September Catchall
Books Among Friends was started to provide a forum for me to speak to my disciples or just to share with them writing that is perhaps too personal or even experimental to be published for a wider audience. For example, Litany For The Gone addressed a private topic— private to me and private to my disciples. This book, September Catchall, is in a different category of privacy. It is a quiet book, telling of my personal, day-to-day life at a relaxed pace…
Returning from Pilgrimage
“Just as Krsna does not take a step away from Vrndavana, Krsna’s devotees also do not like to leave Vrndavana. However, when he is tending to Krsna’s business, he may leave Vrndavana.” —Srila Prabhupada
Readings in Vedic Literature - The Tradition Speaks for Itself
It is only just, in a karmic sense, that an academic scholar be asked to write the foreword for a book that rejects the views of most academic scholars on the historical development of the Vedas.
Radio Shows, Volume II
I have been reading this second volume of Radio Shows and I must admit that I love it. It’s the freedom and the voice that capture me, and the aloneness, the unashamed memories, the connection of all of it to Krsna consciousness. This reminds me of a moment Jean Shepherd described on one of his shows. He used to ride a motor scooter to the studio each day. One day he was stopped in traffic and he looked up at the midtown Manhattan skyline and felt love for that city…
Reading Notes While Reading Bhagavad-gita As It Is
Perhaps I can read Bhagavad Gita As It Is and take simple reading notes as I go along, mostly my appreciation and bringing my attention to hearing with faith [sraddah] in dealing with the mind’s objections. This is not as ambitious as the compilations of favourite passages. But if I can accompany myself [by writing occasional notes] through a leisurely reading of Krishna’s book, Prabhupada will be pleased with me.
Prabhupda Meditations IV
Only out of His immense compassion does the Personality of Godhead reveal Himself as the spiritual master. Therefore in the dealing of an dcdrya there are no activities but those of transcendental loving service to the Lord. He is the Supreme Personality of Servitor Godhead. It is worthwhile to take shelter of such a steady devotee, who is called dsraya-vigraha, or the manifestation form of the Lord of whom one must take shelter.
Prabhupada Meditations Volume III
, On another occasion, Ramanuja observed Sri Gosthlpurna meditating for many hours in a room with closed doors. At the end of the day he inquired, “O Master, on which form of the Lord have you been fixing your mind, and what is the mantra by which you worship Him?”
Prabhupada Meditations Volume II
Srila Visvanatha CakravartI Thakura has said that the order of the spiritual master should be the life and soul of the disciple. It is natural, therefore, that one remembers the spiritual master while carrying out his instructions: “I should therefore meditate and pray for his mercy three times a day and offer my respectful obeisances unto him, my spiritual master.”
Prabhupada Meditations
When all the sons of Pracinabarhi left h^frie to execute austerities, they met Lord Siva, who, out of great mercy, instructed them about the Absolute Truth. All the sons of Pracinabarhi meditated upon the instructions, chanting and worshipping them with great care and attention.
Passing Places, Eternal Truths
This body has rattled out of joint; the used Renault is in better shape than I am. I’m glad to sleep in a room tonight, but I want to go back to that cold, steel cave, the back of the van where Prabhupada’s books are within arm’s reach, where the bed is stiff, and sleep is interrupted by truck lights, but where you are free. I don’t want to eryoy special prasadam or soft beds wherever I go, but I treasure the honor of being asked, “Will you give the Bhdgavatam class?”
