# Back to Godhead Magazine #45 *2011 (03)* Back to Godhead Magazine #45-03, 2011 PDF-View ## Welcome In this issue, Mohini Rādhā Devī Dāsī's article "Our Hidden Treasure" describes how Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, using an allegory, revealed that the ultimate goal of life is *bhakti,* or pure love for God, Kṛṣṇa. Sometimes people wonder: To focus our love on Kṛṣṇa, do we need to withdraw it from everyone else? No, we don't, because one who loves Kṛṣṇa loves everyone else by seeing their relationship with Kṛṣṇa. In "Mother Earth: Holder and Giver of Wealth," Visakha Devī Dāsī shows that loving Mother Earth is part of loving Kṛṣṇa because she is a display of some of His energies. Kṛṣṇa Nandini Devī Dāsī, in "Vaisnava Family Love and Affection," explains how our love for Kṛṣṇa must extend to our family members, who are eternally part of Kṛṣṇa. In fact, every living being is part of Kṛṣṇa, and we can love everyone by working to reunite all souls with Him. In "Prabhupāda at the Avalon Ballroom," Mukunda Goswami shows how Prabhupāda introduced hundreds of San Francisco hippies to Kṛṣṇa through His holy names. And Meera Khurana's "In Vrindavan with a Hundred Foreigners" tells what it's like to be in a place saturated with love for Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa. —*Nagaraja Dāsa, Editor* Our Purposes • To help all people discern reality from illusion, spirit from matter, the eternal from the temporary. • To expose the faults of materialism. • To offer guidance in the Vedic techniques of spiritual life. • To preserve and spread the Vedic culture. • To celebrate the chanting of the holy names of God as taught by Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. • To help every living being remember and serve Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead. ## Letters *Kirtana Practice* In response to "Tone Deaf Bhakta's" letter in the March/April issue, I would like to let him know that when I was a young devotee in Hamburg, Germany, in the early days of the movement, I was once requested not to lead Sunday-feast **kirtana*s* by one devotee because I couldn't sing so nicely. I took exception to this, probably due to my neophyte position, and wrote a letter to Śrīla Prabhupāda about it, and he answered that "practice makes perfect." (In those days we often wrote Śrīla Prabhupāda things that weren't so important.) I think my *kirtana* voice has since improved, but that nice instruction by Śrīla Prabhupāda stands. Sivananda Dāsa Sandy Ridge, North Carolina *Other Yogas* I have noticed BTG recommending against the practice of *astanga-, karma-,* and *jnana-yoga.* Why is this? In the *Gita,* Kṛṣṇa and Prabhupāda clearly recommend these practices as ways to come to *bhakti-yoga.* These practices bring *sattva* [the mode of goodness], which is said to be the doorway to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Love the magazine. Wendy Eastbright Via the Internet *Our reply: Bhakti* is independent of the other processes, and it is competent to bring one to *sattva* by itself. This is described in the *Śrīmad-Bhagavatam* (1.2.17–19): Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead, who is the Paramatma [Supersoul] in everyone's heart and the benefactor of the truthful devotee, cleanses desire for material enjoyment from the heart of the devotee who has developed the urge to hear His messages, which are in themselves virtuous when properly heard and chanted. By regular attendance in classes on the *Bhagavatam* and by rendering of service to the pure devotee, all that is troublesome to the heart is almost completely destroyed, and loving service unto the Personality of Godhead, who is praised with transcendental songs, is established as an irrevocable fact. As soon as irrevocable loving service is established in the heart, the effects of nature's modes of passion and ignorance, such as lust, desire and hankering, disappear from the heart. Then the devotee is established in goodness, and he becomes completely happy." The danger in recommending the other processes is that they are generally not powerful enough to give us perfection in just this one life. In fact, Kṛṣṇa says that by *jnana,* one takes many, many births to surrender to Him (Bg. 7.19), and there is no guarantee that one will not become distracted from the path, especially in this age of Kali. Although Kṛṣṇa speaks of other paths in the *Gita,* ultimately a careful reading will show *bhakti* to be supreme: "One can understand Me as I am, as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, only by devotional service. And when one is in full consciousness of Me by such devotion, he can enter into the kingdom of God." (18.55) "My dear Arjuna, only by undivided devotional service can I be understood as I am, standing before you, and can thus be seen directly. Only in this way can you enter into the mysteries of My understanding." (11.54) "The Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is greater than all, is attainable by unalloyed devotion. Although He is present in His abode, He is all-pervading, and everything is situated within Him. "(8.22) If you glance at the Sanskrit of each verse, you will see that the word *bhaktya,* meaning "by *bhakti,*" appears in each, and in the last two the word *ananyaya,* meaning "by undivided," appears. Thus the meaning is quite clear. Because we want to give people the opportunity to attain perfection in this very life, we stress the superior process of **bhakti*,* as do Kṛṣṇa and Śrīla Prabhupāda in countless places. Only for those averse to *bhakti* may the other *yogas* be promoted as valuable, because they gradually purify people to the point where they can appreciate the value of **bhakti*,* engage in it, and thus attain perfection. *Can't Stop Reading* The BTG magazines lately are all masterpieces. I find myself reading one article that interested me, and when I finish that, the next page always seems to attract me as well. Before I know it, I've read the whole magazine. Your team is certainly blessed by Śrīla Prabhupāda. Laksmipriya Devī Dāsī Vrindavan, India *Eternal Hell?* I am interested in Hinduism (but officially a Greek Orthodox), and I have been informed that there is no eternal condemnation in your faith, just reincarnation or hellish realms, but these are temporary places. The *Bhagavad-gītā* mentions hell, however, so is there a concept of hell in ISKCON, and if there is, is it eternal? C. Konstadinos Via the Internet *Our reply:* You are correct that the Vedic scriptures give no mention of eternal condemnation. There is detailed information of hellish planets where one who is overly sinful suffers, but such reactions are temporary. Those who have spiritual knowledge view material existence itself as miserable or hellish. Lord Kṛṣṇa say in the *Bhagavad-gītā* (8.16), "From the highest planet in the material world down to the lowest, all are places of misery wherein repeated birth and death take place. But one who attains to My abode, O son of Kunti, never takes birth again." One is therefore advised to end all material enjoyment and suffering by advancement is pure spiritual consciousness. This is easily done by serious and sincere chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. *Mixing Prasadam* Is it an offense to mix *prasādam* with unoffered food and eat it? Also, if I offer a small amount of food for *prasādam*, would I mix that offered food into the pot of the normal food to make it all *prasādam*? Reshma Via the Internet *Our reply:* When we prepare a pot of something to offer to Kṛṣṇa, we take a small amount of that and then offer it with the intention that we are offering the entire pot full of food to Him. The small amount in His bowl is called *maha-prasādam,* and the rest is *prasādam.* We should not add anything to *prasādam* except other *prasādam*. Better to offer each item in a meal on a plate for Kṛṣṇa and not eat anything that can't be offered. Founder's Lecture: Everything Is Not One Nairobi, Kenya, November 1, 1975 *In describing His two categories of energy, Lord Krsna refutes the ideas of Mayavada philosophers and modern scientists.* Founder-*Acarya* of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness In describing His two categories of energy, Lord Kṛṣṇa refutes the ideas of Mayavada philosophers and modern scientists. > apareyam itas tv anyam > prakrtim viddhi me param > jiva-bhutam maha-baho > yayedam dharyate jagat "Besides these, O mighty-armed Arjuna, there is another, superior energy of Mine, which comprises the living entities who are exploiting the resources of the material, inferior nature."—*Bhagavad-gītā* 7.5 The gross and subtle material energies have been explained in the previous verse. Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence, and false ego—these are all material energies. The material energy has nothing to do with the spiritual energy, and because it is not spiritual energy, it is called *apara,* "inferior." For example, in our body there are some superior parts and some inferior parts. The brain is a superior part. But there are other parts, where we pass stool and urine. Everything is part of my body, but the position is different, superior and inferior. Similarly, everything is God*—sarvam khalv idam brahma—*but still there must be a distinction between His superior and inferior energies. Although everything is Brahman, God, still for practical purposes there is a distinction between superior and inferior. Those who foolishly do not make this distinction are called *nirvisesa-vadis.* They are impersonalists. *Nirvisesa* means "without any varieties." But there are varieties. The body is one, but different parts of the body are considered superior and inferior. This is called *acintya-bhedabheda* philosophy, "simultaneously one and different." The anus and the genitals are part of the body, and the brain is also part of the body, but the brain is superior to the anus and genitals. *Bheda* means "distinct," and *abheda* means "one." We should not take only one part of the philosophy: "Everything is one." No. Everything is one, but there is variety as well. That is explained in the *Bhagavad-gītā* (9.4): > maya tatam idam sarvam > jagad avyakta-murtina > mat-sthani sarva-bhutani > na caham tesv avasthitah "By Me, in My unmanifested form, this entire universe is pervaded. All beings are in Me, but I am not in them." The jail department is part of the government, but the president does not live in the jail. Similarly, Kṛṣṇa, God, is everywhere because His energy is acting everywhere. The material world is the combination of two energies: the superior energy and the inferior energy. Our body is made of the inferior energy—earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence, and false ego. But what I am, that is superior. That is explained here by the word *jiva-bhuta,* which refers to the living being. Beyond these two gross and subtle energies there is another, superior energy. In today's verse, *anyam prakrtim viddhi me param* means that there is another energy besides the material energy and that other energy is superior to the material energy. And what is that energy? *Jiva-bhuta,* the living being within the gross and subtle body. *Fire, Heat, and Light* Modern scientists cannot understand the clear distinction between the inferior energy and the superior energy. Both of them are energies, and Kṛṣṇa is their energetic source. Everything comes from Kṛṣṇa, just as heat and light come from fire. And the fire is distinct from the heat and light. The *Visnu Purana* (1.22.53) states, > eka-desa-sthitasyagner > jyotsna vistarini yatha > parasya brahmanah saktis > tathedam akhilam jagat "Just as the illumination of a fire, which is situated in one place, is spread all over, the energies of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Parabrahman, are spread all over this universe." If you study whatever God has created, you become a philosopher. The sun is situated in one place. Every day we can see it, a fiery substance. From the heat and light of the sun, all planets are created and the vegetation and all other products are coming out. Without sunlight you cannot do anything. Heat and light are essential. Both the material world and the spiritual world are manifestations of the supreme energetic. You and I also have energy. You cut your hair; automatically the hair will grow again. So there must be some energy causing this. A dead man's hair will not grow anymore. But a living man, because he has that energy, can shave today and have new hair tomorrow. This is called inconceivable energy. We can talk foolishly with some bombastic words—“These cells and this and that”—but this phenomenon is not within our control. *The Spiritual World* These two energies, the material energy and the spiritual energy—one superior, one inferior—are working within this world as a mixture. And the spiritual world is the place where there is no material energy, simply spiritual energy. The land in the spiritual world is not like this land. The *Brahma-saṁhitā* (5.29) describes the spiritual world. **Cintamani*-*prakara*-sadmasu.* There are also buildings there, but those buildings are not like these buildings of brick and stone. *Cintamani* means "touchstone," and *prakara* means "houses." There are also trees, but those trees are spiritual trees, *kalpa-vrksa.* Here if you go to a mango tree, you get mangoes, but there you can go to any tree and ask for anything and it will be supplied. We cannot imagine how one tree can supply everything. But that is possible because they are spiritual. For example, if I ask a disciple, "Bring a mango," he'll go anywhere and bring a mango because he is a living spirit soul. But if I ask this pillow, "Bring a mango," it will not be possible. That is the distinction between material and spiritual. And these foolish scientists are trying to prepare spiritual energy by combinations of material energy. Just see their foolishness. They are trying to create the living force by chemical combination. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says they are *mudha,* "rascals." You cannot manufacture life by combining material chemicals. That is not possible. Here it is said *apara:* life is a different thing, superior. How is it superior? *Yayedam dharyate jagat:* it uses this world. This world is important because of the spiritual energy; otherwise it has no value. *The User of Matter* The spiritual energy, the living soul, knows how to utilize matter. *Yaya idam dharyate jagat. Jagat,* this world, is made of material energy, but the spiritual energy, the living entity, knows how to utilize this material energy. He knows how to utilize earth by making bricks and making lime to construct a nice house. The controller is the spiritual energy. Therefore the controller is called *param,* superior energy. The so-called scientists consider the material energy and spiritual energy to be the same. They have no brain to distinguish between them. We have to understand this point from Kṛṣṇa; therefore Kṛṣṇa’s instruction is so important. If you don't take Kṛṣṇa’s instruction, then in spite of your so-called higher advancement of education, you simply remain a *mudha,* rascal. Those who are not aware of the distinction between the spiritual energy and the material energy are called *mudha.* But if you understand the superior energy, the spiritual energy, then it will be possible to understand Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is full spiritual energy, *sac-cid-ananda-vigraha:* > isvarah paramah krsnah > sac-cid-ananda-vigrahah > anadir adir govindah > sarva-karana-karanam "Kṛṣṇa, who is known as Govinda, is the Supreme Godhead. He has an eternal, blissful spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin, and He is the prime cause of all causes." (*Brahma-saṁhitā* 5.1) The distinction between the material and spiritual energy is the first lesson to enter into spiritual understanding. From the beginning of the *Bhagavad-gītā*, in the second chapter (2.13), Kṛṣṇa teaches that the spiritual energy is within the body. > dehino ’smin yatha dehe > kaumaram yauvanam jara > tatha dehantara-praptir > dhiras tatra na muhyati "As the embodied soul continuously passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. A sober person is not bewildered by such a change." There are many evidences in the Vedic literature that the spiritual energy is different from the material energy. And if you understand spiritual energy, then you can understand God, because spiritual energy is a sample of God. Kṛṣṇa says in the *Bhagavad-gītā* (15.7), *mamaivamso . . . *jiva-bhuta*.