Desire Has No End
Submitted by Mukunda Goswami on Fri, 2009/07/03 - 7:00amIn a lecture on Srimad Bhagavatam 2.3.10, Srila Prabhupada said this: "There is no end of their desire, no end." Interestingly, a well-known drama by American playwright Tennessee Williams was called "A Streetcar Named Desire."
In the play, there is an actual streetcar named 'Desire.' The interesting point about this is the symbol of a streetcar that goes round and round, and like a line bent into a circle, never ends. This is one of the themes of this play.
Even Demons Can Get A Taste Devotional Service
Submitted by Mukunda Goswami on Thu, 2009/07/02 - 7:00amSrila Prabhupada has said that his movement has created a taste for devotional service, even in DEMONS. "But our propaganda is, by some way or other, even they are sudras, even they're demons, we are creating the taste."
(Lecture on Srimad Bhagavatam 1.2.16 in SF on 19 Aug, 1972). A scriptural proof of this is that Arjuna engaged the demon Maya Danava in constructing a beautiful assembly house in Dwarka and the gift of a great club to Bhima:
Devotional Service Means Thinking About Krishna
Submitted by Mukunda Goswami on Wed, 2009/07/01 - 7:00amBeing Krsna conscious means being in a state of Samadhi always remembering Krsna and never forgetting Him - the rule Rupa Goswami says transcends all others. In Bhagavad-gita Lord Krsna says, "Therefore, Arjuna, you should always think of Me in the form of Krsna and at the same time carry out your prescribed duty of fighting. With your activities dedicated to Me and your mind and intelligence fixed on Me, you will attain Me without doubt." (8.7)
Impersonalism is a Widespread Notion of Spiritual Life
Submitted by Mukunda Goswami on Tue, 2009/06/30 - 7:00amScientists, poets, philosophers and playwrights have embraced impersonalism, which Srila Prabhupada, in a poem, once called a 'calamity.'
"Absolute is sentient,
Thou hast proved,
Impersonal calamity
Thou hast moved."
John Donne, the English writer, saw impersonalism as ultimate. He wrote these famous lines:
Society, Friendship and Love
Submitted by Mukunda Goswami on Mon, 2009/06/29 - 7:00amRupa Goswami wrote that if you want to enjoy 'friendship, society and love,' then don't look at that beautiful boy, standing on the bank of the Yamuna, playing his flute while smiling in His three-curved position on the bank of the Yamuna. Many poets have written of the glory of love, others have intimated its transitory, illusory nature.
God's Mercy > His Law?
Submitted by Mukunda Goswami on Sun, 2009/06/28 - 7:00amGod's mercy is greater than God's law. -- Bhakti-tirtha swami
The Mercy of the Panca Tattva is Essential
Submitted by Mukunda Goswami on Sat, 2009/06/27 - 7:00amSpeaking on the third Verse of the Seventh Chapter of CC Adi-lila, Srila Prabhupada said this about the necessity of approaching Krishna through Lord Caitanya, "Without going through the Panca-tattva, with the mercy, nobody can understand Krishna. It will remain a myth,. You cannot understand Krishna without the mercy of the Panca-tattva,.
In Kali-yuga Devotees Give Life, Don't Kill
Submitted by Mukunda Goswami on Fri, 2009/06/26 - 7:00amLecturing on 1 March 1974 in Mayapur on Caitanya Caritamrta, Srila Prabhupada said, "Now, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu incarnation [said], "if they want to kill them, they are already dead. To give them life again is Krishna's or Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's special gift." In other words if one employs the sastra of knowledge, rather than the astra or weapon of destruction, one is a true follower of Sri Caitanya, giving life to the dead.
Clouds Can't 'Hide' the Sun
Submitted by Mukunda Goswami on Thu, 2009/06/25 - 7:00amSrila Prabhupada was fond of comparing the sun to Krsna. He would say that clouds cover our eyes, obliterating the sun, but that that they cannot cover the sun. In other words, the sun is always shining, despite earthly clouds. This indirectly explains that Krsna always sees us, even though we don't always see Him. Even though we do not always see the orb of the sun due to clouds, we are able to see during the day, even in overcast conditions, because the sun illuminates our world, even through cloud cover. In a similar way Lord Krsna is always seeing us even when we can't see Him.
Krishna Propaganda
Submitted by Mukunda Goswami on Wed, 2009/06/24 - 7:00amWho'll win the propaganda war? What is freedom and what is slavery? Are we 'free' to act. Are the bombardments by TV, billboards, net ads, magazine and newspaper ads having an affect? Of course they are. People are slaves to them, although they think they have 'freedom' of choice. But by following the regulative principles of freedom as enunciated by Srila Prabhupada we can win the propaganda war, at least for ourselves. Eventually we want the Krishna consciousness movement to win the propaganda war.