Srila Prabhupada Accepts 3 more disciples at Krishna farm, New Zealand

Ritvik Initiations on the Apperance Day of Lord Nrsimhadev

 

New Prabhupadanugas centers in Russia

I do not advise any of my disciples to live alone | Letter to Sudama

Columbus, Ohio
20 May, 1969
My Dear Sudama,
Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated May 19, 1969, and I have noted the contents carefully. I understand that Karatieya has left for San Francisco, and there is no grudge. I hope in the association of the devotees there, he will feel jolly, and his moroseness will be cleared off.
So far as you are concerned, I do not think living alone in Honolulu will be very good. If there is possibility of your living in the temple along with the other devotees, then live there. Otherwise you may also return, either in Los Angeles or San Francisco. You can work anywhere because you have got abilities, and from anywhere you can start for Tokyo.

So for going to Tokyo it is not very much necessary that you have to remain in Honolulu alone. I do not advise any of my disciples to live alone; that is not good. If Vamanadeva would have lived with you, that would also have been better.
So live in the temple, or with Vamanadeva, or else go to Los Angeles or San Francisco. When the time is mature, Krishna will help you to go to Tokyo with some other devotees. We shall see later on.
I hope this will meet you in good health.
Your ever well-wisher,
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami

Damaghosh Prabhu discusses on Srila Prabhupada and the Ritvik system in ISKCON - COMPLETE

"Nobody is free, everyone is under the grip of material laws"-SP

750615SB.HON                   Lectures                 
 Nobody is free.Everyone is under the grip of material laws. Even if I think, "I am
free," that is my foolishness. I will be forced to act. Even if I do
not want to become old man, I will be forced to become old man. And if
I, after this giving up this body, if I... Suppose nature is offering
me a dog's body. If I say "No, no, I will not accept this," no, you
will be forced to accept it. That is nature's law. But you can save
yourself if you follow conscientiously. That is Krsna consciousness.
If you keep yourself in Krsna consciousness and act accordingly, then
you will be saved. Otherwise there is no saving. Tatha
dehantara-praptih. You will have to accept another body. And what is
that body? That is not stated. That will be decided at the end of your
life, at the time of your death, at the condition of your mind and
intelligence at that time. If, at that time, you are thinking of your
pet dog, "What will happen to my pet dog? How he will live? Let me
leave some of my property in his name," (laughter) then you can leave
the dog with some property, but you are going to be dog. This is laws
of nature. You may love your dog very nicely and leave some property,
but where you are going, sir? That is under the nature's law. You
cannot say that "I given so much property to the dog. Why shall I

accept the...?" No. Because your mind is absorbed in the thought of
dog, therefore you must take the dog's body. This is nature's law.
Therefore we have to train up our mind. Instead of dog, you must train
up your mind to think of God. Then you will be saved. Tyaktva deham
punar janma naiti mam.

(no more old mans body, what to speak of a dog's body)

 

How to discharge Devotional Service-NOD

Hare Krsna to all

Pranams

All glories to Srila  Prabhupada

 

Today while I was digging in my gardens,and pulling out the seemingly unlimited amount of weeds, I was thinking about this subject-

It states in the Caitanya Caritamrta that after chanting the Lords holy names, the reactional signs of

tears in the eyes and hairs standing on end should become evident.

So I asked my self-

self--why isn't this happening? What immediately came to mind was the below purport in the

Nectar of Devotion book.

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

 

 

NoD 6             How to Discharge Devotional Service   

   Srila Rupa Gosvami states that his elder brother (Sanatana Gosvami)
has compiled Hari-bhakti-vilasa for the guidance of the Vaisnavas and
therein has mentioned many rules and regulations to be followed by the
Vaisnavas. Some of them are very important and prominent, and Srila
Rupa Gosvami will now mention these very important items for our
benefit. The purport of this statement is that Srila Rupa Gosvami
proposes to mention only basic principles, not details. For example, a
basic principle is that one has to accept a spiritual master. Exactly
how one follows the instructions of his spiritual master is considered
a detail. For example, if one is following the instruction of his
spiritual master and that instruction is different from the
instructions of another spiritual master, this is called detailed
information. But the basic principle of acceptance of a spiritual
master is good everywhere, although the details may be different.
Srila Rupa Gosvami does not wish to enter into details here, but wants
to place before us only the principles.
   He mentions the basic principles as follows: (1) accepting the
shelter of the lotus feet of a bona fide spiritual master, (2)
becoming initiated by the spiritual master and learning how to
discharge devotional service from him, (3) obeying the orders of the

