a.c. bhaktivedanta swami
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| Prabhupada Letters :: 1969 a.c. bhaktivedanta swami |
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22 September 2005 Monday, September 22, 1969 London My Dear Sridama, Please accept my blessings. I beg to thank you for your letter (undated), and I have noted the contents carefully. I am pleased that you are doing nicely in Philadelphia temple, and Subala has written to me that you are a great help to him there. Regarding Rohini Devi, don't worry about her. Perhaps Krishna wishes you to remain brahmacari. You were not willing to marry, but she insisted. Now she has been taken away by her father; so you may take it as Krishna's Desire. If you decide to remain as brahmacari, then I may call you back for my personal assistance when I return to the States. I was very much pleased with your service. May Krishna bless you more and more. On the reverse side you will find an article which was published in The Sun, a popular English newspaper. Please convey my thanks to Subala for his letter to me dated September 15th, 1969. I am very much encouraged to see how he is gaining skill in managing a temple nicely. Please offer my blessings to the others. I hope this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami letters | 01:53 | September 22, 1969 London My Dear Sethji, Please accept my greetings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated 18th August, 1969, and I have noted the contents carefully. The boy, Sri Arun Kumar, wherever he goes in our centers, he will be welcome. All our centers are accustomed to taking Prasadam, so it will be very nice if he lives with us. Just now we have no center in Pittsburgh, although we have opened a branch in Philadelphia at 4524 Regent Street, Phila., Pa. 19143. Our Tokyo branch is not yet opened, but our men are working there, and as soon as they find a suitable house, we shall regularly establish the center. In the meantime, we have established some new centers in Washington, Detroit, Colorado, and Laguna Beach. Perhaps you have seen in The Times of India and other papers about my London arrival. On the reverse side you will find one of the articles from The Sun, published in London. We have released one Hare Krishna record through the famous record manufacturers, the Apple Company, and by the Grace of Krishna it is being sold on the average 20,000 copies per week in London alone. So the Hare Krishna Movement is gradually becoming very popular in the Western countries. It is great necessity to construct a very big Radha-Krishna temple here, so I am trying to find out some redundant churches to turn into temples. Please pray to Lord Caitanya to help me in this great attempt. You are a great devotee of Lord Caitanya and your prayers will be heard by Him. I hope this will meet you in good health. Sincerely, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami PS: I am forwarding a copy of this letter to Sri Bhaiji (Sri Hanuman Prasadji Poddar). Sri J. Dalmia New Delhi. letters | 01:50 | September 22, 1969 London My Dear Brahmananda, Please accept my blessings. I beg to thank you for your letters dated September 17th, 18th, 1969. Regarding the Rathayatra articles, Purusottama has sent you the article for San Francisco Festival, and by tomorrow most probably Gurudasa will send you an article about London Festival. So far as MacMillan is concerned, I have written to Gargamuni. Gargamuni is organizing book-selling, and perhaps you have received his memo to all temple presidents regarding selling our literature. So I am consulting with him before I finally decide about the MacMillan Company. But MacMillan's letter to you is not very encouraging. I have received the bank slips you have sent to me, and I hope by this time you have received the passbook. On hearing from you I shall advise you for changing the account to another branch. Regarding the length of the First Canto manuscript, you may write to Hayagriva, who is now in New Vrindaban. On the reverse side is a nice article of our arrival in London which was printed The Sun, a very popular English paper. Please offer my blessings to the others. I hope this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami letters | 01:49 | September 22, 1969 London My Dear Gargamuni, Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated September 13rd, 1969, and I am so glad to learn that you will not fight with Brahmananda. Brahma means "the Great", so even if you fight, then it will be physically impossible to come out victorious. But one thing I see is that you are coming out victorious in the matter of sales organization of the books. In one of the letters of Brahmananda I understand that the book selling organization there is not very satisfactory. Therefore, I am very much glad to read the circular letter issued to the temple presidents, and I shall be glad to know how you are getting response. The methods you have adopted to approach reviewers and convince them to review our books, how much this attempt has been successful? Reviewing is the only way for pushing on any publication. Somehow or other we have to organize the sales of our books and literature. Otherwise, what is the use of starting the press? The press must work on continuously, and we shall produce immense literature. If the press goes on nicely, I