* What is the *jiva-bhuta*? The living entities. *Mama eva amsa:* "They are minute parts of Me." A son is part of the father bodily, not spiritually. Spiritually he is part of Kṛṣṇa, and materially he is part of the body of the father. So we are not talking of the material. *Bhagavad-gītā* is spiritual understanding. *A Sample of God* The *jiva-bhuta* is controlling the material nature. And Kṛṣṇa says, "These *jiva-bhuta*, living entities, are parts of Me." Therefore, if you try to understand the living entities, who are part of God, then you can understand God. For example, if you are boiling a big volume of rice and you take one grain of rice and press it in your hand, you can understand that the whole pot of rice is ready. Similarly, if you thoroughly understand this spiritual entity—the individual living entity—then you can understand God. Another example: If you take a drop of ocean water and analyze it chemically, then you can understand the chemical composition of all seawater. If you study human nature, you can also learn something about the nature of God. But His nature is perfect and unlimited, and we have His qualities in a very minute quantity. In contact with the material energy, your nature is imperfect. But if you become liberated from material bondage, then you become perfect. You can understand, "I am as good as God, but God is great; I am very, very small." That is self-realization. If you think, "I am fully as good as God," that is your foolishness. You are as good as God in that you possess qualities like His, but you are not as great as God. To understand this point is self-realization. Therefore *sastra* (scripture) says, "If the spiritual spark is equal to the supreme whole, then how has he come under His control?" This is the reasoning. We are under the control of someone. In the material atmosphere we are fully controlled. And when we are spiritually free, still we are controlled, because God remains the great and we remain the small. Unlike in the material world, in the spiritual world the fact that God is great and we are small does not cause us to disagree with Him. Try to understand the distinction between the material world and the spiritual world. The living entity is a very minute particle of God. In the spiritual world everyone is aware of his position. The living entities there know, "I am a small particle of God." Therefore there is no disagreement. Everything is going on nicely. Here in the material world we are in disagreement with God because we are falsely thinking, "I am as good as God." That thinking is the basis of material life. To be free from this wrong conception of life is liberation. *The Small Serves the Great* All the *bhaktas,* devotees, have accepted that "God is great; I am small, a very small particle. Therefore, as the small serves the great, my real duty is to serve God." This conception is liberation. In fact, to serve someone greater is natural. Everyone is going to the office, to the factory, to work. What are they doing? Going to serve someone greater. Otherwise they might stay at home. Why are they going to the factory, to the office? Because it is natural for the small to serve the great. God is the greatest. Then what is your business? To serve Him, that's all. This is your natural position. In the material world someone is going to serve someone else for bread, and still he is thinking, "I am God." Just see what kind of God he is. This rascal is thinking he is God, but if he is driven away from the office, he'll not get his bread. Still he is thinking he is God. This is the nature of the material world. Everyone is thinking, "I am God." Therefore they have been called *mudha,* rascals. They do not surrender to God. Lord Kṛṣṇa says in the *Bhagavad-gītā* (7.15), > na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ > prapadyante narādhamāḥ > māyayāpahṛta-jñānā > āsuraṁ bhāvam āśritāḥ "Those miscreants who are grossly foolish, who are lowest among mankind, whose knowledge is stolen by illusion, and who partake of the atheistic nature of demons do not surrender unto Me." *Apahrta-jnanah:* "his real knowledge is taken away." He does not know that he is small, that God is great, and that his business is to serve God. This knowledge is taken away. This is the sign of a rascal. We can understand that a person is a rascal by one symptom. Just as by pressing one grain of rice from a whole pot of rice you can understand that the rice is quite all right, by one symptom you can understand who is a rascal. What is that symptom? *Na mam . . . prapadyante.* He is not a devotee of Kṛṣṇa? Then he's a rascal. That's all. Immediately you take it without any other consideration that anyone who is not a devotee of Kṛṣṇa, who is not prepared to surrender to Kṛṣṇa, is a rascal. That's all. This is our conclusion. Thank you very much. Hare Kṛṣṇa. ## Śrīla Prabhupāda Speaks Out *No Spiritual Pleasure by Merging* *This conversation between His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, one of his disciples, and a lawyer took place in August 1976 on an early-morning walk in Hyderabad, India.* Śrīla Prabhupāda: At the present moment nearly everyone is in darkness. *Na te viduh svartha-gatim hi visnum* [*Bhagavatam* 7.5.31]: they do not know that the goal of life is to know Visnu, or Kṛṣṇa. Out of ignorance they are accepting this material life as everything. But they are forgetting about the problems of birth and death. These are their real problems. They are making plans to solve so many problems, but they have no plan to solve these problems. Lawyer: Is it possible, then, for us to conquer death? Śrīla Prabhupāda: Oh, yes—by becoming fully Kṛṣṇa conscious. Lawyer: And in that case there would be no death and no rebirth? Śrīla Prabhupāda: Yes. You are eternal, and your original home is in the spiritual world. But by *karma* you are put into this material world. Then you must struggle, like a fish out of water. If somehow or other a fish is taken from the water and put onto the land, his life is simply a struggle. And if he is again put into the water, his life is in its natural condition. Lawyer: So for us the natural condition is back to Godhead? Śrīla Prabhupāda: Yes. Lawyer: It's a mystery, though, how we came from the divine life to this life. Śrīla Prabhupāda: What is the mystery? Is there a mystery how one is brought into the criminal court? What is the mystery? Disciple: It is simply our *karma*. Lawyer: But we must start somewhere. Śrīla Prabhupāda: What is the starting point of a criminal? He wants to violate the law, and he commits his first crime and becomes a criminal. You are a gentleman, but you can also become a criminal if you like. It depends on you. If you violate the law, you become a criminal. If you don't violate the law, you remain in your lawful position. Similarly, as soon as you defy God and try to become independent, you start your *karma* and immediately come to the material world. And when you again surrender to God, you stop your *karma*. So stopping and starting your *karma* is in your hands. You start your own life in the material world, and you can stop it also. Lawyer: But if the soul was once a gentleman . . . ? Śrīla Prabhupāda: The soul is eternally a gentleman. Lawyer: Ahh. But is the soul who takes birth as an animal also a gentleman? Śrīla Prabhupāda: Yes. He is a gentleman by nature, but a criminal by artificial means. Lawyer: But suppose you attain *moksa* [liberation]. Is that the same as returning to the spiritual world? Śrīla Prabhupāda: There are two kinds of *moksa.* In the first kind one tries to remain in the impersonal Brahman effulgence. But one cannot remain there eternally. The Brahman effulgence is like the sky. You may go up into the sky, but you cannot remain there. If you don't get any shelter, you have to come down again. You are a living entity and you want enjoyment, but what enjoyment will you find in the sky? You require society, friends, love—everything. But none of these are there in the Brahman effulgence. So, the *moksa* of the impersonalists is temporary because although they think that by merging into the impersonal Brahman they will be happy, they cannot be happy there. *Aruhya krcchrena param padam tatah patanty adhah* [*Bhagavatam* 10.2.32]: although they go up to the impersonal Brahman effulgence, because there is no *ananda* [spiritual pleasure] they come down again to find pleasure in the material world. By nature the living entity seeks pleasure (*ananda*mayo ’bhyasat). But you do not get any *ananda* in the Brahman effulgence. Lawyer: Isn't merging into Brahman itself *ananda*? Śrīla Prabhupāda: No. It is eternal existence, but no *ananda.* Can you remain eternally without pleasure? No, so you have to come back down again to this material world, because here there is something like *ananda,* although the pleasure here is temporary. So unless you go to God and dance with Him, you'll have to come back to this world. But the impersonalists cannot reconcile how God can be a person and not have to suffer birth and death like them. Because they have had a very bad experience of being a person here, they think the Absolute must be impersonal in order to be perfect. They are *mudhas,* fools; they are not intelligent. Lawyer: But what is the stage at which the *atma* [the soul] merges with the param*atma* [the Supersoul]? Śrīla Prabhupāda: You cannot merge. You may simply imagine you are merging. You can enter into the spiritual atmosphere, but without *ananda* you cannot stay there. Therefore you have to come back again to this material world. Suppose you are put in some place where you cannot practice law. How long will you remain there? If I say, "Please remain here happily without any law practice," how long could you remain? You will want some activity, some pleasure. That is your nature. So, here in the material world we are all trying to get some pleasure, but that pleasure is temporary. It is not satisfying us. Therefore, being disgusted, we want to stop material life and merge into Brahman. But that life is also temporary. Unless you go back home, back to Godhead, there is no complete life. Therefore Kṛṣṇa comes and shows by His spiritual activities how to enjoy real *ananda.* He plays with the cowherd boys, He dances with the cowherd girls, He kills the demons—He performs so many activities. This is *ananda.* You have read our Kṛṣṇa book? [*Kṛṣṇa: The Supreme Personality of Godhead,* Śrīla Prabhupāda's summary study of the Tenth Canto of *Śrīmad-Bhagavatam.*] Kṛṣṇa’s activities are described there in detail. We are trying to give people real knowledge from the *sastra* [scriptures]. Now it is up to them to take advantage of it. ## In Your Own Words *What can we do to reciprocate with Śrīla Prabhupāda for what he has given us?* *Śrīla Prabhupāda taught us* how to connect to Śrī Kṛṣṇa by calling out His name in *japa,* and we should reciprocate by being eager to connect to Kṛṣṇa by our most sincere practice of *japa.* Śrīla Prabhupāda gave us absolute knowledge in his books, and we should reciprocate by seriously studying his books. Prabhupāda asked us to distribute his books, and we should reciprocate by enthusiastically using every opportunity to distribute his books. Prabhupāda painstakingly preached the glory of love of Godhead, and we should reciprocate by glorifying Śrīla Prabhupāda while talking about love of Godhead. Śrīla Prabhupāda is our main teacher, and we should reciprocate by always remembering him as our primeval spiritual master. Śrīla Prabhupāda built a universal shelter called ISKCON, and we should reciprocate by our personal behavior, using all our faculties to strengthen Prabhupāda’s ISKCON. Prabhupāda told us that we could relate to Kṛṣṇa through His pure devotee, so let us reciprocate by always offering our respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of our dear Śrīla Prabhupāda, Lord Kṛṣṇa’s pure devotee. Govinda-nandini Devī Dāsī New Jersey *It is impossible to fully reciprocate* with such an exalted pure devotee of Kṛṣṇa as Śrīla Prabhupāda for what he has given us. If we follow his instructions to the point, then we will have reciprocated with him to some extent in a very small, token way. As a pure devotee of Kṛṣṇa, Śrīla Prabhupāda was full of compassion for the fallen conditioned souls. He wanted us to get out from material entanglement by bringing Kṛṣṇa into our lives by strictly following the four regulative principles and engaging ourselves in devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. To that end, as an *acarya* Śrīla Prabhupāda demonstrated how one is supposed to lead a saintly life of simple living and high thinking. He stressed the importance of distributing his books and preaching the science of Kṛṣṇa consciousness to anyone and everyone who was receptive, regardless of cast, creed, religious faith, ethnicity, or barriers of any sorts. Therefore as a token of reciprocation for his sacrifice, we should try our level best to follow his instructions. That will please Śrīla Prabhupāda the most. Vaikuntheswar Balaji Dāsa (V. Mistry) Austin, Texas *We must unceasingly align our hearts* with Kṛṣṇa, while keeping in our consciousness the debt of gratitude we owe always to our beloved Śrīla Prabhupāda. David Garvin Sugar Land, Texas *When I think of Śrīla Prabhupāda,* two things first come to mind: his love for humankind and concern for the state of humanity, and his passion for book distribution and spreading knowledge of Kṛṣṇa. We can never truly properly reciprocate with Śrīla Prabhupāda. The gift he has given us is precious beyond words, and a few rounds of *japa* or words of praise seem poor in comparison. But I think we can go some way by being good devotees, by chanting, by loving Kṛṣṇa, by serving devotees, and by distributing books and knowledge of Kṛṣṇa every chance we get. If we bring even one person to Kṛṣṇa, then we have helped to carry out the wishes of our wonderful spiritual leader. This I think is the best thanks we as humble ignorant souls can offer. Anna Mace Maidenhead, Berkshire, UK *It is impossible to repay Śrīla Prabhupāda* for what he has given us, and is still giving us, through his books. But whatever little we can do to please Śrīla Prabhupāda will be to our benefit. The best thing that can be done to please Śrīla Prabhupāda is to try to preach and distribute his books and words to whomever we meet. All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda! Chirag Dangarwala Mount Prospect, Illinois *The reciprocation process is simple:* All we have to do to lovingly reciprocate with Śrīla Prabhupāda is follow the instructions and teachings he has laid out for us. Śrīla Prabhupāda repeatedly stressed that he would be pleased if we incorporate Kṛṣṇa consciousness into our daily lives and depend on Kṛṣṇa for our subsistence. Although collectively we can never repay Prabhupāda for the eternal gift he has given us, what we can do to honor Śrīla Prabhupāda is read his spiritually enlivening books, visit the temples he established, make spiritual friends with his disciples and devotees, and so forth. If we repeatedly perform these activities, we will find that we will achieve outstanding realizations, as well as Śrīla Prabhupāda's reciprocation with us. And here's the best part: In the end, once we quit our bodies, these spiritual activities will transfer us to the eternal spiritual world, where we will live happily with Śrīla Prabhupāda and Kṛṣṇa. Therefore, if we follow Śrīla Prabhupāda's spiritual teachings, not only will we reciprocate with and please him, but we will also get a one-in-a-lifetime chance to meet him up in the spiritual world, Vṛndāvana. Mohit Kapoor (age 13) Calgary, Alberta, Canada *Lord Caitanya's movement* was inaugurated when He took chanting the *maha-mantra* to the streets as a method for promulgating Kṛṣṇa consciousness. A Vaisnava is recognized through preaching. Śrīla Prabhupāda immediately put his disciples on this high platform of preacher by commissioning them to routinely perform congregational public chanting. *Harinama-sankirtana* creates a very potent magical backdrop atmosphere for book distribution also. A familiar term in ISKCON's heyday was "fired-up." We can ignite the visibility and potency of the Hare Kṛṣṇa movement simply by all followers increasing their sacrifice of public chanting and in doing so reciprocate with Śrīla Prabhupāda. Rupacandra Dasi Bonners Ferry, Idaho ## e-Krishna The ISKCON News TV Channel*—*www.dandavats.com/haribol*—*presents videos and news stories by and for devotees of Kṛṣṇa. The use of video by devotees to share news of programs and festivals is on the increase as the technology to do so becomes cheaper and more available. The ISKCON News TV Channel draws on sources from around the world to offer a broad range of material, updated every few days. “We want to bring good news to the attention of the devotees,” says Citraka Dāsa, who manages the site. “The main attraction