Letters to the editor

Please Adored Gurudeva accept our obeisances to Your Lotus feet🙏👣🪷🎵💖 All Glories To Srila Prabhupada! All Glories To My Srila Gurudeva SS Hanumat Presaka Swami Maharaja ki jaya!🙏

HpS - This is a letter from Vyasapuja time. We are finally having opportunity to get to these.

Again, these statments of glorification of our lotus feet are really disturbing go us, as I guess they would be to you.

We are servants of Srila Prabhupada. We are struggling to act like strong devotees and not indulge in "atyahara".

When I glorify Him, it comes from my heart, and I hope to please Him and that You will accept my glorification of His beloved lotus feet, our refuge in this dark Kali Yuga.

You told me in a past letter to try chanting Guru Astaka word for word and then write to you🙏👣🪷

The truth is that since I did the Guru Astaka dance, I felt very happy that whenever I sang Guru Astaka I translated each verse and I felt very happy to have learned it.

And I remember writing him a letter that never reached him, either because he was in India or because I accidentally sent it blank. In it, I told him how happy I was to sing with meaning and that I had composed a "tune"😚 in Spanish for Nrishimha Pranam and also for Gaura Artik, and I think for Guru Astaka as well. It makes me happy that Gopal asks me for those songs in Spanish because I did it especially so that he will always remember singing with his mother and never stop singing and doing the morning and afternoon programs.

HpS - Very nice. NOt just the translation of each verse but each world, no?

So, when you recently told me to do it word by word, I started chanting a verse of Guru Astaka, then reading the meanings of each word, and then reading the entire verse. And continuing with the next one, and so on. It started taking me sometimes an hour, sometimes two hours, to finish Guru Astaka plus the entire Mangalartik. Franco says I'm very analytical 😅

But it's so wonderful to know the meaning of each word. I really like the sound of Sanskrit, and I realize that the translation isn't 100 percent perfect because, in my opinion, the Sanskrit language is very profound, and a single word can mean something like a phrase that perhaps Hindus or experts already know, and that I, as a Westerner, had no idea about.

HpS' Super Super!

For example, "tree sandyas" could only be translated as "three times of day." But... it's not just that... we know it means three auspicious times of day: dawn, midday, and dusk... but the translation, if it were complete, would be almost a book, not just a songbook. 😀

Thank you for helping me, Gurudeva 🙏💖👣🪷🎵. I love your instructions. I hope to serve you eternally. 👣🪷💖🎵 Eternal thanks!

Please bear with me, sometimes when I chant I take a while but I want to do my best to please you and always end with ..srivas adi Gaura Bhakta Vrinda to have the blessing of all Vaishnavas.

And please forgive any offense unintentionally caused in this letter.

Always, always, always ♾️ trying with all my tiny strength to please His sweet lotus heart

Her insignificant attempt at eternal maid:

J.P.R. Devi Dasi

🙏👣🪷💖🎵Jaya Jaya Jaya

Jaya Sri Radhe👣🪷💖🎵♾️

HpS/ASA - Hare Krsna!!!!!! All respects to Franco. Is he doing and sculpting?

Dear Guru Maharaja, all glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Please accept my humble obeisances.

Just today, Nirgata and I were discussing the same topic—Śivajī, prayers to him, and his glories. Shortly afterward, your blog post arrived.

We found that many of the thoughts you shared there closely matched what we had been reflecting on.

Is this the “mystical” Hanumat Preśak Swami that a brahmacārī from the Chowpatty temple once spoke about?

Or, as you have often said—quoting Śrīla Prabhupāda—is all such “magic” simply Kṛṣṇa’s arrangement?

Coincidence… or something more?

On the side of our altar, we have a Śiva-liṅga (which has come into our lives several times by his own sweet will) and also a deity/mūrti of him.

Also, Śivajī is present in Vṛndāvana, as Gopīśvara Mahādeva.

At this moment, I am not writing with specific inquiries. Some questions are forming within my manasa—and, I hope, also within my buddhi—and I am taking time to refine them.

Your servant,

Namacarya Das

PS: Srila Prabhupada's quote about magic: The magic will act as soon as you become a pure devotee of Kṛṣṇa.

The magic will be done by Kṛṣṇa, not by me or you. He will do it. 

https://vanisource.org/w/index.php?title=720519_-_Lecture_SB_02.03.01_-_Los_Angeles&hl=magic

HpS - Yes, we heard that from a recoding of Srila Prabhupada under very intense circumstances. Has always impressed us.

