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Initiated by... (Letters)

Correspondence

1968 Correspondence

Letter to Mukunda -- San Francisco 26 March, 1968:

Aniruddha is here and he is waiting for the statues of Radha and Krishna which is being expedited by Gaurasundara, and most probably he will be starting back for L.A. on Friday morning. How Umapati is feeling there? I have not heard anything from him. In the meantime I have received one letter from Hayagriva, and he was anxious to come to San Francisco during his summer vacation. In meantime, I have also received one letter which is very depressing from Hrsikesa. I understand that he has been induced by Bon Maharaja to be initiated by him for giving him shelter, and this foolish boy has accepted his inducement. This isn't very happy news, and I have replied Hrsikesa's letter in the following words, which please take note, and in the future, we shall be very cautious about them. "My Dear Hrsikesa, Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter of March 14, 1968, and I am greatly surprised. I am greatly surprised for Bon Maharaja's initiating you in spite of his knowing that you are already initiated by me. So it is deliberate transgression of Vaisnava etiquettes and otherwise a deliberate insult to me. I do not know why he has done like this but no Vaisnava will approve of this offensive action. I very much appreciate your acknowledgement of my service unto you and you will always have my blessings, but you must know that you have committed a great blunder. I do not wish to discuss on this point more elaborately now, but if you are desirous to know further about it, I shall be glad to give you more enlightenment. Mukunda is not here. He has gone to L.A. Hope you are well." If Hrsikesa writes you letter I think you may avoid reply. I do not approve both Hrsikesa's and Bon Maharaja's this offensive action. Hoping you are both well.

Letter to Aniruddha -- Allston, Mass 30 May, 1968:

I am in due receipt of your letter dated May 25, 1968, and I have also received one letter signed by three of you, Mukunda, yourself and Umapati, recommending the new boy Stanley Broderick. I have received his beads also, and I am sending him the beads properly initiated, and his initiated name is Sacisuta. Sacisuta means the Son of Saci, or Lord Caitanya. So I am very pleased that this boy is attracted to Krishna Consciousness and he is being initiated by the Grace of Krishna. Please try to save him from the hands of Maya.

Regarding your personal sentiments not being in agreement with Umapati: I am very sorry that this thing has happened. We are preaching Krishna Consciousness, the greatest platform of harmony, and if we dissent amongst ourselves, and disunite, it doesn't look very well. You are sinceremost servant of Krishna. I know that you have worked very good for Krishna. I think you should not be disturbed by minor disagreement. If you think that you cannot agree with Umapati, you can stop discussing with him, and if there is any point of judgment, you can refer to me. I am always at your service. So long we are individual souls, there must be disagreement also, because that is the symptom of individuality. But when such individual is surrendered unto Krishna, there should not be any disagreement. Of course, Subala is working alone, and he is doing very nice to his best capacity, but if you want to go there, I have no objection because it will be a great help to Subala. But I know also that much depends on you about the L.A. temple, and I am afraid if you go, the temple in L.A. may suffer.

Letter to Satsvarupa -- Montreal 3 July, 1968:

So, Bali Maharaja was a man of that type. Under the circumstances he was not averse to accept charity and other pious activities. He was being guided by his spiritual master, Sukaracharya. Sukara means the semina. In other words, one claims to become acharya on the principle of being born of a Brahmin father. They may be called sukaracharya, or acharya or preacher not by disciplic succession, but on the right of heredity. In India there are still superstitions that one should be initiated by such sukaracharya family. They are called generally as the jatigosain. Jatigosain means the caste spiritual master. All over India, especially in Bengal, this jatigosain spiritual mastership is very prevalent. But really goswami means one who is master of the influence of different senses, namely the influence of tongue, the influence of mind, the influence of anger, the influence of belly, the influence of genital, and the influence of talking. So one who is master of these influential webs of sense gratification, he is called goswami. Goswami is not by hereditary chart. So Sukaracharya posed himself as such goswami spiritual master. He had many mystic powers, therefore he was considered to be very influential spiritual master of the demons.

Letter to Upendra -- Los Angeles 18 November, 1968:

Please do it nicely. You are intelligent and Krishna will give you more and more intelligence to serve Him. I shall ask Jayananda for the permit and he will send it to you, along with the information required.

You will be glad to know that we lost our Hollywood temple, but by Grace of Krishna we have got a better place at a cheaper rent already on the Melrose avenue. And we are going to occupy the same within a day or two if all goes as planned. Everything is going on nicely here, and please keep me informed with regular reports of your activities there. If you think so, Gary can be initiated by post and you can arrange it for him.

1969 Correspondence

Letter to Hamsaduta -- Los Angeles 10 January, 1969:

I have received one letter from Mr. and Mrs. Levine who I suppose are living in the same building where you are living. It is understood from their letters that they are eager to be initiated. If they are prepared to follow the rules and regulations I think that they can be initiated by mail. So if you recommend you can ask them to send their beads and I shall initiate them.

Letter to Krsna dasa -- San Francisco 3 April, 1969:

That is not surrender. Surrender means in any condition the surrendering process must continue. In the latter portion of your letter it appears that you have been disturbed on some trivial matters, and you wish to leave the place and go to London. That is not at all good. You must work conjointly. That is my desire, and if you fight amongst yourselves for some individual interests, that is not surrender. Whatever the other two boys may do, that I shall see, but unto you my request is that you must remain in Hamburg until I order you to leave the place.

I understand that you have sent passage money to Jaya Govinda. Let him come first. He is a very sensible boy, and I hope on his arrival there will be no dissension. Last night, one German boy was initiated by me, and he will be entrusted for rendering all my books in German language. There will be now no difficulty to publish the German edition of Back To Godhead therefore, in your newly purchased press. You should take the indication given by Lord Krishna: The press is already there, the press worker, Jaya Govinda, is coming, and the German scholar has joined our institution. Don't you see the indication by Krishna that we must make propaganda in the German language in that part of the world? So you have to adjust things by the indication of Lord Krishna. Don't do anything whimsically. The direction comes through the Spiritual Master, and any one who abides by the order of the Spiritual Master to give shape to the wish of the Lord, he is perfectly surrendered soul.

Letter to Gopala Krsna -- Columbus, Ohio 13 May, 1969:

I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letters dated May 6th, 1969 and May 9th, 1969, and I have noted the contents carefully. I think that since you are willing to observe the four principal rules of spiritual life, you may be initiated by me as soon as you like. The other rules you should try to follow as far as possible, but according to circumstances they may be adjusted if necessary. But the four rules must be maintained. Regarding your idea of marrying one Krishna Conscious girl and then going to India, that will depend upon the desire of your wife. I cannot interfere with that. But generally the wife is meant to follow wherever the husband goes. Most likely your wife would agree with you—she will not disagree to go. Rather, some girls will be very much encouraged to go to India with her husband. So you may consider on these points and inform me what you have decided.

Letter to Gopala Krsna -- Moundsville 27 May, 1969:

I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter, sent along with your japa beads, and I have duly chanted upon them and initiated you as my disciple. So you should go on with your chanting as you have been doing, and as your name is already Gopala Krishna, there is no need of changing your name. So now you will be known as Gopala Krishna Das. Try to follow the regulative principles and avoid the ten kinds of offenses. Next you shall be initiated by the offering of the sacred thread, so in the meantime you can convince your parents to give up their objections. But if you are personally determined, there is no question of any objections. No one can check another's spiritual advancement on the plea of any material relationship. There are many instances of someone accepting the spiritual line, despising all family relationships, and the best example is Lord Caitanya Himself. I do not know why your parents are so upset, so you should convince them there is no need for this. And why you should inform them of all the details of your activities? Of course as honest son you have done the right thing. But if they object and if you have to obey by their orders, I don't know how things can be adjusted. I am enclosing the letter I received from your parents, along with my reply to them, so you may do the needful.

1970 Correspondence

Letter to Jaya Gopala -- Los Angeles 11 January, 1970:

By Grace of Krishna, you have joined me to help in this Krishna Consciousness propaganda and Krishna will surely be pleased upon you very much. Please try to continue this activity of cooperation and we are sure to come out successful.

Regarding Volcer marrying, for the time being they can be married by the civil court without delay. Both the husband and wife may be allowed to associate with you and after a few days, if you recommend for initiation, then you can send their beads and they will be initiated by post. At that time you can perform our regular wedding ceremony as usual. That will be nice. Uninitiated couples cannot be married by us. We shall not take the responsibility of an ordinary marriage maker. Our practice is to help devotees for advancing in Krishna Consciousness. In such activities, when there is necessity, we get them married also.

Regarding your question of an initiated person falling prey to the maya, the answer is that so long we are in this material world, there is always chance of being spoiled by Maya, so we must stick with vow to the Lotus Feet of Krishna. An initiated devotee is given the chance for becoming free from the entanglement of karma wheel. Initiated means beginning, not perfection. The Spiritual Master's business is to guide him to the perfectional point. But if one does not strictly follow the guidance of a bona fide Spiritual Master his initiation does not bear any meaning. The initiation performance is an agreement by the disciples to abide by the order of the Spiritual Master. Therefore, if the Spiritual Master is bona fide and the disciple is serious to abide by His order, then the success is sure. But if a disciple follows strictly the devotional way of life, he is no longer a karmi and all his activities which may appear to be like ordinary work, or it may be activity according to Scriptural injunction, are counted as devotional service. And devotional service in all circumstances is free from the actions and reactions of karma. I hope this will clear the matter.

Letter to Rupanuga -- Los Angeles 7 March, 1970:

I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 1 March, 1970, in which you have given your recommendation that Mr. Nico Kuyt be initiated by me. So in accordance with your recommendation, I have accepted him as my bona fide disciple, and I am returning his beads herewith duly chanted.

I am glad to learn how the students are friendly toward the devotees although they are generally depressed and rebellious. So Krsna Consciousness is so nice that it can pacify even the most rebellious person because it appeals to the soul.

Regarding your questions; yes, Ramadevi is the sandhini attribute of cit-sakti because her function is for creation, and the jivas are members of the samvit attribute of cit-sakti. The demigods are included within the species of human life. Most of the Spiritual Masters are situated in Madhurya rasa, but not all of them.

I am very glad to learn that Nityananda Das (Nico Kuyt) is currently leading your Sankirtana. Please keep him nicely advancing in Krsna Consciousness under your guidance, and help him to learn our philosophy very well.

Letter to Upendra -- Los Angeles 25 May, 1970:

I take the responsibility of managing our quite a big Institution now, and I have to reply so many letters from different centers to give them instruction. As an old man I can take relief from this work immediately, but for Krsna's sake I am pulling on even though there is sometimes personal inconveniences. So let us act in that way all together for Krsna's sake.

Regarding using our Temple for marriage ceremonies for the Hindu community, if they contribute something to the Temple they can use the Temple and perform the marriage with their own priest, but we cannot take responsibility for marrying others who are not initiated by us.

I beg to thank you also for the nice picture. I have kept the picture on my table, it is very nice. May bless you Gopala Krsna.

Letter to Sudama -- Surat 30 December, 1970:

At Gaya Lord Caitanya was initiated by His Spiritual Master, Sri Isvara Puri Maharaja.

N.B. On the 4th January 1971 we are all going to Bombay. From there my party men about 25 will go to Allahabad where the great spiritual fair Ardhakumbla mela will take place. I am reaching Calcutta on the 5th by air plane. There I shall attend an important meeting & then I shall come back to Allahabad & then to Gorakhpur etc.

1971 Correspondence

Letter to Damodara -- Bombay, India 5 March, 1971:

I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 8th January, 1971 and have noted the contents. Yes, you may like to know that I shall be returning to the U.S.A. by the first week of April. There are so many devotees who have been recommended for initiations by the temple presidents. So when I return I shall initiate them all. At that time, Nolen Prabhu may also become initiated by me. He certainly sounds qualified. Please offer him my blessings and thank him very much for his very kind letter enclosed along with yours.

Here in India our program is going on very nicely. Especially we are making so many life members. That program is so important that we are getting money, supporters and distributing our literature all at the same time. But any way we can distribute our books is good because anyone who reads our KRSNA book, TLC, NOD, and Bhagavad-gita As It Is, is sure to become a Krishna Conscious person. It is a most valuable service to Krishna to distribute these books.

Please offer my blessings to Tosana Krsna, Patita Pavana, Nolen, Rot, Robert, Robbies, Larry, Mrganetri Devi and Chris Prabhus.

Letter to Karandhara -- Bombay 28 April, 1971:

Please accept my blessings. Enclosed please find one letter addressed to the twelve devotees recommended by you and now duly initiated by me. Their beads should arrive very soon by air parcel post.

One thing is that in some cases I wasn't certain whether the names given were masculine or feminine. So from now on in all such cases the letter M or F, indicating Male or Female, must follow the name in brackets. Still there is some question, so if the gender is incorrect in the following names, you may make the necessary corrections:

I. (Pat Hogan) = Paratrikananda if male, or Paratrikanandi if female.

II. (Irene Kent) = Iksvakuraja if male or Iksvakurani if female.

I think of the twelve, Irene, Linda, Stephanie and Vickie were the only girls. Then the enclosed letter is all correct. Otherwise you can let me know.

