Absolute truth (Letters)

Expressions researched:
"absolute truth" |"absolute truth's" |"absolute truths"

Notes from the compiler: VedaBase query: "absolute truth*" not supreme

1947 to 1965 Correspondence

Letter to Mahatma Gandhi -- Cawnpore 12 July, 1947:

You must know that you are in the relative world which is called by the sages as Dvaita i.e. dual- and nothing is absolute here. Your Ahimsa is always followed by Himsa as the light is followed by darkness or the father is followed by the son. Nothing is absolute truth in this dual world. You did not know this neither you ever cared to know this from the right sources and therefore all your attempts to create unity were followed by disunity and Ahimsa. Ahimsa was followed by Himsa.

But it is better late than never. You must know now something about the Absolute Truth. The Truth with which you have been experimenting so long is relative. The relative truths are creations of the daivi maya qualified by the three modes of Nature. They are all insurmountable as is explained in the Bhagavad-gita (7.14). The Absolute Truth is the Absolute Godhead.

Letter to Mahatma Gandhi -- Cawnpore 12 July, 1947:

In the Katha Upanisad it is ordered that one must approach the bona fide Guru who is not only well versed in all the scriptures of the world but is also the realized soul in Brahman the Absolute—in order to learn the science of Absolute Truth. So also it is instructed in the Bhagavad-gita as follows:—

tad viddhi pranipatena

pariprasnena sevaya

upadeksyanti tad jnanam

jnaninas tattvadarsinah

(BG 4.34)

But I know that you never underwent such transcendental training except some severe penances which you invented for your purpose as you have invented so many things in the course of experimenting with the relative truths. You might have easily avoided them if you had approached the Guru as abovementioned. But your sincere efforts to attain some Godly qualities by austerities etc surely have raised you to some higher position which you can better utilize for the purpose of the Absolute Truth. If you, however, remain satisfied with such temporary position only and do not try to know the Absolute Truth, then surely you are to fall down from the artificially exalted position under the laws of Nature. But if you really want to approach the Absolute Truth and want to do some real good to the people in general all over the world, which shall include your ideas of unity, peace and non-violence, then you must give up the rotten politics immediately and rise up for the preaching work of the philosophy and religion of "Bhagavad-gita" without offering unnecessary and dogmatic interpretations on them. I had occasionally discussed this subject in my paper "Back to Godhead" and a leaf from the same is enclosed herewith for your reference.

Letter to Raja Mohendra Pratap -- Cawnpore 13 July, 1947:

If you so desire I can enter into discussions about it and my opinion is that your approach is partial and unscientific. There is no hesitation to accept the principle of the Religion of Love because the Absolute Truth is, as we have known, Godhead Who is sat, cit and ananda. Without ananda there cannot be any love that is an accepted fact. Your delineation of society, friendship and love among the human beings is based on this ananda portion only but you have avoided the other portions of eternity and cognition of God the Whole Soul. Thus the approach is partial and unscientific. The true religion of love is perfectly inculcated in the Bhagavad-gita. When we speak of love there must be the object of love and the lover too. Here in this world we find that the object of love and the lover both are the cheater and the cheated in their reciprocal dealings. That is our experience. But the ultimate end being one Whole Soul, the dual existence of the object of lover and the loved loses identity. In that case the eternity and cognizibility of the loved and lover vanish at once. In this way there arises many questions which may be put forward to you for further discussions to adjust your ideas of religion.

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

In the spiritual line of disciplic succession from Sri Brahmaji who was first transcendental student of the Vedas down to my spiritual master as above mentioned, the Vedic culture is aimed at reestablishing the eternal relation of living entity with the Absolute Truth of Whom the living entities are but parts & parcels.

Forgetfulness of that eternal relation is called maya or illusion. This illusory energy of Godhead is conducted under three modes of nature under the name of mundane goodness, passion and ignorance. The whole material world is the creation of the external illusory energy of Godhead and the living entities who forget the eternal relation with Godhead are so to say entrapped by maya to undergo a conditional life under the modes of nature.