is that we present many interesting and uplifting videos. We don't concentrate on a particular issue; instead, we aspire to give a picture of what is happening in ISKCON.” When you navigate your browser to www.dandavats.com/haribol the videos begin to play one after the other, so you can sit back and enjoy them. If you move your mouse to the left of the screen, a pop-out menu appears, and you can scroll up or down through the available videos and play the ones you choose. Every time you visit you'll find videos presenting programs and festivals from different ISKCON centers, plays, documentaries, book and music reviews, as well as interviews, talks, and much more. One of the features of the TV channel is the ISKCON Press Review, a weekly digest of news stories and reports drawn from devotees' web sites. The Press Review helps you keep up with the latest Internet-based reports. Each review includes links to the sites mentioned, so you can check them out yourself. “We're not interested in delving into controversies or complex debates,” Citraka says. “Our aim is to inspire devotees by letting them see the wonderful things going on in our international society. In that way, we hope to motivate everyone to participate further in their own communities and deepen their devotional service.” —Antony Brennan ## How I Came to Kṛṣṇa Consciousness *Thank God I Am Not God* God unable to help himself? A banker realizes the folly of impersonalism. *By Kalanidhi Dāsa* I came to know about ISKCON as a serious spiritual movement in the year 2002. A senior executive in the State Bank of India, I was posted in Mumbai as a relationship manager to high-value corporate clients and had a tight work schedule. I never dreamed that the answers to my innermost quest would be found in this commercial capital, and so close to my workplace. Born in a *brahmana* family, I had been brought up as a Siva worshiper. At home we used to worship demigods such as Ganesa, Kartikeya, Sarasvati, and Durga. We observed religious festivals with gusto, despite my father's limited means. Thanks to my upbringing, right from my early age I memorized and feelingly recited Sanskrit verses and *mantras* for different gods and goddesses. But as I grew up among materialistic friends in school, I started developing doubts about these practices and almost became an agnostic in college. I picked up habits like meat-eating, smoking intoxicants, and regular cinema-going, as well as reading popular gossip magazines. After graduation, I became a bank officer and was completely materialistic. With growing skepticism about religion, I was shy of even revealing to friends that I visited temples. My religiosity morphed into a vague faith that there is an unchanging unitary reality behind the changing nature and that merging into that formless reality is the goal of existence. This can be done anytime we choose because we are identical to that truth and there is no urgency. All life is a dream, with no serious consequences to our actions. There is no God as such, and hence we can do the work of self-realization by our own efforts at a time of our choosing. I also concluded that all religions exploited our gullibility. My vices continued to grow. I took pride in them and believed they brought me closer to friends. Guilt and shame, I thought, are a sign of immaturity, and real advancement in life comes from overcoming these limitations. But my philosophy, which found an echo in many modern thinkers, left me all alone to achieve the great leap from material consciousness to spiritual consciousness, and I found myself ill equipped to do so. *A Blind Pursuit* However, incongruently, I continued vainly chasing after God with no clear conception of what I wanted. In 1984, while I was working in London, a friend introduced me to some occult books on yoga and I entered a new world of armchair philosophy—reading many books and debating, without any realization or *sadhana* (regulated spiritual practice). The books were interesting, and I thought they would change my life forever. But except for getting a swollen head by knowing more than others, I made no advancement. My desire to know more of spirituality was growing, and the pain and disappointments from chasing many mirage-like movements was causing great anguish. My journey can be summarized as follows: I ran after many so-called *gurus* and learned *asanas, pranayama,* and meditations on the formless and nameless. I enrolled with great hope in a correspondence course to learn *kriya-yoga* disciplines and took initiation too, but very soon gave up *kriya-yoga* as useless. I mastered a famous *yogi's* books on Mayavada philosophy, the philosophy that stresses the impersonal feature of the Absolute Truth and states that the form of even the Supreme Lord is *maya,* or illusion. I used to quote his books with ease. Yet, after several years of remaining enthralled in the philosophy that "I am God in illusion thinking of myself as human," I finally gave it up as impractical. Despite sitting with closed eyes for days, I could not close the doors on my mind that thwarted me every time. It was frustrating to think that although I was God, I could not help myself, nor could I expect anyone higher (higher than God?) to help me. I took *mantra* initiation (*diksa*) from many masters, not even knowing what initiation meant. Some of these encounters appear bizarre and ludicrous to me now, but not to the tortured and hankering soul I was. I practiced *hatha-yoga* with many reputed institutions but soon realized that despite their pronouncements, they had nothing to do with spirituality. I practiced *kriya-yoga* for four years, but apart from helping me develop a healthier body and sharper mind, it had no impact in my spiritual development; rather it retarded the process by making me more body-centered. I also followed some famous *sahaja-marga* **guru*s* for a while, but none of them gave any prescriptions to implement in life, nor did they elaborate on life's goals. People simply go to gaze at the *guru*'s face, listen to lectures, and hope the *guru* will remove all material and spiritual obstacles. The aspirant has to do nothing, except to keep visiting. I devoured many voluminous books containing the conversations and talks of famous saints. The books were known for the pithy wisdom replete in them. However, I ended up only being confused as these so-called saints held no specific guidance on what I should do now. Rather, mostly they justified doing anything, saying things like *yato mat, tato path:* "Whatever you like is your path." My one good fortune, which I realize only now, was that in all my wild goose chasing, I was not seeking *siddhis* (mystic powers) or miracles, or even freedom from suffering. I would soon get fed up with my *gurus* and move on, without suffering much damage to my psyche or wallet. I guess many of them were not bad people, but in different ways were ignorant and deluded by their ego, senses, or desire for prestige. *Light in a Dentist's Clinic* As a married man with many responsibilities, my sufferings were compounded, but this only increased my hankering for the Truth, which I knew instinctively would liberate me forever. At this time, in June of 2002, a root-canal problem drove me to a dentist, ISKCON devotee Dr. Nitya Kṛṣṇa Dāsa, in Sion, a Mumbai suburb. In his clinic, I saw *Back to Godhead* magazines for the first time. Awaiting my turn, I absorbed myself in those issues. Having read many spiritual books and magazines in my tortuous search for Truth, I found a unique appeal in these magazines, with contents simultaneously erudite and simple. They were refreshing in their approach and spoke directly to my heart from a different plane. The contents were simply a celebration of a spiritual reality and made no effort to talk about material sufferings and their solutions. My soul made an immediate connection. The spiritual aura of the clinic completed the effect. My follow-up visits strengthened my attraction to the clinic, and on my final visit I asked the good dentist how I could subscribe to these magazines. On a Sunday afternoon soon thereafter, Dr. Nitya Kṛṣṇa Dāsa took me in his car to ISKCON's Rādhā-Gopinatha temple in Chowpatty. That evening I joined a *Bhagavad-gītā* course at the temple, taught by Rādhā-Gopinatha Dāsa. My bookish knowledge and Mayavadi background assailed me for a while, but the beauty and perfection of what I was hearing was obvious from the very beginning, and the love and compassion of the presenter, along with the nice *prasada* at the end of each class, convinced me very quickly. The concept of a personal God, which I lovingly nourished as a child (though there were many gods) and later on discarded as unscientific, sentimental, and childish, Rādhā-Gopinatha Dāsa presented again so beautifully and convincingly that tears came uncontrollably as I listened. A typical Mayavadi's questions, which I thought were unanswerable, he comprehensively handled with ease. For example, if I were God and temporarily in illusion, then that would mean illusion was greater than God. How could God fall into illusion? If I had to undergo some practices to rid myself of this illusion, then how could I be God, because God, being the supreme controller, need not resort to practices; He could come out of illusion anytime. If this illusory existence was my pastime, then why was I suffering in this pastime and why did I want to come out of it? These questions convinced me that God is a person. *Life Changes* During the week, my wife joined the classes. I don't know how my official duties permitted me to be at the temple on time for the whole week. Powerfully symbolic dreams with profound messages kept me in a reverie in daytime as well. I was so moved that I disposed of our television shortly and read the complete *Bhagavad-gītā As It Is* within the same week. My wife and I started chanting sixteen rounds of the *maha-mantra* on our beads shortly thereafter. Implementing the regulative principles—no meat-eating, no illicit sex, no intoxication, no gambling—was never a problem because the Kṛṣṇa consciousness process and Vaisnava association were more than compensation for the small austerities. We became counselees of Nitya Kṛṣṇa Dāsa and started attending weekly counseling meetings. We also started attending the weekly *Bhagavad-gītā* program in Sion on Tuesdays and got the wonderful association of Muralidhara Dāsa and other Vaisnavas, whose compassion and enthusiasm made a significant impact on both of us. Vamsidhara Dāsa and his wife, Jahnavapriya Devi, spent long hours discussing the practical aspects of Kṛṣṇa consciousness with us, enhancing our faith and determination. From time to time we would even take to our counselor personal problems that had no direct relevance to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and he mercifully guided us on the right path. That October, I went on a pilgrimage to Vrindavan. The close association of Vaisnavas had a transforming effect. Waking up at 3:00 A.M. after sleeping only four hours, taking a cold-water bath, and walking barefoot in the dark to *mangala-arati* at Śrīla Prabhupāda's Samadhi—these were not austerities, but ecstatic experiences. *Moving Out of Mumbai* My stay in Mumbai continued until December 2003, when I got a promotion. It was a recognition I could not relish, however, as it meant leaving Mumbai. Despite being under heavy work and family pressures and tensions during my eighteen months in Mumbai, I clearly recollect even today that I was experiencing the greatest happiness of my life throughout that time. By the unending mercy of Vaisnavas, even after leaving Mumbai I remained in the association of devotees, which protected my fledgling creeper of devotion. By the same mercy, now I am back in Mumbai and live close to the temple. Having meandered across many spiritual movements trying to satisfy my quest for definitive answers about ultimate reality, I now realize why the pursuits failed me. The mental speculations of armchair philosophers can never satisfy the soul. All questions arise apparently at the mental level, but the trigger lies with the soul, seeking to regain the intrinsic happiness it has lost. *Gurus* who do not reveal this truth but only pander to the whim of creating and solving endless questions have really not understood the problem and therefore can satisfy neither their followers nor themselves. Even if they do, the solution is temporary, and new doubts will invariably arise. *Founded on Spiritual Authority* Unlike popular spiritual movements whose founders use scriptures only to lend legitimacy but do not fully believe in them, preferring to propagate their own mental speculations, ISKCON follows the recommended method of accepting the authority of *guru*, *sadhu,* and *sastra*—or one's own *guru*, the previous *guru*s in the Vaisnava line, and the Vedic scriptures. The bona fide *guru* is a transparent medium for God's mercy and continues the *parampara* system, or the line of spiritual teachers that traces all the way back to Kṛṣṇa Himself. The genuine *guru* never deviates from *sastra* and humbly repeats what he has learned from his spiritual master. Kṛṣṇa is the founder of the *parampara*, and the devotee's connection to this system through the spiritual master is the key to accessing Kṛṣṇa’s mercy. Mayavada philosophers unquestioningly accept that individual existence is both unreal and miserable and see a solution only in committing spiritual suicide by merging with the Absolute. They cannot imagine that the soul could ever be fully satisfied and eternally happy, without impediment, in loving reciprocation with the Lord. Their followers soon cloy from the endless dry speculation. Because their souls seek ever-new happiness, their *gurus* must constantly invent many cheating methods to infuse some variety to keep them. Having searched everywhere for answers, at last I find peace and happiness reigning in my heart and an assurance that I have found the ultimate truth. My two sons, who have witnessed my restless quest over the years, sometimes taunt me that I will move on once again to another guru. But now they know this time it is different, and they are happy too. *Unbelievable Auspiciousness* Many unbelievable blessings have come to me and those near to me in the last few years. My parents, who were in their late seventies, were with me in Mumbai. I took them to the temple a few times. After some Vaisnava association, they started chanting sixteen rounds regularly. My father increased his rounds to eighty. They maintained this commitment until they passed away a year ago. My parents-in-law and a brother-in-law are chanting sixteen rounds. My brothers and sisters have been influenced tremendously to take spiritual life seriously. In my workplace, too, colleagues have shown enthusiasm to learn about the philosophy and practice of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. The depth of my spiritual path and my earnestness to follow it impress them. They appreciate as a genuine alternative the simple yet profound and practical answers the philosophy of Kṛṣṇa consciousness has for the complex problems of the material world. I was able to assist a team of devotees distributing books on Kṛṣṇa consciousness in Ludhiana and in Vijayawada, where I was posted for a while. I organized a well-attended public program in Jalandhar to introduce industrialists and prominent citizens to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. I also arranged a *Bhagavad-gītā* course for the employees of our Vijayawada zonal office for five days, and they greatly appreciated the initiative. In Vijayawada I organized a *Bhagavad-gītā* study group in my residence for one evening each week for a year. I am eternally grateful to Dr. Nitya Kṛṣṇa Dāsa and his wife, Vraja Lila Devi, for guiding me to this wonderful *sankirtana* movement of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. It is the prescribed process to liberate the soul from the evil influences of Kali-yuga, the current age. But for their compassion I would have been lost among the other countless numbers of suffering souls vainly looking for redemption from the fire of material existence by taking shelter of sense gratification or mental speculation, which is like looking for water in a desert. I pray at the lotus feet of all Vaisnavas and my spiritual master that I eternally remain grateful to the mercy they have showered upon me and try to repay my debt by always trying to bring other conditioned souls to the shelter of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. Vaisnava Family Love and Affection *By Kṛṣṇa Nandini Devī Dāsī* *Focusing our love on Kṛṣṇa doesn't mean indifference to those around us, especially our families.