750705 - Morning Walk - Chicago

Morning Walks by Date, 1975

His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

 Listen to a 'Nectar Drop' created from this lecture

750705MW-CHICAGO - July 05, 1975 - 29:10 Minutes

(in car)

Prabhupāda:. . . encouraging the professors.

Brahmānanda: In Eastern Europe.

Jayatīrtha: He's a graduate of Princeton University, a very big, big university.

Brahmānanda: I think he was the president of his class.

Jayatīrtha: Maybe.

Prabhupāda: He is president?

Brahmānanda: Of his class.

Jayatīrtha: He was the president of his class at Princeton.

Prabhupāda: Oh. (break). . .scholar. Distribution, he is right man.

Jayatīrtha: Yes. Sat's men are hand-picked. It takes a very special devotee to be able to speak with these professors intelligently.

Prabhupāda: Yes. (break)

Jayatīrtha: At the library convention in San Francisco we had that booth there. So I went to see them, and they appeared very professional with their suits and wigs.

Brahmānanda: Successful?

Jayatīrtha: Yes. (break)

Prabhupāda:. . . saṁsāre māyāra janeiya, moha janeiya, jīva ke karaye gāḍha. This māyāra vaibhava, this material advancement, a advancement of māyā. Big, big building, nice road, nice motorcar, nice . . . Surely it is material advancement, admitted. But this advancement is advancement of the illusory energy. So what is the wrong there? Suppose . . . The wrong is there that this material world is temporary. We have come here temporary - say twenty-five years, fifty years or, at most, hundred years.

So we are already illusioned, and we become more illusioned. Then we forget our real business. Mūḍha, we remain mūḍha. Supposing if there is next birth, so who is very much anxious to know what is our next birth? Nobody is. Blindly going on. Māyāra vaibhava. (break). . .very nice church, but understand what for this church is, what is God, what is God consciousness. Just cultivate this knowledge. "No. Big church will be finished." Live nice building, nice happy life, but don't forget Kṛṣṇa. Then what is the use of this life? And if you forget Kṛṣṇa, then the result will be crime, and you will be facing with problems, "Why, and now what to do?" So many problems will be there. So the problems cannot be solved simply by possessing big, big buildings.

Jagadīśa: Shall we get out and walk, Śrīla Prabhupāda?

Prabhupāda: Any way.

Jagadīśa: Do you want to walk?

Prabhupāda: Yes. But how we will walk if it is dripping?

Brahmānanda: It's raining. We can ride along the beach . . . (break)

Prabhupāda:. . . saṁsāre, moha janmeiva, jīva ke karaye gāḍha. There are so many churches.

Jayatīrtha: This is a special area, Jagadīśa—there are so many churches? All over America there are very expensive churches. In India you do not see so many temples. I was surprised when I went there first, because you do not see very many big, gorgeous, temples. But here everywhere there are big, gorgeous churches.

Prabhupāda: Oh, no, India, in South India . . .

Brahmānanda: South India is full.

Jayatīrtha: Oh, South India. North India not.

Prabhupāda: Yes. You have not seen Jagannātha temple?

Jayatīrtha: No.

Prabhupāda: Beginning from Madras, very big, big temples. In Vṛndāvana also, that Raṅganātha temple?

Jayatīrtha: Yes. There are some nice temples in the north.

Prabhupāda: In south, many. (sings:) Śrī kṛṣṇa caitanya prabhu. . . These are all university house, or private?

Jagadīśa: Some university and some private. After here, these are private homes.

Prabhupāda: All very nice house.

Brahmānanda: Yes.

Prabhupāda: Let them, every house, small temple, perform kīrtana. Then this will be all success. Do not cook meat. Nice prasādam. Everything can be utilized for better purpose. Now in the morning they are sleeping. Nidrāya hriyate naktaṁ vyavayena ca vā vayaḥ (SB 2.1.3). At night either sleeping or sex, and daytime, divā carthehaya rājan kutumba-bharaṇena vā. Daytime, "Where is money? Where is money?" Oh, seventy miles' speed: "Go there. There is some money." All right, take money. Then what is your next business? Kutumba-bharaṇena vā: just to purchase for the family, finish money; again tomorrow. "But where is the business of your spiritual life?" "No time. What can we do? Night we are busy in this way, and day we are busy. Where is the time? Don't bother us." (laughs) Divā carthehaya rājan kutumba-bharaṇena vā (SB 2.1.3). (break). . .try to make them devotees, they will not become.

