Please accept my blessings. I am in receipt of your letter dated February 8, 1968, and have noted the contents carefully. I am very glad to learn that you are holding Kirtana on the University campus, do it nicely. Do not bother your head about that rascal Maharishi Mahesa. His activities are like the waves tossing foam on the ocean. It will stay for some time and then vanquish. For the time the ocean appears to be all devouring, but in proper time it is calm and quiet. Krishna Consciousness isn't like that. It is a great science. It requires great spiritual asset to adopt the principles. You have desired to meet with Maharishi Mahesa for argument, and as Lord Caitanya argued with Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya. Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya was talking on the basic principle of Vedanta. So there was a via media interpretation. This man does not follow any Sastra or any authority. He is authority by himself, and has manufactured his own meditation process. Therefore, he is not standard. We cannot waste our time with a non-standard loafer class man. Therefore do not agitate your mind in this way. We are following the footprints of Lord Caitanya. We are not going to become God, as Maharishi says every one of us is God. You should be firmly convinced in your own philosophy, Bhagavad-gita, otherwise you may be misled. Why don't you try to convince the followers of Maharishi that they are following a rascal, a cheat. Because he does not follow a standard process. So try to understand the followers of Maharishi, how far they have advanced in spiritual consciousness, and get it corroborated from the teaching of Bhagavad-gita as you learned. Lord Caitanya talked with Sarvabhauma on the basis of Vedanta Sutra. The Maharishi has no basic principle, he is manufacturing his own way. So it is useless to talk with him. He has gathered the not very intelligent class of men, and they will not stay. We are teaching Bhagavad-gita as it is, that is called Krishna Consciousness. Why don't you try to understand Maharishi from the point of view of Bhagavad-gita.
To stick to the principles advised by the Spiritual Master and serve Krishna under the direction of the Spiritual Master is the only hope of our advancing in Krishna Consciousness. The Spiritual Master and Krishna are two parallel lines. You have to make your progress on these two parallel lines, you cannot avoid one in preference of the other. The train, on two tracks, moves forward. The Spiritual Master and Krishna are like these two tracks, they must be served simultaneously. Krishna helps one to find bona fide Spiritual Master, and bona fide Spiritual Master helps one to understand Krishna. If one does not get bona fide Spiritual Master, then how he can ever understand Krishna? You cannot serve Krishna without Spiritual Master, or serve just Spiritual Master without serving Krishna. They must be served simultaneously.
Yes, you may ask them to bow down, if they have made offense, they should bow down.
Hope you are well.
Your ever well-wisher,
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami