a.c. bhaktivedanta swami
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| Prabhupada Letters :: 1969 a.c. bhaktivedanta swami |
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3 September 2005 September 3, 1969 Hamburg My Dear Gopala Krishna das, Please accept my blessings. I thank you very much for your letter dated August 30th, 1969 with enclosure of your money order check for one hundred dollars Canadian. Another check for fifty-five dollars for my book fund was not enclosed. I think you are sending it by separate mail. If you have not sent it as yet, you can deposit it in The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce at Sherbrooke and Aylmer Branch. I have got a savings account there under A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami. You can find out the number from the teller, deposit there, and send me the receipt. I am so glad to read the portion of your letter where you say "I would have continued to live in ignorance and darkness, thinking I would have known how to approach God." At the present moment, the modern education has taught everyone either not to think of God or everyone can think of God in his own way. The result is people have become Godless atheists. So to approach a bonafide Spiritual Master and to understand the science of God from him is the Vedic way of understanding. Even Lord Krishna, Lord Caitanya, and what to speak of other acaryas, all of them accepted a Spiritual Master, even if some of them were incarnations of God. The Vedic way of receiving knowledge is called avaroha, against aroha. Aroha means to try to understand God by one's own effort, and avaroha means to understand God by disciplic succession. Therefore we find in Vedic instruction that one must approach a bonafide Spiritual Master to learn that transcendental subject. I thank you very much for your solemn assurance that you shall try to follow my teachings throughout your life. It is very encouraging. Regarding dress, I have already written to you that you can dress as smartly as possible to deal with the public, and dress is immaterial in Krishna Consciousness. Consciousness is within. I am a sannyasi, but if some important work requires I dress myself just like a smart gentleman, I would immediately accept it. So it is not a problem. Acyutananda Prabhu is in correspondence with Gargamuni, and I have already sent one trial order to the Bina Musical Instrument Company in India, of which you have sent me a catalog. I don't think your Montreal center will require many musical instruments, so you may not send order separately. Regarding Murtis, you will have to prepare a nice altar and throne. The LA temple has done it very nicely, and I am sending herewith the specific design in picture. So your next business will be to construct a throne and altar, and as soon as they are ready, the Deities will also be received, and maybe I shall go and install Them. But when the Deities are installed in the temple, you have to take personal care. Deity worship is very regulative. You have to follow the regulative principles very rigidly. I shall be glad to know how many initiated members are there in Montreal, so I can chalk out the program for Radha-Krishna Deity worship there. Regarding Scindia Navigation, correspondence will not be fruitful, but if somebody sees Srimati Sumatee Morarji personally, then it will be at once done. By correspondence the underhand clerks and secretaries do not sometimes like the proposal. That is the envious nature of the human being in conditioned state. Regarding your correspondence with the leading men in India, I don't think it will be very much fruitful. Personally I have no faith in them, but if you decide to open correspondence with them, I have no objection. But my personal opinion is not very hopeful. I thank you very much for your submissive mentality, and as it is stated in the Bible that God is for the humble and meek, similarly, Vaisnavas are taught by Lord Caitanya to become humbler than the grass and more tolerant than the tree. Thus one can seriously execute progress in Krishna Consciousness. I hope this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami letters | 09:14 | 1 September 2005 September 1, 1969 Hamburg Sri Prosanta Mukherjee Imlitala, Mahaprabhu's Gadi Seva Kunj, Vrindaban INDIA Dear Prosantaji, Please accept my greetings and blessings of Lord Krishna. This is to inform you that in spite of my writing to so many Mukutwalas and Murtiwalay I am receiving no reply to my letters. Last Month I wrote some reminding letters to Ram Natha Murtiwala, but this also has gained no reponse. I am wondering if you have any information as to what is the difficulty in this connection. I shall be glad to receive your letter by return of post. Sincerely yours, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami letters | 05:00 | September 1, 1969 Hamburg Manager The Punjab National Bank P.O. Vrindaban, Dst. Mathura INDIA Dear Sir: In further reference to our past correspondence, I am wondering if you have as yet advanced 100 Rs. to Sri Ram Natha Murtiwala. I have not heard from Sri Ram Natha for some time so I would like to be informed as to what has transpired in this connection. Thanking you in anticipation of your early reply. Sincerely yours, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami letters | 04:59 | 31 August 2005 August 31, 1969 Hamburg My Dear Syamasundara, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated August 27th, 1969, and I have noted the contents with great joy. You are improving in every respect of our London Yatra program, and I think your labor to make friends with the Beatles has been successful in the matter of pressing the Hare Krishna record. I hope by this means many thousands of pounds will flow into Krishna's treasury. We are very poor financially, but by Krishna's Grace we are getting help undoubtedly. That is nice. I came here without any money, singlehanded, and Krishna is sending me so many nice assistants and the required money whenever it is necessary. We should be satisfied with such Grace of Krishna. We do not want any extra money for sense gratification, but Krishna is so kind He is supplying the necessary amount. You will be glad to know that Satsvarupa in Boston has purchased property worth 70,000 dollars. The immediate down payment is 6,000 dollars and monthly payment is 1,000 dollars. So he has taken the courage with my permission, and by Krishna's Grace everything is being arranged. Similarly, in other centers also, including your center, Krishna is sending us all necessary help. I am very glad to know that Sriman George Harrison is nicely cooperating with your endeavors, and this action of him will not go in vain. Any little bit of service rendered to Krishna does not go in vain, so I am sure George will be benefited in the matter of Krishna Consciousness without doubt. Please convey my thanks to him for his willing cooperation with our men. I could not clearly understand what is the reason that you have left the temple to live in a country house 40 miles away from London. I understand that by October 1st everything should be settled, and you may invite me to visit at that time. This morning I had been in the Hamburg Port and Krishna das informed me there is a passenger ship which carries people overnight to London. So I have asked him to inquire what is the real situation. I think we can go to London by that shipping carrier. In October I have no program here, so there will be no difficulty to visit your place at that time. In your last letter you informed me that George Harrison may be interested to publish my book, Krishna, so I am carrying with me the manuscript. I want to print this book with many pictures, and the pictures are also ready in Los Angeles and Boston. So if possible, you can talk further with him about this publication, and if he does so, it will be very nice for him as well as for us. I am also very glad to learn that you are meeting Mr. Harrison for negotiating with the Archbishop for the church. That will be very, very nice. Please try for it very seriously. On the whole, your sincere endeavor for serving Krishna is gradually being accepted by the Lord, and the more you endeavor for such service, the more you'll feel sublime in existence in direct contact with Krishna day after day. I am also very glad to learn that you have already prepared a groundwork in England of the Krishna Consciousness Movement, and if I go there I shall take the opportunity to convince the people in general, philosophers and religionists of London about the importance of the Krishna Consciousness Movement. Sometime back I sent one letter addressed to the Archbishop of Canterbury, supposed to be presented through Mr. George Harrison, and I shall be glad to know what happened to that letter. If it was not presented before, it may be done so when George Harrison meets the Archbishop for the church. Actually our Krishna Conscious movement is genuine Christian movement. Christ means Krishna, love of Godhead, Who has His face annointed with tilak. There is a word Kristos in the Greek dictionary, and this word is supposed to be borrowed from the Sanskrit word "Krishna," and Christ is derived from Kristos. I find these things in a book known as Aquarian Gospel of Lord Jesus the Christ. Anyway, any genuine Christian will find our movement nice and perfect. We simply want their cooperation in this matter that they allow us to use their many vacant churches in the Western countries for rejuvenation of spiritual life in this part of the world. So if the Archbishop kindly gives us a church through the intervention of Mr. Harrison, it will be a great success for our movement. So try your best for this achievement. Please offer my blessings to all others and especially to your daughter, who I think is growing nicely in Krishna Consciousness. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami letters | 06:30 | August 31, 1969 Hamburg Dear Satya Pal, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter addressed to my New Vrindaban temple, and I am so glad to read it. I think this is the first letter I received from you since I met you sometimes in 1959. I am glad to learn that now you are a family man, and you have qualified yourself as post graduate student of economics and are in possession of a government service. But I am sorry to learn that you are pulling on with Rs. 250 per month. It is surely insufficient for a family man. This Rs. 250 means in American exchange as somewhere between 30 and 35 dollars, which is earned here even by ordinary workers in three days. That is the lowest income in this country. Those who are qualified graduates, they are earning at least 500 dollars per month, which means in Indian exchange Rs. 6,000 or more. That is the difference between India and America. Here, people are earning up to 20,000 per month. Those who are independent businessman earn 50,000 per month or more and they are spending also. Therefore, the distribution of wealth here is broader, and as such, every man is well-situated, even an ordinary worker. There is no scarcity of money or material comforts, but still the modern younger generation, they do not feel very happy. They are hankering after some spiritual food, and as such they are relishing this Krishna Consciousness Movement with some taste. There is immense possibility of spreading this Krishna Consciousness Movement all over the Western world, if it is administered properly. You have rightly said "You alone are completing this aim of Caitanya Mahaprabhu by giving your full dedication to Lord Krishna and Radha." I think, however, that all of my Godbrothers should come out of India and preach this cult all over the world to fulfill the mission of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. But they are busily engaged in constructing temples