in finding a temple that you feel that you are not doing nicely, but this is not a fact. Your efforts there are especially nice and pleasing to me. Actually, Sankirtana Party is our main business, and even you do not find a temple there for some time it is not cause for any disturbance. Continue to propagate Krishna Consciousness through Sankirtana Party, and surely you will come out fully successful. I understand that Mataji Syama Devi is back there in London, so she will also help in your efforts. I hope you will contact me soon by post to inform me of the position of the new address and how you are. I hope you are well. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami NB: Enclosed is one letter for Mataji Syama Devi. letters | 03:37 | 3 April 2005 Thursday, April 3, 1969 San Francisco, Calif. My Dear Ananda, Please accept my blessings. I thank you very much for your letter dated March 30, 1969, and I have noted the contents very carefully. Krishna is very much pleased on you because you are alone conducting the Vancouver temple. Don't worry, you will get some men to assist you very soon, and I am searching after someone. In the meantime Mr. Windisch and his wife, Barbara, will return to Vancouver after the initiation ceremony. As you have said, they are very much helpful, and they will continue to help you with your venture. Have you any correspondence with Annapurna since last August or September? I have not heard from her since then. After returning to her father's house she wrote me one letter, but since then I do not know about her whereabouts. If you can, please let me know her address. My program for next summer is not yet fixed up, but I am booked for various lectures till the middle of May. After that I shall fix up my program for June. If I go to Montreal, then this time I will go to Vancouver also. Mr. Windisch has spoken very highly of you and your decision to not keep unwanted boarders at the temple is nice. Don't feel yourself to be alone because Krishna is always with you. Krishna is always with every living entity as Supersoul, and to His devotee especially He talks and gives instructions how to attain the perfectional stage of meeting Him. So don't feel alone. Always chant whenever possible, read our books, and there will be no great difficulty. I shall be returning to New York by the 9th of April, and I shall then send you a new set of beads chanted upon by me. I know you are a sincere, silent worker, and if it is not too much inconvenient for you, you can send me at least one letter in a fortnight. That will encourage me and I can then give you necessary instructions how to develop. I hope this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami letters | 08:28 | April 3, 1969 San Francisco, Calif. Dear Krishna das, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated March 27, 1969, and I have carefully noted the contents. In the first portion of the letter you have expressed your desire how to learn surrender. This surrendering process is unconditional. Surrendering does not mean that one should surrenderly only in favorable circumstances. That is not surrender. Surrender means in any condition the surrendering process must continue. In the latter portion of your letter it appears that you have been disturbed on some trivial matters, and you wish to leave the place and go to London. That is not at all good. You must work conjointly. That is my desire, and if you fight amongst yourselves for some individual interests, that is not surrender. Whatever the other two boys may do, that I shall see, but unto you my request is that you must remain in Hamburg until I order you to leave the place. I understand that you have sent passage money to Jaya Govinda. Let him come first. He is a very sensible boy, and I hope on his arrival there will be no dissension. Last night, one German boy was initiated by me, and he will be entrusted for rendering all my books in German language. There will be now no difficulty to publish the German edition of Back To Godhead therefore, in your newly purchased press. You should take the indication given by Lord Krishna: The press is already there, the press worker, Jaya Govinda, is coming, and the German scholar has joined our institution. Don't you see the indication by Krishna that we must make propaganda in the German language in that part of the world? So you have to adjust things by the indication of Lord Krishna. Don't do anything whimsically. The direction comes through the Spiritual Master, and any one who abides by the order of the Spiritual Master to give shape to the wish of the Lord, he is perfectly surrendered soul. So don't be childish, stay there. Let Jaya Govinda come and begin printing the BTG. Go altogether in Sankirtana Party and try to sell BTGs. In other centers they are doing very nicely with this. Sometimes they are selling more than 100 copies of BTG and collecting $130.00 or $150.00. The Los Angeles temple has become unique in this connection. They have decorated the temple room so nicely that in the Love Feast and any other ceremony, hundreds of people are coming. Why don't you follow this example and try to exert your energies to make your temple more important than Los Angeles? In the spiritual world there is also competition, but the center is always Krishna. In the material world there is competition, but the center is sense gratification. That is the difference. So competition, disagreement, or even dissension, if they are there, and the center is Krishna, such disagreement