680704 - Letter to Upendra written from Montreal

Letters by Date, 1968

Letter to Upendra (Page 1 of 2)

Letter to Upendra (Page 2 of 2)

Tridandi Goswami
AC Bhaktivedanta Swami
Acharya: International Society For Krishna Consciousness

CAMP: ISKCON RADHA KRISHNA TEMPLE
          3720 Park Avenue
Montreal 18, Quebec Canada

DATED .July..4,......................196..8

My Dear Upendra,

Please accept my blessings. I was in due receipt of your letter dated Sunday, June 23, 1968. And your vivid description of the prearrangement of Rathayatra ceremony was so nice and elaborate that it has moved my heart. I thank you very much for grasping the momentum of Krishna Consciousness, by your advanced service attitude. I can only wish that Krishna may give you more and more strength in understanding His transcendental nature. The only process for perceiving Krishna and His name, qualities, form is our sincere service attitude with our senses. Beginning from the tongue, all our senses are practically led by the tongue sense, whose business is to vibrate and to taste. If we can change the materialistic nature of the tongue, by changing of taste and vibration, then automatically the other senses become purified. And we can render service to Krishna with purified senses. As such we should try to chant and eat Krishna prasadam as much as possible.

In the meantime, Gargamuni has come here and I have heard from him the details of your procession and it is so much engladdening to my heart. I thank you all very much for making the Rathayatra festival so successful. Please convey my gratitude to all the boys and girls who participated in this great transcendental service. This is the second year, and you have made a great stride from the first year, and in the third year, I hope it will be still more successful.

Regarding your pen-friend in South India: I have not as yet received any letter from him, but as soon as I receive any news from him, I shall be glad to give him necessary instructions. In the meantime, if you write to him you can convey this message to the gentleman. Any friend in any part of the world that you may contact, try to infuse him with this Krishna Consciousness idea. Never waste your time in any other talks. I think our students have already developed this attitude and they are not interested in idle talks. Ambarisa Maharaja, he set very nice example by engaging his mind always on the Lotus Feet of Krishna, and talking always about him. We should follow the same example.

I think there is a chance of my going to Vancouver and if I go there, I may call some of you there to open a branch. I think you shall be the first man to come there, and I shall be glad to know also how many of you can go to Vancouver for performing Kirtan.

I understand from Gargamuni that Hayagriva has sent you a letter inviting some of you to live with him in W. Virginia where they are attempting to open a new center, but I am not very much hopeful about this center because there are so many impediments. I have already written to Kirtanananda that in such suspicious and unfavorable conditions, no Brahmachary will be interested to go there. If there is actually any invitation for going there, I send herewith instructions to all of you that for the present, there is no necessity of going there. And in future also, nobody shall go there without getting my permission.

I shall be glad to hear from you about further details of our successful Rathayatra procession. Hope you are well.

Your ever well-wisher,

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami

518 Frederick Street
San Francisco, Cal. 94117