Travel Journal#20.11: Upstate NY and NYC

 Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 20, No. 11
By Krishna Kripa Das
(June 2024, part one)
Syracuse, New York City, Albany, Schenectady
(Sent from Sarcelles, France, on June 22, 2024)

Where I Went and What I Did

The first sixteen days of June divided into five distinct periods. Six days doing harinama in Syracuse, two days attending memorial programs for my mother in Albany, three days doing Ratha-yatra and harinama in New York City, five days sorting out my mother’s stuff near Albany, and one day giving classes on Bhagavad-gita in Albany and Schenectady. While attending the memorial services in Albany for my mother, I went to a kirtan program at Supersoul Farm, the home of Raghunath Prabhu of Shelter, about 30 miles outside the city.

I have separate sections in which I tell about (1) my mother’s memorial programs, (2) the interesting things I found while sorting through her stuff, and (3) my day of Hare Krishna outreach in Albany and Schenectady.

In the last issue I shared my mother’s obituary which told of her life as a peace and social activist. This time in a separate section before the “Insights” I want to tell of her many interactions with me and the Hare Krishna movement, which I encountered when I was twenty.

I share notes on Srila Prabhupada’s Srimad-Bhagavatam, The Nectar of Devotion, and Science of Self-Realization, as well as on a couple lectures and a letter. I share notes on the Caitanya-bhagavata of Vrindavan Dasa Thakura with commentary by Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura. I share notes on Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami’s latest journal, A Writer of Pieces 2024. I share notes from Brhad-bhagavatamrita by Gopiparanadhana Prabhu. I share notes on Dvija Govinda Prabhu’s The Nature of Time, I share notes on classes in New York City by Srutakirti Prabhu and Sankirtana Priya Prabhu. I share some interesting realizations by a couple kirtan singers at Supersoul Farm. I share a quote from a prominent scientist about the nature of consciousness. I share a couple of interesting points from condolence letters from my mother’s memorial programs.

Thanks to Rama Dasa Prabhu for his very generous donation. Thanks to Shreyakari and Mahaprakash Prabhus of Schenectady for their kind donations. Thanks to Victor Anderson for his kind donation, the use of his car, and rides here and there. Thanks to Babita, Anil, and Joseph for their donation at NYC Ratha-yatra.

Itinerary

June 17–August 16: Paris harinamas
– July 12: Amsterdam harinama
– July 13: Amsterdam Ratha-yatra
August 16–19: Balarama Festival (New Mayapur France)
August 20: Paris harinama
August 21: Prague harinama and possible program at Govinda’s
August 22–25: Trutnov (Czech Woodstock)
August 29–30: Liverpool harinamas
August 31: Liverpool Ratha-yatra
September 8: Great North Run harinama (Newcastle, UK)
September 9–11: Dublin harinama
September 12: NYC Harinam
September 13–14: Albany memorial programs for my mother and helping sort out her stuff
September 15: Albany Friends Meeting and ISKCON Schenectady Sunday feast
September 19–20: Philadelphia harinama
September 21: Philadelphia Ratha-yatra

Chanting Hare Krishna in Upstate New York

Temple leaders in New York City did not want me to come there as I had COVID a few days before, so I went to Syracuse instead.

Here Rama Dasa Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in Lewis Park at the Minoa Field Days festival near Syracuse (https://youtu.be/FPphYGsNf0Y):

Later he chanted another Hare Krishna tune there (https://youtu.be/8HfG0daBtME):

While Jaya Krishna Prabhu was chanting Hare Krishna there, some kids began playing the shakers (https://youtu.be/G-dVSkTfsgQ):

Here Michael, a high school student, chants Hare Krishna at the Mantra Central Sunday program in Syracuse, New York (https://youtu.be/yk9lxdyPJiA):

Michael also chanted Hare Krishna in downtown Syracuse later that day (https://youtu.be/uw0FfmMhLfY):

Sita Devi Dasi chants Hare Krishna at a Mantra Central morning kirtan (https://youtu.be/zJNdHZCNLaY):

A family enjoys participating in Hare Krishna kirtan in downtown Syracuse as Murari Gupta Prabhu and I take turns leading the chanting (https://youtu.be/f4fli1enLJA):

When the mother first came up to us, she said when she heard us in the distance, we sounded like Krishna Das. She said her kids were attracted and wanted to investigate. They stayed for twenty minutes, and after an hour, they returned for another twenty minutes.

Here I chant Hare Krishna in downtown Syracuse (https://youtu.be/TtKntdS4YS8):

Maya Cabrinha and friends chant Hare Krishna at Supersoul Farm in East Chatham, New York (https://youtu.be/ZVbcT1SFHog):

Raghunath Prabhu chants “Radhe Radhe Govinda” at his Supersoul Farm (https://youtu.be/2XcIMxL0zbc):

Seth and friends chant Hare Krishna at Supersoul Farm (https://youtu.be/FAH02vfJH70):

As Seth chanted Hare Krishna there, many attendees began to dance (https://youtu.be/xk6TJKz9Mxw):

Saunaka Rsi Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at ISKCON Schenectady Sunday feast program (https://youtu.be/y4yYRFmv6R4):

Rishi Isvara Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at ISKCON Schenectady feast program (https://youtu.be/-TnMzWLBLxQ):

Chanting Hare Krishna in New York City

Harinamananda Prabhu chants Hare Krishna with Harinama Ruci in New York Ratha-yatra (https://youtu.be/t7hwSTc07EY):

Madhava Prabhu chants Hare Krishna with NYC Harinam after Ratha-yatra (https://youtu.be/7DnTEbvmlmI):

Rati Manjari Devi Dasi of Holland chants Hare Krishna with NYC Harinam after Ratha-yatra (https://youtu.be/WFvaZjlC2fQ):

It was absolutely wonderful to see Radha-Govinda at mangala-arati the next day.

Mahavishnu Swami chants Hare Krishna on the A Train in Brooklyn with Harinama Ruci and at the High Street / Brooklyn Bridge subway station (https://youtu.be/yV832NiuJLQ):

Rama Raya Prabhu chants Hare Krishna the day after the NYC Ratha-yatra at ISKCON NYC (https://youtu.be/cchhxYJdHLw):

As Rama continued leading the chanting, more and more people danced (https://youtu.be/SGduqKnTNGI):

Radhanath Swami chants Hare Krishna the day after the NYC Ratha-yatra at ISKCON NYC (https://youtu.be/kBl6nHtt0p8):

Madhava Prabhu chants Hare Krishna the day after the NYC Ratha-yatra at ISKCON NYC (https://youtu.be/3LatvSkHSiQ):

I was the first to lead the Hare Krishna chant the next day at Columbus Circle (https://youtu.be/17oZq_1WN44):

I was so happy to spend even one day on the party!