* Picture this: Śrīmati Devi comes home from school one afternoon so quietly that her mother, Sudevi, senses a problem. "Śrīmati," she calls, "are you okay? How was your day?" When she doesn't hear a response, Sudevi goes to the ten-year-old's bedroom, takes one glance at her daughter's tearful face, and hugs her. "Mom, today some of the kids in my class said I was crazy because I don't eat meat. One girl put a meat sandwich in my face. I pushed her away from me, and the teacher gave me a detention." Sudevi comforts her daughter, and they talk a little about Kṛṣṇa, about animals, about how all life is sacred, and about how sometimes, because of ignorance, people say and do mean things. Mostly though, she uses this time to show affection and to nurture her daughter and the stand she has taken to see the life in animals as sacred. Imagine a new devotee, Bhakta Ted, being shaken by an experience with the police on his way to the temple. Bhakta Ted had worn his dhoti while in a park chanting on his beads and was intimidated by some passers-by. When a police officer noticed the incident, he interrogated Bhakta Ted for fifteen minutes and laughed off the fact that some park visitors had harassed him. "If I saw a man dressed in a skirt like that," the policeman said, "I might tease him too." Another of the newer devotees in the temple brushes off the police incident. "You'll be all right," he says. "That's just a part of your *karma*. It's just *maya.*" Another devotee, sensing how much the disturbance has affected Bhakta Ted, takes times to sit with him, listen carefully to his concerns, and reassure him that despite the inevitable difficulties of the material world, Kṛṣṇa gives His devotees encouragement and fortitude. This will pass, he tells Bhakta Ted, and asks if there is anything more he can do to help him. If we carefully examine people everywhere, we will find that everyone needs emotional support. We are living, sentient beings, and our desires for affiliation, friendship, affection, and appreciation are natural and spiritual. We have these desires because Lord Kṛṣṇa, the original person from whom all living characteristics come, exhibits them Himself. *Divine Personalities Show Us the Way* Hanuman, a powerful devotee, gently comforted Sita in her distress. He assured her that her husband, Lord Ramacandra, would soon arrange her deliverance, and he gave her Rama's ring as a sign of His loyalty. Because Hanuman showed such concern and because of his extraordinary mood of loving service to the Lord and His devotees, Lord Rama awarded him with a loving embrace and eternal devotion to Him. The deep, heartfelt language of exchanges between devotees in the *Śrīmad-Bhagavatam* and the *Caitanya-caritāmṛta* has always heartened me. Their interactions are full of sweetness, humility, and concern. Generally, no matter what the problems, the devotees in these scriptures take time to greet each other with humble appreciation and loving feelings. In fact, to not be happy to see a devotee is considered an offense. We should remember that our children, our spouses, our parents, even persons at the temple who may annoy us, are devotees, parts of Kṛṣṇa. Remembering this will help us treat them with tender loving care. The Grihastha Vision Team is a group of devotees, many of them disciples of Śrīla Prabhupāda, who counsel and educate devotees about marriage and family. They have committed themselves to providing service and support to devotees in the **grhastha* asrama* (married life). This team, in collaboration with Vaisnava Training and Education, has scrutinized Śrīla Prabhupāda's books and his instructions and identified twelve fundamental principles and values of healthy *grhastha* life. One of these is "Family Love and Affection." A stable emotional background, in which all family or community members feel wanted and appreciated, is essential for the personal and spiritual growth of adults and children. *Proper Understanding of Attachment and Detachment in Family Life* Sometimes devotees, especially in the neophyte stage, misunderstand the meaning of "detachment" and "attachment." We learn early on that we must become attached to Kṛṣṇa and detached from everything in the material world, and we many erroneously conclude that showing affection or attachment to others is *maya,* or material. Since even devotees are in material bodies, we might conclude that warm, loving interactions with other devotees is unnecessary or even an impediment to our spiritual growth. However, such thinking is mistaken. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains in *Teachings of Queen Kunti,* Chapter 25, "[Kunti's] affection for the Pāṇḍavas and the Vrsnis is not out of the range of devotional service, because the service of the Lord and the service of the devotees are identical." Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the Supreme Lord, has declared in the *Caitanya-bhagavata* (*Madhya* 19.210), "The living entities who live in numberless universes are all My servants. Therefore, any living entity that harms another living entity will perish." When we recognize that all things, all people, and all living beings belong to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, we will see that we have nothing to renounce and nothing to be detached from. We should be detached from the material understanding. That is, we should not be overly attached to bodies and material activities that will cause us to forget our service to the Lord. *How We Are All Connected* The living entity is not the body, and therefore we should realize that our connection to everyone is through the Supersoul in the heart of each living being. Then we will aspire to use everything in His service and treat all with loving care. Śrīla Prabhupāda exemplified this understanding in all of his interactions with everyone. Whether famous or not, whether a dignitary or a child, he treated each person with a sincere, heartfelt caring. Another challenge to loving relationships in devotee families is that we sometimes forget that our husband, wife, or child is a devotee and we become careless, neglectful, or disrespectful in our dealings with them. As the saying goes, "Familiarity breeds contempt." We should be careful not to fall prey to this pitfall. Praying to truly embody the instruction given to us by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu—to be humbler than grass and more tolerant than a tree—we should try hard to be especially humble and tolerant in our dealings with our family members. In such a mood we will stay connected with Kṛṣṇa, and He will guide us from within in how to consistently show love and affection to our family members and others. Devotees sometimes treat devotees outside of their families with respect, while being careless in how they treat the family members who live with them. *Expressing Loving Sentiments* How should we express our love to our family members? About five hundred years ago, the saint and scholar Śrīla Rupa Gosvami delineated "the six symptoms of love shared by one devotee and another": (1) giving charity to the devotees, (2) accepting from the devotees whatever they may offer in return, (3) opening one's mind to the devotees, (4) inquiring from them about the confidential service of the Lord, (5) honoring *prasādam,* or spiritual food, given by the devotees, and (6) feeding the devotees with *prasādam.* Mutuality and reciprocation are key in these loving exchanges. In the big family I grew up in, we had an uncle who was the soul of generosity, always giving gifts or doing favors for his relatives. Yet it was difficult for him to accept gifts and services. Eventually these one-sided exchanges took their toll on his relationships, so much so that he began to think of himself as the Benevolent One or Great Benefactor, dispensing money, gifts, and other resources to others who then always looked to him as the supplier. Over time, resentment built up on both sides. When he was unable or unwilling to give, family members neglected him and he resented their attitudes. So it is very important that loving exchanges be reciprocated. Also, something so simple (but often challenging) as really, genuinely, listening respectfully to your child or your spouse or other devotees, with sympathy and without being anxious to get your own words in, can be a great act of love and affection. Rupa Gosvami defined real love for Kṛṣṇa as favorable devotional service to Him. This is a great definition to apply to love between devotees as well because it combines the two fundamental parts of love: devotion (attitude) and service (action). The word *love,* which can be a noun or a verb, indicates both a state of being and action. Rupa Gosvami also lists the qualities necessary to advance spiritually, and we can apply these to healthy family life in Kṛṣṇa consciousness as well: patience, enthusiasm, firm conviction (that Lord Kṛṣṇa wants healthy family life), acting according to regulative principles, straightforward dealings (honesty, integrity), and association with likeminded souls—we should actively seek out the association of other families and couples serious about spiritual life. *Doing Spiritual Activities Together Enhances Family Life* Kṛṣṇa conscious family members should read and discuss scripture together, have regular *kirtanas* together, share *prasādam,* serve the Deity in their homes, and pray for sincere and steady connection to Lord Kṛṣṇa and each other. Think about it: How often have you sat down to a good meal prepared by one of your family or friends and neglected to really appreciate the cook for his or her efforts? When a good, tasty, nutritious *prasādam* meal is offered to you, don't take it for granted. Take the time to express your gratitude. Little thoughtful comments can significantly increase the level of satisfaction in your relationships. The French philosopher Blaise Pascal said, "Little things console us because little things afflict us." So, even little things, like appreciating a good meal, can strengthen a relationship. Take inventory and ask yourself when was the last time you truly listened to your spouse or other family member, gave him or her a gift, or prepared some *prasādam* as a surprise? In the material world, relationships are generally based on lust and illusion and are a perverted reflection of the loving exchanges in the eternal reality. In the spiritual world, however, deeply loving, reciprocal relationships are the normal and natural existence. There, devotees compete to serve the Lord and each other. When we sincerely chant the holy names of Kṛṣṇa, appreciate the association of saintly people, and otherwise engage in devotional service, we can truly share real spiritual love and affection with others even while apparently in the material environment. *Kṛṣṇa Nandini Devī Dāsī, a disciple of Śrīla Prabhupāda, is a Certified Family Life Educator (CFLE), a licensed minister of Kṛṣṇa consciousness in the state of Ohio, president of ISKCON's Grihastha Vision Team, and co-director, along with her husband, Tariq Saleem Ziyad, of the Dasi-Ziyad Family Institute. She and her husband have written many articles and conducted many workshops on family, marriage, and relationships. She resides with her family in Cleveland, Ohio.* ## In Vrindavan with a Hundred Foreigners *By Meera Khurana* *They came for yoga and discovered bhakti* India is known as *punya bhumi,* "the land of spiritual merit," because of its many holy places. Among them, Vrindavan, the land of Kṛṣṇa in the Mathura district of Uttar Pradesh, is the holiest. When God descends, so does His eternal abode. Lord Kṛṣṇa descends with Vrindavan, just as Lord Rama descends with Ayodhya. These divine abodes are known as *dhamas*. Vrindavan is the sacred playground of Kṛṣṇa, where He performed His childhood pastimes some five thousand years ago, and His presence is felt here more than anywhere else. When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu visited Vrindavan in C.E. 1523, He disclosed many of the sites of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes. The glories of Vrindavan *dhama* are described in the Vedic scriptures. For advancement in spiritual life, living or spending time in the *dhama* is beneficial because one accumulates spiritual merit there. Vrindavan (*vrnda-vana*) translates as "the forest of Vrnda," a cowherd-girl associate of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa who assumes the form of the sacred *tulasi* plant (also know as "holy basil"). The greater Vrindavan area is known as Vraja. In 2009, I found myself in Vrindavan for one month with over a hundred foreigners, none of whom had heard of Vrindavan or even knew who Lord Kṛṣṇa was. What would be their impressions of India’s holiest place? *Yoga in the Dhama* I had been interested in *yoga* for a few years, so when I heard of a one-month *yoga* course being held in Vrindavan, I took up the opportunity. Since it was being held in Vrindavan *dhama,* I expected it would be attended mostly by Kṛṣṇa devotees. I was surprised that the attendees I met, mostly from the UK, the USA, Germany, France, Japan, and Argentina, had never heard of Vrindavan and hence were totally oblivious of its significance. They had just ended up in the most auspicious place by chance (or, in fact, by Kṛṣṇa’s mercy) while looking for a *yoga* course. I wondered what pious activities they must have done in previous lives to be brought to Vrindavan without their explicit intention or knowledge. We studied and practiced *yoga* and *pranayama* on a rooftop garden, at tree level, near Chira Ghat on the bank of the sacred river Yamuna. Green parrots flew overhead, and melodious chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa *maha-mantra* bellowed from the speaker of a local temple. With a guard to protect us from mischievous monkeys, everything seemed perfect and tranquil in the Lord’s land. Having been born an "ISKCON child" (my parents were initiated by Śrīla Prabhupāda in 1971, when I was in my mother’s womb), I felt responsible for the experiences and impressions these people would get during their first visit to Vrindavan. I wanted everyone to enjoy their time in Vrindavan—and learn about Lord Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. I thought this to be excellent opportunity to tell people about Kṛṣṇa. After all, what better topic is there, especially in Kṛṣṇa’s land? Many of the people had never sat on the floor to eat before, had never eaten with their fingers or even had a pure vegetarian meal before. For many it was their first trip to India. Despite this, the effect that Vrindavan had on many of the *yoga* students was encouraging and exceeded my expectations. *Experiencing Vrindavan* We had one day a week off from classes. I would take some of the students on Vrindavan *parikrama* (circumambulation) and visit ISKCON’s Śrī Śrī Kṛṣṇa-Balarāma Temple en route. I was conscious of what they thought when we bowed down to place our foreheads in the dust of the holy land (pigs had just been roaming around in the same area), and how they would react to their first experience at an ISKCON temple. They had never heard such chanting before or even seen Deities. During the *parikramas,* I spoke to them about Śrīla Prabhupāda’s teachings and his mercy upon us for introducing Vrindavan to the world. They asked philosophical questions, and we had interesting discussions, including comparisons between Kṛṣṇa consciousness and other major world religions. They were surprised to see how comfortable they felt with the philosophy and how it made logical sense to them. For example, they appreciated the simple point that since the cow is like a mother and we drink her milk, we do not eat or harm her. The law of *karma* also seemed commonsense to them. The most wonderful thing was how very soon they loved Vrindavan. They mentioned how they felt more at home here than anywhere else, how everyone seemed to fit in and feel welcome. I thought this was an interesting observation, because we learn from the teachings of Lord Caitanya that Vrindavan is identical to the eternal spiritual abode of Lord Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇaloka, and is therefore everyone’s real eternal home. Seeing and hearing these comments were first-hand proof for me. Soon, rather than monotonous “hellos,” they were greeting each other with "Radhe! Radhe!" the traditional local greeting, meaning "O Rādhā! O Rādhā!" *Transformative Impressions* The energy felt in the ISKCON Vrindavan temple left the most memorable impression on them. Two young women, one American and one English (Elizabeth and Una), said they had never felt so much joy and energy as when visiting this temple, and felt so blessed. Never having seen Deities of the Lord before, they