Radha and Krsna are so fine!

Their woship is so fine.

We must be so fine.

Who is the Supreme Personality of Godhood?

Maha visnu?

Paramatma?

Is the personality of godhood very elevated but ultimately a temporary manifestation from the eternal Brahman?

Siva? Durga? Rama? Who is the Supreme?

Bala gopal? Radha gopal?

Hare Krishna Maharaja

PAMHO AGTSP

A devout friend recommended someone to perform an exorcism. He meets almost all the requirements, the only thing that doesn't fit is that he's not a devotee of Krishna, he's a devotee of Kali.

This person was first a devotee of Krishna, but later became initiated with a Guru who primarily worships Kali.

Do you think he's a good choice?

Balaram Kripa das

HpS/ASA - AgtSP!! Tom Brown and Buck White do not see how one can really be a devotee of Kali without being a devotee of Narayana?

Especially if one has prior knowledge of of Krsna from Srila Prabhupada.

Of course, one may have very sincere devotion of Kali, Shiva, Surya, Brahma in relation to Sri Hari, Narayana, just as one may have sincere devotion to St. Francis as a way personal way to appreciate Jehovah.

Raghunatha Das worshipped Lord Caitanya by worshipping Svarupa damodara Goswami, though, SDG.

So, seems like you should find another exorcist?

Who recommended him?

Why?

Thank you.

Here is the 1st part

https://monkeywarrior.com/detail/16039/

As always, thank you very, very much!

If I understood correctly, your disciple had a marijuana addiction. In the place where he lives, cultivating (and presumably using) marijuana is legal. So he began cultivating it himself, and this reduced his addiction by about 75%.

Did I understand that properly?

HpS - That is, agtSP, how I understood his experience as he described and we observed from our position. Also, see similar things with people in similar situations.

At the same time, it seems that the jīva has a natural attraction toward the All-attractive Person, Kṛṣṇa, who is very pleasant, and His association/service fills the jīva with an abundant bliss and fulfillment. Usually, today, Krsna is most practically approached and served by chanting Hare Krsna. When that attraction is not consciously engaged, the same seeking tendency expresses itself through other activities, sometimes in distorted ways.

HpS - Yes. Although He and His girlfriends sometime bite each other, no?

Regarding the association, I am not sure I fully understand your point. My current thought is that chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa and doing kīrtana is always beneficial, but association with people who use intoxicants may also have its own influence. 

HpS - I see the danger that you are suggesting, thank you. In this case it seems that we are looking at associating with other addicts in a secular environment where marijuana addiction is being looked at from a progressive therapeutic platform rather from a secret society that is glorifying it as some kind of highly elevated state of existence.

"We are sick, lets surrender to the addiction we cannot control, but try to learn from the bad results we see".

x

"Pot is great. It is the doorway to higher consciousness. It gives us artistic abilities."

... If we are allowed to associate, see mirrors of ourselves in other addicts, who want to be cured while chanting Hare Krsna, then it can be one step up, no?

Of course, as your comments point out it can just be a chance to continue our addiction with more ease. Like following Vyasadeva's compromise in the other puranas becomes a chance to continue your addiction rather than a chance offered to advance.

O.K.??

Thank you so much.

Your servant, Namacarya Das

Dear Gurudeva,

All glories to Srila Prabhupada,

Please accept my humble obeisances.

I have a concern regarding the authority structure bequeathed to us by our Founder-Acharya. Srila Prabhupada established the GBC (Governing Body Commission) as the ultimate managing authority, based on the instruction that his own godbrothers disobeyed after the departure of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur.

HpS - AgtSP. I would say that it may not have been only based upon the instruction that Srila Bh. Siddhanta gave at that one time but efforts he made many other times, that culminated thus at the time of his departure, and SP working base upon own intelligent inspiration from Guru and Krsna.

As explained in the Chaitanya-charitamrita (Adi-lila 12.8, purport), those who disobey the Guru’s order to work collectively become asara, or "useless."

However, in current practice, we observe that in many regions, the "Zonal GBC" role falls upon a single individual. This presents two challenges that I would like to consult with you:

1. Burden and Purity: Being a single person (who often is not an uttama-adhikari like Srila Prabhupada), they may become overburdened with service or commit errors in judgment due to the lack of an immediate counterbalance.
2. Distance from Local Reality: Although Regional Governing Bodies (RGB) exist, sometimes the GBC is not fully immersed in what is happening "on the ground" or on the daily battlefield, which makes it difficult to make precise decisions for very specific, local problems.