Citralekha Devi Dasi of Holland chants Hare Krishna at Columbus Circle (https://youtu.be/q7KB6vT7W5Y):

Baldev Prabhu from the 24-Hour Kirtan in Vrindavan chants Hare Krishna at Columbus Circle (https://youtu.be/t3ho-niFJRk):

Rati Manjari Devi Dasi of Holland chants Hare Krishna at Columbus Circle (https://youtu.be/piSiqZN4Ntc):

Madhava Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Columbus Circle (https://youtu.be/BwMvwAUCWTo):

Ananta Govinda Prabhu and friends chant Hare Krishna at Columbus Circle (https://youtu.be/pICWd2ySLmg):

Rama Raya Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Columbus Circle (https://youtu.be/qLxQFLHm2cQ):

Matanga Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in the Tulasi Puja Kirtan at ISKCON NYC the next day (https://youtu.be/P3Icmt5DnQw):

Memorial Programs for My Mother in Albany at the Friends Meeting

For three hours on a Thursday and Friday, people were who friends of my mother were invited to come to the Albany Friends Meeting, her place of worship for over fifty years, and remember her.

My sister displayed an amazing array of T-shirts from my mother’s five decades of social activism:

Not only did she wear peace T-shirts, she distributed them, and while going through her stuff, I found an order from their manufacturer.

In addition to the T-shirts, there were pictures of my mother at different social action events.

Different people brought food for the event, and I brought carob coconut burfi, which was very well received.

During the memorial event, I met an Indian man named Sandesh, who recalled liking a presentation I did on Bhagavad-gita at that Friends Meeting over 30 years ago. That inspired me to schedule a talk on Bhagavad-gita and the journey of the soul during the Sunday I would be in town.

The next week, while sorting through my mother’s stuff, I amazingly found a poster for that event in the winter of 1992:

I met a women from the Friends Meeting who was studying to be an interfaith minister in New York City, when she encountered me on harinama at Union Square. She said at that time in her life, I was the person she knew in New York, and thus it was amazing that she ran into me.

I left the memorial program early on Thursday because I heard that Madhava Prabhu would be singing at Raghunath Prabhu’s Supersoul farm. Unfortunately the car Madhava was riding in got in an accident which left it unsafe to drive so he could not come. Still there were about fifty devotees chanting Hare Krishna there!

At the end of the program Raghunath Prabhu told everyone they could each take one of the 50 peony flowers that decorated the room. I didn’t see a lot of people grabbing flowers, but I immediately took one for the memorial program for my mother the next day, and you can see it in the middle of the bottom of this vase:

My mother worked on a program that was started by Quakers in New York but was so successful it went international. It was called Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP) and began in a New York State prison. One attendee at the memorial program said one day my mother told him she needed one more person to do a training session that weekend, and she encouraged him to come. He wasn’t inclined, but she asked him to just help her out this one time. He relented and went to the training, and he ended up working on Alternatives to Violence for the next 25 years! She and my mother became good friends, and there are many pictures of them together.

It was impressive to see the number of people my mother touched.

I also saw the lady who organizes the Christmas Eve program at the Friends Meeting where they enact the drama of the birth of Jesus and sing many appropriate Christmas carols. I thanked her and told her that it was the most spiritual activity that we did together as a family, and if the others decided to continue attending it in my mother’s absence, I would continue to visit Albany at Christmastime.

Sorting My Mother’s Stuff

I lived in my mother’s house, the house where I grew up sixty years ago, and I helped my sister and my sister’s partner sort through her many boxes of stuff.

I cooked oatmeal for breakfast, and soup for lunch and dinner.

Breakfast was my mother’s main meal when I was visiting her in April, and I decided to offer the prasadam I prepared to her picture to benefit her spiritually and to remember her. It was a very emotional experience.

The soup, with red lentils, macaroni, sweet potatoes, and spinach, and flavored with the usual Indian spices was so good I decided to make it for the Albany Friends Meeting luncheon, at the church we went to as kids, which is after their meeting for worship on the third Sunday of the month.

I found among my mother’s possessions a photo of me as a teenager.

I also found letters that I had written to her from New York in 1980, from Pennsylvania in 1986, and San Diego in 1989. I find them too embarrassing to share because of my immaturity.

I found photos from a family gathering on Thanksgiving Day at Pendle Hill in Philadelphia dated 1986.

Here is my mother wearing a garland from the Philadelphia temple.

Here is me, my sister, and my mother.

Here is my Aunt Katy.

There was also a photo of me standing in front of the San Diego temple in 1989.

There was a newspaper article about my sister’s activism.

There was this poem which my sister said my mother really liked.

This is the final photo of me and my mother, taken by her caretaker, Sharon, in April of this year.

Bhagavad-gita Classes in Albany and Schenectady on My Last Day in the USA

I cooked two preparations for the Albany Friends Meeting luncheon, the lentil macaroni soup I mentioned before and coconut burfi. I think practically all twenty of the people there took both. One woman even wanted the recipe for both.

After the lunch, I spoke on Bhagavad-gita and the journey of the soul for half an hour. About nine people came and two of them bought Bhagavad-gitas, including the interfaith minister I mentioned before. I quoted these verses from Chapter Two about the eternality of the soul:

“Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings; nor in the future shall any of us cease to be.” (Bg. 2.12)

“Those who are seers of the truth have concluded that of the nonexistent [the material body] there is no endurance and of the eternal [the soul] there is no change. This they have concluded by studying the nature of both.” (Bg. 2.16)

“That which pervades the entire body you should know to be indestructible. No one is able to destroy that imperishable soul.” (Bg. 2.17)

“The material body of the indestructible, immeasurable and eternal living entity is sure to come to an end.” (Bg. 2.18)

“For the soul there is neither birth nor death at any time. He has not come into being, does not come into being, and will not come into being. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain.” (Bg. 2.20)

“As a person puts on new garments, giving up old ones, the soul similarly accepts new material bodies, giving up the old and useless ones.” (Bg. 2.22)

“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.” (Bg. 2.13)

“Some look on the soul as amazing, some describe him as amazing, and some hear of him as amazing, while others, even after hearing about him, cannot understand him at all.” (Bg. 2.29)

“He who dwells in the body can never be slain. Therefore you need not grieve for any living being.” (Bg. 2.30)

Then I went to ISKCON Schenectady for their Sunday Feast, where I spoke about these Bhagavad-gita verses where Krishna speaks of attaining the supreme destination (param gatim):

“And when the yogi engages himself with sincere endeavor in making further progress, being washed of all contaminations, then ultimately, achieving perfection after many, many births of practice, he attains the supreme goal.” (Bg. 6.45)

“O son of Pritha, those who take shelter in Me, though they be of lower birth—women, vaisyas [merchants] and sudras [workers]—can attain the supreme destination.” (Bg. 9.32)

“One who sees the Supersoul equally present everywhere, in every living being, does not degrade himself by his mind. Thus he approaches the transcendental destination.” (Bg. 13.29)

“The man who has escaped these three gates of hell [lust, greed, and anger], O son of Kunti, performs acts conducive to self-realization and thus gradually attains the supreme destination.” (Bg. 16.22)

“He who discards scriptural injunctions and acts according to his own whims attains neither perfection, nor happiness, nor the supreme destination.” (Bg. 16.23)

Then I focused on verse 9.32 which solidly defeats caste consciousness.

It was great to be chanting Hare Krishna in the association of devotees again.

My Mother’s Interactions with Me as a Hare Krishna Devotee

My family visited me at 340 West 55^th Street. All I remember is that one now ex-swami said something that I knew would not enhance my family’s appreciation of the Hare Krishna movement and I felt bad about that.

In 1983 my mother impressed me by driving over 5 hours to attend my initiation at Gitanagari. I recall she watched the biographical video on Srila Prabhupada that was current at that time, and she appeared to be very moved by his devotion.

I visited her when she studied at Pendle Hill, a Quaker study center near Philadelphia in the mid 1980s. I had the fourth part of the Third Canto of the Bhagavatam, and I read to her from Lord Kapila’s instructions to His mother from the beginning when Devahuti asks different questions. That was a special experience that I never really had a chance to do again.

I also visited there at Thanksgiving time in 1986 with some relatives. 

My mother visited the San Diego temple on Gaura Purnima, and she participated in the bathing of Sri Sri Gaura Nitai.

She visited Alachua for several days once, and she heard several lectures by Hridayananda Dasa Goswami. She came with us when we went to the Ocala Regional Rainbow Gathering, where we distributed prasadam and did kirtan.

When I wanted to visit my guru, Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami, in Ireland, in 2001, she paid for my ticket. She said, “I helped pay for my daughter’s education, let me do something for my son.” When Indradyumna Swami came through Alachua telling of the glories of his outreach at the Polish Woodstock festival, I asked my mother if I could visit Poland during my time in Europe, and she said yes. Thus I went to the Woodstock festival, and I loved it so much that I attended each year through 2019.

Once she told me that she visited the Galapagos Islands. Because Darwin studied the finches there and developed his theory of evolution based on that work, I considered that place to be place of pilgrimage for the materialistic evolutionists, and as a member of Bhaktivedanta Institute, the thought that my mother went there was repulsive. I decided I would bring her to the place of pilgrimage for the devotees, Mayapur. She found some groups doing tours of India, but I told her I could arrange a tour for half the price. She found tours of North India and South India. I decided I wanted to go to South India because I had never been. Then after South India we would go to Mayapur. Turns out that my friends, Indradyumna Swami, Sri Prahlada Prabhu, and Shastra Prabhu were going to be visiting South India at the same time so we went a lot of places with them. One thing they were doing was a wedding for Drdha Prabhu, a devotee I knew from Alachua, and since the Vedic weddings are very colorful, we went to that which was in rural Karnataka. We visited the Padmanabha temple in Trivandrum, the ornately carved Minakshi temple in Madurai, the Adi Keshava temple in Tamil Nadu, the Udupi temple in Karnataka, where we saw the deity on an elephant procession, and the famous Tirupati temple in Andhra Pradesh. She stayed about three days in Mayapur. She liked the prasadam from Rajapur Jagannatha there because it was not too spicy. Before she left India we stopped by Mother Theresa tomb’s in Kolkata. After that trip once I showed her of photo of Mayapur in Back to Godhead, and she said with appreciation, “We will have to save that one out.”

When I told Bhaktivaibhava Swami that my mother visited Mayapur, he said, “You are the real putra (deliverer of your parents). There is nothing better that you could have done for her.”

In 2007 I was in India without enough money for a ticket, and she and Kalakantha Prabhu split the cost of a roundtrip ticket to Florida.

In 2008 I was in India without enough money for a ticket again, and she gave me the $300 credit she had with British Airways from them delaying her luggage on our India trip so I could return to Europe.

Around 2010 my mother drove me 100 miles to hear Radhanath Swami speak at the Hartford Sunday Feast. I learned of his lecture from some of his followers, who while students in Albany, did a Saturday night program which I attended the night before. During the lecture Radhanath Swami told the story of how earlier that day he pacified with transcendental knowledge and the maha-mantra a woman named Dorothy who had cancer and was flipping out when their flight was greatly delayed. My mother quoted from the lecture to friends on the phone the next day, so I gave her Radhanath Swami’s books, The Journey Home, and later, The Journey Within, which she enjoyed reading. We also heard his recorded discussion with Cornel West at Princeton and his lecture to the House of Commons.

She also read Visakha Dasi’s book, Five Years and Eleven Months. I gave her the book on Yamuna, which she read about 200 pages of. She knew of Yamuna Devi from her amazing cookbook, which I had given her previously.

In recent years she has been the recipient of maha-prasadam sweets and garlands from Radha-Govinda in New York and coconut cream doughnuts from the Doughnut Plant, also a favorite of mine.

She passed way on the very auspicious disappearance day of Ramananda Raya and at the very auspicious time of Abhijit (noon). I put water from the Ganges at Mayapur on her head as well as dust from the Yoga Pitha. My devotee friends from Schenectady chanted Hare Krishna at her cremation, and I put more Ganges water on her ashes. I hope she attains the full mercy of Lord Caitanya.

Photos

Here is a sign at the Quaker meeting house in Albany giving practical suggestions on using shared facilities.