Jayatīrtha: Not very easily.

Prabhupāda:

bhogaiśvarya-prasaktānāṁ

tayāpahṛta-cetasām

vyavasāyātmikā buddhiḥ

. . . na vidhīyate

(BG 2.44)

Therefore too much attachment for material enjoyment is disqualification for spiritual life. So the Western world is trained up for being too much attached to material enjoyment. Therefore lagging behind in spiritual life. Vedic civilization is not to encourage too much for material enjoyment. Minimize. That is Indian civilization. They, if they had money, they used to spend for constructing big temple, not for residential house. Maybe the king only had a big palace. Common men, they didn't care for big palace, the palatial building. Common man would be very glad to live in a cottage, and a small garden for growing vegetables, fruits, small lake, that's all. Not wasting time for big, big buildings, big, big . . . What is called? Amenities?

Jayatīrtha: Amenities. (break)

Prabhupāda: It is good you have done this, but make this Kṛṣṇa consciousness also one of the paraphernalia. Then it is very nice. But they are not inclined. Hare Kṛṣṇa. (break)

Jagadīśa:. . .newspaper there were pictures only.

Brahmānanda: So do you have the clippings?

Jagadīśa: Yeah, it's posted.

Prabhupāda: Every house, however poor he may be . . .

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Go along the north shore, where the Baha'i temple is. That's very . . . (break)

Jayatīrtha:. . . about. . . a big town has got maybe ten television stations. (break). . . means of enjoyment are available.

Prabhupāda: Center variety is crime.

Jayatīrtha: (laughs) That's becoming very popular.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Brahmānanda: In Time magazine they say that by the time the child is fifteen years old he will have seen eleven thousand murders on television.

Jayatīrtha: Wow. In Detroit one out of every thousand people gets murdered every year.

Prabhupāda: Huh?

Jayatīrtha: In Detroit—that's the biggest crime city in America—one out of every thousand people gets murdered every year. If you live there for fifty years, you have one chance in twenty of being murdered. (break)

Prabhupāda: Prosperous. The business is slaughterhouse. All butchers. (laughs)

Brahmānanda: The butcher community.

Jagadīśa: Śrīla Prabhupāda, we were recently looking at a very big house in Detroit. It's a mansion. It's got much already onyx, marble. They say to build it again today would cost six million dollars. They are just asking for 350,000 dollars. It has. . .

Prabhupāda: Why?

Jagadīśa: Why? Because it's such a huge place, and it's not in a very exclusive neighborhood. It's surrounded by a six-foot-high stone wall. It's on four acres of land. And in the room that . . .

Prabhupāda: Six million?

Jagadīśa: To rebuild it, because of all the onyx, marble. There is $100,000 worth of gold leafing work throughout the house.

Brahmānanda: What was it used as?

Jagadīśa: It was the Fisher Mansion. Fisher, you know, "Body by Fisher."

Jayatīrtha: Oh, "Body by Fisher."

Jagadīśa: And the man was a little eccentric. It's a, what do they call, Moorish style.

Prabhupāda: Now it is not raining. We can go.

Brahmānanda: Yes, we can go. Stop here. (break)

Prabhupāda:. . .price there are?

Jagadīśa: 350,000.

Prabhupāda: So it is very cheap.

Brahmānanda: Yes. What is the neighborhood?

Jagadīśa: It is just south of . . .

Jayatīrtha: It has a big stone fence, though.

Jagadīśa:. . .the wealthiest neighborhood. It's about six blocks away.

Brahmānanda: Is it a crime place? (laughs)

Jagadīśa: No.

Jayatīrtha: In Detroit . . .

(on walk)

Prabhupāda:. . . (indistinct). . . have seen. (break). . . also, there is threatening of life. Some brāhmaṇa boys who were living with us, so they were threatened, "You are living with these mlecchas. If you don't give up, then your life is in danger." So they have gone to Māyāpur.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Who?

Jayatīrtha: The śāstrīs.

Prabhupāda: Some brāhmaṇa boys, they came and joined.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Oh, yeah, those boys. Oh. And the other brāhmaṇas threatened.

Prabhupāda: Yes, they threatened.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: You got a report?

