Mirror (Letters)

Expressions researched:
"mirror" |"mirrors"

1947 to 1965 Correspondence

Letter to R. Prakash -- Allahabad 22 June, 1951:

The diet portion of the transcendental treatment consists in the distribution of prasadam. i.e. in all gatherings the audience should not only be sustained by melodious musical performances of Bhajan Sangat or by religious or theistic discourses but they must be given some sort of remnants of food-stuff offered to God, as recommended in Bhagavad-gita.

By this process of medical treatment people become gradually free from the following four kinds of addictions of sins namely—

(1) Illegitimate connection with women.

(2) Habit of animal killing.

(3) Addiction to intoxication habits

(4) Lure of gambling.

The conditioned human beings are enwrapped in the above four special ___ due to the influence of Kali-yuga and by the transcendental treatment of Hari Sankirtana the mirror of the heart of human being becomes cleansed of all the above mentioned dusts. As soon as the dusts are removed the human being is able to visualize a clear conception of his real self and thereby he becomes free from the miseries pertaining to the body & mind, pertaining to the other living being and pertaining to the onslaughts of nature.

As followers of Bhagavad-gita we are firmly convinced that the onslaught of nature which is constantly being inflicted upon human society is a sort of police action by the laws of the Almighty and as soon as we surrender unto the Divine Will of the Almighty we not only become Mahatmas & saints but also the attack of unkind Nature is vanquished at once. That is the teaching of Bhagavad-gita and that is the demonstrative preaching of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. The real life begins when we are freed from the clutches of Maya which is nothing but a bewildered conception of materialistic life. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu changed the face of it spiritually.

1969 Correspondence

Letter to Yamuna -- New Vrindaban 27 May, 1969:

I have received your last three letters, and in the last one, dated 24th May, 1969, you have inquired about the Jagannatha Car. The crimson color with silver decorations is quite all right. There is no strict regulation about decorating the cars. We can decorate the cars very fascinatingly with gold, silver, and other shiny metallic embroidery work as far as possible. The idea is the more we decorate Krishna, Who is nondifferent from His car also, the more we become decorated indirectly. We are compared as the shadow of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and as it is stated in the Bible also, man is made after God. We understand from the scriptures that Krishna has His Vigraha, or Spiritual Body, exactly like a man who has two hands, two legs and all similar features. If you decorate your face, you do not see directly how your face has become beautiful, but when you see the reflection of your face in the mirror, then indirectly you can see the beauty. Therefore, by serving Krishna directly the result of the service indirectly comes to us. Just like we offer very nice prasadam directly to Krishna, but indirectly we enjoy the nice taste of the prasadam. So we should always remember this, that Krishna is always full in Himself; He does not want a pinch of our help for his satisfaction, but if we try to satisfy Him in so many ways as directed by acaryas and scriptures, indirectly we become benefited by such activities. So try to nicely observe this Rathayatra Festival in London, and Syamasundara. has already informed me about the scheme that three cars will be drawn to some park on the Thames, etc. So some way or other, if you can introduce this Car Festival in London, by all means London center will be successful. I doesn't matter if you can or cannot establish a temple there, but if you can introduce the Rathayatra Festival, surely it will be a great success. So try to execute this will as far as possible.

1970 Correspondence

Letter to George Harrison -- Los Angeles 16 February, 1970:

The example in this connection is given that when a man decorates his face, he does not feel much enjoyment because he cannot see his own face. But he enjoys his beautiful face when it is reflected on the mirror. In other words, when a living entity, by rendering service to the Lord, feels happy, the Lord enjoys the situation.

Letter to Candanacarya, Bharadraja -- Los Angeles 9 May, 1970:

The example is given in the Srimad-Bhagavatam that the decoration on the face of a certain person is not seen by him, but when he sees his face on the mirror he enjoys. In other words, whatever we offer to the Lord, it is actually enjoyed by us. Just like we prepare so many delicious foodstuffs for Krsna, but we eat the Prasadam remnant of foodstuff offered to Krsna. The whole idea is that everything should be offered to Krsna, and afterward we shall enjoy the effects.

