Letter to: Upendra — Los Angeles 6 August, 1970 70-08-06 ...Now I have set up the Governing Body Commission to handle management, questions of philosophy, and personal problems. ...So far your question, how far should the orders of my duly appointed officers like GBC, etc., be obeyed and followed, the answer is that they must always be followed exactly as he says. Have you not heard me on this point? Why these questions are repeated again and again?

From a Srimad Bhagavatam class given Aug 23, 2015 at the Iskcon Chicago temple. Due to the different types of attraction for Krsna, there are different varieties of devotees. Their symptoms are manifested transparently, just like jewels. It is said that a great devotee brahmana would sometimes address the Supreme Personality of Godhead as master and sometimes joke with the Lord, using different kinds of familiar words. Sometimes he would protect the Lord with a filial affection, sometimes he wou...

What Chaitanya Mahaprabhu gave is the highest. It is not a sentimental claim, but the verdict of the scriptures. Also, when we want to analyze it and verify it, then we get to see that this is the highest spiritual achievement. A part of it we discussed yesterday, that who is the greatest devotee, what is the highest form of devotion? Narada Muni is very systematically experiencing that. Sanatana Goswami is describing Narada Muni’s search for the greatest devotee. We are seeing the gradual e...

Anisthita-bhakti is symptomized by six characteristics which are all explained by Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura. The first is utsaha-mayi, false enthusiasm. A person with this symptom thinks that because he has developed an ability to do something in bhakti, he is therefore qualified. He is enthusiastic, because people recognize his expertise. "I can play karatalas, really expertly!" Somebody sees, "Oh, you play very good karatalas." "Yes, I am a very advanced devotee." And as soon as somebody do...

So a person may just stick to one particular set of rules and just very expertly do those rules. At the same time, they’re not at all becoming purified. They are actually not getting any closer to God; they are just fanatically doing the rules. Even it’s sometimes, even offensive to God. Because of other consideration if they are willingly… willfully just neglecting there are higher principles of mercy, of respecting great devotees of so many different principles.

This was the situation then. The devotees were going to Advaita saying, "What to do?" "My name is Advaita. It means non different. So if there is any meaning to my name, I will bring down the Supreme Personality of Godhead Krishna. He is the only one who can save the infidels. If I cannot bring Him down, I will manifest four arms and I'll chop these people down. I will chop them down! Finished!" He began to fast and worship the Salagram Sila with Ganges water and Tulasi manjaris. He would loudl...

I'm so glad that Jayapataka Maharaj mentioned that Senapati bhakta verse. He made an allusion, a reference to the prediction that he would send his military field commander to go and capture us and bring us here to chant Jaya Sacinandana Gaura Hari. A lot of us know that verse. Here's the verse. "With a powerful chopper of Nama Sankirtana, I will cut the hard knots of demoniac desires from the hearts of everyone." "Even if the sinners reject religion or flee to foreign countries, I will send mora...

When the living entities they forget Krishna, they develop desire to enjoy separately from Krishna so maya catches. That’s why Bhagavad Gita explaining that two kinds of living entities as, ksara and aksara. ksara living entities they are prone to fall down, they are prone to fall down, so they develop this desire thinking that I will go enjoy separately from Krishna and though Krishna forbids him but still he wants to come.

Srila Madhavendra Puri who is one of our major acaryas in the Madhva Gaudiya sampradaya that we belong to, he was one of the first personalities who actually developed the seed of pure love of Radha and Krishna. And the story is narrated in the Caitanya Caritamrta, how he was feeling very sad because so few people in the world were Krishna conscious. That is one of the most important characteristics of a Vaisnava. He is titiksavah karunikah (SB 3.5.21) full of mercy and compassion for the f...

“Do you think that people are coming to this temple to hear philosophy? And even if they hear the philosophy do you think they all understand the philosophy? No, they will come and they will go and be discouraged. You must attract them with kirtana and prasadam.” And he pointed out, “This is Lord Caitanya’s program, it is not my program, I have not invented this. This is Lord Caitanya’s program. Why are you trying to disrupt what I have created? Tomorrow I want at least five opu...