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

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu as confirmed incarnation of Sri Krishna the Personality of Godhead inaugurated this sankirtana movement and He reclaimed all conditioned souls from all ranks of life even from animal kingdom for being re-instated in the transcendental relation and activities of loving service to the Absolute Truth. Thakura Haridasa who happened to appear in the family of a Mohammedan was one of His principle associates and His transcendental movement embraced all varieties of people beginning from the most erudite scholar brahmanas to the one who came in the family of yavana & candala.

Letter to Jawaharlal Nehru -- Allahabad 20 January, 1952:

Truth means Absolute Truth. Relative truth is conditional and when the conditions fail, the relative truth disappears. But Absolute Truth does not exist on conditions it is above all conditions. So when we speak of truth, we may take it for the Absolute Truth. And when we speak of approaching the Truth by new ways, we may take it for granted what we want to approach the Truth by the inductive way.

Absolute Truth is described in the Vedas as Satyam Param Dhimahi—the summum bonum. And from this Absolute Truth everything emanates. "Janmadyasya yatah". This Absolute Truth is described in the Vedic literatures as Sanatana or Eternal. And the philosophy or science which deals in such eternal subjects is described as Sanatana Dharma.

Therefore, we have first to find out the Eternal Absolute Truth by some new ways(?) and then we have to find out the new aspects of Absolute Truth in harmony with our present environment.

Letter to Jawaharlal Nehru -- Allahabad 20 January, 1952:

The wonderful temples, the mosques and the cathedrals of past centuries were built up to give them the real food and were not built up by blind or unquestioning faith. The were built up on full faith and reasoning which were based on the deductive process. The Vedas, the Bible or the Koran would ask the human being to make proper use of his conserved energy in the transcendental service of God and unsophisticated men in the old days would follow such instruction unhesitatingly for realizing the Absolute Truth. Such temples, mosques were therefore centres of high culture to provide real food to human consciousness.

Letter to Jawaharlal Nehru -- Allahabad 20 January, 1952:

Thus if we want to approach the Absolute Truth by new ways in harmony with present environment we should try to be true to one another in the qualified way of Brahminical culture. Only a dozen of real qualified Brahmins from all parts of the world should combine to guide the principles of the Ksatriyas, the Vaisya and the Sudras all over the world. The Socratesian way of reasoning should be fully utilized because that makes the only difference between a human being and a beast. There is ample scope for this new way of approaching the Absolute Truth and that will only solve the acute distressing world problem. If there is scarcity of such qualified Brahmins which I honestly think there is, we should combine to evolve such Brahminical culture not by blind faith but by sound reasoning and questioning. But all the same we must be sincere and thorough in our attempt.

Letter to Darshanacharya Dr. B.L. Atreya M.A. D.Litt etc -- Bombay 14 August, 1958:

They are now very busy to bring in peace in the world and are continuously holding expensive conferences, meetings, summit talks etc. to make an effective peace movement but because such attempts are being made without any relation of God, they are all manifold creations of the External Potency of the Absolute Truth. As an experienced philosopher this fact is not hidden before you. According to Lord Caitanya every Indian is competent to do good to the rest of the world provided such Indian has fulfilled the mission of life which is to revive the dormant divine consciousness in every living being.

Letter to Sir -- Unknown Place May 1964:

BACK TO GODHEAD can direct the right way of such happiness even in the material field by the simple adjustment of re-establishing our lost relation with Godhead. We wish that people may kindly read this paper for some time with due attention and critical gravity. We are always prepared to answer any relevant question in this regard from any quarter who may be seeking after the Absolute Truth.

Although the messages contained in the pages of BACK TO GODHEAD are all gifts of the ancient sages of India who actually realized the Absolute Truth, yet at the present moment the so called leaders of India are too much enamoured by the western way of material advancement of knowledge. They are completely neglecting the treasure house of knowledge left by the sages.

