In the Vraj region, the night time loudspeakers (sometimes like lullabies) and the ubiquitous graffiti are tolerable, and even inspiring.

Srila Prabhupada sometimes recounted how his guru, Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur repeated that ‘when the high court judges are wearing tilaka, then our movement will be successful.’ This gives an idea that Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati was not simply interested in preaching to Westerners, he was challenging the whole world.

One of my favorite passages in the Srimad Bhagavatam is the avadhuta’s description of the twenty-four ‘gurus,’ one of which is the sun. The metaphor describes how the sun is reflected in many media, but even though it appears to be many, it always remains one. Similarly the soul is never divided; it is always individual and unique.

Karna daily worshipped the sun-god. Surya is one of the Deities Pancopasana worshippers select. The gayatri mantra Srila Prabhupada gave us specifically praises the sun. In the Twelfth Canto we learn that not only is the sun one of Krsna’s eyes (in the Universal Form) but that it IS Krsna: “The sun-god, being nondifferent from Lord Hari, is the one soul of all the worlds and their original creator. He is the source of all the ritualistic activities prescribed in the Vedas and has been given many names by the Vedic sages. (Srimad Bhagavatam, 12.11.30)

The English word “initiation” comes from the English root “initial” defined in the dictionary as meaning the beginning of something, “occurring at the beginning; first: the initial step in a process.” It is not that at initiation, a spiritual name is given, one has a guru, has passed an examination of sorts, is formally admitted into ISKCON, and that’s the end. No, rather it is, as Webster intimates, a first step in the usually lengthy journey Back to Godhead.

We often hear that preaching is the essence. Here’s a quote from Srila Prabhupada (Srimad Bhagavatam 6.2.36-37/purport) that supports this statement: One who is interested in his own salvation is not as advanced in Krsna consciousness as one who feels compassion for others and who therefore propagates the Krsna consciousness movement. Such an advanced devotee will never fall down, for Krsna will give him special protection.

If you had to say in as few words as possible what the purpose of the Krishna Movement is, what would you say? Here’s one of Srila Prabhupada’s quotes on the matter: “To see to the proper use of life is the purpose of Krsna consciousnessness.” (Srimad Bhagavatam 8.22.25/purport)

Usually crying is sentimental, superficial and…well material. But it can be spiritual. Rupa Goswami, for one, distinguished between tears of grief and tears of transcendental love and longing. Rupa Goswami writes in Nectar of Devotion: “Out of jubilation, anger or separation there may be the pouring down of tears from the eyes. When such tears are very cold they are due to jubilation, and when they are due to anger the tears become hot.” Here’s something Srila Prabhupada once said about it: “Crying is a great transcendental pleasure. That they cannot understand, the poor fund of knowledge. Caitanya Mahaprabhu was simply crying. That is love. So that they do not understand, how crying can be pleasure.” (From a room conversation in Vrndavana on 19 July 1977)

The sudden death of nearly 200,000 people has made a lot of earth’s human inhabitants think “why?” But the tragedy is likely to become just another road sign on a freeway. People forget things like earthquakes, terrorist attacks, tidal waves, tornadoes, and floods and – unfortunately — God.

Srila Prabhupada is often quoted with regard to the fact that temples aren’t meant for ‘lazies’ or ‘crazies.’ A famous 1972 letter, to the temple president of Bhaktivedanta Manor at that time, gives some insight into Srila Prabhupada’s mood regarding this issue: “If new students are coming and they want to live with us in the temple, they must agree before living with us to follow these principles without any exception. Otherwise, it is better for them to live outside and attend the class, aratrika, prasadam, like that, and gradually as they become convinced by their intelligence, they will voluntarily agree to perform the austerity or tapasya of living in the temple. But anyone who lives in the temple must follow all these principles without exception, otherwise they may be asked to live outside.”