Prabhupāda: Yes. (break)

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa:. . .happy that we're taking to Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Prabhupāda: Yes. (break). . . brāhmaṇas are scenting danger, because they see that these Europeans are worshiping Deity, temple. Then gradually there will be no caste brāhmaṇa. (break)

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa:. . . Mahāprabhu also had difficulty with the caste brāhmaṇas?

Prabhupāda: Oh, yes. They complained to the magistrate that "What kind of religion He is introducing? It is not our Hindu religion. So chastise Him." (break). . . report of the brāhmaṇas, the police came and broke these drums. It was not the fault of the Muhammadans. The brāhmaṇas lodged complaint against Caitanya Mahāprabhu. So he has to take step. They said, "It is not Hindu religion. They are disturbing God by chanting so loudly. (laughter) Now the God is sleeping, and they are disturbing, 'Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa.' So stop this." So what can he do? After all, he is public servant. Therefore he took steps. (break)

Ghanaśyāma: I've just come back from England, myself and another boy who was doing library work there. We went there after India, the festival. And so many very important schools all around the world, that are known all around the world, are taking your books. Our last day was one of our most amazing days. We went to the Indian Office library, the British government. Because they have colonized India, they have so many books on India. This was the largest library like that in Europe. And the librarian, he looked at our books and he says, "Yes, we should have all of these." So right on the spot he ordered standing orders, one copy of every book. That same day—this was just three days ago, two days ago—we went to the big . . .

Prabhupāda: That is Aldridge? Aldridge?

Ghanaśyāma: Yes. This was another one. Aldridge, yes. You have seen that letter? Yes.

Prabhupāda: No, I have not seen any letter.

Ghanaśyāma: But you know Aldridge?

Prabhupāda: Yes, I went to see the ambassador.

Ghanaśyāma: Yes, he is very favorable. The biggest bookstore in the world. They're so big that they have three blocks. They take up sort of like three blocks. And they have three levels, three floors. So we went to see the manager, the man who owns, you know, the whole bookstore. And he says, "Well, I only deal with rare books." We says, "Well, this is why we've come to see you." And he says, "I want three copies of every book." (laughs) Three of every single . . .

Prabhupāda: Very good. So they have ordered?

Ghanaśyāma: Yes.

Prabhupāda: Very good.

Ghanaśyāma: Just in a matter of four . . . about seven to eight weeks, over a hundred professors have now taken your books there.

Prabhupāda: Oh. Standing order?

Ghanaśyāma: No, about twelve have taken standing . . . about ten have taken standing order, but others have taken books to use for their courses or for their own reading and for their own edification. Big schools like Cambridge, Oxford, as soon as they see the books, they immediately want them.

Prabhupāda: This is the rarest book. Not only rare, but rarest. There is no book throughout the whole world, such book. Hare Kṛṣṇa. (break)

Ghanaśyāma:. . .professor, he was reading your Bhagavad-gītā. It was on his desk when I came into his office.

Prabhupāda: Ācchā.

Ghanaśyāma: Yeah. He says, "Oh, yes, I know the Bhaktivedanta books. I have just got this book from one of my colleagues." And he says . . . I showed him the books. He wanted the standing order. He teaches Sanskrit and Indian religions and Indian philosophy. And he said, "Well, there's one book I was just reading. Bhaktivedanta, he mentions the Nectar of Devotion." He says that "You didn't show me that. Do you have that one?" (Prabhupāda laughs) So I brought the books back to him that same day. And when I brought them, his students, they were in class, and they came out of the class and they started looking at the books themselves, you know. And they really wanted to be showed that they could have a chance to read them in their course. They were really happy that he was buying them. They said, "Oh, these are the Kṛṣṇa consciousness books. We've read some of these before. These are really nice." (break)

Prabhupāda:. . . Kṛṣṇa, his all sinful reactions stopped. Kṛṣṇeti varṇa-dvayam. Rūpa Gosvāmī says, "What nectar is there in these two alphabets, kṛṣ-ṇa!" Kṛṣṇeti varṇa-dvayam.

(break). . . greater enthusiasm you go on with book distribution. They will be benefited, and distributors also will be benefited. Kṛṣṇa says, ya imaṁ paramaṁ guhyaṁ mad-bhakteṣv abhidhāsyati (BG 18.68). Na ca tasmān manuṣyeṣu kaścin me priya-kṛttamaḥ (BG 18.69). If you want to become quickly recognized by Kṛṣṇa, then make propaganda this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. And once recognized by Kṛṣṇa, then your going back to home, back to Godhead, guaranteed. Harer nāma harer nāma. . . (CC Adi 17.21) (break). . .took from London to here come?

