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Parents and coming to Krishna consciousness




> hello, thanks again for the quick response.  its nice to have

> someone to talk to about these things.  i get rather inconfident if

> i am going the right way.  i found this when i was going through a

> bad time in my life on many levels and i sometimes wonder if it is

> just something to cling to (i used to think religion was just a

> crutch).  my parents are really worried about me and stuff, at first

> i was really excited and told a lot of people i know and they all

> seemed to think it was wierd.  so i sometimes doubt myself, but

> people like you help a lot.  i also have a history of liking

> something and focusing on that entirely for awhile (a one track

> mind, if you will) and so i wonder if its some wierd phase.  i guess

> you don't need to hear all this but thanks for your support.

> 



Hello Hare Krishna!!



Usually our friends and parents don't understand when we take to

Krishna consciousness. It's a funny thing. I know when I first started

reading Srila Prabhupada's books Krishna consciousness seemed so clear

and logical to me but when I tried to explain it to my friends they

just couldn't get it.... So actually we are quite fortunate to be able

to understand Krishna consciousness a little bit. Not everyone can. If

one is totally absorbed in sense gratification Krishna consciousness

will make no sense to him whatsoever.



                         bhogaisvarya-prasaktanam

                             tayapahrta-cetasam

                          vyavasayatmika buddhih

                           samadhau na vidhiyate



    "In the minds of those who are too attached to sense enjoyment and

material opulence, and who are bewildered by such things, the resolute

determination for devotional service to the Supreme Lord does not take

place." (Bhagavad-gita 2.44)



So you see if one is completely bewildered by sense gratification [and

these days most people are] they can't understand the philosophy of

Krishna consciousness at all... But all is not lost. There are many

ways to come to Krishna. If they hear the Holy name  of Krishna

chanted by pure devotees that will purify them and they will be able

to understand -- that's why chanting Hare Krishna in the streets by

groups of devotees [sankirtana] is so important. It gives the people a

chance to hear Krishna's holy name and thus become purified. People

may not understand this and sometimes they may even get angry at the

devotees, but it doesn't matter, the Hare Krishna maha-mantra is like

fire, no matter how you associate with fire you will get hot -- no

matter how someone associates with Krishna he will benefit, he will

become purified gradually. Even if someone chants Hare Krishna in a

joking way or even in a critical way -- still it will act. Gradually

they will become purified and then only be able to understand the

philosophy...



Before I joined the Hare Krishna's I, like you, had many, many 

different interests and nothing could hold my attention for very long,

a few months or a year later I was very interested in something else.

But I joined the Hare Krishna's 10 years ago now and since then

Krishna and Srila Prabhupada have been my only interest. I have never

got tired of it -- certainly it has been difficult at times -- but the

difficult times have just helped to strengthen my faith in Srila

Prabhupada and Krishna. Krishna is real. He is a person like you and

me, but He is the Supreme Person, He is unlimited in every way while

we are limited in every way. That's the difference -- but the

qualities are the same. Krishna is a person, He has feelings, He has

activities, He enjoys pastimes with His devotees, everything is there

in Krishna. Everything here, in the material world, is a perverted

reflection of the original, pure spiritual world -- so there can be

nothing here that does not have it's original counterpart in the

spiritual world...



So 10 years latter I am still into Krishna and Prabhupada and my

enthusiasm, determination and the pleasure I get from serving Krishna

and Prabhupada is just increasing still. That is the nature of

spiritual life, anandam buddhi vardhanam... an ocean of

ever-increasing spiritual bliss...



Traditionally in ISKCON new bhakats would live in the temples and be

encouraged not to have much to do with their old friends and their

family, at least in the beginning, because they generally don't

understand and try to discourage you. But that is not really possible

nowadays as the mood has changed in the temples and there are not many

devotees living in them and often they are not so enthusiastic

themselves either. So I think you just have to be Krishna

consciousness where you are now, continue living with your family,

going to school, etc, and just become more and more Krishna

consciousness by chanting Hare Krishna and reading Srila Prabhupada's

books. There may be some difficulties from time to time but stick to

the chanting and reading and Krishna will help you. He is in our

hearts and He knows what we want:



                      sarvasya caham hrdi sannivisto

                      mattah smrtirjnanam apohanam ca

                     vedais ca sarvair aham eva vedyo

                       vedanta-krd veda-vid eva caham



     "I am seated in everyone's heart, and from Me come remembrance,

knowledge and forgetfulness. By all the Vedas, I am to be known.

