A housewife who has a paramour continues to serve her husband while even absorbed in thoughts of her lover. In the same way the devotee submerged in Krishna consciousness routinely carries out his material activities, but in a spirit of devotion to Krishna.
Chapter Six, Journey of Self-Discovery, by HDG A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada.
“Contrary to popular belief, current statistics show that the earth produces enough food to easily support its entire population. Yet greed and exploitation force over twenty-five per cent of the world’s people to be underfed and undernourished. Srila Prabhupada condemns unnecessary industrialization for contributing to the problem of hunger and for creating unemployment, pollution, and a host of other problems. In the following speech, recorded on May 2, 1973, in Los Angeles, he advocates a simpler, more natural, God-centered lifestyle.
ime jana-padah svrddhah supakvausadhi-virudhah vanadri-nady-udanvanto hy edhante tava viksitaih
[Queen Kunti said:] “All these cities and villages are flourishing in all respects because the herbs and grains are in abundance, the trees are full of fruits, the rivers are flowing, the hills are full of minerals, and the oceans are full of wealth. And this is all due to Your glancing over them.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.8.40)
Human prosperity flourishes by natural gifts and not by gigantic industrial enterprises. The gigantic industrial enterprises are products of a godless civilization, and they cause the destruction of the noble aims of human life. The more we increase such troublesome industries to squeeze out the vital energy of the human being, the more there will be dissatisfaction of the people in general, although a select few can live lavishly by exploitation.
The natural gifts such as grains and vegetables, fruits, rivers, the hills of jewels and minerals, and the seas full of pearls are supplied by the order of the Supreme, and as He desires, material nature produces them in abundance or restricts them at times. The natural law is that the human being may take advantage of these godly gifts of nature and thus satisfactorily flourish without being captivated by the exploitative motive of lording it over material nature.
A Son helps his Mother Prepare for the Ultimate Test
ARE YOU READY to hear about a miracle? Don’t worry, I won’t bore you with yet another story about some pseudo-miracle-worker. This story is about a seventy-nine-year-old woman completely set in her ways who, at the most difficult time of death, had a change of heart that brought her from the brink of terror to tears of joy.
The woman was my mother. Born Nadine Alma Eastlack, she was conservative to the extreme. Her early life read like a chapter from John Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath. Her family narrowly escaped the dust bowl by migrating from Grinnell, Kansas, to the “Promised Land” of Southern California, landing in the fire of the Great Depression. After struggling to put herself through college and marrying a minor war hero, Leslie Waldo Beck, she attained middle-class status.
While raising me, their only child, in the northern California town of Oroville, my parents both worked — he as a parts manager of a local car dealership, and she as a high school teacher of sewing, cooking, and home economics. My parents watched with pride as their only son excelled in music, scholarship, and athletics, achieving numerous awards culminating in the “Young Man of the Year Award” for the class of 1964 at Oroville High. After high school, I attended UCLA, graduating with honors in 1968 and landing my first job as assistant to the studio manager at Columbia Pictures. About a year later, however, shortly after sweeping my mother off her feet with a whirlwind tour of the studio, I left that promising career, disillusioned with the superficiality of the Hollywood scene.
“My creative urges aren’t being fulfilled,” I thought, so I packed up and moved north to San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district to pursue a career as a professional musician.
Madhudvisa: Is there any way for a Christian to, without the help of a spiritual master, to reach the spiritual sky through believing the words of Jesus Christ and trying to follow his teachings? Srila Prabhupada: I don’t follow. Tamal Krsna Goswami: Can a Christian in this age, without a spiritual master, … Read more
This video is a passionate appeal by Philip Wollen for a vegetarian diet. It covers most arguments ranging from the ecological to the ethical. Se the full debate on YouTube. Who is Philip Wollen? (Find out more on Wikipedia). “Philip was vice president of Citibank, specialising in corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions. … Read more
Harivilas Prabhu remembers Srila Prabhupada’s first visit to France.
Srila Prabhupada, clearly overwhelmed with pure and uncontrollable love of Krsna, with eyes tightly closed and crashing the kartals madly, interrupted Visnujana at the crescendo of his chanting. Prabhupada seemed to have no choice. He had to take the lead away from Visnujana, and began chanting Hare Krsna so strongly, and so beautifully. Then he began crying. He tried to chant through his tears. Prabhupada couldn’t hold himself back. Everyone went mad. They began screaming and crying because it was such ecstasy. The devotion was so tangible that everyone was crying.
The following is a collection of articles on the toxicity and ill health effect of food cooked or even heated in a microwave oven. All too often we choose convenience over health, perhaps because we have never really looked into the molecular effects and blood changes due to microwave food. It just appears to … Read more
A collection of over 600 unforgettable and sublime Aindra tunes Continuous Playlist of all 603 Bhajans
Srila Prabhupada explains that the chanting of the Holy Names of God is not a vibration of this material world and that it is all auspicious and congenial to the human society. It does not matter whether people like it or not. The Holy Name is imported from the spiritual world and thus it … Read more
