680225 - Letter to Mario Windisch written from Los Angeles

Letters by Date, 1968

A.C. BHAKTIVEDANTA SWAMI
Camp: I.S.K.C.O.N. Radha Krishna Temple
5364 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, Cal. 90019

Feb. 25, 1968

My Dear. Mr. Windisch,

I thank you very much for your letter dated Feb. 16, 1968, along with the enclosure of an older letter dated August 27, 1967. I am very sorry to learn that my dear brother Sadananda is seriously ill and the doctors have advised complete rest for him. He is my intimate friend and God-brother, so although I wanted to open correspondence with him, I voluntarily restrain myself from doing so, taking into consideration his present health. I pray to Krishna that he may recover very soon, so that we may not only open correspondence, but maybe I can see him personally. In Bombay sometimes we lived together and he used to treat my little sons very kindly. His heart is so soft, as soft as a good mother's, and I always remember him and shall continue to do so. When you meet him next, kindly offer my respectful obeisances. And if there is any message for me, you can send me to my New York address.

Just after sending you my letter sometimes in the month of May, 1967, I also fell seriously ill by heart stroke, and my disciples here admitted me into the hospital. I tried to recoup my health here but I could not do it properly, so I went back to India for some time, and I again have come back here last December. First I was in San Francisco, now I have come to Los Angeles, and from here I shall again go to San Francisco, from where I shall go to New York, then to Boston, maybe to Buffalo, and then I shall reach Montreal by the month of June. If you come there by that time, it will be a great pleasure to meet you. Our Montreal Temple is situated at the following address: 3720 Park Avenue, Montreal 18, Quebec, Canada. The boy in charge of the Temple is Janardan das Adhikary, and he can be reached at the number 849-4334 (his home telephone). He is a very learned scholar and is highly advanced in Krishna Consciousness. I have good hope and faith in him, and when you meet him you will be very much pleased to talk with him. He is M.A., and preparing for his Ph.D., and is a good scholar in the French language also.

Krishna Consciousness movement is the need for the Western countries at this time. The Westerners have sufficiently enjoyed their material achievements and they are now, especially the younger generation, seeking for something spiritual. That is quite natural. In the Vedanta Sutra, it is stated as "Atha Atho Brahma Jijnasa." When a person finishes his material activities, naturally, he becomes interested to search after spiritual realization. That is natural consequence. A living entity is factually a spirit soul whose eternal position is knowledge and blissfulness. Material knowledge, however advanced it may be, cannot award blissfulness, which is the demand of the spirit soul. That blissfulness is being searched for by the materialist by advancement of material science, but they cannot find it in such a way. Therefore, the younger generation, especially in the Western countries, who have [text missing] seen much of material amenities, are now feeling something greater than that. Unfortunately, they have not received it. There are some movements like the Beatles, or Hippies, among the younger generation, by realizing the negation of matter. Their attempt is to forget matter by some hallucination or mental concoction, with the help of some deluding matter. So their attempt is nice, but there is no guide. Therefore, the younger generation in Europe and in America require an authorized guide for their present urge for spiritual realization.

The answer is there in the Vedanta in the aphorism, "Janma Adyasya Yatah." The answer is to search the Absolute Truth, Who is the Source of all emanation. This Absolute Source of emanation is explained preliminarily in the Bhagavad Gita, and explicitly in the Srimad Bhagwatam. The Srimad Bhagwatam explains the very beginning of its starting that the Absolute Truth is Sentient, and Person, and Independent. The Absolute Supreme Personality of Godhead is distinct from all other living entities, in His being the Absolute Independent. Therefore, in the Vedas He is described as the Supreme Leader of all living entities.

So if we are very serious to understand sequence of spiritual truth, then we must take advantage of Bhagavad Gita and Srimad Bhagwatam completely. Lord Chaitanya preached these two as essence of the Vedas. His very life and teachings are embodiment of the principles of Bhagavad Gita and Srimad Bhagwatam.

Our attempt to spread Krishna Consciousness is just in the line of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu; I surmise that you have already learned many things about the life and teachings of Lord Chaitanya, because of your intimate association with my God-brother Swami Sadanandaji. I shall be very glad to talk more elaborately on the subject matter when we meet at Montreal in the month of June.

Thanking you once more,

Your ever well-wisher,
[unsigned]

Mario Windisch
c/o Barbara Josephson
Pyrolavagen 22/III
Lidingo 3
Sweden [text missing]