720625 - Letter to Haripuja written from Los Angeles

Letters by Date, 1972

Tridandi Goswami
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
Founder-Acharya:
International Society for Krishna Consciousness
CENTER:
Los Angeles, ISKCON

DATE .........June..25...........1972....

My Dear Daughter,

Please accept my blessings. I have received your letter from Pittsburgh dated June 16, 1972, delivered to me by Bibhu dasa along with his recommendation, so I shall be glad to consent to accept you as my duly initiated disciple. I shall send your beads under separate post, duly chanted by me. Your initiated name is Haripuja dasi.
Now please continue to strictly follow the regulative principles and rigidly observing the four principal restrictions, namely: no eating of meat, fish or eggs, no taking of any kinds of intoxicants including coffee, tea and tobacco, no illicit sex life, and no gambling, and always without fail chant 16 rounds of the Holy Names daily, and be happy.
If you stick to these principles with determination, then you will become free from all attachment to maya, by Krishna's Grace. The example is that when the sun is in the sky, there is no question of darkness. Similarly, when Hare Krishna Mantra is vibrating on your tongue and you are hearing attentively, then your consciousness becomes clear or Krishna Consciousness and there is no question of maya or hazy consciousness. Just as when the light and the darkness come together, the darkness cannot stand before the light, so maya cannot stand before the presence of Krishna. Always remember therefore to chant Hare Krishna, and that will save you in all circumstances without any doubt.
Hoping this will meet you in good health.

Your ever well-wisher,

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami

Haripuja devi dasi c/o ISKCON Pittsburgh
ACB/sda