spiritual master with faith and devotion, (4) following in the
footsteps of great acaryas (teachers) under the direction of the
spiritual master, (5) inquiring from the spiritual master how to
advance in Krsna consciousness, (6) being prepared to give up anything
material for the satisfaction of the Supreme Personality of Godhead,
Sri Krsna (this means that when we are engaged in the devotional
service of Krsna, we must be prepared to give up something which we
may not like to give up, and also we have to accept something which we
may not like to accept), (7) residing in a sacred place of pilgrimage
like Dvaraka or Vrndavana, (8) accepting only what is necessary, or
dealing with the material world only as far as necessary, (9)
observing the fasting day on Ekadasi and (10) worshiping sacred trees
like the banyan tree.
   These ten items are preliminary necessities for beginning the
discharge of devotional service in regulative principles. In the
beginning, if a neophyte devotee observes the above-mentioned ten
principles, surely he will quickly make good advancement in Krsna
consciousness.   The next set of instructions is listed as follows: (1) One should
rigidly give up the company of nondevotees. (2) One should not

instruct a person who is not desirous of accepting devotional service.
(3) One should not be very enthusiastic about constructing costly
temples or monasteries. (4) One should not try to read too many books,
nor should one develop the idea of earning his livelihood by lecturing
on or professionally reciting Srimad-Bhagavatam or Bhagavad-gita. (5)
One should not be neglectful in ordinary dealings. (6) One should not
be under the spell of lamentation in loss or jubilation in gain. (7)
One should not disrespect the demigods. (8) One should not give
unnecessary trouble to any living entity. (9) One should carefully
avoid the various offenses in chanting the holy name of the Lord or in
worshiping the Deity in the temple. (10) One should be very intolerant
toward the blasphemy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna, or
His devotees.
   Without following the above-mentioned ten principles, one cannot
properly elevate himself to the platform of sadhana-bhakti, or
devotional service in practice. Altogether, Srila Rupa Gosvami
mentions twenty items, and all of them are very important. Out of the
twenty, the first three--namely accepting the shelter of a bona fide
spiritual master, taking initiation from him and serving him with
respect and reverence--are the most important.

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

 

So after reading the above, my limited brain substance allowed me to ask this question:

If I am not avoiding ALL 10 of the offenses to chanting the Holy Name, then I am not

really even at the platform of sadhana bhakti-devotional service in practice.

 

I may say I am avoiding all 10 of the nama aparadhas, but what is the actual proof that

I am?

 

Here is what Srila Prabhupada writes:

 SB 2.3.24 P   . If there is no such change, the heart must be

considered steel-framed, for it is not melted even when there is

chanting of the holy name of the Lord. We must always remember that

hearing and chanting are the basic principles of discharging

devotional duties, and if they are properly performed there will

follow the reactional ecstasy with signs of tears in the eyes and

standing of the hairs on the body. These are natural consequences and

are the preliminary symptoms of the bhava stage, which occurs before

one reaches the perfectional stage of prema, love of Godhead.

   If the reaction does not take place, even after continuous hearing

and chanting of the holy name of the Lord, it may be considered to be

due to offenses only. That is the opinion of the Sandarbha. In the

beginning of chanting of the holy name of the Lord, if the devotee has

not been very careful about evading the ten kinds of offenses at the

feet of the holy name, certainly the reaction of feelings of

separation will not be visible by tears in the eyes and standing of

the hair on end.

 

 

One Conclusion:

Back to the basics of having the mentality of a beginning bhakta who just moves into the temple, is

always a good place to begin  and continue bhakti yoga.

 

Hare Krsna

Damaghosa das

Jayadvaita Swami on why he edited Bhagavad-gita

The following is a 2 ½ hour class given yesterday at the Manor by Jayadvaita Swami on why he edited Bhagavad-gita:

http://www.sivaramaswami.com/en/2013/05/05/jaya-adwaita-swami-speaks-on-how-srila-prabhupadas-books-came-to-be/

 

The main challenger throughout is Bhajahari. One interesting challenge that was brought to JAS was Bhaja asking when the editing process would stop, i.e. when would the “definitive edition” of Bg be available.  JAS said it would stop when both he and Dravida leave their bodies.  Bhaja asked why didn’t the editing stop when SP left his body?   Funnily enough, on the back cover of the original Macmillan Gita, it says in large type at the top: “The Definitive English Edition of Bhagavad-gita”!

 

Another interesting point was JAS admitting he made a mistake in editing one of the purports, which Parasurama said introduced Mayavada philosophy into the book!  Bhaja then said that since JAS had publicly apologised via BTG for the big mistake of the zonal acarya system, how do we know he didn’t make mistakes in his editing as well?

 

At the end, JAS profusely thanked Bhaja for being brave enough to challenge him in public, as he didn’t want an audience of “yes men”! I’m not sure if this is on the above audio though as I haven’t gone through it.

 

The quality is audible but not pristine since it was recorded “unofficially”, but the “official” high quality digital recording of the classes are usually available online about a week or so after the class.