shall be able to give you material for publishing a book every two months. We have got so much material for Krishna Consciousness Movement. In your last letter I understood that you are collecting at least $70 to $80 weekly by selling books. That is a great service to the society. I am not very much enthusiastic to publish our books by some publication house, including MacMillan and Company. So far as I know, Ramakrishna Mission has their own publication organization; Aravinda Ashram has their own publication organization; Theosophical Society has their own arrangement; Bible Society has their own arrangement; Ravindra Natha Thakura has their own arrangement. So why Iskcon should fail to have its own organization? The thing is that the publishers are interested in money. They will make a condition that you purchase 5,000 copies, investing your money, and give some restriction that you don't go to booksellers. That means they publish with our money, our literature, and sometimes, if somebody goes to sell to some bookseller, they take strong objection. At the same time, they want to publish from the business point of view, without taking into consideration the aesthetic and philosophical side of the literature. I am enclosing herewith one copy of the letter of the MacMillan Company sent by Brahmananda to me, and you seriously consider the whole situation along with Tamala and let me know your definite opinion what to do. I am pleased to note your attitude regarding business. Our policy is nirbandhe krishna sambandha: We shall accept all kinds of civil activities, including business, trade, industry, only in connection with Krishna. I am glad that you are following this principle, and Krishna will be very, very pleased upon you to make you advance in Krishna Consciousness. Regarding Dwarkin & Sons, don't bother about it now. I shall see later on. I am keeping the invoice, and when it is required, we shall utilize. Hope this meets you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami letters | 01:46 | September 22, 1969 London My Dear Bhagavan das, Please accept my blessings. I beg to thank you very much for your letter dated September 15th, 1969, and I am encouraged to learn how your temple is progressing nicely. You write to say that already two new boys, Frank and Ed, have joined our Krishna Consciousness Movement, and that is very good news. Please take very nice care of them and help them to understand our principles as far as possible. Actually, in every town and city there are many, many devotees of Krishna; now it is our business to go around the world wherever people are congregating and pick up these sincere souls. The world is suffering for want of this knowledge of Krishna Consciousness, and we experience practically that many people will take to this spiritual line simply if we make this information available to them. So continue to develop your Sankirtana Party activities, and if you are given permission to accept donations, that will increase the strength of your activities there. You may consult with Tamala Krishna in Los Angeles for advice as to how to approach the authorities for obtaining such permission. That 50 people are coming to your Love Feasts and 15-20 people are coming to the kirtanas in the temple is good news also. As you are a sincere servant of Krishna, Krishna is recognizing your efforts to serve Him nicely and thus He is crowning your labors for Him with success. As more and more you increase in sincerity, similarly Krishna will more and more reciprocate by giving you the intelligence to serve Him nicely. Regarding your question, we must utilize our intelligence fully for serving Krishna. Serving Krishna does not mean that we sit idly and say that Krishna will take care of all our business. That is not depending on the Lord; rather it is laziness. Depending on Krishna means to act always in Krishna Consciousness, realizing that Krishna is the Ultimate Controller of all results. I hope you understand this properly. Please offer my blessings to the others. I hope this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami letters | 01:43 | September 22, 1969 London The Punjab National Bank Ltd. Vrindaban, Mathura U.P. INDIA ATT: Manager Dear Sir, Replying your letter dated the 6th September, 1969, I beg to advise you not to advance Ram Natha Murtiwala anything. I have not yet settled up with any other supplier. Therefore, the money which I have sent may be credited in my account. We are negotiating with some Bombay firm for supplies of musical instruments. Is it possible to open an account in your Bombay branch by transferring part of my credit balance there? I do not know what is the procedure, but I find it necessary to keep some money in your Bombay branch. I shall be glad if you will enlighten me in this connection. Sincerely, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ACBS.pdb letters | 01:41 | 20 September 2005 September 20, 1969 Tittenhurst My Dear Gaurasundara, Please accept my blessings. It has been some time now since I have heard from you, so I am anxious to receive your letter. Please inform me how you, Govinda Dasi, Balabhadra, Turya dasa and Jayasri are doing. I shall be glad to hear from you about this. You will be pleased to learn that Sudama, his wife Cintamani, and Bali Mardan have gone to Tokyo, and already they are making friends with very influential people there, and they are very encouraged that in Japan there will soon be a nice reception of the Krishna Consciousness Movement. I am very pleased to learn of the progress in Japan, and similarly, I am pleased with the nice progress being made in all of our centers. I arrived in London on September 11th, and there was a grand reception arranged. I am enclosing herewith some newspaper articles which reported on this event. Last Tuesday evening we were interviewed on a very popular program on BBC television. It was quite successful, and I can understand that there is immense potency in England for spreading Krishna Consciousness. I want that there may be at least four or five centers here. So I shall be awaiting your letter as soon as possible. Please offer my blessings to the others. I hope this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami letters | 11:16 | 19 September 2005 Friday, September 19, 1969 Tittenhurst My Dear Madhusudana, Please accept my blessings. I thank you very much for your nice letter of September 16th, 1969 and the enclosed contribution for the book fund. I am pleased to note that you are going on with your Krishna Consciousness duties with enthusiasm. Now you have a very nice wife, Kancanbala, so my request to both of you is that you work combinedly to push on this Sankirtana Movement of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. This will bring perfection to your lives, as more and more you become attached to the Lotus Feet of Krishna. Persons under the grip of Maya are simply mad after sense enjoyment, but our goal is to lose all desire for sense gratification and become simply mad after Krishna. This is the perfection of human life, to have no other desire but to render unalloyed devotional service to the Lord. Now you have very good opportunity for elevating yourselves to this status, and if you go on as you are now doing, rigidly following the rules and regulations which you have heard me speak about, then gradually your life will become more and more sublime. Here in England there is very good potency for spreading Krishna Consciousness. When I arrived on September 11th, there was a nice reception at the airport, and one article reporting on the event is enclosed herewith. Last Tuesday evening we appeared for 40 minutes on a popular interview show on the BBC television station. This Monday there is to be shown another one hour long documentary program on our activities in England. Perhaps you have heard by now that there are three new centers opened recently; Tokyo, Laguna Beach and Colorado. So Lord Caitanya is being very merciful to many of the boys and girls of the present day Western world by giving them the intelligence to understand the importance of developing Krishna Consciousness. Please offer my blessings to the others. I hope this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami letters | 05:50 | September 19, 1969 Tittenhurst My Dear Sacisuta, Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated September 8th, 1969, and I have noted the contents with enclosures. I have very much appreciated the interview article with you in the paper Ethos, and I am so pleased to know that you have given right interpretation of our Krishna Consciousness Movement. Now you have got a nice wife, Indumati, and combinedly together you preach the mission of Lord Caitanya as far as possible. I have seen what you have written about your protection by my humble self, but that is inevitable when a Spiritual Master accepts somebody as disciple. Krishna says in Bhagavad-gita that He takes charge of a surrendered soul; so much so that Lord Krishna protects His devotee from all his sinful activities in the past. Similarly, the Spiritual Master, when He accepts a disciple and the disciple surrenders unto Him, He has got the responsibility of absorbing the sinful reaction of His disciples life. This is a great responsibility of the Spiritual Master. We should therefore be very careful not to overburden our Spiritual Master by further repetition of sinful activities. Of course, one who has entered into Krishna Consciousness cannot act deliberately anything sinful. Still, we should always be on guard against such activities. Sometimes we hear that people are going to church to confess their sinful actions for being excused, but as soon as he comes out of the church, he begins the same drama again. This is like the bathing of the elephant, who immediately throws dirt again on his body. We should not follow such examples. Lord Caitanya accepted Jagai and Madhai on condition they would not commit further sinful activities. So all our students should be careful in the matter of violating the four principles and at the same time must carry on the chanting process rigidly. Regarding your question, this is also described in Chapter 9, when Krishna says that whatever you sacrifice, whatever you eat, whatever you give in charity--give it all to Me. Such action is also called Sannyasa yoga. Sannyasa means to sacrifice everything for the Supreme, and if we link up our activities in such way as is enunciated by the Lord, then all the diversities become unified in Krishna Consciousness. Krishna Consciousness is itself Brahma platform, so all our students who are engaged in the service of God, they are not on the material platform. They are already liberated [PAGE MISSING] letters | 05:47 | September 19, 1969 Tittenhurst My Dear Brahmananda, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your two letters dated 10th and 11th September, 1969. Regarding the letter to the Punjab National Bank, that is already written, and the copy is enclosed herewith for your reference. Regarding the court case in Boston, a certified copy of the judgment should be taken. This will help us in many ways. If there is any copy of the statement of Nanda Kisora available, that should also be taken. There is a Mantra that says mukam karoti vacalam pangum langhayate girim. This means that by Krishna's Grace a dumb can speak like Demosthenes, and a lame can cross over the mountain. Krishna's Grace is so glorious. So if we remain faithful in Krishna's service, there will be no difficulty in speaking when ever it is necessary. There are many instances in the history of devotees of this, and even five year old boys like Dhruva and Prahlada were able to speak so nicely. I have seen the pictures of your kirtana sent by Sacisuta, and they are all marvelous. Please print them in BTG. All Sankirtana photographs should be collected, and one after another they should be printed in BTG. So far as printing part of the Krishna book in BTG, that is also very nice. Regarding my account with First National City Bank, I have already sent you the Pass Book, so if it is convenient to move to the branch where the society has got account, that is all right. There is no difficulty in changing the branch, but I wish to keep the account with the First National City Bank. When I receive the forms from you, I shall sign it. I am anxious to know what has transpired with the MacMillan Company so far as printing the First Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam is concerned. Here in London things are going nicely, and I am enclosing a newspaper clipping of the reception at the airport. Last Tuesday night, we had a very successful interview on a popular BBC television program. There is immense potency for our movement in London, and I wish that at least four or five centers may be started in England of this Krishna Consciousness Movement. Perhaps you have heard that in Tokyo already there is encouraging news from Sudama about the people there responding nicely, and similarly, two new centers have been started in Laguna Beach and Colorado. So it is all Krishna's Grace that the young people of the Western world are gradually responding to our preaching work. I hope this meets you in very good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami P.S. There is no books here for sale. You can send some books immediately at my wish. letters | 05:44 | September 19, 1969 Tittenhurst My Dear Sudama, Please accept my blessings, and all Glories to the devotees dispatched to Tokyo, Japan. Tamala Krishna has forwarded your letter to me, and I am so much pleased to read it. I quite appreciate your method of working. Now you are contacting some influential men there, and it is very enlivening that Mr. Sharma of the Embassy is trying to help you. Now one thing is that there you have got our magazines, and simply by selling our magazines you can maintain yourself. There will be no difficulty. In all our centers this magazine has given a new impetus for solving the economic question. You will be surprised to know that in Boston they are collecting on the average $120 each day. So depend on Krishna and try your best. Use your intelligence properly and chant Hare Krishna. Then everything will come smoothly and easily. I understand that in some quarters houses are available for only $50 or $60 per month, so immediately you can occupy some such place and hang up the signboard for "International Society for Krishna Consciousness". Messrs. Dai Nippon and Company have given you a good reception, and that is very encouraging. I shall be glad to also know if there are other presses also in Japan like Dai Nippon. I understand that Japan is growing in press industry and paper industry. Tamala has suggested me to go to Japan next year, and I am very much anxious for this. If we establish a strong center in Japan and subsequently in Hong Kong--and from this side we have already in Germany and two, three in the middle east, like in Tehran and Cairo, then there will be regular belt all over the world for Krishna Consciousness Movement. I am enclosing herewith some paper cuttings showing the reception we had in London. Already we have held one very successful meeting in the Town Hall, and the BBC television station had an interview with us on a very popular program for forty minutes. So things are progressing very nicely in England as in our other branches. Please offer my blessings to the others. I hope this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami letters | 05:42 | September 19, 1969 Tittenhurst My Dear Giriraja, Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated September 13rd, 1969 along with your check for $20, and thank you very much. I am receiving very encouraging reports from all our centers, including yours, so we should know definitely that Krishna is giving us all opportunities to serve Him more enthusiastically. Actually, the whole universe is Krishna's property. Krishna's devotees are His bonafide officers or sons, so if He likes, He can entrust the whole charge to