“Therefore having a bona fide spiritual master and serving him and pleasing him and getting his mercy is essential. Otherwise there can be no advancement in Krishna consciousness. And unless the spiritual master is a pure devotee of Krishna then he has no potency to give you Krishna. He is simply a cheating rascal. … Read more
After reading this, you’ll never look at a banana in the same way again. Bananas contain three natural sugars – sucrose, fructose and glucose combined with fiber. A banana gives an instant, sustained and substantial boost of energy. Research has proven that just two bananas provide enough energy for a strenuous 90-minute workout. No wonder … Read more
The following statement was given by Dhristadyumna das, relating his remembrances of Srila Prahbupada. The circumstances at the time Srila Prabhupada made this statement were in 1976, when Madhudvisa had disappeared and given up sannyasa. Srila Prabhupada said: “Actually I have not given any of you sannyasa. But I am in a war … Read more
After working with cows in close proximity for twelve years I’m convinced that substantial telepathic communication takes place among them. Likewise I’m convinced that cows send thoughts to humans as well and if we tune into the right frequency, we can effectively receive non-verbal messages from them.
A recent example: A street bull I know well entered the small garden to be served. That cold morning I offered him hay sprinkled with hot ginger tea, gur, flour and bran, a mixture he most relishes. After consuming his fill, he sniffed the ground and found a suitable place to sit and ruminate. I sat next to him to chant japa and relish his peaceful company. I thought, “How fortunate am I that I can serve Dharma Personified in Vrindavan.”
The thought he sent me was, “I am grateful to you for that wonderful meal. I especially liked the tidbits of ginger and gur as it takes the chill out of this winter morning.
“In return I offer you this to carefully ponder: A former sannyasi recently attributed his fall from grace to the coercion by his godbrothers to take celibacy vows though he was not fit. Later, his godbrothers again coerced him to take on administrative duties which he lacked the nature to perform. Again the same godbrothers ordered him to accept disciples, though he knew he could not set the proper example to guide them. Following their advice forced him into constant travel, which again went against his grain.
This is a commentary on the recent events surrounding Prabhavisnu Swami’s fall from grace. I concur with the analysis and conclusions of several Sun contributors who have commented over the last few days on the letter Prabhavisnu wrote, so I’m not going to focus on that aspect of the drama today. I would like to comment on what hasn’t yet been addressed, and that is, how Prabhavisnu’s situation can be seen in the context of diksa initiation in ISKCON. This siddhantic issue is one of the highest principles at play here.
Individuals who are involved in falldowns like Prabhavisnu’s are the personification of a flawed siddhantic understanding of the process of initiation. We have been exposed to many quotes in sastra and instructions directly from Srila Prabhupada in regards to the necessity of accepting a Spiritual Master and the importance of being connected to the sampradaya. However, due to the very strong tendencies produced by our conditioning, there is a phenomenon that takes place after the departure of great Acaryas – the pure devotees in our disciplic succession. After they depart, the inevitable evolution towards religiosity takes place. I have already written extensively on this subject, but it is again directly relevant to the current situation.
This phenomenon is especially evident in the case of the three previous Sampradaya Acaryas, who have been sent in order to fulfill Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s prediction of Krsna consciousness being spread throughout the world. In order to accomplish that mission, by their divine wisdom they concluded that the facility they required was that of forming an institution. This is understandable, given that spreading Krsna consciousness ‘throughout the world’ meant primarily taking it to the West, out of India, and in the West, institutional organization is the norm. During their lila periods, these institutions served the Sampradaya Acaryas well in terms of organizing their mission. But as we know, they also warned us that particularly during the periods between the personal presence of a great Acarya, the trend is towards transforming a spiritual mission into a vehicle for religiosity. And that trend is escalated on account of being in the context of an institution. At present, this phenomenon is unfolding in the institution established by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada — the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.
Religiosity, especially in this context, comes about partly as a result of the fact that some of those holding power within the institution are granted power and position on an institutional basis rather than on the basis of spiritual qualification. This is true in the case of ISKCON’s GBC and their various ministers and underlings. On the other side of the equation are the sannyasis and gurus. Sometimes one personality manages to secure several of these positions at once. But if their spiritual potency doesn’t qualify them to hold these positions, if they attempt to maintain these positions without the potency to come up to the standards by which the positions are defined, then they fall back. So in order to keep the power they’ve become addicted to and have come to identify with as part of their false ego, they are naturally inclined to conclude that forming a religion is the easiest way to hold power.
“This is one of the worst cases of scientific fraud, its shocking to find that somebody once thought to be a great scientist was deliberately misleading… What he did was to take a human embryo and copy it, pretending that the salamander, the pig and all the others looked the same at the same … Read more
In this short video from the “Memories of Srila Prabhupada” series Mula Prakriti relates how Srila Prabhupada wanted her to also see Krishna’s effulgence and beauty.
Scientists are doubting Darwin. Dr Donald L Ewert, a research microbiologist, explains why he disagrees with Darwin.
Over two thousand years ago ‘Megasthenes’ a greek ambassador, spent many years living in India, his memoirs were preserved in a famous book called “Indica” and the following is a selection on the elephants of ancient India some two thousand years ago. When feeding, the elephant ordinarily drinks water, however, during the … Read more
In 1971 Srila Prabhupada went to Allahabad for the Ardha-kumbha-mela, and Yamuna-devi and I were in the party that accompanied him. Srila Prabhupada spoke on the story of Ajamila and the holy name, from the Sixth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam. Only the first two cantos had been translated and published, so Prabhupada read from his Sanskrit Bhagavatam with commentaries, sometimes translating from Sridhara Svami’s and occasionally from Jiva Gosvami’s. While there, I heard that Srila Prabhupada had said that he was speaking for Yamuna. And in April 2007, when Yamuna visited me in Santa Barbara, I asked her about it, and she told me something that etched an indelible impression on my heart.