1966 Correspondence

Letter to Ministry of Finance (India) -- New York 28 May, 1966:

"The author has attempted a tremendous task . . . A perusal will give us in sample measure a knowledge of the original. The essence of Srimad-Bhagavatam is the exposition of the Absolute Truth, for an understanding of Absolute Truth we would recommend this book."

Mr. N.C. Chatterji M.P. and the late President of the Hindu Mahasabha writes "You have done a first class work and you deserve the hearty commendation of every Indian and every Hindu. Your deep and penetrating study of the subject and your philosophic insight are reflected in this work. . . . You a are doing a great service to the cause of humanity."

1967 Correspondence

Letter to Syamasundara -- New York 21 May, 1967:

am very glad to see your enthusiasm in the service of Lord Krishna and I am sure that this spiritual intoxicant of Krishna consciousness will encourage many many students who are actually in search after the Absolute Truth. I am very glad to learn that my students and children in San Francisco are doing well in Krishna consciousness.

1968 Correspondence

Letter to Janardana -- Los Angeles 21 January, 1968:

There is no joy in voidness or Impersonalism and because such imperfect philosophers do not know of the association of Krishna which is full of bliss and knowledge, they will fall down repeatedly into voidness and Impersonalism with the result that they cannot stay there and they fall down to the material atmosphere. In Bhagavad-gita it is said by the Lord that these people, void and Impersonalist philosophers, are in great trouble. If they are fortunate enough to meet a pure devotee of Krishna and if they are sincere in their search for the absolute truth, they will find Krishna Consciousness as the last resort of their philosophical researches. Try to help these bewildered philosophers by presentation of your nice Krishna Consciousness thesis which you have prepared, and I am sure Krishna will help you in all respects. Simply your sincerity of service is required and He will dictate from within you how to make your thesis. It will be a great service to the humanity, especially to the Western world.

Letter to Rupanuga -- San Francisco 12 March, 1968:

Omkara is the alphabetical representation of Krishna. This representation of Krishna is impersonal, just like His lustre of the Body, Brahman effulgence. Impersonalists like to chant Omkara, but we wish to chant His Feature of Pastimes, because His personal feature is the ultimate understanding. Omkara is the symbol of eternity, but there is no bliss and knowledge. Om Tat Sat: Tat means the Absolute Truth, and Sat means eternal. Omkara is also used denoting address. Om Tat Sat means, oh, the Absolute Truth is Eternal.

Santa-rasa means appreciation of the greatness of the Lord, but there is no active service of the Lord. The land, the grass, the trees, the plants, fruits, or the cows in the transcendental world are supposed to be situated in the santa-rasa. As spiritual beings, they are all conscious of Krishna, but they prefer to appreciate Krishna's greatness remaining as they are.

Letter to Rupanuga -- Montreal 3 July, 1968:

Yes, we have got all the qualities of the Supersoul. Therefore, unless the Supersoul has got consciousness, how we can have consciousness? We are the samples, therefore the origin must have all the qualities that we have. There is no such thing as acceptance or rejection by the mind of the Supersoul. Our mind is in the present material existence a nonsense. It's business is simply to accept or reject. The Supersoul has no separate mind like that, but He has got mind also, and whatever He thinks in His mind, also, that is a fact. There is no question of accepting or rejecting. In Sanskrit language it is called Satya Sankalpa. And our mind is Vikalpa. The mind, body and the Supersoul is the same Absolute truth, there is no distinction between Them. This is in answer to your question, "is the 'conscience' the symptom of the Supersoul?"