Insights

Srila Prabhupada:

From Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.9.16, purport:

“Bhisma wanted to impress upon Maharaja Yudhisthira that since time immemorial no one, including such demigods as Shiva and Brahma, could ascertain the real plan of the Lord. So what can we understand about it? It is useless also to inquire about it. Even the exhaustive philosophical inquiries of sages cannot ascertain the plan of the Lord. The best policy is simply to abide by the orders of the Lord without argument.”

From Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.5.25, purport:

“Lord Caitanya has instructed us that in the holy name of the Lord, a sound representation of the Lord, all the potencies of the Lord are invested. Thus one can immediately enjoy the association of the Lord by the pure vibration of the sound representation of His holy name, and the concept of the Lord is immediately manifested before the pure devotee. A pure devotee, therefore, is not aloof from the Lord even for a moment. The holy name of the Lord, as recommended in the sastras—Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare—may therefore be constantly chanted by the devotee aspiring to be constantly in touch with the Supreme Lord. One who is thus able to associate with the Lord is sure to be delivered from the darkness of the created world, which is a product of false ego (tamasi ma jyotir gama).”

From Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.1.23, purport:

“Lord Vishnu has four hands, and each hand holds a particular item—either a conchshell, wheel, club or lotus flower. Of these four emblems, the cakra, or wheel, is the chief. Lord Krishna, being the original Vishnu form, has only one emblem, namely the wheel, and therefore He is sometimes called the Cakri. The Lord’s cakra is the symbol of the power by which the Lord controls the whole manifestation. The tops of Vishnu temples are marked with the symbol of the wheel so that people may have the chance to see the symbol from a very long distance and at once remember Lord Krishna. The purpose of building very high temples is to give people a chance to see them from a distant place. This system is carried on in India whenever a new temple is constructed, and it appears that it is coming down from a time before recorded history.”

From Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.1.24, purport:

“The tract of land comprising about one hundred square miles from modern Delhi to the Mathura district in Uttar Pradesh, including a portion of the Gurgaon district in eastern Punjab, is considered to be the topmost place of pilgrimage in all of India. This land is sacred because Lord Krishna traveled through it many times. From the very beginning of His appearance, He was at Mathura in the house of His maternal uncle Kamsa, and He was reared by His foster father Maharaja Nanda at Vrindavan. There are still many devotees of the Lord lingering there in ecstasy in search of Krishna and His childhood associates, the gopis. It is not that such devotees meet Krishna face to face in that tract of land, but a devotee's eagerly searching after Krishna is as good as his seeing Him personally. How this is so cannot be explained, but it is factually realized by those who are pure devotees of the Lord. Philosophically, one can understand that Lord Krishna and His remembrance are on the absolute plane and that the very idea of searching for Him at Vrindavan in pure God consciousness gives more pleasure to the devotee than seeing Him face to face. Such devotees of the Lord see Him face to face at every moment.”

From Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.1.45, purport:

“in Mathura and Vrindavan, where we had a chance to stay, people are awake from early in the morning at 4 A.M. up until nighttime and are constantly engaged, some way or other, in chanting the holy glories of the Lord. The beauty of such a pilgrimage site is that automatically one remembers the holy glories of the Lord. His name, fame, quality, form, pastimes and entourage are all identical to the Lord, and therefore chanting the glories of the Lord invokes the personal presence of the Lord. Any time or anywhere pure devotees meet and chant the glories of the Lord, the Lord is present without any doubt. It is said by the Lord Himself that He always stays where His pure devotees chant His glories.”

From Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.2.2, purport:

“An eternally liberated soul is a devotee of the Lord who never forgets Him. Human life is meant for reviving one’s eternal relation with the Lord, and all religious injunctions are meant for awakening this dormant instinct of the living entity. The sooner this awakening is brought about, the quicker the mission of human life is fulfilled.”

From Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.2.3, purport:

“Transcendental service to the Lord is not mundane. The service attitude of the devotee gradually increases and never becomes slackened. Generally, in old age a person is allowed retirement from mundane service. But in the transcendental service of the Lord there is no retirement at all; on the contrary, the service attitude increases more and more with the progress of age. In the transcendental service there is no satiation, and therefore there is no retirement. Materially, when a man becomes tired by rendering service in his physical body, he is allowed retirement, but in the transcendental service there is no feeling of fatigue because it is spiritual service and is not on the bodily plane. Service on the bodily plane dwindles as the body grows older, but the spirit is never old, and therefore on the spiritual plane the service is never tiresome.”

From Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.2.8, purport:

“The pure devotee of the Lord thinks himself most unfortunate. That is due to excessive love for the Lord and is one of the transcendental perceptions of viraha, the suffering of separation.”

From Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.2.11, purport:

“The Lord Himself comes to display His transcendental pastimes, typically represented at Vrindavan, Mathura and Dvaraka. He appears just to attract the conditioned souls back to Godhead, back home to the eternal world. But for want of sufficient piety, the onlookers are not attracted by such pastimes of the Lord. In Bhagavad-gita it is said that only those who have completely surpassed the way of sinful reaction can engage themselves in the transcendental loving service of the Lord. The entire Vedic way of ritualistic performances is to put every conditioned soul on the path of piety. By strict adherence to the prescribed principles for all orders of social life, one can attain the qualities of truthfulness, control of the mind, control of the senses, forbearance, etc., and can be elevated to the plane of rendering pure devotional service to the Lord. Only by such a transcendental vision are one’s material hankerings fully satisfied.

“When the Lord was present, persons who were able to satisfy their material hankerings by seeing Him in true perspective were thus able to go back with Him to His kingdom.”

From Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.2.14, purport:

“In His boyhood at Vrindavan, Lord Krishna was notorious as a teasing friend in transcendental love to all the girls His age. His love for them was so intense that there is no comparison to that ecstasy, and the damsels of Vraja were so much attached to Him that their affection excelled that of the great demigods like Brahma and Shiva. Lord Krishna finally admitted His defeat before the transcendental affection of the gopis and declared that He was unable to repay them for their unalloyed affection. Although the gopis were seemingly anguished by the Lord’s teasing behavior, when Krishna would leave them they could not tolerate the separation and used to follow Him with their eyes and minds. They were so stunned by the situation that they could not finish their household duties. No one could excel Him even in the dealing of love exchanged between boys and girls.”

From Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.2.15, purport:

“The Lord is everywhere, in both the material and spiritual domains, and He appears for the sake of His devotees when there is friction between His devotee and the nondevotee. As electricity is generated by friction of matter anywhere and everywhere, the Lord, being all-pervading, appears because of the friction of devotees and nondevotees.”

From Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.2.17, purport:

“Even if one is the Supreme Lord, one must serve his parents. A son is indebted to his parents in so many ways, and it is the duty of the son to serve his parents, however great the son may be.”

“Since the living entity is constitutionally part and parcel of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Lord is very affectionate to the living entities. Unfortunately, when the living entity is bewildered or illusioned by the external energy, he becomes forgetful of his eternal relationship with the Lord, but as soon as he becomes aware of his constitutional position, he is liberated. The minute independence of the conditioned soul is exhibited by his marginal position. If he likes, he can forget the Supreme Personality of Godhead and come into the material existence with a false ego to lord it over material nature, but if he likes he can turn his face to the service of the Lord. The individual living entity is given that independence. His conditional life is ended and his life becomes successful as soon as he turns his face to the Lord, but by misusing his independence he enters into material existence. Yet the Lord is so kind that, as Supersoul, He always remains with the conditioned soul. The concern of the Lord is neither to enjoy nor to suffer from the material body. He remains with the jiva simply as sanction-giver and witness so that the living entity can receive the results of his activities, good or bad.”

From Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.2.20:

“Certainly others who were fighters on the Battlefield of Kuruksetra were purified by the onslaught of Arjuna’s arrows, and while seeing the lotuslike face of Krishna, so pleasing to the eyes, they achieved the abode of the Lord.”

From Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.26.16, purport:

“Time is destructive. Whatever is created is subject to destruction and dissolution, which is the action of time. Time is a representation of the Lord, and it reminds us also that we must surrender unto the Lord. The Lord speaks to every conditioned soul as time.”

From The Nectar of Devotion, Preface:

“It is only for our guidance that Srila Rupa Gosvami prepared his book Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu, which is now presented in the form of The Nectar of Devotion. Persons engaged in the Krishna consciousness movement may take advantage of this great literature and be very solidly situated in Krishna consciousness.”

“A living entity cannot steadily remain either in sense enjoyment or in renunciation. Change is going on perpetually, and we cannot be happy in either state, because of our eternal constitutional position.”

“At death everything is finished, and one has to begin a new chapter of life in a new situation, perhaps higher or lower than the last one. In any field of activity—political, social, national or international—the result of our actions will be finished with the end of life. That is sure.

“Bhakti-rasa, however, the mellow relished in the transcendental loving service of the Lord, does not finish with the end of life. It continues perpetually and is therefore called amrita, that which does not die but exists eternally.”

“The rasas derived from our feelings in social life, in family life or in the greater family life of altruism, philanthropy, nationalism, socialism, communism, etc., do not guarantee that one’s next life will be as a human being.”

“If our body at present is engaged in the activities of Krishna consciousness, then it is guaranteed that we will have at least a human body in our next life. A human being engaged in Krishna consciousness, even if unable to complete the course of bhakti-yoga, takes birth in the higher divisions of human society so that he can automatically further his advancement in Krishna consciousness. Therefore, all bona fide activities in Krishna consciousness are amrita, or permanent. This is the subject matter of The Nectar of Devotion.

“This eternal engagement in bhakti-rasa can be understood by a serious student upon studying The Nectar of Devotion. Adoption of bhakti-rasa, or Krishna consciousness, will immediately bring one to an auspicious life free from anxieties and will bless one with transcendental existence, thus minimizing the value of liberation. Bhakti-rasa itself is sufficient to produce a feeling of liberation, because it attracts the attention of the Supreme Lord, Krishna.”

“When the purified senses are employed in the service of the Lord, one becomes situated in bhakti-rasa life, and any action performed for the satisfaction of Krishna in this transcendental bhakti-rasa stage of life can be relished perpetually. When one is thus engaged in devotional service, all varieties of rasas, or mellows, turn into eternity. In the beginning one is trained according to the principles of regulation under the guidance of the acarya, or spiritual master, and gradually, when one is elevated, devotional service becomes automatic and spontaneous eagerness to serve Krishna. There are twelve kinds of rasas, as will be explained in this book, and by renovating our relationship with Krishna in five primary rasas we can live eternally in full knowledge and bliss.”

“At the present moment the human society teaches one to love his country or family or his personal self, but there is no information where to repose the loving propensity so that everyone can become happy. That missing point is Krishna, and The Nectar of Devotion teaches us how to stimulate our original love for Krishna and how to be situated in that position where we can enjoy our blissful life.”

“In the primary stage a child loves his parents, then his brothers and sisters, and as he daily grows up he begins to love his family, society, community, country, nation, or even the whole human society. But the loving propensity is not satisfied even by loving all human society; that loving propensity remains imperfectly fulfilled until we know who is the supreme beloved. Our love can be fully satisfied only when it is reposed in Krishna. This theme is the sum and substance of The Nectar of Devotion, which teaches us how to love Krishna in five different transcendental mellows.”

“We have failed to create peace and harmony in human society, even by such great attempts as the United Nations, because we do not know the right method. The method is very simple, but one has to understand it with a cool head. The Nectar of Devotion teaches all men how to perform the simple and natural method of loving Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. If we learn how to love Krishna, then it is very easy to immediately and simultaneously love every living being. It is like pouring water on the root of a tree or supplying food to one’s stomach.”

“As far as material necessities are concerned, the human civilization at the present moment is very much advanced in living comfortably, but still we are not happy, because we are missing the point. The material comforts of life alone are not sufficient to make us happy. The vivid example is America: the richest nation of the world, having all facilities for material comfort, is producing a class of men completely confused and frustrated in life. I am appealing herewith to such confused men to learn the art of devotional service as directed in The Nectar of Devotion, and I am sure that the fire of material existence burning within their hearts will be immediately extinguished. The root cause of our dissatisfaction is that our dormant loving propensity has not been fulfilled despite our great advancement in the materialistic way of life. The Nectar of Devotion will give us practical hints how we can live in this material world perfectly engaged in devotional service and thus fulfill all our desires in this life and the next.”

From The Nectar of Devotion, Introduction:

“The author of Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu, Srila Rupa Gosvami, very humbly submits that he is just trying to spread Krishna consciousness all over the world, although he humbly thinks himself unfit for this work. That should be the attitude of all preachers of the Krishna consciousness movement, following in the footsteps of Srila Rupa Gosvami. We should never think of ourselves as great preachers, but should always consider that we are simply instrumental to the previous acaryas, and simply by following in their footsteps we may be able to do something for the benefit of suffering humanity.”

