–The Australian Society for Krishna Culture. AUSKCULTURE, operation start 1984 — ABN 65 231 425 870.

Australia’s official “religion” is Courtesy and Respect to one another. Others will say: Treat others as you would want to be treated yourself. That’s truly a wonderful religion and we, as members of the Hare Krishna Movement, we fully adhere to this religion as well.

And we may say that Queensland excels in this matter because up to 1990, the Queensland Police Force itself adhered to the motto “Firmness with courtesy” That is truly a wonderful logo. The current motto is “With honour we serve”. I can hear some voices of dissent in the back, but that’s ok. 🙂 May be we should consider an interstate courtesy competition, to find out which really is the most courteous state.

I recently spend some time (100 days plus) in hospital (PAH) and I was absolutely flabbergasted at the courtesy, enthusiam, eagerness to help and efficient care of the staff, both nursing staff and doctors, as well as others. One doctor accepted BHAGAVAD GITA AS It Is NOT by Hayagriva. Their emphatic and attentive care alone is therapeutic. I should not say this but I shall be happy to go back anytime. And for holders of Medicare Card the treatment is free of charge. We, servants of the Supreme PersonalIty off Godhead, have somethings to learn here. I intend to send them a big-thank-you-Cake from GOVINDA’S. If you ask me what my disease was, I shall simply reply that I was following in the footsteps of Sri Arjuna in The Challenge Bhagavad As It Is, end of chapter one and beginning of chapter two.

to be continued….

My apologies! I formally and officially retract my statement that our two current editions of Bhagavad Gita are to be called

One. Bhagavad Gita As It Is NOT by Hayagriva

and

Two. Bhagavad Gita As It Is NOT by Jayadvaita

Instead they are to be called from now on

One. Free wheeling Bhagavad Gita As It Is NOT by Hayagriva

and

Two. Free wheeling Bhagavad Gita As It Is NOT by Jayadvaita

That’ s an improvement. No one can deny it.

Thank you for your attention.

Please always chant:

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna

Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

Hare Rama Hare Rama

Rama Rama Hare Hare

and be transported to supreme transcendental happiness and ultimate intolerable bliss.

Can We Keep Society from Going to the Dogs?

Srila Prabhupada speaks out to India’s Bhavan’s Journal: “A dog comes when there are some eatables; I say ‘Hut!’ and he goes away. But again he comes-he has no memory. So when our memory of God is reducing, that means that our human qualities are reducing…. There is no religion, simply a dog’s race. The dog is running on four legs, and you are running on four wheels-that’s all. And you think that the four-wheel race is advancement of civilization!”

Ref. VedaBase => SSR 6b: Can We Keep Society from Going to the Dogs?

Srila Prabhupada is so smart and His mantras are so powerful.

“This word man, man means mind. Man-tra — tra means deliverance. So mantra means which delivers from our mental platform. Every one of us are now hovering either on the bodily platform or on the mental platform, subtle. Mental platform is subtle, and bodily platform is gross. But beyond this mind there is intelligence, and beyond intelligence there is soul. So by this mantra we, I mean to say, cross over the mental platform, intellectual platform, and come directly to the spiritual platform. And as soon as we come to the spiritual platform and we understand our relationship with Krsna, or God, then we are in peace.Ref. VedaBase => Press Conference – June 26, 1971, Paris

Every word and sentence in whatever language is a mantra.

We could even extend this further and say that every sound vibration is a mantra.

African tam tam is a mantra.

Ludwig van Beethoven produced many mind charming mantras.

Of course, these last statements of mine do not, strictly speaking, satisfy the definition of mantra given by Srila Prabhupada in His Press Conference of June 26, 1971 in Paris, as that which brings us to the spiritual platform.

So yes, in this particular case, I am stretching things a little.

But if we define mantra as a particular sound vibration to achieve a very particular aim, then all is fine. There is no better activity than Samkirtan book distribution to realise, to practice and refine the use and power of mantra. The preacher is expert in the use of mantra. Any orator must be. Amen or Om Tat Sat.