Letter to Jadurani -- Montreal 9 July, 1968:

Brahma came to Krishna because he has very exalted idea about Krishna, and he was doubtful how his Lord could come into the material world and become a cowherd boy. This incidence is known as Brahma Bemohan lila, or the pastime of bewildering Brahma. In the beginning of Srimad-Bhagavatam, it is stated that great personalities like Brahma become bewildered in the understanding of the Absolute Truth. So sometimes such pastimes are manifested by the Lord in order to teach the so-called mental speculators. Even Arjuna was bewildered, although he was His constant companion. Arjuna also was talking from the material view point of standing. All this bewilderment of great devotees are created by the Lord, for 2 purposes: one purpose, is that even great personalities like Brahma and Arjuna sometimes become bewildered, and therefore, unless they present themselves in such position of bewilderment, the common men do not have the chance to understand Krishna. If Brahma would not have posed himself as not knowing the whole truth, then some truths about the transcendental position of Krishna would not have been explained.

Letter to Acyutananda, Jayagovinda -- Seattle 13 October, 1968:

I beg to acknowledge receipt of your joint letter dated Oct. 4, 1968, redirected from New York, and along with another separate letter from Acyutananda explaining your desire to come back to USA and fight the case of draft board. It is a good suggestion, because if you won the case on the ground that you have adopted a different order of life, in search of the Absolute Truth, then that will be a great precedent for all our boys who are victims under such act. But still it is doubtful because the government is bent upon recruiting young men for the military purpose. This is one side. Another side is that your mission was to serve the cause of the society and if both you and Jaya Govinda come back without doing anything in India, it will be a mark of defeat on your part.

Letter to Janaki -- Seattle 13 October, 1968:

We do not mind whether he is Englishman or Indian or any man; our duty is to impress Krishna Consciousness as far as possible. Answering your puzzle, it may be said that a pure devotee is he who loves Krishna, without any material desire. People are generally engaged in karma. Karma means work and get the result and enjoy life. And jnana, jnana means speculating process to understand the Absolute Truth. So one who does not indulge in speculating habit, neither tries to gain something by his work, but simply engages himself in the service of the Lord, he is called a pure devotee. Such pure devotees are very rare. But by the Grace of Krishna, practically all the devotees and disciples who have kindly joined me, they are, their symptoms are pure devotees. Even if they have got some ulterior desire, that will be removed very soon, because they have taken to the pure process of Krishna Consciousness. Hope this will meet both of you in good health, and awaiting your good news by next mail.

Letter to Rupanuga -- Seattle 15 October, 1968:

So he was so angry. That is not the sign of a mystic. Anyway, please try to deal with him softly because he has got some tendency for spiritual upliftment of his life, but he is misguided or without any knowledge in the line. Neither he is ready to accept any bona fide instructor, this is his position so far I can understand. There is a proverb in Sanskrit that you speak truth but don't speak unpalatable truth. When you speak the truth it must be very palatable. So this social convention is not applicable to a person who is preaching the Absolute Truth. Absolute Truth is not dependent on material pleasure or unpleasure. I think Mahapurusa's personality did not impress upon him, but so far I know, his behavior could not be anything offensive. So forget the incident, but our mission is to preach Krishna Consciousness, and if possible, try to tackle this gentleman. Because he has got some inclination toward Krishna Consciousness, so let us try, to help him as far as possible. So continue correspondence with him, and let us see how we can deal with him later on.

Letter to Gurudasa -- Los Angeles 14 December, 1968:

Your question, "How did Prakasananda Sarasvati see or think that Lord Caitanya was the Lord Narayana Himself when he only realized Brahman?"—by personal audience of Lord Caitanya they could realize Him as Narayana because they were sincere in searching out the Absolute Truth. As it is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita, that an impersonalist, if he is sincere in searching out the Absolute Truth, then ultimately such impersonalist can reach to the point of the Personality of Godhead. So Prakasananda Sarasvati was submissive to Lord Caitanya, because he begged Lord Caitanya to occupy superior seat, while Caitanya Mahaprabhu out of His extreme humbleness, was sitting in a place where they were washing their feet. A Vaisnava is always humble, and if a person does not misuse this humbleness of a Vaisnava, he gets a chance to be elevated. But if somebody misunderstands the humbleness of a Vaisnava then he is doomed. Just like in the Caitanya Caritamrta, the author Kaviraja Goswami says that he is lower than the stool, and Sanatana Goswami says that he is born and associated with most degraded persons. If such humbleness of Vaisnavas are taken verbatim, then we are misled. Prakasananda Sarasvati appreciated the greatness of Lord Caitanya, even though He was humble, and therefore Lord Caitanya's Mercy was bestowed upon him, and thus he could accept Him as He is.