joyfully sang the *maha-mantra*—Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare—and danced. They never expected such a place existed on this planet, a place where people dance and sing the Lord’s names together indiscriminately, with so much pleasure and inspiration. Never having set foot in an ISKCON temple, they danced in ecstasy as if they had been reborn. Their joy and endless ear-to-ear smiling were evident for days after, as they would tell the others how they'd had one of the most wonderful experiences of their life. Some commented on how caring the Vrajavasis (residents of Vrindavan) are—even to animals. They witnessed stray dogs and injured cows being cared for selflessly. Marie, an older French woman with grown-up children, had never left France before. She was in tears after visiting Seva Kunj and Nidhivan, two sites of Kṛṣṇa’s intimate pastimes that are protected by high walls. She spoke of the remarkable peace and joy she felt there and wished she had visited before, when she was younger. Alida, a young woman from the former Soviet Union, was brought up as a princess with her own servant. She exclaimed she would rather live as a homeless person in Vrindavan than live in a palace elsewhere. Upon entering Śrīla Prabhupāda’s Samadhi, she closed her eyes in astonishment when she recognized Śrīla Prabhupāda from a book she had seen some twenty-two years ago as a child. It was the only book on the family bookshelf she would keep reaching for—and her Muslim parents would keep taking it away from her and putting it back on the shelf. I could see how her fate had finally brought her Vrindavan. She said she had never before felt the freedom and happiness she felt when dancing in front of the Deities. Darren, an Englishman, tried to miss some *yoga* classes (even though a register was taken) to experience Gaura Arati (the daily evening *arati* ceremony) at the Kṛṣṇa -Balarāma Temple. Miu, a well-travelled woman from Japan, stayed on for months afterwards. She prefers Vrindavan to her other world travels and does not want to leave. Upon visiting the Kṛṣṇa-Balarāma Temple, most bought *japa* *malas* (beads for chanting) from the temple shop, not only for themselves but for their partners and parents back home. They said that the experience of chanting was so joyful that they would like to take it home and share it with their families. I felt very happy to have been able to share the sweetness and pleasures of Vrindavan with these *yoga* students. The sweetness was given to me by my parents and to them by Śrīla Prabhupāda, who kindly came to the Western world to share Kṛṣṇa consciousness, for which I am eternally grateful. *Meera Khurana lives in London. She holds a Ph.D. in computer science.* ## Our Hidden Treasure *Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s parable of the astrologer and the poor man shows us how to uncover the ultimate treasure hidden within our hearts.* *By Mohini Rādhā Devī Dāsī* Do you know that you are the heir to an immense fortune? The ultimate treasure lies buried within your heart, and you only need to know how to dig for it. This surprising lesson is the essence of one of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s teachings to Sanatana Gosvami, as described in *Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta* (*Madhya-līlā* 20.127–135). Caitanya Mahāprabhu is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself, who appeared in Bengal about five hundred years ago to teach the science of devotion to Kṛṣṇa (Himself) by His own example. In other words, He behaved just like a devotee to teach others how to become devotees so that they could be delivered from material bondage and achieve unending spiritual bliss. In the course of His pastimes, Lord Caitanya imparted important teachings to His followers so that they could carry out His mission of spreading Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Sanatana Gosvami, one of the Lord’s direct disciples, had the great fortune of hearing the following parable from the Lord Himself. *The Astrologer and the Poor Man* Once, an astrologer named Sarvajna came to the house of a poor man. Surprised at the man’s wretched condition, he asked him why he was so unhappy and why he languished in such poverty even though his wealthy father had left him a large treasure. Unfortunately, the man’s father died in a foreign place and did not disclose the location of his assets; thus, the man suffered the distress of poverty because he was ignorant of his rightful inheritance. Only the astrologer, whose name means “the omniscient one,” had the power to identify the hidden treasure and, just as important, the knowledge of the proper procedure to uncover it. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu explained to Sanatana Gosvami that the astrologer represents Vedic literature, which is meant to guide people toward the ultimate treasure of love of Godhead. Just as the astrologer’s good news solved the poor man’s problems, the Vedic scriptures can solve our greatest problem: our spiritual poverty, the cause of our suffering in the temporary material world. The Vedic scriptures (and their representatives, the pure devotees) advise us to take to the path of Kṛṣṇa consciousness so that we can reestablish our relationship with our spiritual father, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Just as the astrologer’s words established the poor man’s connection with his hidden treasure, the Vedic scriptures establish our connection with Kṛṣṇa, the supreme treasure. For that connection to be established, we must first recognize our degraded condition, in which we are forced to suffer the “kicks of material nature,” to use Prabhupāda’s phrase. Lifetime after lifetime, we repeatedly accept different kinds of bodies and suffer birth, old age, disease, and death in the material world. Our desire to end our distressed condition serves as an impetus for spiritual inquiry, just as the poor man’s impoverished condition led him to welcome the astrologer into his home. His curiosity to find out if his future promised any relief drove his inquiry. If we, too, become curious about our own suffering in the material world, then we can seek knowledge about our constitutional position, which is free from suffering. The revealed scriptures and liberated souls can help us understand that our true identity is spiritual, not material. We are not these temporary bodies, but eternal souls, and our ultimate happiness lies in understanding our eternal loving relationship with the Supreme Soul, Śrī Kṛṣṇa. The man in the parable suffered due to his ignorance of his father and his father’s property. Likewise, we are suffering due to our ignorance of our Supreme Father, Kṛṣṇa. As tiny spiritual particles, we are part of Kṛṣṇa, just as sparks are part of a fire. The Lord is *sat, cit,* and *ananda*, eternally full of knowledge and bliss, and so are we; however, we have falsely identified ourselves with the temporary material nature and have forgotten who we really are. We are sons and daughters of the wealthiest person (wealth is one of His six primary opulences), but we have accepted repeated birth and death, pain and suffering, out of ignorance of our constitutional position as inheritors of Kṛṣṇa’s unlimited blessings. But what is our actual hidden treasure, and how do we uncover it? In *Bhagavad-gītā*, Kṛṣṇa declares that He is the ultimate goal (9.18) and the object of all religion and scriptures (15.15). Śrīla Prabhupāda tells us that pure Kṛṣṇa consciousness (knowledge of Kṛṣṇa and devotion to Him) is our “birthright” (*Śrīmad-Bhagavatam* 4.1.5, Purport). So our ultimate treasure is Lord Kṛṣṇa and pure devotional service to Him, but just knowing that does not help us; we not only need to identify our goal, but we must know how to reach it. Thus, the astrologer not only informed the poor man about his inheritance, but also provided a “map” to uncover it. He significantly cautioned against certain pathways that might appear promising but would ultimately lead to catastrophe. The poor man’s treasure was buried under his house, but he would not reach it by digging on the southern, western, or northern sides of the house. Those locations would prove disastrous for the eager treasure-hunter, but a slight attempt made on the eastern side of the house would uncover the unimaginable reward. *South: Karma-kanda* In His teachings to Sanatana Gosvami, Caitanya Mahāprabhu clearly explained the meaning of these injunctions to emphasize their importance. The astrologer told the poor man that the southern (*daksina*) side of the house was full of angry wasps and drones. In Bengali, the language in which Caitanya Mahāprabhu was speaking, the word *daksina* is used to denote “south” as well as the practice of giving charity to priests after performing religious rituals. In the context of the parable, the southern side represents ritualistic performances with the expectation of material benefits. This means that mere attachment to ritualistic procedures cannot yield the ultimate spiritual goal. If we try to understand the Absolute Truth by the method of fruitive activity (*karma-kanda*), we will be figuratively bitten by poisonous insects and will not be able to dig for the ultimate treasure. The bites of poisonous insects represent the suffering brought on by fruitive activities. When we follow the path of fruitive activities, we are subject to the law of *karma*, which, simply put, means that every action causes some kind of reaction. When we commit sins, we are liable to be punished. The stings of wasps and drones aptly represent those punishments. But even if we perform pious activities and earn relatively pleasant *karmic* results (such as promotion to higher planets for greater enjoyment and longevity), we are still not freed of materialistic desires, and we will be forced to suffer material existence birth after birth. Our ultimate treasure will remain unreachable. *West: Jnana-kanda* The astrologer also cautioned the man against digging on the western side of the house, where his hands would not even touch the treasure because ghosts fiercely guarded it. Ghosts represent mental disturbances that bewilder our concentration and shake our resolve. The western side of the house represents *jnana-kanda*, philosophical speculation, which not only fails to grant the ultimate treasure, but causes us to deviate from its pursuit. No amount of scholarly research can help us understand Kṛṣṇa, because He is transcendental to all mundane knowledge. Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvati Ṭhākura, Śrīla Prabhupāda’s spiritual master, once lamented, “The self-luminous path of pure devotion is completely covered by millions of thorns in the shape of foolish arguments and wordy wrangling.” (Lecture in Vrindavan, 1928) Here, these “foolish arguments” and “wordy wrangling” take the shape of ghosts who eclipse the real treasure of pure devotional service. *North: Impersonal Yoga* The astrologer also warned the poor man that a big black serpent would devour him if he dug on the northern side. Perhaps the most dangerous of all, this direction represents impersonal mystic meditation or *yoga*. The gaping mouth of the black snake of impersonalism sits like a trap, ready to swallow anyone who treads too closely. The philosophy of impersonalism imagines God to be a formless void and proposes that anyone can become God by merging into Him. This false logic runs directly opposite the principle of devotional service, which is based on loving reciprocation between the Lord and His devotees. Without such a reciprocal relationship, there can be no exchange of love, nor any bliss. Impersonalism, which is actually atheism thinly disguised as spiritual practice, results in spiritual suicide and is the greatest enemy to devotional service. *East: The Treasure* Real *yoga* means to link ourselves with the Supreme Lord, not to merge into His existence; it means to establish an eternal link of reciprocal love between the Lord and His devotee. Thus, the astrologer finally revealed the true path to success: “If you dig up a small quantity of dirt on the eastern side, your hands will immediately touch the pot of treasure.” The eastern side represents bhakti-*yoga*, the path of devotional service, whereby a slight effort will yield the ultimate treasure. Śrīla Prabhupāda confirms, “It is only the eastern side, devotional service, that enables one to attain life’s real goal . . . devotional service to Kṛṣṇa is the real treasure house for the living entity.” As Kṛṣṇa declares in *Bhagavad-gītā* (18.55), one can understand Him as He is, and thereby become eligible to enter His spiritual abode, only through devotional service. After finishing the parable, Caitanya Mahāprabhu quoted from the Eleventh Canto of *Śrīmad-Bhagavatam* (11.14.20–21), in which Kṛṣṇa tells His friend Uddhava about the supremacy of devotional service: My dear Uddhava, neither through *astanga-*yoga** [the mystic *yoga* system to control the senses], nor through impersonal monism or an analytical study of the Absolute Truth, nor through study of the *Vedas,* nor through austerities, charity, or acceptance of *sannyasa* can one satisfy Me as much as by developing unalloyed devotional service unto Me. Being very dear to the devotees and *sadhus*, I am attained through unflinching devotional service. This bhakti-*yoga* system, which gradually increases attachment for Me, purifies even a human being born among the dog-eaters. That is to say, everyone can be elevated to the spiritual platform by the process of bhakti-*yoga*. Thus the Lord Himself (in the forms of both Kṛṣṇa and Caitanya Mahāprabhu) glorifies pure devotional service as the only means to attain the Supreme Lord. Such devotional service must be unalloyed and unflinching, or unmixed and unending. Our goal is not material wealth, or even liberation from material existence, but the spiritual bliss of pure devotional service (see Cc. *Madhya* 20.142). As the pure devotee Prahlada Mahārāja taught his friends, “The Lord is pleased only if one has unflinching, unalloyed devotion to Him. Without sincere devotional service, everything is simply a show.” (*Śrīmad-Bhagavatam* 7.7.52) Pure devotional service is not only the means to our ultimate goal, but is itself the greatest treasure. On the absolute platform, there is no difference between loving service to Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa Himself. As Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu explains, “In the Vedic literatures, Kṛṣṇa is the central point of attraction, and His service is our activity. To attain the platform of love of Kṛṣṇa is life’s ultimate goal. Therefore Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa’s service, and love of Kṛṣṇa are the three great riches of life.” (Cc. *Madhya* 20.143) Pure love of Godhead is the natural propensity of every living entity, but it becomes covered by ignorance just as clouds cover the brilliant sun. Pure devotional service can drive away those clouds and revive our dormant love of God with the sunlight of transcendental knowledge. The heart being the "house" for the soul, the poor man’s treasure buried beneath his house corresponds to the dormant love of God buried in our hearts. As Caitanya Mahāprabhu explains: *nitya-siddha kṛṣṇa-prema*, “Pure love for Kṛṣṇa is eternally established in the hearts of the living entities.” (Cc. *Madhya*, 22.107) We are, almost literally, sitting on top of our hidden treasure. But why can’t we perceive it? After millions of lifetimes in different species in the material world, our identification with matter has blinded us not only to the location of our treasure, but also to its very existence. Materialistic desires—chiefly, the desire to enjoy independently of Kṛṣṇa, the supreme enjoyer—are just like dirt that fills our heart and buries our ultimate treasure beneath its filthy clutter. When we practice devotional service under the guidance of a bona fide spiritual master, our hearts are cleansed of the “dirt” of material contamination and our dormant love of God reawakens. *The Most Effective Bhakti Practices* Mahāprabhu’s parable shows us that simply by the process of devotional service, we can rediscover the secret treasure that has been concealed for so long. In Kali-yuga, the current age of quarrel and hypocrisy (the last and most degraded of the four ages), the only means to attain—or revive—our pure love of God is through the chanting of His holy names: Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. Of the nine chief processes of devotional service mentioned in the scriptures, *sravanam* and *kirtanam*, or hearing and chanting, are the most effective in this age. As Caitanya Mahāprabhu promises in the first line of His *Śikṣāṣṭaka* (eight teachings glorifying the chanting of the Lord’s holy names), “The chanting of the Lord’s holy names cleanses the mirror of the heart of all the dust accumulated for years together and thus extinguishes the blazing fire of conditional life, of repeated birth and death.” By chanting the Lord’s holy names, which are identical to Him, we can cleanse the mirror of our heart and finally perceive our true identities as His eternal loving servants. Thus, we can uncover our natural property: our hidden treasure, pure love of God. We can attain that ultimate treasure only by the mercy of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. He descended to this world because He wanted to relish the sweetness of devotional service to Kṛṣṇa (Himself), and so He acted as Kṛṣṇa’s perfect devotee to show all of us how to achieve the ultimate goal of life. He is ready to give us the greatest treasure, because He is its very source. As *Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta* (*Madhya* 2.81) proclaims, Lord Caitanya “is a wealthy capitalist possessing the touchstone of love of God. Not considering whether one is a proper or improper recipient, He gives His treasure to anyone and everyone. Thus He is the most munificent.” Thus, by the mercy of the Lord and His pure devotees, we can also attain the ultimate fortune of pure, loving devotion to Kṛṣṇa. Then, like the astrologer, we can tell everyone else how to find their hidden treasure. *Mohini Rādhā Devī Dāsī, a disciple of His Holiness Gopala Kṛṣṇa Goswami, lives in India with her husband, Narada Rsi Dāsa.