In another lecture Srila Prabhupada compared Mahavisnu’s lying on the Causal Ocean to an expert swimmer lying on his or her back on water with eyes closed (March 10, 1976, Mayapura, Srimad Bhagavatam 7.9.32). He said that if a human can do it, why not the Supreme Lord?

The late Conrad Hilton, founder of the hotel chain, has written a book (published in 1957), called “Be My Guest.” At the very end of his book, he wrote about God, saying this: “What I like about prayer is that it is a means of communication with God. You can speak to Him any time, night or day, and you can know with certainty that He is listening to you?.You are free to send any message you want . You can just say ‘hello’?.You can tell Him you are baffled, bewildered, discouraged or that you are the happiest person in the world?.Without our contact with God we are nothing.” It’s encouraging to note that some purveyors of ‘McWorld’ are God conscious, at least they SAY so.

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)

Sometimes the material world is likened to a dream. Srila Bhaktisiddanta Saraswati Thakur says that just as one soon forgets the experience of a dream after awakening, similarly, a liberated soul in Krsna consciousness does not see anything substantial in even the most exalted rewards offered by the Vedas, such as promotion to the heavenly planets. Therefore Lord Krsna advised Arjuna in Bhagavad-gita to remain fixed in self-realization, without being deviated by fruitive rituals performed in the name of religion.

Devotees at Bhaktivedanta Manor are planning to build a Garden for George (Harrison) at the site of the existing Dell – a woodland area that George was very fond of. The proposed garden will perhaps include the adjoining lake, in the middle of which is an island. Srila Prabhupada wanted a Deity of Mahavisnu to be “installed” on this island.

Intelligence, as Srila Prabhupada defines it, is not being astute with mathematical equations, but is an attitude that accepts God as the ultimate controller. The world is filled with atheists who have extremely high IQs, but IQ is not, according to Krsna conscious philosophy, the mark of an advanced soul. It’s said that Einstein and Newton were believers, but unfortunately, most leading scientists these days don’t believe there is God. This is one reason Srila Prabhupada established the Bhaktivedanta Institute. He wanted his followers to convince scientists, by using their own language and research methods, to accept deeper truths. This is despite the fact that most scientists have an anti-God attitude to begin with. To change an attitude is not an easy thing.

(The following article was posted in the “Inner Voice” column of the Hindustan Times, one of India’s largest English language daily newspapers, on 16 June 2004.) IN THE beginning of Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna defends family values, saying, ‘0 Janardana, although these men see no fault in killing one’s family, why should we, who can see the crime in destroying a family, engage in these acts?’ There is a trend away from the family. The way of the future is rugged individualism, independence and freedom of choice. At the same time, there’s a drift toward traditional virtues, a backlash against modern and post-modern thinking, a retroactive lifestyle that promotes conventional attitudes toward living. This social rebound is visible in one of the most unlikely places: TV comedy, The Simpsons. The cartoon has run longer than any other US TV sitcom, 13 years, signalling that its worldwide audience each week is well into tens of millions. Although satirical and suggestive, The Simpsons reinforces the importance of families remaining together despite odd behaviour, differences in character, and quarrels. Since time immemorial people have wed, procreated and lived together in co-dependent situations to the overall benefit of society. Outlaws and criminals, more often than not, are single men. Family split-ups have helped create an underworld of anarchists (sometimes known as VARNA SANKARA) bent on destroying what little is left of harmony and tranquility. Family structures and values are not the total answer, as abuse within the home testifies. However, today’s departure from long-term committed relationships generates a seedy undercurrent of gratuitous violence that creates unnecessary fear. The bulwark of sane society is healthy families. Madness seeps in when God is left out. (The writer is emeritus member of the Iskcon Governing Body Commission)

Although Prabhupada himself was once a follower of Gandhi’s non-cooperation movement, he said himself that it was Subash Chandra Bose who raised the Indian National Army and was ultimately responsible for securing national independence for India as a nation.

Analytical and empirical thought pretty much dictates that a whole is the sum of its parts. This has been disputed by philosophers, but it’s the way we’ve been trained to think – it’s sort of built on mathematical models, like 2 + 2 = 4. But the rigidity of this process crumbles with the onslaught of Vedic wisdom. The Bhagavata approach to truth defies the constraints of the human brain. Multiple worlds and multiple dimensions, universes beyond our perception and their instruments cease to be science fiction and fantasy and become reality. How Krishna can be smaller and larger than our universe does not add up empirically. It is the kind of mysticism that atheists love to deride as fanciful and wishful. In Krishna consciousness, the Whole can be much more and much less than the sum of all of His parts – simultaneously.

Srila Prabhupada wasn’t averse to using the ‘L-word.’ In a letter to Bhakta dasa, dated April 9, 1972, he wrote, “I can only suggest, and wherever possible that can be applied, but I do not force anyone. After all, you are working too hard to please Krsna only out of love for me, so there can be no question of force if love is there. We should not even try to force anyone or reduce our Society to an impersonal business exchange. This will kill everything. Our only purpose in every endeavor is simply to make advancement in spiritual life or in pleasing Krsna.”