Following the Path of the Gopis
November 6, 2009 by srila-prabhupada
Filed under Devotees, Letters
As for your desire to follow the path of the gopis, that can only be done by following the rules and regulations of devotional service in the association of devotees.
Dallas, 30 July, 1975
Dear J…:
Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated July 21, 1975 and have noted the contents. It is a very good sign that although you are not happy now you know it is only because you are not in the company of Krishna and the devotees. It is true that in the past there was some mismanagement in our Honolulu temple, but I was there recently, and it is nicely organized. But, since you have moved to San Francisco, I advise you to go there to our very nice temple in Berkeley. All the things you say you are yearning for are there. Radha Krishna are being worshipped, and there are many devotees there. So I am sure that if you go there and join with the devotees, all your problems will be solved, Krishna Consciousness is so nice.
As for your desire to follow the path of the gopis, that can only be done by following the rules and regulations of devotional service in the association of devotees. Once you have joined the temple, then we can see about Deity worship.
I hope this meets you in good health.
Your ever well wisher,
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
ACBS.bs
His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Srimad Bhagavatam 3. 25.25
In the association of pure devotees, discussion of the pastimes and activities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is very pleasing and satisfying to the ear and the heart. By cultivating such knowledge one gradually becomes advanced on the path of liberation, and thereafter he is freed, and his attraction becomes fixed. Then real devotion and devotional service begin.
PURPORT
The process of advancing in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and devotional service is described here. The first point is that one must seek the association of persons who are Kṛṣṇa conscious and who engage in devotional service. Without such association one cannot make advancement. Simply by theoretical knowledge or study one cannot make any appreciable advancement. One must give up the association of materialistic persons and seek the association of devotees because without the association of devotees one cannot understand the activities of the Lord. Generally, people are convinced of the impersonal feature of the Absolute Truth. Because they do not associate with devotees, they cannot understand that the Absolute Truth can be a person and have personal activities. This is a very difficult subject matter, and unless one has personal understanding of the Absolute Truth, there is no meaning to devotion. Service or devotion cannot be offered to anything impersonal. Service must be offered to a person. Nondevotees cannot appreciate Kṛṣṇa consciousness by reading the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam or any other Vedic literature wherein the activities of the Lord are described; they think that these activities are fictional, manufactured stories because spiritual life is not explained to them in the proper mood. To understand the personal activities of the Lord, one has to seek the association of devotees, and by such association, when one contemplates and tries to understand the transcendental activities of the Lord, the path to liberation is open, and he is freed. One who has firm faith in the Supreme Personality of Godhead becomes fixed, and his attraction for association with the Lord and the devotees increases. Association with devotees means association with the Lord. The devotee who makes this association develops the consciousness for rendering service to the Lord, and then, being situated in the transcendental position of devotional service, he gradually becomes perfect.