Besides the innumerable and unauthorised changes, additions and subtractions to the Original Transcript (OT) of Bhagavad Gita As It Is by Srila Prabhupada Himself, current version 1 and current version 2 of Bhagavad Gita As It Is are tinged to an unacceptably high degree of IMPERSONALISM, the latter being a direct result of the former, thus defeating directly Srila Prabhupada’s aim and mission to rid the western world of IMPERSONALISM AND VOIDISM, as expressed in His second Pranam Mantra. It is even worse than that, much worse. The highest controlling authority of ISKCON has been wisely called by Srila Prabhupada the Governing Board Commission (GBC), not to be confused with the other GBC or Global Business Corporation or even the GothBoiClique, an emo rap collective founded in Los Angeles around 2012-2013.

Getting back to impersonalism, we find that even members of the GBC don’t have the common courtesy to answer an e-letter when written to because they are impersonalists at the best. Please note “at the best”. My own co-GBC, an individual of the name Ramai Swami has even blocked me from reaching him by email. NOW WHAT’s WRONG WITH HIM? Does he fall into he category “impersonalist at the best”? I shall have to call him “a super-impersonalist at the best” because he blocked me. How then can he have the common courtesy to reply me when written to. I may have to send my faithful Himalayan Mastiff Dog to say hello to him. The 4 managers of the Prabhupada Vyasapuja book 2024 definitely fall into this category by a minimum rate of 200 % as well. They are Satyamedha Gauranga Dasa, Ananda Tirtha Das, whom I knew as a small child in Perth Western Australia, and Kaisori Devi Dasi, a female, and finally the good old Praghosa Dasa. I have send them an email about the unfair dismissal of this humble self from the pages of the international Vyasapuja book by none other than DRAVIDA PRABHU of San Diego, California. I have suggested that I be reinstated in my rightful position along with my party THE AUSTRALIAN SOCIETY for KRISHNA CULTURE soon the be THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR KRISHNA CULTURE as a yearly contributor to the International Vyasapuja Book on the occasion of the birthday anniversary of our glorious founder His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Letter dated August 23 rd, it would appear that in their unfathomable wisdom they have decided to ignore my letter. So be it IMPERSONALISTS! For a so- called devotee and so called bhakti yogi, this is certainly the worst insult. An impersonalist can never gain the association of the Supreme Personality of Godhead because an impersonalist is by nature offensive. Better be a sworn personal enemy of Krishna like Kamsa. That is a much better position because if Krishna personally kills you your material life has just ended. Please see the chapter “The killing of Kamsa” in Srila Prabhupada’s Krishna book.

And recently on the occasion of HH Holiness Gopal Krishna Swami’s birthday ceremony, I had a similar experience with one of his disciples of similar GBC rank, an suave Indian individual named Shyamananda Krishna Prabhu. His email address is: shyamananda.gkg@gmail.com. Now here we may point out another craziness of ISKCON management. If my information is correct, this individual Shyamananda is the Governing Body Commissioner of Bangladesh, but his residence is Brisbane, Australia. How can a responsible company director live outside his zone of control? Which company will allow such a farce? I know Srila Prabhupada the supreme director of ISKCON will not allow that and would blast him heavily for such nonsense to be rectified. And if not rectified, He will fire him. Company director means direct hands on the job, not remote management or electronic management. This is a farce. This individual puts his own sense gratification above the duty of care he has to his zone of management.

There is another higher level manager of ISKCON, who did the very same thing-that is to put his own sense gratification and pride before the good of the community. When the very house which served as a Temple for SRI SRI Gaura Nitai was sold at 32 Jennifer road, Seventeen Mile Rocks, this Tirtharaja or Anthony Sticha acted in a eccentric way which harmed very seriously the future and plans of ISKCON Brisbane. Quite ridiculously, this Anthony Sticha has tried every trick in the book to become a GBC of ISKCON himself. He was also involved in the disastrous and untimely sale of the property opposite 32 Jennifer road and which is now owned and developed by the Riverlife Baptist Church. This untimely sale resulted in the loss of millions of dollars for ISKCON Brisbane. And if my info is correct Tirtharaja is still a high level ISKCON manager for North Queensland and the Northern Territory.