There is a very popular mantra out there these days that is not the Hare Krishna mantra. I think it came out during Churchill's time in Britain during the war. You've heard it. It goes, "Keep calm and carry on." That mantra can very much apply in our Krishna Consciousness. A devotee can be very eager for making spiritual progress. "Yes. I really want to be, really, purely, one hundred percent, cent per cent Krishna Conscious. Right now!" We can be very demanding of that. But again, keep calm ...

Service for the pleasure of Lord Krishna. That is devotion and that is the only process Krishna can reveal Himself. Because the process of bhakti purifies the heart from all the contamination of the heart. Our minds are contaminated by the desires the living entites has, which has nothing to do with Krishna, both gross and subtle, they are material. Physcially we have gross material desires and we also have subtle desires. Both of them are contaminations of the soul. Bhakti has the str...

Srila Prabhupada was approached by a journalist who had done some homework before starting the interview. The journalist prefaced his question and said, "I have heard that the pure devotee knows the answers to all questions. Is this correct?" Srila Prabhupada said, "Yes." Then, the journalist said, "Then how many windows are there in the Empire State Building?" Srila Prabhupada said, "How many drops of water in a mirage?" In that way, giving the perfect answer from the pure, spiritual plat...

In this way, we do follow Daksa marga. Not to offend anyone, but generally, we tend to make a lot of mistakes. We tend to still maintain some material desires in our hearts. Sometimes we even offend Sri Sri Radha Govinda, Radha Madhava. But Srila Prabhupada explains in the Krishna book that the most important quality of Krishna is His forgiveness, His mercifulness. He is so kind that He picks us up from the lowest stages of existence and has brought us to the shelter of His lotus feet. We have made...

“The conditioned soul has desires and the Supreme Soul fulfills them.” I have a desire to lift my arm and Supersoul fulfills that desire. But He is also the permitter. That means that He is not obliged to lift my arm. He is not obliged to move the senses so that my arms actually..…my muscles, so that my arms can lift up. And so what determines that someone can lift their arms and some else cant? And then that will be the karma. So you have your free will, oh yes, I want to do somethi...

It is explained that there are six enemies of the conditioned soul: lust, anger, greed, illusion, pride, and envy. Bhaktivinoda Thakura explains that in anger, lust is there. In greed, lust and anger are there. In illusion, lust, anger, and greed are there. In pride, lust, anger, greed, and illusion are there. In envy, you get the whole package. So Daksa, also, was affected by envy. But at the same time, he was so proud. Because he had so many good qualifications. He did not understand the pri...

Srila Prabhupada once wrote to me. He said, "The boys and girls in your country are generally good souls. That's why they have taken birth in such a nice country. So now let them utilize everything in Krishna's service. That will make their life perfect. As Krishna sees that you are working seriously to help bring His other children back to the spiritual kingdom, then He will bestow all of His blessings upon you. Krishna is never ungrateful for our efforts to serve Him. Rest assured."

Narada Muni, knowing well that the Lord would not appear again to him, made a conclusion. "Thus, I began chanting the holy name form of the Lord by repeated recitation, ignoring all of the formalities of the material world. Such chanting and remembering of the transcendental pastimes of the Lord are blessing one and all. In doing so, I travel all over the world, fully satisfied, humble, and unenvious."

All of us have gathered to relish the sweet taste of Krishna's names here in the association of devotees. But as servants of the holy name, we should never try to selfishly relish that sweet taste ourselves. Our duty is to go out and to give it to others. That is the auspiciousness of this event that has been created for all of us to take part in - to go together and to relish these sweet names

One day, he met a great devotee, Vakresvara Pandita. He was so attracted by the compassion and devotion of Vakresvara Pandita that he wanted to serve him. He invited Vakresvara Pandita to live in his ashram. When Vakresvara Pandita would perform kirtan, he would stand with a stick to make sure that nobody crashed into him or disturbed his dancing. When Vakresvara Pandita in ecstasy would fall, he would catch him. He would clean his body with his own hands. Because he was deeply appreciating the...

I was at one of our temples. The archetype hippies showed up with bells and long hair in a pony tail. It was a husband and wife, couple. The wife's name was Wish. His name was Comet. So naturally I asked, "Where did you get those names?" They said that they gave them to themselves. So naturally I asked why. The wife said, "Because I'm always saying that I wish I had this, I wish I was there, I wish, I wish, I wish." So naturally I asked the husband, "Where'd you get the name Comet?" He said,...