is not material. Even in Krishna Loka, there are rival parties of Srimati Radharani whose name is Candrabali, and there is competition between the two parties how to serve Krishna the best. So you are all good souls, please do not be agitated in trivial things. Do your duty nicely, develop the center as nicely as possible. If you think that your personality has been minimized, you can tolerate it. That is very nice. Lord Caitanya has taught us to be more tolerant than the tree in the matter of chanting Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare. You can show this letter to Sriman Sivananda and Sriman Uttama Sloka, and my request to you all is not to be childish, but to be serious for propagating Krishna Consciousness. Regarding your other points, I am pleased that you are trying for legalization of our society. This has been already done both in London and the United States. As for your eye trouble, you need not take to an operation for your sickness. Doctors are not the Ultimate Healer. This is Krishna's position. In your Western countries, the doctors are very much fond of surgical operations. When there is no other alternative, of course we have to take shelter of such demonic treatment, but as far as possible try to avoid that, and depend on Krishna. I hope this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami letters | 06:22 | April 3, 1969 San Francisco, Calif. My Dear Bhurijana, Please accept my blessings. I beg to thank you for your very nice and encouraging letter dated March 30, 1969. I am pleased to learn of the success which you and Tosana Krishna are having in your new center. It is all very encouraging to me. I think that your proposal to have me come to North Carolina is very nice, and if it can be arranged, I will surely do this. I shall be in Columbus by the 10th of May, and if you think that my going to your place will be nice, then you can arrange to receive me from Columbus to your place. So if it is possible, please let me know your tentative program. The program may be fixed some time after the 15th of May, and your tentative program may be informed to me at the New York address. I hope this will meet the both of you in good health and cheerful mood. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami letters | 05:20 | April 3, 1969 San Francisco, Calif. My Dear Brahmananda, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated March 29, 1969, with enclosures. I am glad that you have received the consignment from Calcutta, and when I go to New York, I shall see what is the quality of the khole. Then if it is nice, we shall have to order many kholes like that. Your statement that my visit in New York for only eight days causes you sadness causes me sadness also. When Rupanuga wanted me in Buffalo, I did not directly confirm it, but I asked him to consult with you. So after his consultation, you have agreed to his proposal and should not be sad at all. But I know the cause of your sadness, that you want me for a longer time there in New York, and similarly, I also want to stay there for a long time because I like New York more than all other cities. This is because my first attempt was begun there, so I have got some affection for your great city. I think if possible you should also accompany me to Buffalo, and if possible, Rayarama may also come with me so that we can stay together at least up to April 22. If you like you can also come with me to Boston. This would be a very nice idea but I do not think your occupations will allow you to come with me and stay for a long time. But the proposal for me to come back to New York from Columbus is nice. I think I shall arrange like that. So there is no cause of becoming sad. Our meeting and separation in the material world is like the flowing tide of the river. During the flowing tide of the river, so many different floating articles meet together, and with the flowing, they again become separated by the movement of the waves. That is the way of the material life. But our separation, although it resembles exactly in the material way, it is completely different. In the spiritual world, separation is more relishable than meeting. In other words, in spiritual life, there is no separation. Separation is eternal, and meeting is also eternal. The separation is simply another feature of meeting. I think from Columbus I will have to go to New Vrindaban, and after staying a few days there, I shall come back to New York. If there is call from London, I shall go there from New York. About Trinity College lectures, I think I can stay in Hartford for the days I have to lecture there, and the fees may be charged $100 per lecture as the New York City College has offered. I do not know if they will agree to this, but I think we should not make the fees very cheap. You arranged my lecture in the City College on the 8th or 10th of April, and I also requested you in my previous letter that the lecture may be arranged on the 10th, but you have not mentioned anything about this in your letter under reply. In my last letter from Hawaii I also informed you that I shall be able to stay in New York from September till the end of December if there is nice engagement. So you can arrange for the meetings as many as possible from September to December. In the meantime, you may make arrangements for from the 10th until the 15th of April, as you like. I hope you are well. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami letters | 04:10 | |
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