2011 Letters

The Goal of Life is Not a Healthy body or a Good Paying Job (11/20/11) Dear _______, I am wondering about Devavision. When are you going to finish and upload the site? Its been about TWO YEARS and it still not finished! I think you need a little adjustment here. If you have time for judo several times a Read more...

The Special Gift of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu (11/15/11) Dear ______, I have received your email below and read it with interest. Unfortunately, ISKCON has become an institution without much genuine Kṛṣṇa consciousness. They are now simply concerned with 'Society consciousness' and not 'God consciousness'. But we should not think ill of them or waste our time talking at length about Read more...

Without Kṛṣṇa consciousness, everything is useless (11/14/11) Dear ______, The whole point of doing Drupal at all is only to contribute to the financial stability of the āśrama. In your limited spare time if you can learn more Drupal then that is okay, but the goal is not to be a Drupal expert. The goal is to live in Read more...

That is the Formula (11/04/11) Dear _____, You need to study the books that I have already perscribed for the devotees in our mission. Put the knowledge there into practice and you will make progress. Reading this book and that book just gives too much unnecessary thoughts for your mind. If you haven't understood what books I want my Read more...

‘Banana Problems’ are Not Encouraging (10/20/11) Dear ______, Yes I find it a little disturbing when senior devotees are anxious about food. I want to distribute prasādam - not worry about food. Yes, this is true. I think you are talking about ____ Mahārāja, but I cannot say that I appreciate your mood with him. And I think it’s Read more...

No Snacking (10/20/11) First of all, it sounds ridiculous that we are worried about 'our stash' of bananas. (Plant more bananas!!!) When the Deity comes to _____ we will follow a program of prasādam that is similar to Govindajī Gardens in India or any other āśrama/temple, in that only food that is offerable (some exceptions) will be prepared in Read more...

Why I wrote a Commentary to the Bhagavad-gītā (10/07/11) In case you are wondering why I took the trouble to translate and comment on Bhagavad-gītā when Śrīla Prabhupāda's Gitā is already there, one of my answers is this - sometime Iskcon sells us books and sometimes they don't — depending on how far they have their head up their Read more...

Siding with Sahajiyās and not Pure Devotees (10/07/11) Dear ______, Basically ______Swami sides with ______ who says that the living entity has always been in the material world and that Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura made up the siddhānta that the living entities are from the taṭastha-śakti, marginal plane. They reject Bhaktivinoda as bogus and _____ Swami adjusts the issue by saying Read more...

I Still Have Affection for Him (10/06/11) Dear ______, Nice to get your fiery email. I seldom, if ever, mention who I might be preaching against in my articles etc. "If the shoe fits wear it" is mainly my approach. As Prabhupāda once said, “Don't call a cow a cow - just say an animal that has horns and Read more...

I Don’t Give a Damn About the View (10/02/11) Dear ______ I perfectly agree that about not returning to Rādhā-Dāmodara to do service for an extended time. Better to come to Govindajī Gardens and Mulki and possible visit Dāmodara in Kārttika. It is perfectly fine with me that you take the upstairs room next to mine once ____ Mahārāja Read more...