* ## Prabhupāda at the Avalon Ballroom *By Mukunda Goswami* *In January 1967, Śrīla Prabhupāda, along with counterculture icon Allen Ginsberg, introduced hundreds of San Francisco hippies to the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra.* Our publicity worked. At 7:45 on show night the Avalon was filled to capacity. I was at the top of the staircase above the front door taking tickets for the first hour. From the top of the long red carpeted stairway that led up to the hall from the entrance, I could see the line of colorful late arrivals waiting to get into the Avalon. We'd stuck with our “first-come-first-served” policy in selling tickets, so late-comers were out of luck. Specially deputed agents of the San Francisco Fire Department stood outside at the hall's main entrance, monitoring the number of people inside. When someone came out, they'd let someone in, although that wasn't happening much, because those inside really wanted to hold onto their places. Chet poked his head out of his office door and yelled to me. “Looks like a sell-out,” he said. “You don't usually get the place full before the show starts. And this is a Sunday!” “Yeah, it's great,” I said, feeling excited. “Thanks for letting us do this here.” As I scanned the crowd, I spotted Timothy Leary and Augustus Owsley heading up the stairs toward me. As I took their tickets, I was surprised to note the strong smell of alcohol wafting around Leary. “That's weird,” I thought. “Leary's so anti-establishment, but getting drunk is the 'establishment' way of getting high. Shouldn't he of all people be high on LSD?” I took the ticket from him, and he proceeded to a nearby phone booth where he sat talking on the phone for the rest of my ticket shift. Finally, at 9:00 PM, Malati came to relieve me of my ticket duties so I could get back to managing the show. Inside the ballroom devotees were handing out thousands of orange wedges to the crowd. I pushed my way through the crush and up the stairs to the balcony to check on how Ben and Roger were doing with their light show. “Hey, how's it going?” I asked. “Yeah, great, man. We're all ready to go here,” Roger said. “Hey, we just brewed some tea—really nice stuff. You want some?” “Nope, it's OK,” I said. “I'd better get back out there.” “Hey, no, come on,” Ben said. “Have some. It'll relax you. You look like you need it.” I hesitated. “Well, OK, just a small cup.” Roger grabbed a little Japanese-style cup without a handle and poured me some of the liquid from a blue ceramic teapot. I took a couple of sips to be polite. It had a bitter undertone. “Thanks a lot. I've really got to get going.” They waved to me, smiling, and as I headed down the stairs to the dance floor, I realized that the tea had been spiked with acid. “No wonder it tasted bitter,” I thought, my head spinning. It was time to start the show, so in my mildly altered state I did my best to round up the devotees for the opening act—a sort of overture—an Indian-style chant that we hoped would set a mystical, spiritual atmosphere for the evening. We'd managed to get exotic clothing to wear on stage—Merlin gowns for the men and saris for the women—and when we came on the stage, the crowd began to cheer. We sat on brightly colored cushions in front of microphones and began to sing a mellow Krishna *mantra* with tamboura, harmonium, hand cymbals and drums. As we sang, I looked out into the crowd. Everyone appeared to be high on something—mostly pot and acid, I thought. Many people had brought their own cushions—tasseled, jeweled, patchworked and embroidered—and they sat on these during our chanting, closing their eyes or joining in with their own wooden flutes or bells. Some stayed standing and swayed in time to the music. A few cried, whether because they were moved by the chanting or simply high I couldn't tell. What I hoped was that the Swami's chanting and presence would—in the jargon of the Haight—“lift everyone to a higher level of consciousness,” not through drugs but through genuine spiritual experience. After our serene opening, Moby Grape took the stage and the crowd went wild. Malati was right—they were fantastic. The ballroom shook with their amplification, and the crowd gyrated in time with Ben and Roger's strobe lights and their multi-colored oil shapes projected onto the walls. The colors bounced, cascaded, broke into beads, morphed together and separated, jumping to the beat. The music was deafening, the light show mesmerizing. Things seemed to be going fine, so I headed backstage to the readying room, where Big Brother was tuning up for their performance. With a bottle of Jim Beam in her hand, Janis Joplin turned away from her mirror as I entered the room. “Hey, you're one of the Krishnas, right?” she asked. I nodded. “Why do you feel you have to chant that *mantra*?” She sounded challenging, if not a bit hostile. “Because it makes you feel good,” I said moving quickly out of the room. I didn't want to get into that discussion now. I'd seen her three days earlier walking two large Dobermans down Haight Street holding a half-finished pint of Smirnoff. When Moby Grape finished playing their hour-long set, fifteen of us stepped onto the stage in preparation for the swami's appearance. Allen Ginsberg came into the hall and joined us on stage to the accompaniment of loud applause. Finally the Swami entered the Avalon through the main door, followed by Ranchor and another New York devotee named Kirtanananda, whom I'd met briefly before we'd come to California. The stage was about five feet above the dance floor, so I had a good view of the Swami as he made his way across the length of the ballroom toward the stage, walking slowly with his wooden cane. The crowd grew quiet as he walked and parted to allow him to pass through. The hush was broken by a few isolated cheers and some scattered applause. It was a bit like the greeting the Swami got at San Francisco Airport, only this was bigger—much bigger. When the Swami reached the stage, he stopped for a moment and glanced around; then he saw a small stairway to his right, which he climbed slowly as if he were deep in thought. Ginsberg greeted him with folded palms when he reached the top. “Welcome, Swami,” he said. “Let's sit.” He gestured toward two large fluffy yellow throw cushions at the front of the stage. They made a funny pair, Ginsberg with his bushy beard and slightly rumpled brown suit with a white T-shirt underneath, and the Swami with his clean-shaven head looking regal in his soft saffron robes as he sat cross-legged, his cane resting across his lap. The hall was quiet except for a few muffled voices and the sounds of some people I didn't know in khakis who were rushing around the stage positioning microphones in front of Ginsberg and the Swami. The hall darkened and the crowd sat down. I started playing the droning tamboura just as color slides of Krishna began appearing on the walls. Up on the mezzanine, Ben and Roger projected the sixteen-word Hare Krishna *mantra* on the wall behind the stage and focused spotlights onto Ginsberg and the Swami. Ginsberg said something into the swami's ear, and the Swami nodded. Ginsberg moved closer to the microphone. “When I was in India,” he said, “I got enthralled with the *mantra* we're going to sing. I'd like you to sing loud with me. It's meditation that's musical. It'll take you into another dimension, like it does for me every time. He paused and squinted through the spotlight. “The **man*tra* is called the *maha*-**man*tra*. In Sanskrit, the word *maha* means 'large' or 'great,' and *man* means 'mind.' *Tra* means 'that which delivers.' So the word **man*tra* literally means 'mind deliverance.' “Sometimes you can have a bad acid trip, and I want you to know that if you ever do, you can stabilize yourself on re-entry by chanting this *mantra*.” He looked earnest and serious, like he was discussing literature with a group of poets at a university. “Now,” Ginsberg continued, “I want to introduce you to Swami Bhaktivedanta, who brought this *mantra* to the place where it was probably most needed, to New York's Lower East Side—to the dispossessed, to the homeless, the lost, the anarchists, the seekers.” The crowd applauded and cheered. “He left India, where life is peaceful, where he could have remained happily chanting in a holy village where people never heard of war and violence, where life is slow and meaningful. But instead, he's here with us tonight, his first time in this city, his first time in America, and he's come to share with us something precious, something to treasure, something serene.” Ginsberg gestured to the Swami to speak. The swami's countenance was bright as he responded to the invitation. He spoke slowly, and his ageing voice exuded confidence. “Thank you for inviting me to your beautiful city of San Francisco to speak here,” he said. “This chant comes from India. It will lead us to the spiritual world. You may begin tonight or any time. The *mantra* is not only for Indians. Hare Krishna chanting is for all people, because Krishna is everyone's father. We should not think that Krishna is Hindu god or is for the Indians and not others. He is for everyone.” I was excited to hear him as he looked admirably around at the rapt audience. “If He were not, how could He be God? God cannot be God simply for a particular type of man or for a particular section of society. “God is God for all human beings, beasts, aquatics, insects, trees, plants—all varieties. That is God. The words of this chanting are Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare.” Ben or Roger bounced the words on the wall behind the Swami. “These words are a transcendental sound incarnation of the Absolute Truth. Incarnation means … the Sanskrit word is **avatara*,* and that is translated into English as 'incarnation.' The root meaning of *avatara* is 'which descends or comes from the transcendental sky,' the spiritual sky to the material sky. Or His bona fide representative comes from that sky to this material plane. That is called *avatara*.” A female voice at the other end of ballroom yelled, “Yeah!” Another voice somewhere in the hall yelled out, “I'm God!” The Swami continued unfazed. “So this sound is the sound representation of the Supreme Lord. Material or spiritual, whatever we have got experience, nothing is separated from the Supreme Absolute Truth. Nothing is separated. “Everything has emanated from the Absolute Truth. Just like earth. Earth, then from earth, you have got wood, fuel. From fuel, when you get fire, first of all there is smoke. Then, after smoke, there is fire. “Similarly, there is a link. The whole material cosmic situation, manifestation, what we see, it is just like the smoke. The fire is behind it. That is spiritual sky. But still, in the smoke, you can feel some heat also. “So similarly, this sound vibration of the spiritual world is here, so that even in this material world, where there is a scarcity of that spiritual fire, we can appreciate, we can feel the warmth of that fire. “So I wish to thank Mr. Jinsberg and all of you for participating. Now Mr. Jinsberg will chant. Thank you very much.” The audience burst into applause that lasted nearly a minute. Some people stood up and a few whistled and many banged the floor with their hands. A trumpet sounded from the back of the room. “Thank you, Swami,” Ginsberg said. “So I'm going to chant the *mantra*. These are the words,” he said, glancing behind him. “They're on the wall behind me for you to follow. I'll chant the whole thing once and then you repeat it. I'm going to sing a melody I learned when I was in Rishikesh in the Himalayas.” He paused. “Everyone sing loud! And dance if you feel like it too!” Ginsberg began to sing, and all the devotees on the stage sang the repeat of the *mantra*. Everyone began playing their instruments after the first few *mantra*s, except for me; I had to quickly re-tune the tamboura to be in tune with Ginsberg. Fortunately, he stayed in the same key throughout his chant. The audience caught on quickly. Encouraged by the fact that the *mantra* was being sung by one of their icons, the crowd responded enthusiastically. Everyone sang along, and most people stood up and began to sway with the beat. As the tempo began to pick up, Ben and Roger made sure the oil pulsations were in time with the beat. The chanting reached a fast tempo quickly; Ginsberg and the few devotees who were keeping time with the instruments had to start everything over again. The audience still stood, waiting. This time Ginsberg started the chanting slowly and kept the tempo constant. The audience's response singing was a roar that echoed through the ballroom. Suddenly and unexpectedly, the Swami stood up from his cushion and raised his arms, gesturing for everyone to do the same. All the devotees on the stage exchanged surprised looks. Janaki and I had seen the Swami dance once before at Dr. Mishra's ashram in upstate New York, but no one else had seen him do this before. And none of us had expected it tonight. The few still sitting now stood up, and the whole audience danced as one body in one giant motion: left foot over right, right foot over left, left over right, just like the Swami was doing. Thousands of arms waved like willows in a grove, fluid, silky and hypnotic. It was rhythmic, yet languid and ballet-like. Everyone, including the snack sellers and bouncers, was swaying back and forth and singing. Only a few stood motionless at the periphery of the ballroom, excluded from the dancing probably because they were too high to take part. Their mouths hung open as they stared at the spectacle and drooled. Ginsberg removed his microphone from its stand and unwound the cord so that he could hand it to the Swami. For a few minutes the Swami led the chanting. As he did so, musicians from the bands joined us on the stage with their instruments. Don Stevenson from Moby Grape sat down behind his set of drums, which was still on stage from their set, Phil Lesh and Pig Pen from The Grateful Dead plugged their guitars into amplifiers, and Peter Albin and Sam Andrew from Big Brother started plucking the strings of their guitars. They all began by caressing their instruments as only musicians do, testing the sound levels cautiously, tuning the strings and adjusting the tones and levels, experimenting as to how they could best accompany and augment the chanting. *Mukunda Goswami was initiated by Śrīla Prabhupāda in 1966, making him one of Prabhupāda's first disciples. He has been faithfully serving his spiritual master ever since. He currently lives in Australia.* *This article was excerpted from* Miracle on Second Avenue, *published by Torchlight Publishing (www.torchlight.com).* Wikipedia has an entry about the Avalon Ballroom event: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantra-Rock_Dance. ## Doctors of Happiness *By Ravīndra Svarupa Dāsa* *A Harvard professor discovers something about happiness that Vedic sages knew long ago.* Derived from assiduous research into human happiness, the findings of Dr. Daniel Gilbert, a Harvard psychology professor both funny and smart, have revealed to him an important truth that will already be familiar to students of *Śrīmad-Bhagavatam.