Out of respect for our most illustrious spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada, instead of quoting only Pranam Mantra number 2 for the illustration of our thesis, we shall quote both mantras together as they form a cluster mantra for the glorification of Srila Prabhupada, the most dynamic and advanced philosopher and religionist of the modern era and for the next ten thousand years to come, as follows:

nama om visnu-padaya krsna-presthaya bhu-tale
srimate bhaktivedanta-svamin iti namine

namas te sarasvate deve gaura-vani-pracarine
nirvisesa-sunyavadi-pascatya-desa-tarine

“I offer my respectful obeisances unto His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who is very dear to Lord Krsna, having taken shelter at His lotus feet.

Our respectful obeisances are unto you, O spiritual master, servant of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami. You are kindly preaching the message of Lord Caitanyadeva and delivering the Western countries, which are filled with impersonalism and voidism.”

I suppose we should consider ourselves lucky that the editors have not erased the word “kindly” in the second mantra.

There will soon be a time when the ISKCON world as it is now will have to make a decision to stick to the status quo or to change in the light of the new revelation of Bhagavad Gita version 3.

As every one understands, those who will opt for the status quo will automatically become another offensive party to the betrayal of Srila Prabhupada and may wither away, whereas those who will embrace proper, relevant and authorised changes will prosper beyond our wildest dreams as did Srila Prabhupada Himself.

As an outstanding illustration of my point, I have met this Sunday morning of the 15 September 2024, an intelligent American lady in her seventies who has practically joined in her long ATMA-TATTVA searching life, every pseudo spiritual party available on the market–no need to give any names, you know which parties I mean–but has persistently refused to join ISKCON because she was under the impression that Srila Prabhupada is sexist. She has received at least twice two beautiful spiritual names, which I shall not reveal here in order to protect her privacy. Neither have I asked her permission to do so. This is also an outstanding illustration of the disastrous consequences caused by ISKCON’s leadership’s ignorance. There is dire need for a superior Commission to control the GBC. This Commision will be more ethical, non-dogmatic, non-sectarianand and generally wiser than the current GBC.

But by FATIMA’S HELL –a polite rendition of another expression–Srila Prabhupada is NOT sexist, whereas His two Bhagavad Gita editors ARE SEXIST, as well as both current presentation of Bhagavad Gita As It Is ARE SEXIST and as a consequences the whole of the ISKCON world including Srila Prabhupada Himself will appear to be sexist to the world and this may even–it must– go beyond and deeper than appearances, as the intelligent reader will conclude and understand. These two Bhagavad Gitas are to be called Bhagavad Gita As It Is NOT by Hayagriva and Bhagavad Gita As It Is NOT by Jayadvaita.

Srila Pabhupada is the kindest, most human, most considerate, smartest, fairest, misunderstood, under-glorified, under-appreciated, most concerned for the future of humanity, the greatest well wisher of humanity, most heavily mission-burdened individual, most intelligent, most dynamic and most advanced religious reformer and philosopher of the modern era. I often mention to my costumers, specially pharmacists, that Srila Prabhupada was a pharmacist in Allahabad, a credit to all pharmacists in the world. And finally Srila Prabhupada is a special emissary especially deputed by God, Krishna, to clear up the confusion, chaos and ignorance of these trouble times. He does have all the answers and all the answers are in his books.

Most finally, Srila Prabhupada is a faultless–means you just can’t find any defects– perfected being of the divine realm, as explained in the Bhagavad Gita. Nothing is material about Srila Prabhupada. He is 100 per cent transcendental and other-worldly and those who follow Him seriously will attain the very same status and the very same destination.

And why am I the only protestant in this odious case of Prabhupada abuse?

Why am I the only protestant in this odious case of elder abuse also called ageism?

Why am I the only protestant in the odious case of abuse of the departed heroe: shall we call it “departism”. I believe this concept has not been invested in the English language yet and I am a pioneer in the field. Please correct me if I am wrong. We can’t call it heroism as it is situated at the very other end of the scale. We may call it the lowest form of cowardice. To abuse living elderly is punishable by the law and is definitely cowardice. But to abuse the departed heroic elders is the lowest and most abject from of ageism. You just can’t get any lower. Srila Prabhupada is actually a war hero, because we fight Maya or the illusory energy unceasingly. Maya is another energy of the Lord. She is deputed by the Lord to keep us in this material world. She is the superintendent of the fort of the material world. She is a very powerful mystic yogini. She has at her disposal very powerful weapons such as sex and money. Please become aware of these facst. Please be-ware.

So why am I the only protestant? Why? Or am I not the only protestant ? Srila Prabhupada has got so many true and sincere disciples. Not the pretenders and abusers Jayadvaita and Hayagriva though and THEIR SUPPORTERS AS WELL. SRILA PRABHUPADA HAS GOT THOUSANDS OF DISCIPLES. Some of them have also departed indeed. Hayagriva has also departed. Naturally It is the duty of the true disciple to defend his Spiritual Master when attacked by those who are lower than the dogs. THIS WILL BE A TEST OF DISCIPLESHIP. So come on true disciples–and why not grand-disciples as well– of Srila Prabhupada stand up and defend and protect our most glorious and beloved Srila Prabhupada against these cheaters and elder abusers.

Let me rephrase it: Come on true and strong FOLLOWERS of Srila Prabhupada, please stand up and fight to defend and protect our most exalted personality, Srila Prabhupada, the saviour of the world.

The Queensland Police Service’s old motto was “Firmness with Courtesy”. And the human and personal — as opposed to impersonal– concern of courtesy included in this motto sounds very nice indeed. It was changed to “With Honour We Serve”. Our own motto may be.

“To serve, to defend, to protect and to fight for Srila Prabhupada.”

Here is another things that needs to be mentioned. People please beware. Some pseudo devotees of ISKCON are plain liars. They will not hesitate to lie to obtain what they want from you. This has been brought to my attention by Tom, the respected manager of the Byron Bay Farmer’s Market. Over the years these pseudo devotees of ISKCON have thus established their sad reputation and tarnished the good reputation of ISKCON itself. And Tom is very vigilant about this. He has controlled me in April 2022. And this time again in 2024 he has explained to me what are the procedure to be admitted to the markets. And of course, I have no choice but to surrender to his conditions as everyone else does. Please note carefully that I am not acting on my own behalf. I am acting on the behalf of Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. There is a gulf of difference between self centred egoistical acts and selflessly acting for Krishna as He demands in Bhagavad Gita As It Is version 3, chapter 18 verse 66:

Give up all varieties of religion, and just surrender unto Me; and in return I shall protect you from all sinful reactions. Therefore, there is no need to fear. 

Just as the state has got a natural right to demand military service –or taxes for that matter– from its citizens of both genders, similarly God or Krishna has got a superior right to demand our service. And He clearly says in His law book Bagavad Gita As It Is 2.49, that those who want to enjoy the fruits of their work are misers.

Bhagavad Gita 2.49 Version 3: “O Dhananjaya, keep all abominable activities at a far distant place by dint of devotional service, and in such consciousness, try to surrender unto Him. Those who want to enjoy the fruits of work are misers.”

Their are two more strong quotes on liars and the subject of lying from Srimad Bhagavatam, the step after Bhagavad Gita, that I may add:

SB 8.20.4

There is nothing more sinful than untruthfulness. Because of this, mother earth once said, “I can bear any heavy thing except a person who is a liar.”

PURPORT

On the surface of the earth there are many great mountains and oceans that are very heavy, and mother earth has no difficulty carrying them. But she feels very much overburdened when she carries even one person who is a liar. It is said that in Kali-yuga lying is a common affair: mayaiva vyavaharike (SB 12.2.3). Even in the most common dealings, people are accustomed to speaking so many lies. No one is free from the sinful reactions of speaking lies. Under the circumstances, one can just imagine how this has overburdened the earth, and indeed the entire universe.

SB 10.88.34

If the words of Lord Shambhu prove untrue in any way, O best of the demons, then kill the liar so he may never lie again.

I have lodged a formal complaint regarding this matter with the Secretariat of the International Society for Krishna consciousness, Australia chapter, in Melbourne on September 12 th. Waiting for a reply now.

