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Experiencing Krishna

• Subject: Experiencing Krishna
• From: Brad S
• Date: Wed Jan 24 16:07:40 1996
• Message-Id: id717

Hello! Hare Krishna!



This is all I have had time to type. You might like to get hold of the book "Chant

and be Happy - The Power of Mantra Meditation", it is published by the

Bhaktivedanta Book Trust and has interviews with George Harrison and John Lennon

as well as an introduction to the philosophy. I think you will like it.



Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!



Madhudvisa dasa





A conversation about the Hare Krishna mantra between Srila Prabhupada and John

Lennon, Yoko Ono, and George Harrison.



Montreal Star, June 1969:





Reporter: Where do you get your strength?

John Lennon: From Hare Krishna

Yoko: That's where we get it from, you know. We're not denying it.



In september 1969, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, founder-acarya (spiritual

master) of the Hare Krishna mavement, arrived as a house guest at Tittenhurst

Park, the beautiful eighty-acre British estate owned by John Lennon. Three or four

times a week, the Swami, who later became known to the world as Srila Prabhupada,

gave public lectures in a tall, stately building at the northern end of the

property a hundred yards from the house, in which John and Yoko lived.



The building had been formerly used as a hall for chamber-music recitals, but now

several of Srila Prabhupada's disciples, who resided along with him in a block of

guest houses on the property, installed a small Deity alter and a podium for Srila

Prabhupada. The building never really had a name, but after Srila Prabhupada's

arrival, everyone called it "the Temple."



They still call it "the Temple" today, and except for the recent addition of an

enormous crimson-and-gold pipe organ nearly covering the towering west wall, it

exists unchanged, now surrounded by a recording-studio complex owned by Ringo

Starr.



On September 14, John, Yoko and George Harrison, after enjoying an Indian

vegetarian meal prepared by the devotees at the Temple, walked over to Srila

Prabhupad's quarters for their first meeting.



Which Mantra to Chant?



Yoko Ono: If Hare Krishna is such a strong, powerful mantra, is there any reason

to chant anything else? For instance, you talked about songs and different

mantras. Is there any point in the chanting of another song or mantra?



Srila Prabhupada: There are other mantras, but the Hare Krishna mantra is

especially recommended for this age. But other Vedic mantras are also chanted. As

I told you, the sages would sit with musical instruments, like the tamboura, and

chant them. For instance, Narada Muni is always chanting mantras and playing on

his stringed instrument, the vina. So chanting out loud with musical instruments

is not a new thing. It's been done since time immemorial. But the chanting of the

Hare Krishna mantra is especially recommended for this age. this is stated in many

Vedic literatures, such as the Brahmanda Purana, the Kalisantarana Upanisad, the

Agni Purana, and so forth. And apart from the statements of the Vedic literature,

Lord Krishna Himself, in the form of Lord Caitanya, preached that everyone should

chant the Hare Krishna mantra.



John Lennon: If all mantras are just the name of God then it's all the name of

God. So it doesn't really make much difference, does it, which one you sing?



Srila Prabhupada: It does make a difference. For instance, in a drug shop they

sell all types of medicines for curing different diseases. But still you have to

get a doctor's prescription in order to get a particular type of medicine.

Otherwise the druggist won't supply you. You might go to the drug shop and say,

"I'm diseases. Please give me any medicine you have." But the druggist will ask

you, "Where is your prescription?"



Prescription for the Age of Kali



Similarly, in this age of Kali, the Hare Krishna mantra is prescribed in the

sastras, or scriptures. And the great teacher  Caitanya Mahaprabhu, whom we

consider to be an incarnation of God, also prescribed it. therefore, our principle

is that everyone should follow the prescription of the great authorities. That is

our business. The Mahabarata states, "Dry arguments are inconclusive. A great

personality whose opinion does not differ from others is not considered a great

sage. Simply by studying the Vedas, which are variegated, one cannot come to the

right path by which religious principles are understood. The solid truth of

religious principles is hidden in the heart of an unadulterated, self-realized

person. Consequently, as the sastras affirm, one should accept whatever

progressive path the mahajanas advocate." [Mahabharata, Vana-parva, 313.117] This

Vedic mantra says that if you simply try to argue and approach the Absolute Truth,

it is very difficult. By argument and reason it is very difficult, because our

arguments and reason are limited, and our senses are imperfect. There are many



confusing varieties of scriptures, and every philosopher has a different opinion,

and unless a philosopher defeats other philosophers, he cannot become recognized

as a big philosopher. One theory replaces another, and therefore philosophical

speculation will not help us arrive at the Absolute Truth. The Absolute Truth is

very secret. So how can one achieve such a secret thing? You simply follow the

great personalities who have already achieved success. So our Krishna

consciousness philosophical method is to follow the great personalities, such as

Lord Krishna, Lord Caitanya, and the great spiritual masters in disciplic

succession. Take shelter of bona fide authorities and follow them -- that is

recommended in the Vedas. That will take you to the ultimate goal.



You Can't Manufacture a Mantra



Evam parampara-praptam: In this way, disciplic succession, the knowledge is coming

down. Sa kaleneha mahata yogo nastah parantapa: butin the course of time the

succession was broken. Therefore Krishna says, "I am speaking it to you again." So

a mantra should be received from the diciplic succession. The Vedic injunction is

sampradaya-vihina ye mantras te nispala matah. If your mantra does not come

through the disciplic succession, it will not be effective. Mantras te nisphalah.

Nisphalah means it will not produce the desired result. So the mantra must be

received through the proper channel of disciplic succession, or it will not act. A

mantra cannot be manufactured. It must come from the original Supreme Absolute,

coming down through the channel of disciplic succession. It has to be received in

that way, and only then will it act.



According to our Krishna consciousness philosophy, the mantra is coming down

through four channels of diciplic succession: one through Lord Siva, one through

the godess Laksmi, one through Lord Brahma, and one through the four Kumaras. The

same thing comes down through different channels. These are called the four

sampradayas, or disciplic successions. So one has to take his mantra from one of

these four sampradayas; then only is the mantra active. If we receive the mantra

in that way, it will be effective. And if one does not receive his mantra through

one of these sampradaya channels, then it will not act; it will not give fruit.



Yoko Ono: If the mantra itself has such power, does it matter where you receive

it, where you take it?



Srila Prabhupada: Yes, it does matter. For instance milk is nutritious. that's a

fact; everyone knows. But if milk is touched by the lips of a serpent, it is no

longer nutritious. It becomes poisonous.



Yoko Ono: Well, milk is material.



Srila Prabhupada: Yes, it is material. But since you are trying to understand

spiritual topics through your material senses we have to give material examples.



Yoko Ono: Well, no, I don't think you have to give me the material sense. I mean

the mantra is not material. It should be something spiritual; therefore, I don't

think anybody should be able to spoil it. I wonder if anybody can spoil something

that isn't material>



Srila Prabhupada: But if you don't receive the mantra through the proper channel,

it may not really be spiritual.



John Lennon: How would you know, anyway? How are you able to tell? I mean for any

of your disciples or us or anybody else who goes to any spiritual master -- how

are we to tell if he's for real or not?



Srila Prabhupada: You shouldn't go to just any spiritual master.



Who's a Genuine Guru?



John Lennon: Yes, we should go to a true master. But how are we to tell one from

another?



Srila Prabhupada: It is not that you can go to just any spiritual master. He must

be a member of a recognized sampradaya, a particular line of diciplic succession.



John Lennon: But what if one of those masters who's not in the line says exactly

the same thing as one who is? What if he says his mantra is coming from the Vedas



and he seems to speak with as much authority as you? He could probably be right.

It's confusing -- like having too many fruits on a plate.



Srila Prabhupada: If the mantra is actually coming through a bona fide diciplic

succession, then it will have potency.



John Lennon: But the Hare Krishna mantra is the best one?



Srila Prabhupada: Yes



Yoko Ono: Well if Hare Krishna is the best one, why should we bother saying

anything else than Hare Krishna?



Srila Prabhupada: It's true, you don't have to bother with anything else. We say

that Hare Krishna mantra is sufficient for one's perfection, for liberation.



George Harrison: Isn't it like flowers? Somebody may prefer roses, and somebody

may like carnations better. Isn't it really a matter for the individual to decide?

One person may find that Hare Krishna is more beneficial to his spiritual

progress, yet another person may find that some other mantra may be more

beneficial for himself. Isn't it just a matter of taste, like choosing a flower?

They're all flowers, but some people may like one better than another.



Srila Prabhupada: But still there is a distinction. A fragrant rose is considered

better than a flower without any scent.



Yoko Ono: In that case, I can't...



Srila Prabhupada: Let us understand this flower example.



Yoko Ono: O.K.



Srila Prabhupada: You may be attracted to one flower and I may be attracted by

another flower. But among the flowers a distinction can be made. There are many

flowers that have no fragrance and many flowers that have fragrance.



Yoko Ono: Is that flower that has fragrance better?



Srila Prabhupada: Yes. Therefore your attraction to a particular flower is not the

solution to the question of which is actually better. In the same way personal

attraction is not the solution to choosing the best spiritual process. In

Bhagavad-gita [4.11] Lord Krishna says "All of them -- as they surrender unto Me -

- I reward accordingly. Everyone follows my path in all respects, O son of Prtha.:

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