His devotees immediately. It is not difficult for Him, but He wants to see how His devotees are developing unalloyed Krishna Consciousness. You are a very nice boy, and by Krishna's Grace you have captured the opportunity, and Satsvarupa is a very good associate for this purpose. So combinedly you try to spread this movement, follow the rules and regulations, chant Hare Krishna, and gradually you will see your life is perfect. So with all my good wishes, offer my blessings to the others. Here in London they had a very nice reception, and the press cutting in one of the papers is sent herewith. The BBC television station very much appreciated our movement, and we were interviewed on one very popular show last Tuesday evening. So things are progressing nicely, and our movement is gradually becoming popular. You will be also glad to know that we have recently opened centers in Tokyo, Denver, and Laguna Beach. Most probably very soon there will be another branch in Chicago. So let us work sincerely, and the requisite money and men will be supplied by Krishna for His service. I think Jadurani is very much busy in painting pictures, otherwise she should have written me some letter by this time. I hope this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami letters | 05:40 | September 19, 1969 Tittenhurst My Dear Tamala Krishna, Please accept my blessings. I beg to thank you for your letter dated September 13rd, 1969, and I am so glad to learn that two new branches are now opened; one in Laguna Beach, another in Tokyo. With great interest I read the letter of Sudama, and I have also sent him a letter of congratulations. You have proposed to go to Japan next year, and I am very much pleased on this point. I wish to go with a big Sankirtana Party from Los Angeles. So if we can overflood Japan with this Sankirtana Movement, it will be a great great achievement in the Eastern countries, and if we move little further more into China and Russia, then we shall build up a strong belt all around the world of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. Here in London the activities are going on. The place where I am now staying is a very big garden house, and the place allotted to us is a super-excellent temple site. The only difficulty is it is far away from the city, so the city people cannot conveniently come here. The temple in the city is not finished being constructed yet, neither is there sufficient space. It can be used as office and residence, but as a temple, it has no sufficient space. So things here are not yet very smooth, although the movement is accepted by the people in general as nice. The Hare Krishna record is selling very nicely. Yesterday, it sold 5,000 copies, and this week it is on the chronological list as #20. They say next week it will come to be #3, and after that it may come to #1. So they are very much hopeful of this record. Mr. George Harrison appears to be very intelligent boy, and he is by the Grace of Krishna fortunate also. On the first day, he came to see me along with John Lennon, and we had talks about 2 hours. He wanted to talk with me more, but he is now gone to his sick mother in Liverpool. So if this boy cooperates with our movement, it will be very nice impetus, for after all, he is monied man. These monied men and women have to be very cautiously dealt with in spiritual life. We have to sometimes deal with them on account of preaching work; otherwise Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu has strictly restricted to mix with them for the Krishna Conscious people. But we get instruction from Rupa Goswami that whatever opportunity is favorable for pushing on Krishna Consciousness we should accept. You write to say that you do not know what is my desire, but my desire is an open secret. I simply want all over the Western countries people may take this simple formula of chanting, dancing and eating Krishna Prasadam, and being happy. I am simply surprised that they should not accept this simple formula and be happy themselves. My only desire is that all people become happy and prosperous in Krishna Consciousness. My predecessors, Vaisnavas, they were so generous that they felt very much afflicted for the suffering of the human society. Sri Rupa Goswami tried to elevate them to real path of happiness by introducing this Govinda Ganamrta, the Nectarine of the Songs of Govinda. That will make them happy. In England there is very good prospect for pushing on Krishna Consciousness. I am trying to make some arrangement with Mr. Lennon to have the facility for having this garden house. Here we can accommodate many devotees, and if the opportunity is offered to us, we can organize a very strong Sankirtana Party here and establish at least four or five branches in England. But the climate is not at all suitable for me. The idea you described in your letter about unifying the temples is very nice. I am enclosing herewith one newspaper cutting of our airport reception for your reference. Last Tuesday night we appeared on one very popular BBC television show for a forty-five minute interview, and it was very successful. Please convey my blessings to the others. I hope this will meet you in good health. Your ever well-wisher, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami letters | 05:36 | |
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