Om tat sat.

Rather than an article this is a forum where valid contribution will be accepted and published with the name of its author. So please come forward and express your ideas about love. Thank you very much for your participation.

Moderator: Love is an intense attraction between two persons. Love is ecstatic. Love makes one mad in a positive sense. Love make one forgetful. I once passed a red light in my high school town, while thinking of a girl. Krishna kindly protected me .Love fulfils. Conversely the absence of love will create an unhealthy vacuum. The highest and purest form of love is Krishna-prema or love for God, Krishna. Caitanya Mahaprabhu exhibited an intense form of love for the Supreme and certainly that love sometimes became a danger for His safety. Caitanya Mahaprabhu is God Himself teaching the way of the devotee.

Is love sex and vice versa? Is sex love?

Let us say that love is love and sex is sex. But the two are certainly related on the mundane platform. Just like Dani from Brazil yesterday, said that he is trying to find love in sex and that love makes sex more attractive. But on the spiritual platform love is most intense and sex is absent as is the case of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. 

The French Poet Lamartine asked a fundamental question: [Alphonse Marie Louis de Prat de Lamartine (French: [alfɔ̃s maʁi lwi dəpʁa dəlamaʁtin]; 21 October 1790 – 28 February 1869)^[2] was a French author, poet, and statesman who was instrumental in the foundation of the Second Republic and the continuation of the tricolore as the flag of France.] (Wikipedia)

French:” Objects inanimes avez-vous donc une âme et la force d aimer?’

English:”Inanimate objects do you have a soul along with the power to love ???

This is just like asking the ocean whether it is wet. Of course the ocean is wet, you dilly.

Why am I saying this? Because the adjective “inanime” comes from Latin animus and the meaning of the word animus ] is “soul”. In other words the question will be: “O soulless entities have you got a soul? Everyone will understand that it is a stupid and time wasting question. I was never good at Latin, but I remember some basics. My Latin dictionary had a red cover and was about 8 cm thick. I just remember that I really had no vision for Latin. My translation from one to the other or from the other to the one were just terribly dislocated.

It is the second question that concerns us and it is quite fascinating. The real question is whether a non-soul exhibits the power of love. Clearly the answer is NIET or NO. Therefore we may say that the prerequisite for love is the existence of a soul exhibiting the power of love. No soul, no love. No person, no love. We may interchange the words soul and person. It also means that if we dont show love we become an imperson. The less love and affection we show, the more impersonal we become.

Just like in SOS or save our souls. Or sometimes the question is asked: “How many souls on board?” It clearly means how many persons are present on board. 

Nectar of instruction Text 4 gives the symptoms of love between devotees:

dadati pratigrhnati
guhyam akhyati prcchati
bhunkte bhojayate caiva
sad-vidham priti-laksanam

Translation

Offering gifts in charity, accepting charitable gifts, revealing one’s mind in confidence, inquiring confidentially, accepting prasada and offering prasada are the six symptoms of love shared by one devotee and another.

So love needs to be cultivated according to these 6 principles.

In its weaker form, love becomes affection, There is continuity. Whence the expression “love and affection” or the question:” Where do you get your love and affection from” And we may see that a dog and its master exchange affection. We may even say that a dog and its master mutually exchange love. In that sense love takes place inter species. Does a crocodile exchange love with humans. The only way a crocodile loves humans is to eat them. The other day I met this gentleman with artificial legs from the knees down. When asked what happened, he simply replied “Crocodile attacking in Darwin, NT” 

Bob Marley used to sing:” Is this love, is this love, is this love what I am feeling?” and there is the song called The Power of Love interpreted by various singers such as Celine Dion, Helen Fisher and Jennifer Rush as well. Quite well executed! 

“AMOUR” means love in French but I cannot see myself writing a French article on “L’ AMOUR”. Perhaps it is because the French word “AMOUR” carries an overly carnal connotation. It makes me feel uneasy. Faire l ‘amour means to make love. But I have no such hesitation with the English word “love”. This is a remarkable state of affairs which certainly deserves more analysis or sankhya yoga. I believe the Italian and Spanish equivalent of love are very similar to the French word “AMOUR”. In German language the equivalent of the word love is “LIEBE”.”Ich liebe dich und du liebst mich” or “I love you and you love me”. Here certainly contributions of our international audience will be highly appreciated. Thank you. 