all separately, and they are satisfied if there is a temple and a little income to provide them with food and clothing, without any spirit of preaching propaganda. Srila Prabhupada said that it was better to accept some menial service for maintaining oneself then to get some money by showing the Deities to the innocent public and being satisfied thereby. Now there is great necessity to train preachers in all the camps of our Godbrothers and send them all over the world. Of course, they must be impregnated with real preaching spirit, without any material profit. Whenever I ask somebody to take this job, they are silent. They are simply satisfied with some Mathas, and they have forgotten the preaching spirit of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Goswami Maharaja. When none of them came to preach outside of India, I thought I was to do this humble service to His Divine Grace, and by His blessings, I am getting good cooperation from the local boys and girls. That is my satisfaction. Otherwise, none of my Godbrothers is helping me substantially. So I am not very much hampered by this action. I shall try my best to do this job, and you will be glad to learn that I have got already two dozen centers all over the USA, Canada and Europe. Those boys who are helping me are opening branches very quickly and preaching this cult of Krishna Consciousness very sincerely. You are living in Gwalior, and I have heard that Gwalior is a good place where marble statues are manufactured. Can you give me any information if Radha-Krishna Murtis can be had from Gwalior. If so, can you supply us such Murtis from Gwalior or else brass Murtis from Mathura. That will be a great help for me. I think Mathura is your birth place and your parents are there. So if you can manage to supply me brass Murtis of different sizes, then it will be a great help to me for propaganda work. We may require many other things, either from Gwalior or Mathura, and I shall be glad to hear from you about this. I think Gwalior is manufacturing musical instruments also. For the present I am in Germany at the above address, and my next program is to go to London at the end of September. So if you reply immediately, you can address the letter at the above address. Thank you very much for remembering me after so long a time. Sincerely, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami letters | 05:27 | 30 August 2005 Saturday, August 30, 1969 Hamburg My Dear Brahmananda, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 25th August 1969, and I have noted the contents. Regarding Hayagriva and Satsvarupa, I think they can become joint editors, and articles to be published in BTG may be jointly decided upon. In case of disagreement the matter should be referred to me, and I shall give the final decision. When Hayagriva comes here I shall talk with him in detail. So your idea of them working jointly is nice. I do not know what you mean by cooperation with Kirtanananda Maharaja. In our society everyone, either a brahmacari or sannyasi or grhastha, who has dedicated his life and soul for this movement, they are all on the same level of sannyasi. For the present moment, nobody can claim an extra honor from his Godbrothers. Everyone should treat his Godbrothers as Prabhu. But nobody should try to claim any extra honor on account of an official position. I do not know why Kirtanananda Maharaja says that his authority overrides yours. At the present moment everyone is working under my authority. Similarly, Kirtanananda also should work under my authority. So the condition imposed by Kirtanananda as stated by you does not look well. A sannyasi has got four stages of elevation: kuticak, bahudaka, parivrajaka and paramahamsa. The sannyasa in the paramahamsa stage is the Spiritual Master of everyone. I have asked Kirtanananda Maharaja to work on the bahudaka stage for the present. I discussed this point with him when I was in New Vrindaban. This stage means he should move amongst people to draw their attention to the New Vrindaban scheme and try to attract their attention for its development. So he should immediately begin this bahudaka program and collect money from outsiders, not from insiders. And as he is in charge of New Vrindaban, he may invest all such collection for the development of New Vrindaban, and before this Hayagriva must transfer the property to the society's name. So far as investment of the society's money for New Vrindaban is concerned, certainly it will be done in New Vrindaban, and not only the money which Kirtanananda Maharaja collects, but also, if need be, any center will invest money. But that investment should be in proportion to food and salt. To make it more tasteful, one adds salt to his food, and similarly, every center should be independently developed by supplying the food, and the society, if required, will supply the salt. For the present, all energy should be diverted to start a nice press for our publication work. So there is no extra money for the society to invest in New Vrindaban. Neither you can spare any money to anyone without my permission. Whatever you possess now in funds, that is not your personal money, so how can you execute the request of Kirtanananda at the present moment? I think you will understand the matter rightly and do the needful. Regarding publication of BTG No. 29, it is good that you are publishing "Morphology and Ontology of Vedanta" by Guru Maharaja, 4 pages. So far as "Heroine Govinda Dasi" is concerned, if she has stated directly Ram Krishna as nonsense and rascal, that should not be indulged in. We cannot attack anyone directly in writing. There is a proverb in Sanskrit that you can speak something one thousand times, but don't give it in writing. Similarly, we may use some strong words against all this nonsense, but if we write it in black and white, that will not be good. So instead of naming these rascals directly, you change the word to "mental speculators." I am very glad that you are arranging to print 20,000 copies of Isopanisad immediately. Please do it. Krishna will give you all strength to fulfill His Mission by Your sincere efforts. Thank you very much. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami letters | 06:16 | August 30, 1969 Hamburg My Dear Bhurijana, Tosana Krishna and Vrindaban Candra, Please accept my blessings. I beg to thank you for your sending me the check for 200 dollars for my book fund, and I think of it as a big contribution of 2,000,000 dollars. I have come to your country to carry out the wishes of my Spiritual Master, and you are kindly cooperating with me. Certainly Krishna will be pleased to bless you with all spiritual benediction. I shall be glad to hear from you about your other progress in the matter of Sankirtana Party and selling BTGs. That is our main strength for preaching work. Thank you very much. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami letters | 04:14 | 29 August 2005 Friday, August 29, 1969 Hamburg My Dear Gargamuni, Please accept my blessings. I thank you very much for your letter dated August 23rd, 1969 with enclosures. I am sending herewith the copy of the letter addressed to Indo Crafter, giving them a trial order. You can immediately transfer 400 dollars to my savings bank account, The Bank of Baroda, Chandni Chowk, Delhi-6, and upon hearing from you I shall send necessary instructions to the bank. You have ordered through Acyutananda for supply of wooden mrdangas. This is all right, and we shall see which quality is better. I have also asked Mr. Dhadial to send me samples of Hare Krishna chaddars and kurtas. On receipt of these samples I shall advise you further. I am enclosing herewith back the letters of Bina Musician Stores and Indo Crafter. Keep them carefully in your files. I have heard nothing about the activities of Los Angeles temple. Also, I am anxious to know if you have contacted the Silverman Real Estate Company for the house we saw in Beverly Hills. Both our typewriter and dictaphone are useless here because the electric current is different. We have therefore hired another set for working. I shall be glad to hear from you again along with Tamala Krishna's letter. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami letters | 04:41 | 28 August 2005 August 28, 1969 Hamburg Dear Dr. Nagendra Babu, Please accept my humble obeisances. I understand from your daughter that you instructed her to see me in New York as she is there with her husband. She attempted to see me several times in our New York temple, but she was unable to see me on account of my constant touring in different centers. We have got now about two dozen centers in the USA, two in Canada and two in Europe. On Sunday last I was in New York while coming to Germany, and I have reached our German center on Monday morning. The address is above. I saw your daughter, Bhakti Devi, very much devoted to Krishna Consciousness, just befitting the position of a Vaisnava's daughter. She offered me respects with some money also (two dollars), and I was very much pleased with her behavior. I asked about you and her mother from her, and I am so pleased to learn that you are now retired from worldly activities and are engaged in constant chanting of Harer Nama. I think by age you may be younger than me, if not by many years. So why not come to America and join me in this preaching work? I think if your daughter and son-in-law sponsor to receive you, there will be no difficulty for your passport, etc. There is immense potency of preaching the philosophy of Krishna Consciousness under the guidance of Lord Caitanya, and I wish that all my Godbrothers should go to different parts of the world and preach this sublime message everywhere, because that is the desire of Lord Caitanya. Of course, as far as possible I am trying to spread this movement all over the world, and at the present moment my activities are prominent from Hamburg to Tokyo, a distance of 14,000 miles. I think the circumference of the whole earth is 25,000 miles. So this should be covered by some of our Godbrothers so that Lord Caitanya's message may be properly executed. I do not know why none of our Godbrothers attempt to this important side of our propaganda. Just now I am in correspondence with the Gaudiya Mission secretary, and I have promised also to help them if they will take up this work. I have not as yet received any reply from them. I have also asked them to help us in so many ways. Immediately I am in need of some supplies from India. They are as follows: 1) regular supply of 10 first class mrdangas every month. 2) regular supply of 50 pairs of Navadvipa-made karatalas every month. 3) at least two dozen pairs of Radha-Krishna Murtis, made of brass and 24" high. Besides these things, I require many other articles like temple paraphernalia. Your daughter gave me your address in Calcutta, and therefore I am taking this opportunity for your help in this connection. Of course, I shall send money for purchasing all these goods. I simply want your help that you supervise the supply and send us first class articles. We do not mind for the price. In Calcutta there are many manufacturers for mrdangas, and if you arrange with somebody, you can easily help us. Your daughter has given me her address, and she is staying very near to our New York temple. On Sunday last she has personally seen how our preaching work is going on. On that day about 15 persons were initiated and one couple was married. So I hope you will kindly help me in this connection, either directly or through the Gaudiya Mission people. That will be a great help for my preaching work. You can reply this letter to my German center as above mentioned. I thank you in anticipation of your early reply. Sincerely, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami letters | 08:24 | |
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