“By his mind a Krishna conscious person always thinks of the activities of the Lord—as He is speaking on the Battlefield of Kuruksetra or engaging in His various pastimes in Vrndavana with His devotees. In this way one can always think of the activities and pastimes of the Lord. This is the mental culture of Krishna consciousness.”

“From the date of initiation by the spiritual master, the connection between Krishna and a person cultivating Krishna consciousness is established. Without initiation by a bona fide spiritual master, the actual connection with Krishna consciousness is never performed.”

“Those who are great souls or great devotees do not act under the spell of material energy, but act instead under the protection of the spiritual energy. Any activities done in devotional service, or in Krishna consciousness, are directly under the control of spiritual energy.”

“The whole jurisdiction of Krishna consciousness is directly under the spiritual energy—Krishna and the spiritual master. This has nothing to do with the material world.”

“One who is interested in Krishna becomes interested in His different pastimes and activities.”

“Described in the Srimad-Bhagavatam are nine different processes, besides which everything done is unfavorable to Krishna consciousness. Thus, one should always be guarding against falldowns.”

“As long as one identifies himself as belonging to a certain family, a certain society or a certain person, he is said to be covered with designations. When one is fully aware that he does not belong to any family, society or country, but is eternally related to Krishna, he then realizes that his energy should be employed not in the interests of so-called family, society or country, but in the interests of Krishna. This is purity of purpose and the platform of pure devotional service in Krishna consciousness.”

From The Nectar of Devotion, Chapter 1:

“A devotee, what to speak of rejecting material sense gratification, does not even want any of the five kinds of liberation. He is satisfied simply by discharging loving service to the Lord. That is the characteristic of pure devotion.”

“Devotional service therefore has the power to actually nullify all kinds of reactions to sinful deeds. A devotee is nevertheless always alert not to commit any sinful activities; this is his specific qualification as a devotee.”

“In the Hari-bhakti-sudhodaya it is stated that Prahlada Maharaja, a great devotee of the Lord, prayed to Nrsimhadeva (the half-lion, half-man incarnation) as follows: ‘My dear Lord, I repeatedly pray unto Your lotus feet that I may simply be stronger in devotional service. I simply pray that my Krishna consciousness may be more strong and steady, because happiness derived out of Krishna consciousness and devotional service is so powerful that with it one can have all the other perfections of religiousness, economic development, sense gratification and even the attainment of liberation from material existence.’

“Actually, a pure devotee does not aspire after any of these perfections, because the happiness derived from devotional service in Krishna consciousness is so transcendental and so unlimited that no other happiness can compare to it. It is said that even one drop of happiness in Krishna consciousness stands beyond comparison with an ocean of happiness derived from any other activity. Thus, any person who has developed even a little quantity of pure devotional service can very easily kick out all the other kinds of happiness derived from religiousness, economic development, sense gratification and liberation.”

“Any kind of happiness derived from religiousness, economic development, liberation or sense gratification cannot even dare to enter into the heart of a pure devotee.”

“Srila Rupa Gosvami says that if brahmananda, or the happiness of becoming one with the Supreme, is multiplied by one trillionfold, it still cannot compare to an atomic fraction of the happiness derived from the ocean of devotional service.”

“In the Hari-bhakti-sudhodaya Prahlada Maharaja, while satisfying Lord Nrsimhadeva by his prayers, says, ‘My dear Lord of the universe, I am feeling transcendental pleasure in Your presence and have become merged in the ocean of happiness. I now consider the happiness of brahmananda to be no more than the water in the impression left by a cow’s hoof in the earth, compared to this ocean of bliss.’”

“In Bhagavad-gita it is confirmed that the mahatmas, or great souls, are under the protection of daivi prakrti, the internal energy—Radharani. So, being directly under the control of the internal potency of Krishna, devotional service attracts even Krishna Himself.”

“God is great, but devotional service is greater than God because it attracts Him. People who are not in devotional service can never understand what great value there is in rendering service to the Lord.”

From Science of Self-Realization, Chapter 4:

“I think the Christian priests should cooperate with the Krishna consciousness movement. They could chant the name of Christ, or Krstos, and they could stop condoning the slaughter of animals. This program follows the teachings of the Bible; it is not my philosophy. Please act accordingly and you will see how the world situation will change.”

From a lecture on Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya-lila 6.254, on January 8, 1968, in Los Angeles:

Devotee: “What should you be thinking about when you’re chanting? What do you think about when you’re chanting?”
Prabhupada: “Chanting? You simply hear. When you say ‘Hare Krishna,’ you try to hear the very sound, ‘Hare Krishna.’ That’s all. Nothing more. This is meditation.”

From a class on Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.26.44 on January 19, 1975, in Bombay:

“They are so many people are working for inventing something, but one man takes the credit; other man cannot. Why? Why this discrimination? There must be some cause of this discrimination. That is explained in the Bhagavad-gita, sarvasya caham hrdi sannivistah: ‘I am situated in everyone’s heart.’ Mattah smrtir jñanam apohanam ca (Bg. 15.15). Mattah, ‘From Me, if I give you the intelligence, “Now mix this chemical with this chemical, your product will come.”’ Others, they have got the chemical, and the laboratory man also there. But one takes the credit; one cannot take the credit. That is due to Krishna. If Krishna gives the intelligence, then he gets the intelligence and he takes the credit.”

From a letter to Tejiyas on December 19, 1972:

“Krishna has got some plan for you, always think in that way, and very soon He will provide everything to your heart’s desire.”

Vrindavan Das Thakura:

From Caitanya-bhagavata, Madhya 8.194–195:

“That Lord, whose holy names induced Valmiki to become enriched by austerities, whose holy names awarded Ajamila with liberation, and whose holy names when heard destroy one’s material bondage—that Lord, who has incarnated in Kali-yuga, now engaged in dancing.”

From Caitanya-bhagavata, Madhya 8.201–204:

“Due to the Lord's absorption in ecstasy, His garland did not remain on His neck but scattered at the feet of the devotees. Where did the happiness of riding on Garuda go? Where did the form holding conch, disc, club, and lotus go? Where did the happiness of lying on the bed of Ananta go? The Lord now cried and rolled on the ground in the mood of a servant. Where did the happiness of Vaikuntha go? The Lord forgot all other happiness while tasting the happiness of a servant.”

From Caitanya-bhagavata, Madhya 8.227:

“All the Lord’s servants happily watched as the Lord displayed His unparalleled ecstatic love for Krishna and unparalleled dancing.”

Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura:

From Caitanya-bhagavata, Madhya 8.68, purport:

“Since ordinary people have no qualification for perceiving transcendental subject matters, they are unwilling to repose their faith in them.”

From Caitanya-bhagavata, Madhya 8.78, purport:

“In order to reveal that the Supreme Lord and His associates are not bound by material time, place, and circumstances, the devotees of the Lord take birth in various castes, various countries, and various times. Wherever, whenever, and in whatever circumstance they are born, they eagerly engage in the service of Sri Caitanyadeva, the Absolute Truth.”

From Caitanya-bhagavata, Madhya 8.81, purport:

“All devotees engage themselves in the Lord’s service according to their respective moods and become candidates for receiving the Lord’s full love. They all know, ‘The Lord does not love anyone like He loves me.’ The envy that arises in this world due to discrimination resulting from one’s inferiority or superiority is not found amongst the pure devotees of the Lord.”

From Caitanya-bhagavata, Madhya 8.82, purport:

“The Lord is constantly searched for by all animate living entities, and in reciprocation that Lord bestows affection on them with His loving embrace.”

From Caitanya-bhagavata, Madhya 8.168, purport:

“Although the sound of the Lord's roaring like a million lions was capable of breaking the living entities' eardrums, He mercifully protected their weak eardrums.”

From Caitanya-bhagavata, Madhya 8.190, purport:

“In the Narada-pañcaratra it is said:

sankirtana-dhvanimsrutva
 ye ca nrtyanti vaisnavahtesam
pada-raja-sparsat
 sadya puta vasundhara

‘Mother earth is immediately purified by the touch of the dust from the feet of the Vaishnavas who dance to the sound of sankirtana.”

From Caitanya-bhagavata, Madhya 8.208, purport:

“It is further described in the Narada-pañcaratra (2.7.7):

sri-harer-bhakti-dasyam ca sarvam ukteh param mune
vaishnavanam abhimatam sarat saram parat param

‘The devotional service of Lord Hari is most enchanting and the best of all forms of liberation. O great sage, it is the essence of all conclusions. This is the opinion of the Vaishnavas.’”

“In the Hari-bhakti-kalpa-latika it is said:

nasti dasyat paramsreyo nasti dasyat param padam
nasti dasyat paro labho nasti dasyat param sukham

‘There is nothing more auspicious than Lord Hari’s service. There is no situation better than Lord Hari’s service. There is nothing better to be gained than Lord Hari’s service. There is no happiness higher than Lord Hari’s service.’”

From Caitanya-bhagavata, Madhya 8.209, purport:

“In the Padma Purana (Uttara-khanda, Chapter Sixty-three) it is stated:

viprair bhagavati varta gehe gehe jane jane
karita dhana-lobhena katha-saras tato gatah

“Brahmanas will describe the topics of Krishna's pastimes in Srimad-Bhagavatam from house to house in order to accumulate wealth, therefore their audience will not achieve devotional service, which is the essence of hearing such topics.”

“In the Manu-samhita (12.115) it is stated:

yam vadanti tamo-bhuta
 murkhadharmam atad-vidahtat
papamsatadha bhutva
 tad-vaktrn anugacchati

‘Those who instruct religious principles in spite of being foolish, in the mode of ignorance, or ignorant of religion incur one hundred times more sin than their audience.” The Manu-samhita (3.156) also states:

bhrtak-adhyapako yas ca
 bhrtak-adhyapitas tatha
sudra-sisyo gurus caiva
 vag dustah kunda-golakau

‘Those who charge fees for teaching, those who pay fees for studying, those who are disciples of sudras, those who are spiritual masters of sudras, those who speak harshly, those who are illegitimate sons of mothers whose actual husband is still alive, and those who are illegitimate sons of mothers whose husband is dead should not be allowed to participate in sraddha ceremonies or other Vedic rituals.’”

Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami:

From A Writer of Pieces 2024:

“Sixteen words and thirty-two syllables
said from the heart
brings you to the spiritual world.”

“May I remember him lovingly as I meet with death. I met him when I was twenty-five years old. I’ve served him, and he’s protected me all the way. It has always been a reciprocation of love. May I follow him to the spiritual world, or wherever he wants to take me: beloved Srila Prabhupada.”

“Every Town and Village

“We pray that Srila Prabhupada’s books
be placed in every town and village
and that they be translated into all
the world’s languages
and that they be read by the devotees.”

“Prabhupada’s Best

“For him, the best Ratha-yatra was 1976, going with three carts down Fifth Avenue.”

“Prabhupada should always be on our minds and in our hearts. It has been 47 years since he’s disappeared from us in his vapuh form. But for those who love him and closely follow his way, it’s as if he never left.”

“Why Settle for Less?

“If one chants the quota of sixteen rounds with inattention and without devotion, he (or she) makes spiritual benefit. How much more blessing one receives from Krishna and the spiritual master if one surrenders wholeheartedly, externally and internally, to the Hare Krishna mantra.”

“Let God and the spiritual master see me die doing the best I can. And I should do it for others’ welfare.”

“Forever Yours

“The dialogue I report here that took place between Srila Prabhupada and me, has been reported by me in another place in my writing, but it is worth repeating again. This came at a time when I was just meeting Srila Prabhupada, and I’m not sure if I was initiated yet, or just Steve.

“With great enthusiasm, I took to typing up Prabhupada’s manuscripts. I volunteered for this, and he was very pleased to give it to me. I became very attracted to Prabhupada, but I had some misgivings.

“I don’t want to explain what they were here, but they were doubts that I had as a beginner that I should fully surrender to my spiritual master and that I should fully love him. There were even doubts about our ethnic differences. On this occasion, I came to Prabhupada and brought him a big stack of typing that I had just finished. He accepted it and gave me a new package to type. Then he said to me, ‘This typing is not mechanical.’ Then he said, ‘If you love me, then I will love you.’ These words broke open all my misgivings toward him. On the spot, I completely loved him and wanted to surrender my life to him. It may be hard for you to understand how three words changed me around completely, but it was so. By Prabhupada saying those words, he opened my heart and I loved him, then and forever.”