In the mean time I have met Pablo from Valencia, Spain and he confirms “AMOR” for the Spanish rendition of love. Today, Sat 14th September2024 is Ekadasi so I was on my way to the shop to get some buckwheat when I met Pablo. Instead of sweet rice, we shall have sweet buckwheat. What a delight! Sweet buckwheat with apples. 

And believe it or not, later I met Dea from Italy, who confirmed that Italian for Love is “AMORE” and the jewel of the crown will be that this exalted young lady’s name DEA which means GODDESS in Italian language. So I am totally overwhelmed with Love and goddesses in the Byron shire. Byron Bay MUST be the replica of some higher planet, as I have always sensed and we MUST resume the transcendental RATHA YATRA PARADE of Lord Jaganath, Baladeva and lady Subhadra rather sooner than later. Dea had seen me the day before, on Thursday, and out of the kindness of her heart, she really wanted to help my Krishna cause and she purchased a Bhagavad Gita pocket edition. Dea was preoccupied with happiness and asked me several time whether I was a happy person and what was the path to real happiness. I replied to her that I was indeed the most happy person in the world and that the path to real happiness is to follow the path of Hare Krishna Bhakti yoga with 5 basics rules:

Rule number one is to chant the Hare Krishna maha mantra as much as possible up to the Prabhupada standard of 1728 per day and beyond

Then comes the cluster of four regulative principles of freedom as follows:

No illicit sex

No intoxication

No meat fish or egg eating and 

No gambling 

The idea being to overcome the three modes of material nature i.e. ignorance, passion and goodness and become situated on the transcendental platform of shuddha sattva or pure goodness. Not an easy job. after all!

This goes to the very basics of existence. The soul or its absence. The person or void or imperson. The dictionary accept the existence of the adjective impersonal, but does not recognise the noun “imperson”. That is quite paradoxal. We remember here Srila Prabhupada’s qualifying the English language as “whimsical”. But we are free to create the word “imperson”, at least for the purpose of this article and perhaps beyond as well. Some mental adjustment will be required. Srila Prabhupada, the Founder of the international Hare Krishna movement, came to the west with a clear mission which is also hinted at in His pranam mantras:

nama om visnu-padaya krsna-presthaya bhu-tale
srimate bhaktivedanta-svamin iti namine

namas te sarasvate deve gaura-vani-pracarine
nirvisesa-sunyavadi-pascatya-desa-tarine

“I offer my respectful obeisances unto His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who is very dear to Lord Krsna, having taken shelter at His lotus feet. Our respectful obeisances are unto you, O spiritual master, servant of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami. You are kindly preaching the message of Lord Caitanyadeva and delivering the Western countries, which are filled with impersonalism and voidism.”

BTW yesterday I met two very nice jewish ladies. From now on the word “jewish” will have a much higher connotation in my mind, even though knowing Jayadvaita, the pretender, subversive editor, had a bit of an opposite effect. My apologies to those who may not like this upgrading. But as far as possible, our business is to tell the truth AS IT IS. 

So there was Ari, who works at the pharmacy. In sanskrit the word ari means enemy. Krishna is called Murari, or the enemy of the demon Mura. The full story can be found in Srila Prabhupada’s Krishna book, chapter 59, The deliverance of the demon Bhaumasura. But Ari and this humble self, far from being enemies, got along really well. She told me how she followed standard training in the Israeli army and how they are allowed to take their guns home along with ammunition. When I expressed my disbelief, she replied sensibly and cooly that what will be the use of a gun without ammunition. She added: “But here in Australia there is no need for that.” I mentioned that in Switzerland also soldiers take their guns home. That’s a tribute to the discipline of the men and women of these countries. This will not at all be possible in some other countries, where people may be more subject to the lower modes of nature such as ignorance and passion, or in other words more susceptible to get carried away by their emotions. She also expressed her dislike of Prime Minister Netanyahu because she thought that he is not doing much or nothing for the country. I added: ” Yes he seems to be a real strong head.”