* That venerable text recounts (in Chapter 82 of Canto 10) a discussion among certain learned personages—doctors in the original sense of the term—who dwelt on the planet called Janaloka, which can be regarded as the Harvard of our entire cosmos. During this celestial colloquium, one of the sages tells how, at the beginning of creation, the *Vedas* in personal form (*srutis*) awaken Maha-Visnu from His mystic slumber by hymning to him the very knowledge they themselves embody or personify. The Sanskrit word *veda* means knowledge. Although any valid knowledge is *veda*, in the strict sense *veda* denotes the uncreated and eternal knowledge on the basis of which the entire creation is produced by Maha-Visnu (and His agents). The world is designed according to prior Vedic knowledge, as engineers assemble an aircraft from blueprints. *Veda* is not to be confounded with the “knowledge” we humans work up from our investigations of the world and our picayune efforts to reverse-engineer bits of creation. All the same, a humble laborer in the human knowledge-factory like Professor Gilbert sometimes stumbles on truth, and there is truth to be found in his well-received book *Stumbling on Happiness*. This truth is conveyed in the title of his blog posting “What You Don’t Know Makes You Nervous,” reprinted on the op-ed page of *The New York Times*. Our unhappiness, Professor Gilbert finds, arises not so much from our present circumstances, exiguous though they may be, as from our anxieties concerning our future. We have a neural mechanism that can keep us happy even in difficult times, he argues; it is fear about the uncertainties of the future that renders people anxious and miserable. Dr. Gilbert is certainly correct. Here, from the *Bhagavatam* (10.87.32) is the statement of the *srutis* to the Lord: The wise, who understand how Your *maya* utterly bewilders all people, devote themselves completely to You, the source of liberation. How could the terrors of existence afflict Your faithful followers? For those who refuse Your shelter, Your furrowed brow manifests the turning three-rimmed wheel of time, which keeps them perpetually in fear. In this passage, the terrors of existence (*bhava-bhayam*) are explicitly related to the movement of time, whose rim is composed of three sections—past, present, and future. Śrīla Prabhupāda puts it succinctly in his commentary to *Bhagavad-gītā* 10.4–5: “Fear is due to worrying about the future.” He expands on this: A person in Kṛṣṇa consciousness has no fear because by his activities he is sure to go back to the spiritual sky, back home, back to Godhead. Therefore his future is very bright. Others, however, do not know what their future holds; they have no knowledge of what the next life holds. So they are therefore in constant anxiety. An interesting Sanskrit word that indicates a state of security, devoid of any anxiety, is *ksema*. It is derived from the verbal root *ksi*, which means to abide, stay, or dwell, especially in an undisturbed or secret residence. *Ksema* as a noun means safety, peace, rest, security. The Monier-Williams dictionary tells us that the phrase *ksema*m te—“peace or security may be unto thee”—is cited in Manu’s Lawbook as “a polite address to a Vaisya [merchant], asking him whether his property is secure.” We encounter the word *ksema* in the *Bhagavad-gītā* (9.22), where Kṛṣṇa avers that for those who concentrate on him exclusively, remaining perpetually fixed in devotion, He bears the burden of their *yoga*-*ksema*m. In this compound, *yoga*—which has a root sense of yoking or joining—means acquisition (of goods, for example), and *ksema*m means the secure possession of that which has been acquired. Kṛṣṇa, then, promises that for devotees wholly dedicated to and dependent upon Him, He himself assumes the burden (*vahami*) of seeing that they get what they require and securely possess whatever they have gained. In the commentary, Prabhupāda elucidates *yoga*-*ksema*m in its spiritual context: Such a devotee undoubtedly approaches the Lord without difficulty. This is called yoga. By the mercy of the Lord, such a devotee never comes back to this material condition of life. *Ksema* refers to the merciful protection of the Lord. The Lord helps the devotee to achieve Kṛṣṇa consciousness by yoga, and when he becomes fully Kṛṣṇa conscious the Lord protects him from falling down to a miserable conditioned life. In other places, Prabhupāda cites this text as assuring that Kṛṣṇa takes responsibility for even the material necessities of a devotee. In such cases, the devotee is released from all anxiety about the future. The word *ksema* makes an interesting appearance in the Eleventh Canto of *Śrīmad-Bhagavatam,* which tells of King Nimi’s meeting with the nine Yogendras, the great liberated sons of Rsabhadeva, who traveled together freely throughout the universe. Nimi asks them (11.2.30) to explicate the atyantikam *ksema*m—the unsurpassable good or supreme position of peace and security. The phrase is explained in the commentary to the verse: According to Śrīla Jiva Gosvami the words *atyantikam ksemam*, or “the supreme good,” indicate that situation in which one cannot be touched by even the slightest fear. Now we are entangled in the cycle of birth, old age, disease and death (*samsare*). Because our entire situation can be devastated in a single moment, we are constantly in fear. But the pure devotees of the Lord can teach us the practical way to free ourselves from material existence and thus to abolish all types of fear. Dr. Gilbert sees uncertainty of the future as the source of unhappiness. In his blog, he presents instances in which patients made certain by physicians of a future medical affliction are nevertheless happier than those whom physicians give only the possibility of the affliction. Yet we can understand that such happiness is relative. Anxiety remains. No one knows with any surety what the future will bring, and all face the ultimate unknown—death, “the undiscovered country, from whose bourn no traveler returns,” as Hamlet observed in his famous soliloquy. The fear is always with us, try as we will to pay it no mind. As William James noted, not much is needed to bring “the worm at the core of all our usual springs of delight into full view.” John Updike has a typically stunning metaphor: “We all dream, and we all stand aghast at the mouth of the caves of our deaths; and this is our way in.” Dr. Gilbert of Harvard has informed us about the happiness problem, but he has much more to do. The learned doctors of Janaloka, the nine wise “masters of yoga,” understand what he knows and then some. . . When the time comes, we should have no uncertainty. *Ravīndra Svarupa Dāsa, an ISKCON governing body commissioner, lives at the Philadelphia temple, where he joined ISKCON in 1971. He holds a Ph.D. in religion from Temple University.* ## Vedic Observer *True Heroism* *By Suvarna Radhika Devī Dāsī* A Hollywood super-couple breaks up. Monetary negotiations, the division of property, and even the division of children follow, in a blatant display of egoism and unfaithfulness. Their fan base only increases. A singer is found dead of a drug overdose. He becomes a bigger cult phenomenon. An actor runs over two people while speeding in a drunken stupor. People continue to love him. Unfortunately, celebrity worship has become the norm today. Media-generated hype drives society to idolize men and women in certain professions. These people are so steeped in sense gratification and covered by the illusory energy of the Lord that from a spiritual perspective they often represent everything a human being should not be. This situation got me thinking about heroes and hero worship. We tend to worship as heroes people we perceive to be better than ourselves. We wish to acquire the qualities of our heroes so that we can improve ourselves. We also look toward them for inspiration when faced with tricky situations in life, or when unsure of how to behave, as we feel they are wiser than us and by emulating them we will find happiness. Most of the time we tend to seek such things as popularity, wealth, beauty, knowledge, and strength. We then try to imbibe the qualities of people who possess these, feeling that by doing so we too will acquire them and become happy. But if we observe the lives of our heroes carefully, we find that most of them are not happy. They struggle with problems born of uncontrolled senses, like alcoholism, substance abuse, and failed relationships. They are unable to handle the opulence they have. Moreover, everything in this material world is temporary, and our heroes become frustrated when they lose their opulence. Such people are unfit to be our heroes, as we will never find real happiness by following in their footsteps. *Godly Heroes* Who then is a real hero? The Vedic scriptures give an interesting answer: the perfect servant of God. The *Vedas* describe God as the Supreme Person, and He possesses six kinds of opulence in full: beauty, strength, wealth, fame, knowledge, and renunciation. These scriptures say that our true happiness lies in our connection with God. We can find happiness by serving our Supreme Father, not by acquiring temporary opulence, When we understand this point and desire to become an ideal servant of God, then automatically we look toward perfect servants and identify them as our real heroes. Perfect servants of God have completely surrendered to Him, knowing that they are not the supreme controller but simply His instrument. They lead their lives as directed by the scriptures, such as the *Bhagavad-gītā,* and perform all their duties as an offering to God. They use their talents and qualities in His service. Instead of seeking happiness through external, material objects, they find it in all things related to God and attain inner peace. All virtues appear automatically in them as they proceed on the path back to Kṛṣṇa. Let us consider the example of Prahlada Mahārāja. He was the son of Hiranyakasipu, one of the most powerful demons to walk the earth. Yet, even at the tender age of five, Prahlada had the courage and faith to go against his entire demoniac family and worship Lord Kṛṣṇa. He was unruffled in all the dangerous situations his father created for him, because he knew that Kṛṣṇa is the ultimate controller and everything happens by His will alone. To protect Prahlada, Lord Kṛṣṇa descended as Nrsimhadeva, the half-man, half-lion incarnation, and performed His divine pastime of ridding the earth of the demon. Hiranyakasipu possessed great opulence, but the real hero turned out to be Prahlada. Innumerable such real heroes have walked planet earth. Society needs them so that people can learn how to lead a meaningful life. Real heroes inspire people to practice the science of God consciousness, develop positive qualities, and achieve eternal bliss. *Worthy Examples* Sadly, the influence of Kali-yuga, the current age, corrupts all things of quality. According to the Vedic literature, in former times leaders of society possessed great spiritual wisdom. Today’s leaders are all miniature Hiranyakasipus who blatantly engage in public self-glorification. In contrast, the Vedic king Yudhisthira was so humble that he said he could find no one less qualified than himself. King Sibi was prepared to cut off his own flesh to feed an eagle and thus protect the pigeon it pursued. Contrast him with today’s heroes, who are not content even after exploiting the weak and the helpless under their protection. King Bharata ruled the earth but gave up everything for self-realization. Contrast him with today’s heroes, who cling to power and fame long after their prime. I turn with a grateful heart to Śrīla Prabhupāda, a real hero of the modern age. He gave us the Vedic wisdom with its insight on heroism, and he revealed the path to becoming heroes ourselves. Because of his divine grace, the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement now has numerous heroes who are guiding lights to society in this dark age. By following these authentic heroes, one can eventually attain the ultimate hero—Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa. *Suvarna Radhika Devī Dāsī is a twenty-two-year-old software engineer working in a multinational corporation in Pune, Maharashtra, India. She was raised in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and is engaged in services like writing and teaching children about Kṛṣṇa.* ## Mother Earth: Holder and Giver of Wealth *By Visakha Devī Dāsī* *A life that allows us to reunite with Mother Earth and offer her products to Kṛṣṇa favors our spiritual growth.* Śrīla Prabhupāda writes, "Whatever is taken from the earth—either from the mines, from the surface of the globe, or from the atmosphere—should always be considered the property of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and should be used for Yajna, Lord Visnu. As soon as the process of *yajna* [sacrifice] is stopped, the earth will withhold all productions—vegetables, trees, plants, fruits, flowers, other agricultural products, and minerals. As confirmed in *Bhagavad-gītā,* the process of *yajna* was instituted from the beginning of creation. By the regular performance of *yajna*, the equal distribution of wealth, and the restriction of sense gratification, the entire world will be made peaceful and prosperous." (*Śrīmad-Bhagavatam* 4.18.13, Purport) *A Beautiful Energy* The earth planet, along with its atmosphere, comprises all five of Kṛṣṇa’s material energies, the primary elements: earth, water, fire, air, and ether (space). It is a priceless asset given to us by Kṛṣṇa. Mother earth is to be honored as a display of God's energies, and as Kṛṣṇa is beautiful, so the earth is also inherently beautiful. For devotees living on farm communities established under the guidance of Śrīla Prabhupāda, our task and pleasure is to serve the earth so that she is kept not only beautiful but also healthy, protected, and productive. Toward this end, in Saranagati Village, British Columbia—where my family and I live—a good number of us have gardens. When I established mine I was obliged to clear and level the land, thus giving our small parcel a more tamed beauty (as opposed to a wild beauty), and I fenced it in to protect it. My garden, although modest, keeps me grounded, in touch with the earth, and through empathy with its goings-on, regularly reminded of my vulnerability. It also keeps me and my family in the ecological loop: In our home, nothing organic is thrown in the trash—it all goes into our compost pile, along with manure, then into the garden, where we're rewarded with dark, crumbly, rich soil. An added and unexpected benefit to this garden is the untold gratification we get from simply looking out our living room and dining room windows to see our fruit trees—in spring, so laden with white flowers they look snowed-on—and our lush vegetables. There is a certain dignity, a certain ineffable rightness to this view and to the roots we have set down in this remote corner of the earth. When I visit my city friends and see that they throw organic matter—leaves, fruit peels, vegetable parts—in the trash, I have an urge to gather it all up and ship it to Saranagati. Meanwhile, what my city friends eat is often grown by far-away farmers who use harmful chemical fertilizers instead of the organic matter that's been trashed. An ugly anomaly lurks in this scenario. *Pleasing Mother Earth* But whether in the city or the countryside, we can honor Mother Earth by understanding the natural system her creator, Kṛṣṇa, has established for her well-being and attractiveness. When we do this and offer her yield to Kṛṣṇa with love and devotion, Kṛṣṇa is pleased and Mother Earth is also pleased. Śrīla Prabhupāda writes, "There is enough of everything by the will of the Lord, and we can make proper use of things to live comfortably without enmity between man and man, or man and animal, or man and nature. The control of the Lord is everywhere, and if the Lord is pleased, every part of nature will be pleased." (*Śrīmad-Bhagavatam* 1.10.5, Purport) Our bodies and the bodies of all living entities are generated from the earth, are transformations of earth with different names according to their transformation, and in the end return to the earth as dust. And our bodies and the vegetation on the body of the earth are intimately related: The vegetables, fruits, and grains—used both as food and as medicine—provided by the earth nourish humans and animals. Thus the earth's well-being and our well-being are inseparable. If our mentality is unhealthy and we fail to respect the earth, we will pollute her, and that pollution will make us physically unhealthy. Continuing the theme of how the pleasure of the Lord leads to every part of nature being pleased, Śrīla Prabhupāda writes, The river will flow profusely to fertilize the land; the oceans will supply sufficient quantities of minerals, pearls and jewels; the forest will supply sufficient wood, drugs, and vegetables, and the seasonal changes will effectively help produce fruits and flowers in profuse quantity. The artificial way of living depending on factories and tools can render so-called happiness only to a limited number at the cost of millions. Since the energy of the mass of people is engaged in factory production, the natural products are being hampered, and for this the mass is unhappy. Without being educated properly, the mass of people are following in the footsteps of the vested interests by exploiting natural reserves, and therefore there is acute competition between individual and individual and nation and nation.