My question is: How should we view and assist this authority when it seems to approach the "Zonal Acharya" model that caused so many problems in the 1980s? How can we, the local devotees, collaborate so that Prabhupada's will for "collective management" remains alive and functional, preventing the zonal leader from standing alone with such a heavy responsibility?

Thank you very much for your reflections and realizations on this matter.

Your servant,

Nikunja Bihari Das.

HpS - Your question seems like a big, broad one. I think there will be a lot of significant variety within the individual GBC people.

I think that a wife in ISKCON has a similar problem in relating to her husband... and children their parents.

In Kali yuga VAD does not work so well. So, we try to have Kirtan relationships with people and on that basis develop the VAD, management relations.

O.K?

We are struggling to be Sannyasis. The GBC is struggling to be GBC Secretaries.

Help everyone, GBC people et al, in their Mangala arati Kirtan, daily street Kirtan, etc. Then deal with our Management relations kind of like any other organization such as city, business, professional and national management in Argentina.

La Autoridad en ISKCON: Entre el GBC Colectivo y la Gestión Zonal

Querido Gurudeva,

Todas las glorias sean a Srila Prabhupada,

Por favor acepte mis humildes reverencias.

Tengo una inquietud respecto a la estructura de autoridad que nos legó nuestro Fundador-Acharya. Srila Prabhupada estableció el GBC (Governing Body Commission) como la máxima autoridad administrativa, basándose en la instrucción que sus propios hermanos espirituales desobedecieron tras la partida de Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur. Como se explica en el Chaitanya-charitamrita (Adi-lila 12.8, significado), quien desobedece la orden del Guru de trabajar en conjunto se vuelve un asara o "inútil".

Sin embargo, en la práctica actual, observamos que en muchas regiones el "GBC Zonal" recae sobre una sola persona. Esto presenta dos desafíos que me gustaría consultar con usted:

 1. La carga y la pureza: Al ser una sola persona (quien a menudo no es un uttama-adhikari como Srila Prabhupada), puede sobrecargarse de servicio o cometer errores de juicio por falta de un contrapeso inmediato.

 2. La distancia de la realidad local: Aunque existen los Consejos Regionales (RGB), a veces el GBC no está plenamente empapado de lo que sucede "en el terreno" o en el campo de batalla diario, lo que dificulta la toma de decisiones precisas para problemas muy específicos.

Mi pregunta es: ¿Cómo debemos ver y ayudar a esta autoridad cuando parece acercarse al modelo de "Acharya Zonal" que tantos problemas causó en la década de los 80? ¿Cómo podemos los devotos locales colaborar para que la voluntad de Prabhupada de una "gestión colectiva" se mantenga viva y funcional, evitando que el líder zonal se quede solo ante tanta responsabilidad?

Muchas gracias por sus reflexiones y realizaciones al respecto.

Su sirviente,

Nikunja Bihari Das.

oṁ ajñāna-timirāndhasya jñānāñjana-śalākayā

cakṣur unmīlitaṁ yena tasmai śrī-gurave namaḥ

nama oṁ viṣṇu-pādāya kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāya bhū-tale

śrīmate hanumatpreṣaka-svāmin iti nāmine

Who is my spiritual master? He is a great Vaiṣṇava standing among generations of Sampradāya Ācāryas. Is he an uttama-bhakta? Only a pure devotee possesses the vision to recognize it; however, if we observe the six steps of surrender (Śaraṇāgati) described in the Hari-bhakti-vilāsa (11.676), we perceive in him, at the very least, a madhyama-bhakta of the highest stature. In any case, his guidance always leads us to the lotus feet of the pure devotee, his (our) spiritual master, Śrīla A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda.

That combination of humility and incalculable wisdom provides us with a safe and stable refuge. For it is a profound truth that both the Mādhurya-kādambinī and the commentary on the Bhagavad-gītā by Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura expand and assist us in understanding even more deeply the glorious "Bhagavad-gītā As It Is" by Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Who else but him brings the Ācāryas into our daily lives with such vivid examples? He reveals the pastime of Dakṣa and Satī through the figure of an ISKCON temple president and his daughter, or shows us the relevance of Dharma in the figures of Hamlet and Arjuna, or in the mystical encounter between Cervantes and Vyāsadeva. It is he who emphasizes the importance of the Upadeśāmṛta, showing us that Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura invites us to take shelter in the six Goswāmīs to truly comprehend the pastimes of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa.