Than there was the other jewish lady from Sydney, who was waiting on the bench waiting for her friends to emerge from their shopping spree. First of all, I was very favourably surprised how easy she was to approach. Her openness and friendliness impressed me. She was a married lady with kids. I tried to sell her a Bhagavad Gita, which somehow did not happen and I gave her my business card in the case she changed her mind later on. Both were pretty ladies, a plus when it comes down to interacting. 

In conclusion let us quote Srila Prabhupada Himself on love:

Sneha-pasair. This sneha-pasa, sneha is there. Sneha means affection. Everyone got affection. The cats and dogs, they have got also affection. But the affection is wrongly placed. We are affectionate to the skin, to this body. So this is wrong affection. Real affection is to the soul. That we do not know. We have no information. We are loving our child, that is very good, but not the soul, but the body. If someway or other the child is dead or my father is dead, we cry, “Father has gone away.” Why father has gone away? The body which you loved, that is lying there. So we do not know whom to love. So if we love actually, let us love the soul. How the soul… Love…, to love means for benefit. That is real love. I love you for your benefit; you love me for my benefit. If I so-called love you for my benefit, that is lust. So in this material world there cannot be love. It is not possible. Because everyone loves, so-called love, he loves his sense gratification. A young boy loves a young woman for his sense gratification, not for her sense gratification. Similarly she also. So in this material, this cheating is going on. I want to satisfy my lusty desires, but it is going on in the name of love. There cannot be any love in this material world, because LOVE IS BETWEEN SPIRIT AND SPIRIT. But if we try to love the Supreme Spirit, Krsna, then we shall understand how our love can be spread in the spiritual world.

Samah sarvesu bhutesu mad-bhaktim labhate param.
brahma-bhutah prasannatma
na socati na kanksati
samah sarvesu bhutesu…
[Bg 18.54]When we come to the spiritual platform, then actual love begins. Mad-bhaktim labhate param.
That love begins… If we can love Krsna, then, through Krsna’s love, we can expand our love for everyone. Yatha taror mula-nisecanena trpyanti tat-skandha-bhujopasakhah [SB 4.31.14].
Just like watering the root of the tree, the energy is expanded to the leaves, to the flowers, to the branches, similarly, if we want to love… Everyone… Just like we are coming, some patriot. Nobody loves nobody; that is all professional business. If we actually love Krsna, then we can expand our love: patriotism, socialism, this “ism,” that…, nationalism. Just like we are trying to spread this Krsna consciousness movement all over the world because on account of love. Someway or other, we have come in contact with Krsna. We are understanding that these people are in maya, or in ignorance; they do not know how to become happy. So our little attempt is, “Let them become Krsna conscious.” This is out of love. Samah sarvesu bhutesu. Everyone is suffering for want of Krsna consciousness, therefore we are taking so much trouble. This is at least one side, that Krsna wants them to deliver, and if we work on behalf of Krsna, that is also love. We love Krsna.

Ref. VedaBase => Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.6.9 – June 25, 1976, New Vrindavan

Woolworths sells 10 l mineral water four times (4 X) the price of Aldi’s.

This is exorbitant!

Woolworths’ is $16.00 something

Aldi’s is $4.00 something

Not only that, but it bears no price display / tag.

As my carpark neighbour said it so nicely” They will get you at the checkout.”

If this price tag absence is wilful, it would represent quite a malevolent and illegal action by Woolworths.

And if my article comes to the attention of Woolworths’ managers and if I am right about the illegality of not displaying price tag, then I am herewith performing service for the Woolworths group. And they are debtor to me.

Not only that, when I realised the absence of price tag, I called for assistance and the lady then came to give the information required, i.e. $16 something. However, when I politely asked her to please chant the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra, she flatly refused.

Conclusion: Something is very wrong at Woolworths Byron Bay even though situated in a new facility.