—*Śrīmad-Bhagavatam* 1.10.5, Purport *Misusing the Earth* Just as cattle (so-called "livestock") are dealt with ruthlessly, living and dying only for their owner's profit, similarly agribusinesses exploit the earth, tilling her for productivity and profit at the expense of her beauty, health, and permanence. Such a callous and calculating mentality is symptomatic of passion and is characterized by fanatically rapid changes and a fascination with innovation, like genetically modified foods, before the consequences of that innovation are fully explored. By nature's way, growth and change are self-balancing and usually gradual, but growth and change among technologically dominated humans is neither. As a result of this greed-driven shortsightedness, we find that huge tracts of Mother Earth have been turned into eyesores. The mass of people, lacking a spiritual perspective and spiritual guidance, caught up in surviving and in meaningless pleasure-pursuits, cannot see or break free of the profit-motive mentality; and they are unable to understand Kṛṣṇa’s desire: that each individual live a meaningful and truly happy life by using Kṛṣṇa’s energies in His service. The way we use our land indicates the future of any society, including ours. This means that, overall, we face a bleak future if we continue using unsustainable farming methods. And what have we gained from taking this risk? More free time? More pleasure? Better health? More happiness? Ironically—and by the arrangement of the Lord—the amount of real leisure a society enjoys tends to be in inverse proportion to the amount of labor-saving machinery it employs. Generations of people have been lured from farms to urban and suburban living by the promise of an easier life, but judging from the stress level in those areas, that promise is largely unfulfilled. Meanwhile, the more labor-saving machinery a society creates and uses, the more the world's resources are depleted, the more waste we must deal with, the more debt we incur. And—more irony—in today's society a person's prestige varies in inverse proportion to his or her closeness to actual production. Compare the CEO on the top floor of a skyscraper to the farmer with his hands in the earth. In addition, modern technology has deprived agriculturalists and laborers of the kind of work they most enjoy—creative, useful work with their own hands and brains. Production—even food production—has been turned into an inhumane chore that does not enrich people but empties them and jeopardizes their health. *Country Life Versus City Life* People in the cities, even our devotee friends, may wonder what we find attractive in a rural community like Saranagati. Where are the diversions, the entertainments, and the many comforts of modern life? And we Saranagati-ites look at our city friends and wonder at the stress they live with, at the fume-fed lives they live, at the television they and their children watch, and at their unending, ever-looming expenses, and wonder why they put up with it all. We see how city life makes people feel insignificant and powerless not before God but before a vast economic system that isolates them and leaves them with little opportunity for their individual economic betterment. We see how they lose confidence in their personal initiative and become highly specialized, fiercely competitive cogs in some big enterprise, without security or independence. Just the impersonal, concrete vastness of city streets, buildings, schools, offices, superstores, and crowds makes one feel inconsequential—a pawn. The sublime spiritual life Śrīla Prabhupāda offered us all can be found in the simplicity that is natural and easy in rural communities—and how much better it is for children to spend their formative years away from the degradation of urban and suburban influences. As productivity is attained as a by-product when the land is healthy and beautified, similarly people feel useful and fulfilled when they live as they are meant to live—in concert with the creator. And, just as when the earth is exploited and neglected eventually her productivity diminishes, so a person who, due to circumstances or greed, does work that is ultimately meaningless will be damaged by an inner sense of uselessness and defeat. In other words, in making production and wealth primary goals (and making spiritual goals questionable), the modern economic system ravishes nature and mutilates human beings. In Śrīla Prabhupāda's words, "What is the need of an artificial luxurious life of cinema, cars, radio, flesh, and hotels? Has this civilization produced anything but quarreling individually and nationally? Has this civilization enhanced the cause of equality and fraternity by sending thousands of men into a hellish factory and the war fields at the whims of a particular man?" (*Śrīmad-Bhagavatam* 1.10.4, Purport) *Mother Earth and the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa* The products of the earth are meant to be offered to the Lord for His satisfaction. Mother earth is called Vasun*dhara,* meaning "the holder of wealth" (*vasu* means "wealth," and *dhara,* "one who holds"). Whatever is taken from her belongs to Kṛṣṇa and should be used for sacrifice. And when we make sincere offerings to the Lord, we advance in spiritual life as well as in austerity, cleanliness, truthfulness, and mercy; we become pious and a source of pleasure for the earth. Although the earth has tolerated atomic explosions, rampant oil drilling, the cutting of forests, bloody wars, and a host of other atrocities, she has the power to withdraw her gifts, to deprive us of life's necessities. Śrīla Prabhupāda writes, One is mistaken if he thinks that by applying modern machines such as tractors, grains can be produced. If one goes to a desert and uses a tractor, there is still no possibility of producing grains. We may adopt various means, but it is essential to know that the planet earth will stop producing grains if sacrifices are not performed. . . . Now, of course, atheists will not believe in this spiritual method of producing grains, but whether they believe or not, the fact remains that we are not independent to produce grain by mechanical means.—*Śrīmad-Bhagavatam* 4.18.8, Purport The stark reality is that when she is overburdened by the lies and irreligious acts of nondevotees driven by lust, anger, greed, and envy, Mother Earth may check her production. Again, in Śrīla Prabhupāda's words, Although there are immense potencies within the earth for the production of grains, fruits, and flowers, this production is checked by the earth itself when it is misused by nondevotees, who have no spiritual goals. Everything belongs to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and everything can be used for His satisfaction. Things should not be used for the sense gratification of the living entities. This is the whole plan of material nature according to the directions of this material nature.—*Śrīmad-Bhagavatam* 4.18.6, Purport *Happiness and the Earth* Happiness comes from spiritual growth not economic gain. But, influenced by this age, individually and collectively we tend to emphasize profit over everything else. Left unchecked, this tendency can run rampant like a noxious weed, resulting in the earth's being desecrated by people who are endlessly restless and dissatisfied, who feel worthless and impotent, and who are held hostage by the economic system. The enormity and indifference of that system produces insecurity, helplessness, and dependency. No wonder people are desperate for relief and infatuated by diversions. Meanwhile, Kṛṣṇa conscious rural communities like Saranagati promote a simple, largely stress-free life among fellow spiritual seekers. Such communities can restore our confidence in our own initiative, can encourage self-expression, can help us develop appreciation for the earth and the many creatures of the earth, and can bring us closer to Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Father. Even the simple act of gardening for Kṛṣṇa can enrich us beyond our expectations. All external activity, including economic, has significance and worth if it furthers our life's goal. Any activity that does not do so, including the many, and much-coveted, forms of material success, will simply leave us unfulfilled and envious of those who have more than we do. Deep down inside even materially successful people know they are missing something critical. "Human civilizations," Śrīla Prabhupāda writes, "should depend on the production of material nature without artificially attempting economic development to turn the world into a chaos of artificial greed and power only for the purpose of artificial luxuries and sense gratification. This is but the life of dogs and hogs." (*Śrīmad-Bhagavatam* 1.10.4, Purport) A trifling life of making and spending money or squandered on diversions is not what we were created for. We are meant to realize our potential for spiritual growth and to experience the happiness that accompanies that growth. One way this process can start is by reuniting with Mother Earth and offering her bounty to Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. *Visakha Devī Dāsī has been contributing articles and photographs to BTG for more than thirty years. She lives at Saranagati Village with her extended family, which includes her husband, their two daughters, their son-in-law, and their two-year-old grandson. She has recently published a book about life in Saranagati called* Harmony and the Bhagavad-gītā: Lessons from a Life-Changing Move to the Wilderness. *It's available at the Krishna.com Store.* ## Just to Embrace a Tree *By Yugavatara Dāsa* *A sole tree in New York City inspires a young Indian medical student to travel to the USA.* When I was studying in medical school, like many Indians I developed the desire to visit the USA, just to see another feature of the same world. ISKCON devotees used to visit the young men's hostel where I was residing at the time. One day they showed us a booklet containing information about various ISKCON temples in the USA. The booklet mentioned two sites in New York City that fascinated me: Prabhupāda's first temple, in the old Matchless Gifts shop at 26 Second Avenue, and nearby Tompkins Square Park, where Śrīla Prabhupāda sat beneath a tree and performed the chanting of the holy name with hippies dancing around him. I heard that this tree is still there and is named the Hare Krishna Tree. I decided I had to see these places where Śrīla Prabhupāda started the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. *Preparing for the Trip* As I prepared for my maiden US trip, I started realizing the spiritual greatness of Śrīla Prabhupāda. The very thought of going to a foreign land was causing me so much anxiety, in spite of the fact that I had enough money with me and relatives in the US to take care of me. Śrīla Prabhupāda had neither money nor contacts. But due to his faith in his *guru* and Kṛṣṇa, he was not anxious. He had no one in India to see him off, but he had faith that Kṛṣṇa was with him. I had a gang of relatives to drop me at the airport, but still I was feeling lonely due to forgetfulness of the Supersoul. Before the trip I called my cousin Gitanjali in New Jersey, where she is a part of ISKCON's congregation. When I told her I wanted to visit New York, she thought I was eager to see the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building. But I was more interested in Tompkins Square Park than Times Square. She said she had heard about the park in ISKCON books but had never been there. She surfed the net and got in touch with the New York devotees for the exact location. *At the Park* After I reached New York, Gitanjali and I first took *darsana* of Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Govinda at ISKCON's temple in Brooklyn and then proceeded to Manhattan. The ISKCON center at 26 Second Avenue was closed when we arrived, so we peeped through the window to get a glimpse of the early days of ISKCON. This was the first Hare Kṛṣṇa temple, and discourses are still held there. From there we proceeded to Tompkins Square Park and asked a man for the location of the tree. When pointing out the tree, he said that many Hare Kṛṣṇas come and worship it. The tree belongs to a rare species, and so the government has preserved it. In memory of the Hare Kṛṣṇa explosion that took place under it, the tree is identified as the Hare Krishna Tree. *Embracing the Tree* As soon as I saw the tree I offered obeisance from a distance and then ran to embrace it—probably with the same intensity with which devotees embrace the *neem* tree at Yoga Pitha (Lord Caitanya's birthplace) or the Siddha Bakula tree at Jagannath Puri under which Namacarya Haridasa Ṭhākura chanted. Yes, that tree in Tompkins Square Park is equally important. As Lord Caitanya was born under the *neem* tree, ISKCON was born under this Hare Krishna Tree. As Haridasa Ṭhākura chanted beneath the Siddha Bakula tree, Śrīla Prabhupāda chanted the holy name under this tree. As I embraced the tree, oblivious of the people in the park, I intensely prayed, "O Hare Krishna Tree, you have witnessed the miracle of transformation of hippies into happies. You have seen Śrīla Prabhupāda chanting the holy name, which most of us have not seen. O tree, if Śrīla Prabhupāda is again going to come and chant here in a future Kali-yuga, I don’t mind being born as a hippie so that I will get the golden opportunity to witness the Hare Kṛṣṇa explosion." Some people in the park failed to comprehend why my sister and I were embracing the tree again and again. The park is a holy site for us. The *Śrīmad-Bhagavatam* states that the pure devotee is a personified holy place. Wherever he goes turns into a holy place. So these are our modern holy places—the temples built by Śrīla Prabhupāda and all the places where he lived and preached. As I was about to board my flight back to India, I called my sister to thank her. I told her that although I never saw or heard Śrīla Prabhupāda in person, I have seen and heard his disciples. Now I can proudly proclaim that I have even seen the tree that saw and heard Śrīla Prabhupāda. *Yugavatara Dāsa (Yuvaraj Jayprakash Bhosale) is an associate professor of anatomy at Seth G. S. Medical College and KEM hospital in Mumbai. He is a disciple of His Holiness Rādhānatha Swami and serves as a mentor at ISKCON Chowpatty. His email address is [email protected].* ## Hare Krishna Tree This text appears on a plaque under the tree where Prabhupāda held the first public *kirtanas* in the West. One of Tompkins Square Park’s most prominent features is its collection of venerable American elm (Ulmus americana) trees. One elm in particular, located next to the semi-circular arrangement of benches in the park’s center, is important to adherents of the Hare Krishna religion. After coming to the United States in September 1965, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda (1896–1977), the Indian spiritual leader, founded the International Society for Krishna Consciousness in New York. He worked from a storefront on nearby Second Avenue that he used as the Society’s American headquarters. Prabhupāda and his disciples gathered in Tompkins Square Park in the fall of 1966 to introduce the East Village to the group’s distinctive 16-word *mantra*: > Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare > Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare On October 9, 1966, Prabhupāda and his followers sat beneath this tree and held the first outdoor chanting session outside of India. Participants chanted for two hours as they danced and played cymbals, tambourines, and other percussive instruments; the event is recognized as the founding of the Hare Krishna religion in the United States. Prabhupāda’s diverse group that day included Beat poet Allen Ginsberg (1926–1997). Krishna adherents continue to return to the tree to acknowledge its significance.