My spiritual master, His Holiness Hanumatpreśaka Swami, revealed to me the bridge between East and West by comparing the lives of Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī and Carl Jung. He has instructed me that our process is Gandharva Veda: that theater, dance, and music are the supreme ways to preach to the masses. And finally, he has always emphasized that chanting sixteen rounds very early—ideally before maṅgala-āratik—is the only way to achieve a chanting full of Enthusiasm.

He is a great Vaiṣṇava who grants us protection through his divine instructions; they are the key to accessing that bastion of bhakti which is the Guru Paramparā of the Brahma-Madhva-Gauḍīya Sampradāya, our sacred lineage, to which we surrender our existence!

Always attempting to take shelter in your divine instructions,

Your passionate disciple,

Nikuñja-bihārī dāsa

HpS - AgtSP! Thank you. We keep thinking that wars are not fought, won, by good looking, well dressed super soldiers, who have all their equipment in order.

Who are fighting a a perfect formation with clever tactics with their 100% proper companions.

They are fought by wounded soldiers who get back up and put the 60% energy they have available fully back into the fight.

Who are facing an intelligent enemy who has damaged their tactical arrangements.

We need to associate with the devotees of ISKCON to get perspective on who we are. Thank you for these comments.

Lord Caitanya says that exaggerated praise is another form of blasphemy.

Seems that if we are going to go out and try to serve Lord Caitanya's mission in even the simplest sense we have to present ourselves as some kind of Guru. Then we will get criticism. We need to see the critics carefully so that we can evaluate their criticism.

We hope that Krsna gives you good intelligence to balance your personal esoteric development, family, community.

​oṁ ajñāna-timirāndhasya jñānāñjana-śalākayā

cakṣur unmīlitaṁ yena tasmai śrī-gurave namaḥ

​nama oṁ viṣṇu-pādāya kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāya bhū-tale

śrīmate hanumatpreṣaka-svāmin iti nāmine

​¿Quién es mi maestro espiritual? Él es un gran Vaiṣṇava erguido entre generaciones de Sampradāya Ācāryas. ¿Es un uttama-bhakta? Solo un devoto puro posee la visión para reconocerlo; sin embargo, si observamos los seis pasos de la rendición (Śaraṇāgati) descritos en el Hari-bhakti-vilāsa (11.676), vemos en él, como mínimo, a un madhyama-bhakta de elevadísima estatura. De cualquier manera, su guía siempre nos conduce hacia los pies de loto del devoto puro, su (nuestro) maestro espiritual, Śrīla A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda.

​Esa amalgama de humildad y sabiduría incalculable nos brinda un refugio seguro y estable. Pues es una verdad profunda que tanto el Mādhurya-kādambinī como el comentario al Bhagavad-gītā de Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, expanden y nos auxilian para comprender aún más profundamente el glorioso "Bhagavad-gītā tal como es" de Śrīla Prabhupāda.

​¿Quién sino él nos trae a los Ācāryas a nuestra vida cotidiana con ejemplos tan vívidos? Él nos revela el pasatiempo de Dakṣa y Satī a través de la figura de un presidente de templo y su hija, o nos muestra la vigencia del Dharma en las figuras de Hamlet y Arjuna, o en el místico encuentro entre Cervantes y Vyāsadeva. Es él quien nos enfatiza la importancia del Upadeśāmṛta, mostrándonos que Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura nos invita a refugiarnos en los seis Goswāmīs para comprender, verdaderamente, los pasatiempos de Rādhā y Kṛṣṇa.

​Mi maestro espiritual, Su Santidad Hanumatpreśaka Swami, me ha revelado el puente entre Oriente y Occidente al comparar las vidas de Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī y Carl Jung. Él me ha instruido en que nuestro proceso es Gandharva Veda: que el teatro, la danza y la música constituyen la vía suprema para predicar a las masas. Y, finalmente, siempre ha enfatizado que cantar las dieciséis rondas bien temprano —idealmente antes del maṅgala-āratik— es la única forma de alcanzar un canto colmado de entusiasmo.

​Él es un gran Vaiṣṇava que nos otorga protección mediante sus divinas instrucciones; ellas son la llave para acceder a ese bastión del bhakti que es el Guru Paramparā de la Brahma-Mādhva-Gauḍīya Sampradāya, nuestro sagrado linaje, ¡por el cual entregamos nuestra existencia!

​Siempre intentando refugiarnos en sus divinas instrucciones,

​Su apasionado discípulo,

​Nikuñja-bihārī dāsa