1969 Correspondence

Letter to Janardana -- Los Angeles 2 March, 1969:

In this modern age, people being scientifically advanced, they seek economic development without any reference to worship of God or following any religious principle. So such people are gradually forgetting their eternal relationship with God because they think that without God they can inquire sufficient progress in economic development which is required for sense gratification. Some of them, when they are frustrated, try thinking of voidness or merging into the impersonal absolute truth. So voidness or impersonal idea of the absolute truth is just an opposite of material variegatedness. So this idea can also be accepted as the material concept of transcendence. So things are going on like this, not only now, but it is the nature of the material world.

Letter to Lilavati -- Allston, Mass 25 April, 1969:

I beg to thank you for your letter dated April 18, 1969, and I have noted the contents carefully. Regarding your question about the relationship between the living entities and Krishna, the answer is that qualitatively we are one with Krishna: There is no qualitative difference, although the living entity has a different function than Krishna. Prakrti means nature. Just like fire; its nature is heat, and the heat is not a different quality although the function is different. In one sense, fire and heat are nondifferent. Therefore, Lord Caitanya's philosophy of inconceivably simultaneously one and different is the perfect philosophy of our relationship with the Absolute Truth. Everything is manifestation of the prakrti of the Lord, exactly like the heat and light of the fire. Heat and light are not different from the fire, but at the same time, heat and light are not the fire. In this way we have to understand the purusa and prakrti. The Lord is the purusa, or Enjoyer, and prakrti is the enjoyed.

Letter to Steve -- New Vrindaban 16 June, 1969:

I thank you very much for your letter, and I understand from your one simple question that you are now serious about perfecting your life in Krishna Consciousness. You have asked me to tell you everything that you should know, and this, of course, is a great subject matter. We now have published several books which delve deeply into the topic of the Absolute Truth, so you should read them very carefully, and gradually the knowledge will become revealed to you. The first book you should study carefully is the Bhagavad-gita As It Is. The sum and substance of Bhagavad-gita is that we should surrender ourselves wholly and completely upon the Lotus Feet of Krishna. When one is not Krishna Consciousness, then he is Maya conscious, or in illusion. Just like when one is not in light, he is sure to be in darkness. Because absence of light means darkness. Similarly, to be forgetful of Krishna means one is in Maya, the darkness of ignorance. Just like when you turn away from the sun, you see the darkness of your shadow; but when you turn your face to the sun, then there is no question of a shadow.

Letter to Patti Birnack -- Tittenhurst House, England September 13th , 1969:

I beg to thank you very much for your letter, and I have noted your situation as you have described it therein. I am very pleased to learn that you are coming to our Krishna Consciousness temple in Ohio and you are nicely appreciating this movement. I can understand that you are a sincere soul, and I am sure that Krishna will help you to solve all of your present difficulties. So far as the questions and doubts raised by your father, you may rest assured that to every question your father may raise regarding the existence of God and even to much higher questions regarding the nature and activities of God, the Vedic literature which we are following has the perfect and authoritative answer. But to understand about God one must be purified. In contaminated state one cannot expect to understand about the Absolute Truth. Our Krishna Consciousness movement is for bringing the devotee to the purified consciousness where he understands Krishna and serves Him in unalloyed devotional service.

Letter to Unknown -- Tittenhurst 1 October, 1969:

1) The Absolute Truth is contained in all the great Scriptures of the world; the Bible, Koran, Torah, etc. However, the oldest known Revealed Scriptures in existence are the Vedic literatures, most notably the BHAGAVAD GITA which is the literal record of God's actual Words.