Gopiparanadhana Prabhu:

From Brhad-bhagavatamrita 3.7.136, commentary:

“But then another doubt might arise: ‘With such distracted minds, how could the gopis maintain their bodies and fulfill their family responsibilities?’ The answer is that Krishna is Urukrama, the Supreme Lord who possesses amazing energies and accomplishes wonderful feats. The gopis, by fixing their hearts on Him, are easily able to carry out all their duties and obtain whatever is needed. Even though the gopis think only of Krishna, to the exclusion of everything else, they are free from anxiety over the many duties they are obliged to fulfill. Everything they do is for His satisfaction, so they can do everything expertly simply by the force of Krishna consciousness.

“This verse also describes the gopis’ singing about Krishna as most prominent. Their remembrance and visions of Him come as natural consequences of this primary service of singing His glories.”

From Brhad-bhagavatamrita 3.7.138, commentary:

“Krishna is amazed by how strongly committed to Him the gopis are. They have cut the insurmountable knots of attachment to home and husband and children and the multitude of duties centered on them. Severing these attachments, the gopis have worshiped Krishna fully, whereas Krishna, because He has ties of love to so many devotees, feels He can never be as exclusively dedicated. Therefore He can only suggest to the gopis that their own saintliness might repay His debt to them. There is nothing He can do in kind to reciprocate.”

Srutakirti Prabhu:

I liked to go to places that Srila Prabhupada went to that I did not have the opportunity to go to with him just to see the effect he had on the place. He gave a lecture in one place in Durban, and the next year I went there and I saw they had a temple.

I was in New Vrindaban in 1971. During that time every day we would hear about what Srila Prabhupada was doing.

In Henry Street temple for a week, Srila Prabhupada would initiate ten devotees a day.

We would make our own beads in the basement of the Henry Street temple with beads we got at a shop.

We saw Srila Prabhupada’s love. We saw Srila Prabhupada’s eyes glistening like diamonds, as if about to cry.

The first thing Srila Prabhupada said to me was, “What is the difficulty?” I had offered obeisances and sat up, but I sat on someone’s head who was still offering obeisances. That person pushed me, and I fell at his lotus feet as if intentionally. Thus Srila Prabhupada inquired.”

When Srila Prabhupada named me Srutakirti, he explained that it meant, “One whose activities are world famous.” Then he said, “You are Srutakirti Das.”

I got to see Srila Prabhupada’s compassion all the time. I could see he just wants us to do some service.

Wherever Srila Prabhupada put his footsteps is a sacred place.

I went to Atlanta, and by Srila Prabhupada’s grace, it was like Vaikuntha. Then I came to New York, and it was like Vaikuntha, too.

The 7 Up story originated in New York.

When on a airplane Srila Prabhupada tried 7 Up the first time, he said, “This is very good.” Later when he saw the ingredients, which was before they started putting all these preservatives in it, he read, water, sugar, lemon juice, . . .” and he said, “This is good.”

Whatever Srila Prabhupada would do, we would imitate, except getting up at 1:00 in the morning.

Srila Prabhupada traveled 14 times around the world to give his association and to create places for us to come to.

Once Srila Prabhupada rang the bell when I was in the swimming pool after lunch. Another devotee came to Srila Prahupada, and said, “Your servant is in the swimming pool.”
Srila Prabhupada replied, “Everyone is my servant.”
And he gave that devotee something to do, shutting him up.
It was as if he was saying, “I can criticize my servants, but you cannot criticize them!”

Raghunath Prabhu of Shelter:

If you have a desire, Krishna will fulfill it, even if just to show you that you don’t really want it.

Sankirtana Priya Prabhu:

Times Square is graphic display of kama.

There is a way of acting and living whereby one can elevate himself from the mode of ignorance to the mode of goodness.

We have to protect our consciousness by any means because our consciousness carries us on to the next life.

From the pastime of Kardama Muni we learn that even if your son is the Supreme Lord Himself, you should still leave home and take vanaprastha after your children are grown up.

Through the pastimes of Lord Caitanya, He exposes the faults of pride, inappropriate association, etc.

By meditation on the pure pastimes of the Lord our consciousness is cleansed.

Q (by BPV Damodara Swami): This verse says that people who have bad qualities like indulgence in illicit sex cannot have fame, but we see some people who were famous were well known womenizers such as the philosopher Bertrand Russell and the poet Ernest Hemingway.
A: That fame is very flickering, and at the end they will be degraded so that is not real fame and that life is not ultimately successful.

Dvija Govinda Prabhu:

From The Nature of Time:

“Interestingly, [Soviet scientist] Kozyrev considered time as perhaps the most important tool used by the Creator of this world, since time not only destroys, but also constantly creates, new natural systems, thereby counteracting the growth of chaos and consequent heat death of the universe. Without rejecting thermonuclear reactions in the interiors of stars, he argued that such fusion processes are clearly not able to account for the colossal reserves of energy needed to sustain the observed radiation levels for most stars, and postulates that time itself may contribute up to 90% of their energy supply. Kozyrev also suggested that the impact of time on the world around us can be characterized by a rotating movement, which corresponds to the Vedic concept of the kala-cakra – the wheel of time. So in this sense he mirrors the Vedic understanding that all processes, from the movement of electrons around an atom to stars around the center of a galaxy, are influenced by the energic feature of time.”

“God has a plan for every living being (soul). Accepting this plan and acting in accordance with it is the proper behavior for the living entities in the material world.”

Seth:

I did kirtan with Madhava Prabhu for a week. He would say every night, “Kirtan isn’t a performance.” As a performer, it was something I needed to hear every night.

Steven Laureys (Belgian clinician and researcher in the field of neurology of consciousness):

From a Caltech Consciousness and Reality Colloquium on 12 June 2024:

“There is more consciousness in a fruit fly than our most powerful computers.”

Mabel of Albany Friends Meeting:

“I loved your mother, admired, and respected her. She was an inspiration to me and convinced me that there is no such thing as a retired activist.”

Sharon Anderson, caretaker of my mother:

“Pat was smart, caring, and funny. She will be missed very much. The world has lost one of its best supporters.”

-----

This verse always encourages me to chant Hare Krishna everywhere and to approach anyone with invitations and free literature. It also encourages me to do things like give classes on Bhagavad-gita at the Albany Friends Meeting.

patrapatra-vicara nahi, nahi sthanasthana
yei yanha paya, tanha kare prema-dana

“In distributing love of Godhead, Caitanya Mahaprabhu and His associates did not consider who was a fit candidate and who was not, nor where such distribution should or should not take place. They made no conditions. Wherever they got the opportunity, the members of the Pañca-tattva distributed love of Godhead.” (Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Adi-lila 7.23)