Ghanaśyāma: How many hours?

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Ghanaśyāma: On the plane it took about ten hours.

Prabhupāda: Ten hours. From London to Chicago. Not much, ten hours. (break). . .staying at Bhaktivedanta Manor? No.

Ghanaśyāma: We stayed there most of the time. And the first two weeks we stayed at Bury Place because there are about six schools that are in walking distance from the Bury Place temple.

Prabhupāda: So everything is going right?

Ghanaśyāma: Oh, yes, cultivating very nice. The president there, he is taking out the saṅkīrtana party himself, and the whole temple has become very enthused by this.

Devotee: Bury Place.

Ghanaśyāma: Bury Place.

Prabhupāda: How many devotees are there?

Ghanaśyāma: Bury Place, there's about . . . There are three traveling saṅkīrtana parties. There are about maybe thirty devotees there.

Prabhupāda: Ācchā. And Bhaktivedanta Manor?

Ghanaśyāma: I think about maybe thirty-five. Some of the boys go to Scotland frequently. So they sort of share the devotees with the three temples.

Prabhupāda: Edinburgh. So you have been in Edinburgh University?

Ghanaśyāma: No. I don't know. Prabhupāda, they have a program there with the Indians. The Indians are supporting the temple there now.

Prabhupāda: Hmm?

Ghanaśyāma: The Indians, they're paying for the devotees' prasādam and supporting the temple.

Prabhupāda: Ah, yes. Anna-dāna.

Ghanaśyāma: They make vows to give a certain amount to help the devotees out every week. They have a big chart. One Indian might make a vow that he will pay for all the wheat or all the breakfast prasāda for the devotees for that month, and he'll give that much money. (Prabhupāda laughs) It's very nice. They kind of compete with each other to see who's doing the most. And they go out and make Life Members. They make, sometimes, five, six Life Members in one day.

Prabhupāda: So we shall go further? Our time is up.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Six-thirty now.

Prabhupāda: Oh, then we must go. (break) Hmm.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Sometimes we have heard that ekādaśī is a inauspicious alignment of the planets, and therefore one has to counteract this inauspiciousness by more chanting.

Prabhupāda: (laughs) No, no. It is the most auspicious. And chanting is more effective.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Ohh. (break)

Prabhupāda: Yes.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: I remember you were instructing once that all of your initiated disciples should chant twenty-five rounds . . .

Prabhupāda: Minimum.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Minimum on this day. Is that a rule that we should all follow in our temples?

Prabhupāda: We are sixteen rounds.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: No, I mean on ekādaśī.

Prabhupāda: Oh, yes. Ekādaśī, simply you should chant. No other business. Nirjala.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: No preaching work? Should they go out for preaching?

Prabhupāda: No, those who are preaching, not for them. Those who are sitting idle, or they . . . (laughter) (break). . .has no other regulation, simply preaching. A preacher is so exalted, he hasn't got to follow any regulation. (laughs) But don't take it. (laughter) And actually if one is busy in preaching work, that is first class. (break). . .not my manufactured word; my Guru Mahārāja, that the . . . That Mādhava Mahārāja, when he was a brahmacārī his name was Hayagrīva. So he was to go somewhere. So . . . but he was sick. Guru Mahārāja was informed that he was sick, and "Today is ekādaśī. He cannot take his regular meals." So Guru Mahārāja said, "No. Let him take immediately meals and go."

Devotee: For preaching. (break)

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa:. . . Mahārāja would sacrifice everything for preaching.

Prabhupāda: Oh, yes. (break) He was not pleased with Bon Mahārāja; he could not do anything. (break)

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa:. . .most pleased with you, Śrīla Prabhupāda. We must be sure of that.

Prabhupāda: Unless he is pleased, what I am worth? It is due to his pleasure. Otherwise, what I am worth? Everyone says, "You have done wonderful." What can I do wonderful? It is by his pleasure it is going on. Yasya prasādād bhagavat-prasādaḥ. (break) Bon Mahārāja has written that, last line?

Brahmānanda: That your accomplishment has been very great. He had to admit. (Prabhupāda laughs)

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: He admitted it publicly.

Prabhupāda: (laughs) No. He has written me a letter. I invited him. (break) Now he has returned.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Oh, he has re . . . (end)