Letter to Satsvarupa -- London 13 December, 1969:

I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated December 7, 1969 along with the article of Acyutananda. Your decision not to publish this article is correct. To the neophyte devotees we should issue instruction that there are four stages of understanding the Absolute Truth. The first stage is re-establishing our relationship with Krishna. This is the first stage. The second stage is after understanding our relationship, to perform devotional service under proper guidance. The third stage is acquisition of the desired Object. The fourth stage is relishing the nectar of perfectional love. So Radha-Krishna Lila belongs to the fourth stage of understanding, and we are publishing BTG for people in general to re-establish their forgotten relationship with Krishna.

1970 Correspondence

Letter to Jayadvaita -- Los Angeles 12 July, 1970:

"So in the beginning of the creation, first of all there were the four unmarried sons of Brahma (Kumaras) and they underwent severe austerities being situated in avowed celibacy for realization of the Absolute Truth."

Regarding your second point, all incarnations should be proper nouns and therefore capitalized. It does not matter whether they are Visnutattva or jivatattva, saktyavesa-avatara. or plenary expansion. The incarnations listed however may be classified as follows: Visnutattva: Kapila, Nara Narayana, Rama, Balarama, Krsna, the Purusas, the Boar, Yajna, Rsabha, Matsya, Kurma, Dhanvantari, Mohini and Kalki. Jivatattva (empowered): Narada, Vyasa, Buddha, Kumaras, Dattatreya, Prthu and Bhrgupati.

Letter to Upendra -- Tokyo 18 August, 1970:

Please always remain busy in Krsna Conscious activities and there will be no disturbance created by Maya. That is the standard of real peace. Without Krsna's association there is no possibility of peaceful condition of life. We can associate with Krsna in so many ways by chanting His Holy Name, by hearing His Qualities and Pastimes, by seeing His Beautiful Form in Arca Deity, by eating His Prasad, by contacting His Devotees, by travelling to His Temple and Holy Pilgrimages and after all by thinking of Him within our heart always. All these different items are identified with Krsna because He is the Absolute Truth.

Letter to Vamanadeva -- Bombay 12 November, 1970:

I am very pleased to learn that you have several new devotees with you and the Temple has been completely renovated. It is a very nice house, so simply make it a palace for Lord Krsna and Srimati Radharani and that will be the perfection of its utilization and you will become perfect and happy by this work. Please continue your work in the "Bhakti-Yoga Society" at the University, the students cannot be over-estimated as our best prospects. The new growth of Tulasi is testimony to your sincere devotion because she will only grow and flourish in an atmosphere of Krsna Consciousness. Please see that the regular rules and practices are strictly followed by all the inmates and keep improving the quality of your Deity worship—this will keep you firmly fixed in the Absolute Truth. Always try to increase the distribution of literatures and more sincere persons will be attracted by this. Please work in coordination with Sriman Bhagavan das and the other GBC members and make progress in your center.

1971 Correspondence

Letter to Jayadvaita -- Bombay 17 March, 1971:

We are concerned here with approaching Krsna by the direct process of devotional service. Independent of Krsna consciousness, the cultivation of knowledge, work, meditation and renunciation are of no value or the proud achievements of the atheist or less intelligent class of men. In this connection, the term "knowledge" is mental speculative theorizing up to the stage of brahmajnana or impersonal conception of the Absolute Truth. Especially such knowledge as it is concerned with various views of the causal and effective material phenomena is of no importance in the matter of spiritual realization or God-consciousness which is transcendental to the realm of sensual, mental and intellectual activities. So the order of supercession of these various indirect processes for approaching the Absolute Truth is not as much important as fixed understanding of the exalted position of devotional service rendered directly to Krsna.