Indeed, I am the compiler of Vedanta, and I am the knower of the

Vedas." (Bhagavad-gita 15.15)



So Krishna is in our hearts, we can't see Him at the moment because

our hearts are so covered over by heaps of dirt resulting from the

reactions to our sinful activities for so many millions and millions

of births in the material world. But this dirt can be removed easily

by chanting:



       Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare

            Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare



But it may take a little while also, we have accumulated a lot of dirt

so we have to become very serious to keep chanting... In the beginning

the taste may not always be there, but the more we chant Hare Krishna,

the more we become purified and the more we will experience that

unlimited ocean of transcendental bliss which is Krishna

consciousness.



So never become discouraged. Krishna consciousness is not just a stage

you are going through, it is your original, eternal occupation, your

constitutional position. We are nitya krsna dasa -- servants of

Krishna eternally -- We are in a diseased condition in the material

world thinking we can become the controller, thinking we can become

the enjoyer, thinking we can become Krishna... But it is a false idea

and all our attempts to become the lord and master will end in

frustration -- because Krishna is the Lord and master, we are His

servants...



Thanks for the letters. Keep writing. Talking about Krishna is very

potent medicine for curing our material disease, it is good for you to

ask the questions and it is purifying for me to try and answer them.

It is an all auspicious activity:



           mac-citta mad-gata-prana

                bodhayantah parasparam

           kathayantas ca mam nityam

               tusyanti ca ramanti ca



"The thoughts of my pure devotees dwell in Me, their lives are 

surrendered to Me, and they derive great satisfaction and bliss 

enlightening one another and conversing about Me." (Bhagavad-gita

10.9)



So we should just go on talking about Krishna, chanting Hare Krishna,

reading about Krishna, cooking prasadam for Krisha, etc forever. It

doesn't matter so much what others think. They will benefit from our

devotional activities, they will become purified, even if they don't

understand what we're doing...



How to put your parent's minds at rest I don't know. I don't think we

have a very good reputation there in the states. But you can search on

my home-page for "cults". There are some articles there. It might give

you some ideas. Krishna consciousness is not a new thing -- it is very

authorized and respected by so many intelligent and thoughtful persons

in both the Western world ans India. The following may give you some

ammunition:



No educated person would dare criticise the books of His Divine Grace

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the Founder-Acarya of the Hare

Krishna movement. They have been praised by so many recognised

scholars both in India and in the West. The special quality of Srila

Prabhupada's books is he has presented them "as they are", he hasn't

tried to twist things around to get a different meaning as many, many

other authors have done. If you criticise Prabhupada's books you are

criticising Krishna because Srila Prabhupada has just presented

Krishna's words in a language we can easily understand.



"This work is to be treasured. No one of whatever faith or

philosophical persuasion who reads these books with an open mind can

fail to be both moved and impressed..."

     (Dr. Garry Gelade, Professor of Psychology, Oxford University.)



"It has been my great pleasure recently to have read Srimad Bhagavatam

in the superb edition authorised by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami

Prabhupada... I am sure this monumental work will go far in bringing

the sublime message of the Bhagavatam to numerous Westerners who

otherwise would miss this opportunity."

     (Dr. Alex Wayman, Professor of Sanskrit, Columbia University.)



"I am most impressed with A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada's

scholarly and authoritative edition of Bhagavad-gita. It is a most

valuable work for the scholar as well as the layman and is of great

utility as a reference book as well as a textbook. I promptly

recommended this edition to my students. It is a beautifully done

book."

     (Dr. Samuel D. Atkins, Professor of Sanskrit, Princeton

     University.)



"...As a successor in the direct line from Caitanya, the author of

Bhagavad-gita As It Is is entitled, according to Indian custom, the

majestic title of His Divine Grace A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.

The great interest that his reading of Bhagavad-gita holds for us is

that it offers us an authorised interpretation according to the

principles of the Caitanya tradition."

     (Oliver Lacombe

      Professor of Sanskrit and Indology, Sorbonne University, Paris.)



"As a native of India now living in the West, it has given me much

grief to see so many of my fellow countrymen coming to the West in the

role of gurus and spiritual leaders. For this reason I am very excited

to see the publication of "Bhagavad-gita As It Is" by Sri A.C.

Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. It will help to stop the terrible

cheating of false and unauthorised "gurus" and "yogis" and will give

an opportunity to all people to understand the actual meaning of

Oriental culture."

     (Dr. Kailash Vajpeye, Director of Indian Studies

      Center for Oriental Studies, The University of Mexico.)



Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!



Your servant



Madhudvisa dasa
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Chant Hare Krishna and be happy! All glories to His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada!