In his Will Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati refers to the twenty six qualities of a devotee. He writes, “This material nature, which is averse to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is an examination hall. Tolerance, humbleness, appreciation of others, etc., are favourable to develop our devotion to Hari.” The ‘etc.’ refers to the twenty six qualities, emphasized by Srila Prabhupada and written about by Krsnadasa Kaviraja Goswami in his Caitanya Caritamrta (Madhya 22-78.80) as follows: “Devotees are always merciful, humble, truthful, equal to all, faultless, magnanimous, mild and clean. They are without material possessions, and they perform welfare work for everyone. They are peaceful, surrendered to Krsna and desireless. They are indifferent to material acquisitions and are fixed in devotional service. They completely control the six bad qualities-lust, anger, greed and so forth. They eat only as much as required, and they are not inebriated. They are respectful, grave, compassionate and without false prestige. They are friendly, poetic, expert and silent.”

Lecturing on Bhagavad-gita in New York on 17 May 1966, Srila Prabhupada said, “I think there is a line in Shakespeare’s literature, ‘The lunatic, mad, and the poet’ or something like that, ‘all compact in thought.’ ” Actually Srila Prabhupada was referring to the play, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” Act V, Scene I wherein in it is said, “The lunatic, the lover, and the poet, are of imagination all compact.” “So a madman and an atma-rati person, self-satisfied man, outwardly, you will find there is no difference, but inwardly, oh, there is a vast difference.” The indication here is that an “atma-rati” or avadhuta or paramahansa may appear “mad,” but this perception is due to detachment (not to be imitated) from the material world.

Speaking generally people often try to “take shelter” of family, friends, role models, bosses, religious leaders, psychiatrists, politicians, science and all that relates to ‘progress,’ music, entertainment, wealth, aristocracy, education, or personal beauty. But the only real shelter and the only one that lasts forever is Krsna. All others are temporary. In fact Srila Prabhupada specifically asked the BTG magazine to expose hypocrisy in politicians, psychologists, psychiatrists, scientists, and religious leaders.

A report in late 2000 in the Canadian Journal of Medicine finds that several A. A. Milne characters, such as Winnie the Pooh, suffer from various psychological ailments and disorders, such as gender misidentification, food fixation resulting in obesity, and many others. They intimate that the use of psychoanalysis and drugs like valium and prozac would ameliorate problems like this. Some psychologists think everyone should be ‘normal.’ Many times they assume themselves to be in the position of God in society, and recommend the use of psychotherapy and drugs to return people to ‘normal.’ Although these remedial measures undoubtedly have some utility, they are limited by whatever definition of normal is taken. Some professionals in the field carry the ‘cure’ idea too far, identifying religious zealotry as a sign of madness. Psychologists have even testified in courts of law against devotees, declaring them to be unfit and dangerous elements in society because of their ‘extreme’ religious convictions and activities. Not only Milne’s storybook characters for children, but those of “Alice in Wonderland,” “Lord of the Rings,” and the “Harry Potter” series (what to speak of William Shakespeare’s many ‘odd’ characters, and protagonists of hundreds of award-winning novels) could be perceived as ‘unstable’ and therefore dangerous models for readers to look up to. And closer to home, we see what a field day the psychologists would have with some personalities in the Srimad Bhagavatam! Devotees are considered ‘crazy’ at times, and even Srila Prabhupada himself implies this, tongue in cheek. This idea is based on the fact that devotees don’t accept death and suffering to be evil, or even ‘normal.’ They know there is another way of seeing things. One of Sanatana Goswami’s first representations to Lord Caitanya was that human life must be more than one lifetime of uncertainty and suffering. (Caitanya Caritamrta Madhya 20.102)

In a 60 Minute TV interview a four-year-old Australian boy was asked, “Where is God?” His answer, “He’s in the rock, in the ground, in the air.”

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.

According to Srila Prabhupada, when the British were ruling India they made vigorous propaganda world-wide that the English people were civilizing the Indian people, who were primitive and superstitious. When UN delegates queried the validity of British occupation in India, the English maintained the position that they were civilizing India’s people.

Does killing and warfare have any place in Krishna consciousness? “Through the pastimes of killing the demons, one indirectly learns about Krishna.” (From Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s Caitanya-siksamrta, Part 2, 7/7 – from Bhaktivinoda Vani Baibhava, p 146).

On December 31, 1966 (New York City) Srila Prabhupada spoke on the Caitanya Caritamrta, Madhya-lila, Chapter 20, Verses 367-384, making the following observation: “So avatara, incarnation, comes to glorify the eternal existence of the Supreme Lord. So any avatara, any incarnation, he comes to glorify that ‘there is spiritual kingdom, there is God, and I have come to reclaim you to back to Godhead, back to home.’ This is the symptom. So therefore, by that symptom, we accept Lord Jesus Christ as saktyavesa avatara, or Hazrat Muhammad. He’s also, because these two religious leaders of the world preached about the glorification of the Supreme Lord. And they sacrificed everything for preaching the glories of the Lord….These are the symptoms by which we can understand that Jesus Christ and Hazrat Muhammad were saktyavesa avatars.”

Although I generally avoid the use of in-house terms like “karmi,” it is interesting to find three types of fruitive worker mentioned in the Srimad Bhagavatam. These are the bhukti-kamis, mukti-kamis, and siddhi kamis, or sense enjoyers, liberation seekers and yogis. (Srimad Bhagavatam 11.2.43/purport)