Letter to Jadurani -- Bombay 1 April, 1971:

The philosophy should be illustrated, but everything must be done with clear intelligence according to the Parampara revealation of the Absolute Truth and Krsna will give you good understanding for the purpose. The picture of the upside down tree drawn by Bharadraja as a sample is good. The roots of the trees are like pillars growing large and making the tree strong. Regarding the descriptions in Bhagavad-gita Ch XV in verse 1 the leaves are described as the Vedic hymns and in the 2nd verse, the sense objects or vishaya are compared with the twigs. The jiva in the heart of the living entity appears as a sparkling star along with Supersoul depicted as four-handed Visnu as He appears on the cover of "Isopanisad" or similar.

1972 Correspondence

Letter to Chaturbhus -- Bombay 21 January, 1972:

I am happy to receive your nice letter of January 10, 1972, and I am pleased to note that you are asking very intelligent questions. That is natural position for the neophyte devotee who is sincerely seeking to understand what is the Absolute Truth. So I am very much engladdened to hear that you are very intelligent boy, like your father, and that your whole family is advancing in Krishna Consciousness. May Krishna give you all blessings.

Letter to Prajapati -- Mayapur 25 February, 1972:

As for your training in theology, if you simply present some of the popular western points of view of theology and then point by point you may defeat them or expose them as speculators who are simply misleading the innocent public, and that will be a very nice service, because when intelligent people begin to understand our philosophy and theology, that it is the Absolute Truth and that if anyone become Krishna Conscious, that is the highest perfection of understanding philosophy, then our Krishna Consciousness Movement will advance very quickly because everyone like the common people respect the opinions of intelligent scholars. So if you work in this way to convince the intelligent class of men, that will be very great service and also the proper use of your educational training. Thank you very much for helping me in this way.

Letter to Billy Reyburne -- Vrindaban 12 March, 1972:

They are self-realized souls, therefore if they write something song about Krishna, that is perfectly from the transcendental platform, without any tinge of mundane influence or nonsense imagination. Unless someone comes in the category of these great leading Vaisnava personalities, his manufacturing some songs will be misleading to himself and to others. And unless his writing of poems and songs can be accepted as gospel, as Vedas or the Absolute Truth, such writing is diverting the attention from the subject matter only and should not be regarded very seriously. Now you should become serious to pursue this Krishna Consciousness movement with full energy of body, mind and soul. If you are writing poems and songs, that's alright, you can do it also, but if you can write articles for our Back to Godhead magazine, that is better, that is solid preaching work.

Letter to President of United States -- Los Angeles 28 June, 1972:

You are a great president of a great nation. In this age of unrest and quarrel, your strength, as well as the strength of your nation, will be lasting if it is built upon the pillars of spiritual knowledge and Absolute Truth.

I am seventy-six years of age and am in the renounced order of life. I came to this country from India six years ago to introduce Krishna Consciousness, the scientific process of spiritual life, to the English-speaking people of the Western world. Now by the grace of Krishna I have many thousands of disciples, young American and European boys and girls. Many of them have come to me bewildered, rebellious, and addicted to all sorts of sinful activities. Like so many of the young people today, they were lost and confused. Now they are all leading a disciplined and regulated life. They follow strict principles of spiritual life, with no desire for intoxication of any kind, or illicit sex life. They are always engaged in meaningful work, serving God and their fellow man. They have become the flower of your country and all over the world they are being treated with the highest respect.

Letter to Madhudvisa -- London 8 July, 1972:

There are two energies always working simultaneously, and Maya means when we diminish the spiritual energy, then automatically we become attracted to the external dress of Maya. So I do not care very much for these plays and dramas unless they are coming directly from the Vedas. If we can recite from Bhagavad gita the first chapter without any need for elaborate scenery or stage-props and gorgeous dresses, that is best. Just like your Shakespeare. Macbeth may be recited by two men, without anything else, and simply by their acting ability and the meaningful words alone, they can very easily capture the entire audience and give them real substance. We have so many stories, like Jagai-Madhai, Krishna departing for Mathura, like that. Satire will not help us. Our message is very grave, and because it is the Absolute Truth, it will work without any artificial presentation.

Letter to Sri Govinda -- Bombay 25 December, 1972:

So far this making some false story for collecting money or selling book, of course we may do anything for Krishna, but that is supposed to be reserved for very advanced experts in Krishna Consciousness—they know how to catch the big fish without themselves getting wet. So it is not very much advisable to make lies just to sell book. If we simply stick to describing how wonderful is Krishna, then whatever we may lie or exaggerate, that will not be lie! But other things, lies, they will not help us to train ourselves in truthfulness. Lie to some, not to others, that is not a good philosophy. Rather the brahmanas are always truthful, even to their enemies. There is sufficient merit in our books that if you simply describe them sincerely to anyone, they will buy. That art you must develop, not art of lying. Convince them to give by your preaching the Absolute Truth, not by tricking, that is more mature stage of development of Krishna Consciousness.

1973 Correspondence

Letter to Ramesvara -- India 9 January, 1973:

Service to humanity means jnana. By giving people knowledge, jnana, that is the highest service to humanity. So we are performing the actual welfare work of society by informing everyone through our literatures who is God, who they are, and what is the relationship. In this way everyone who hears our message gets the opportunity to fulfill his actual position as human entity and become delivered from the clutches of maya. So you may understand it that by disseminating our Krsna consciousness propaganda anywhere and everywhere, by selling books, by making publicity, newspapers, television, so many ways there are to spread Krsna consciousness information, you may know it that by utilizing our energy in this way to give everyone access to the Absolute Truth, that is the real understanding of desire to serve humanity.

Letter to Sama -- Los Angeles 6 May, 1973:

Thank you very much for sincerely pushing on Lord Caitanya's Sankirtana Movement in the city of Baltimore. Try to always increase the distribution of my books more and more. This is our most important program for reaching the lost souls of Kali Yuga. We have to educate men about the absolute truth. All of the scientists and other big men are simply cheating the mass of men by making false propaganda in order to take some money from them. We must expose these rascals by strong preaching and profuse distribution of these Krsna Conscious literatures.

1974 Correspondence

Letter to Dr. Ghosh:

I am in due receipt of your letter of 10 March 1974 and I have noted the contents carefully. I am very much pleased to learn you are so much advanced spiritually. I have seen your book, Pancamrta, and found it very interesting. I can understand you are following the impersonal aspect of the Absolute Truth, but I am glad to see you have chanted the Holy Name of Lord Krsna. This is the only process:

kaler dosa-nidhe rajann asti hy eko mahan gunah

kirtanad eva krsnasya mukta-sangah param vrajet

(SB 12.3.51)

In this age of Kali yuga everything is full of faulty things and the only remedy is to chant the Holy Name of Krsna. That is the injunction given in the Vedas. In any condition anyone can chant Hare Krsna Maha Mantra and by doing so one can be elevated to the highest platform.

1977 Correspondence

Letter to Vasudeva -- Bhuvanesvara 23 January, 1977:

I am in due receipt of your letter dated 13rd January and have noted the contents. Yes, Krsna will give you strength because you are so sincere. I simply want to see that you, your wife and your whole family become perfect Vaisnavas, Krsna's devotees. Remain in your position and try to understand the philosophy—that will make you perfect. Jnane prayasam udapasya namanta eva, jivanti sanmukharitam bhavadiya-vartam, sthane sthitah sruti-gatam tanuvan-manobhir, ye prayaso jita jito-py asi tais tri-lokyam. Ramananda Raya said (to Lord Caitanya), "Lord Brahma said (to Krsna), 'My dear Lord, those devotees who have thrown away the impersonal conception of the Absolute Truth and have therefore abandoned discussing empiric philosophical truths should hear from self-realized devotees about Your holy name, form, pastimes and qualities. They should completely follow the principles of devotional service and remain free from illicit sex, gambling, intoxication, and animal slaughter. Surrendering themselves fully with body, words and mind, they can live in any asrama or social status. Indeed, You are conquered by such persons, although You are always unconquerable.'