1972 Correspondence

Letter to Himavati -- Los Angeles 15 June, 1972:

You remain the beautiful maid servant of Krishna. That is your business, and you should dress yourself always very nicely so that Krishna by seeing you will be pleased. Don't try to be ugly before Krishna. Krishna does not like ugly gopis. We are transcendental artists, musicians, writers, so everything should be beautiful for Krishna. After all we are members of Krishna's family, just like Krishna had 16,000 wives and each wife has thousands of servants and maid-servants and all of them are very beautiful for serving Krishna and His Queens. So the servants of the gopis and queens cannot be ugly, they are as beautiful as the queens. In the Vaikuntha world there is no need of serving anything because everything is already clean and beautiful. It is so clean that just like a mirror when the maid-servants would sweep the floor they could see the reflections of their bodies. So remain always compact in Vaikuntha yajna, simply by thinking of the Glories of the Lord. Don't try to do anything artificially. That is sahajiya, which means a class of men that take everything very cheap. You want to perform sacrifice so continuously read our Vedic scriptures and perform the Vaikuntha yajna.

1973 Correspondence

Letter to Susan Beckman -- Herts, England August 29, 1973:

Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the incarnation of Godhead in this age has delivered the medicine for all problems of the world by his introducing the Sankirtan movement. Sankirtan means to chant that Holy names of the Lord and to give up all other engagements. The chanting is a process of purification. Just like we use soap to cleanse the body, this is material, but the chanting is spiritual cleansing. The three stages of cleansing are first to clean the mirror of the mind. In the Bhagavad Gita it is said, "The mind is the best friend and the worst enemy, for one who has learned to control the mind it is the best of friends but for one who has failed to do so it is the worst enemy." Due to long term association, the mind absorbed in material things has become contaminated, or dirty, the chanting process purifies the mind. Then the next stage, when the mind is cleansed one becomes free from the symptoms of material existence. Material existence means to be always hankering and lamenting. I must have a ew automobile, I must have more money, I must have good wife, I must have this I must have that. Then when I have the thing, I lament, I have lost my wife, I have lost my money, I have lost my car, simply lamenting. So the second stage is to be free from this anxiety. The third stage is

Brahma-bhutah prasannatma

na socati na kanksati

samah sarvesu bhutesu

mad bhaktim labhate param

"He never laments nor desires to have anything; he is equally disposed to every living entity. In that state he attains pure devotional service unto me." Bhagavad Gita 18/54

Letter to Mukunda -- Bombay 20 October, 1973:

I am glad to hear that your Sunday program is successful. One thing is that you should keep everything very clean. That is the first business. Every room should be as clean as a mirror. The prasadam room should be immediately cleaned after taking prasadam, otherwise you are inviting rats. Be careful.

1974 Correspondence

Letter to Bahurupa -- Bombay 22 November, 1974:

I am pleased to hear that you are chanting 16 rounds daily and reading my books regularly and following the four rules. In my books the philosophy of Krishna Consciousness is explained fully so if there is anything which you do not understand, then you simply have to read again and again. By reading daily the knowledge will be revealed to you and by this process your spiritual life will develop. Krishna Consciousness is not a hackneyed thing but it is something which is our natural and original consciousness. Presently our consciousness is clouded just like a mirror becomes covered with dust So the cleansing process is this chanting and hearing and doing some service and trying to please the Spiritual Master. By this process our consciousness becomes clear and we are able to understand everything.

1975 Correspondence

Letter to Miss Wanda Bonner -- Vrindaban 24 August, 1975:

I am in due receipt of your letter dated July 20, 1975 and have noted your problems. My suggestion is that you please chant Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare; Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. This maha mantra cleanses the dust from the mirror of the mind and awakens us to a pure life of devotional service to the Lord, free from all anxieties.