Letter to Krsnakanti -- Bombay 30 May, 1971:

I am in due receipt of your letter dated 18th May, 1971 and have noted the contents carefully. You will be glad to know that the two boys, Paul and Patrick, recommended by you have been duly initiated by me and their beads and letters are enclosed herewith. Their names are purusa and Bhumna respectively.

So far as your coming here to India, one thing to consider is that temple worship must go on nicely. That cannot suffer and if it is dependent on you, then you shouldn't come. For India, anyone can come; a newly initiated neophyte is all right. Experienced men like yourself are not required. So instead of you, find a newcomer; he can come.

One thing though, is that I have noted with interest that you are proficient in the Russian language. If that is the case, then your service may be very much required, and so if I go to Russia at all in the near future, then I shall call for you and you shall accompany me to Moscow.

Letter to Bhakta dasa -- London 18 August, 1971:

Yes, if there are enough qualified devotees on hand to care for Lord Jagannatha, then certainly He should come there. So make nice arrangements for Him. If your facilities are as nice as those in L.A. then you can ask Babhrubahan to make big Jagannatha Deities like those in the L.A. temple. He carves very nicely and his wife Vikramini paints Them nicely also. When I was in L.A. last time, they carved one small set for me and the set is there in my room. If someone needs to receive Gayatri mantra, which is necessary for caring for Lord Jagannatha, then at your recommendation they can be initiated by mail. I will send you one tape made by me of Gayatri mantra. They should simply listen one at a time, privately, through the right ear and at the same time repeat each mantra, while reading it from one paper. You can also explain beforehand how to count on the fingers. Then, if the devotee is male, give the sacred thread. Then hold a fire yajna as you have seen done before. Send the thread here to me before the ceremony is to be held and I will chant Gayatri mantra on the thread(s) personally.

So, if you can make your temple as nice as L.A. then certainly when I go to L.A. next time I will visit San Diego. It is only a 20 minute plane ride to San Diego from L.A. but it takes 200 minutes to get to the airport and back. Just see the conveniences of technological advancement.

1973 Correspondence

Letter to Patita Uddharana -- Mayapur 5 June, 1973:

I have just now received your letter of 16-5-73 along with newspaper clippings. I have also seen some of these clippings when I was in London recently and some devotees from your temple were initiated by me.

For the devotees of the Lord there always many difficulties for propagating Krsna Consciousness among the nondevotee demons. But we must learn to tolerate all the difficulties and push on regardless of whatever obstacles we may be presented with. No one can stop this Krsna Consciousness Movement because Lord Caitanya wants that His Holy Names will be spread to every village and town. So go on with the preaching work and keep me informed of your progress.

1974 Correspondence

Letter to Radhavallabha -- Bombay 8 December, 1974:

I have seen your letter addressed to Brahmananda Maharaja dated November 26, 1974 and I am glad to learn that the situation in New York is proper again. Thank you very much. So now do everything nicely and cooperate together, and keep everything purified. That is the brahminical qualification, truthfulness and cleanliness, satyam and saucam. These are the first qualifications. Then controlling the mind and the senses, simplicity, full knowledge, and practical application of knowledge, and faith in the Vedas and the spiritual master. Those who are initiated by the brahminical thread, their first duty is to maintain cleanliness and truthfulness. I hope you can understand the importance of this.

1975 Correspondence

Letter to Mr. Sharma -- Honolulu 3 June, 1975:

I am in due receipt of your letter dated 1-5-75 and have noted the contents. The best thing is if you continue to visit our temple regularly in Vrndavana at Raman Reti. The temple manager there is His Holiness Aksayananda Swami. Since I am overseas and cannot personally interview you, you please request Aksayananda Swami to recommend you to me for initiation, and then do the needful as he may suggest to you. By this process, it may be possible for you and your wife to be initiated as my disciples. We are very strict in the selection of disciples. We are not after large numbers. In order to be initiated by us, one has to chant at least 16 times around his japa beads daily (the Hare Krishna maha-mantra), he has to follow strict rules such as: no meat, fish, eggs, no intoxication—including tea and cigarettes, no illicit sex, and no gambling.

Page Title:Initiated by... (Letters)
Compiler:Visnu Murti, RupaManjari
Created:22 of Dec, 2012
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=0, Con=0, Let=19
No. of Quotes:19