Prime Minister Bob Hawke and Mikhail Gorbachev, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

Just as former Labor Prime Minister Bob Hawke significantly contributed and played a little known role in securing the eventual release of all the imprisoned Soviet Hare Krishna devotees in 1988, (at least 25 people) (https://iskconnews.org/remembering-help-in-freeing-soviet-hare-krishnas-rendered-by-former-australian-prime-minister-bob-hawke/), similarly our illustrious current Labor Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his government are now softly, softly suggesting to the Australian public that the better and redemptory way would be to reduce their red meat intake to help reduce green house gas emissions. In one sense the purpose of this invitation to reduce red meat intake does not really matter. Facts and actions matter indeed!

This is a courageous stand in a meat-loving, meat-eating and meat-producing country and the Hare Krishna movement advises all people to give up all meat eating, whether it be red meat, white meat, or any colour type of meat, etc., for the purpose of spiritual integration, advancement and emancipation. Meat-eating carries bad karma because it involves the unnecessary killing of millions of innocent animals. So we may say that this is a nice, welcome and encouraging first step in the right direction on the part of the Albanese government . Thank you very much Prime Minister Albanese! May Lord Krishna truly bless both of you, Prime Ministers, as well as the great and beautiful nation of Australia, and its proud and free people.

This article is partly based on information supplied by the newspaper “The Australian” of Friday September 6th 2024. Please find picture of relevant article by Ms. Rosie Lewis.

The Hare Krishna Movement advises four rules of yoga life style, also called the four yogic regulative principles as follows:

No gambling.

No intoxication of any kind

No illicit sex

No meat, fish or egg eating. (There certainly is no dearth of protein substitute.)

And of supreme importance above all these rules, stands the chanting of the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra as follows:

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna

Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

Hare Rama Hare Rama

Rama Rama Hare Hare.

Committed and resolute members of the Hare Krishna Movement chant this great Mantra of Deliverance at least 1728 times daily, as per advise of it’s Founder-Acharya, His Divine Grace A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Who after carefully studying the conditions and mentality of western people upon His arrival in USA in 1965, made this adjustment of 1728 mantras, as a fourfold decrease, down from 6912 mantras traditionally practiced in Indian Mathas or monasteries, or 16 rounds only down from 64 rounds of Japa beads daily.

It may be noted here that this type of adjustment is the sole prerogative of an Acharya or the topmost transcendentally situated and self-realised authority and if we follow strictly this advise about the four principles and the chanting. In other words, if we follow strictly and carefully these five principles, our spiritual success is guaranteed one hundred percent without any doubt .

Please become a committed member. Do not fear. We will show you the way.

As a conclusion to His, at the most one hour talk with Arjuna on the battlefield of Kuruksetra, just 150 air km north of New Delhi, the capital of India, soon to be known again as Bharata, Lord Krishna says in Bhagavad Gita As It Is, 18.66, Version 3:

“Give up all varieties of religion, and just surrender unto Me; and in return I shall protect you from all sinful reactions. Therefore, there is no need to fear.” 

In the past, I always had a very good opinion and impression of Kmart. They seemed to be eager to always offer the best possible deal to the people in general. So I generally purchased all kinds of goods from them and whenever I needed something my first mental reaction was “Let me check out K-Mart for the best deal, I am surely going to get it there.” And it would happen.

Under the influence of the inexorable progression of the age of Kali, this now seems to be changing on a downward trend. Kmart introduced new rules on the 1st of August 2024. Here is my story and experience:

Previously I had purchased a pair of shoes of K-mart for $10.00. These shoes were perfectly OK and I got the full value for my money. Consequently I purchased the same pair again.

I wore the second pair of shoes three times only:

The first time I just wore them walking out of the K-mart store. Immediately I had a bloodied right heel, which took a few days to heal.

The second time, was for my health-required daily walk in the park and I do not specifically remember any incidence. There may have been signs of things to come.

The third time again I went for my daily walk in the park. After the walk, I had one blisters on each of my feet. The blister on my left foot was quite big, perhaps 10 mm wide, and the second blister on my right foot was perhaps 5 mm wide. Additionally I had a sore sole, especially right hand, back sole. Obviously, I could and should not wear these shoes again and would have to return them for a refund. And that’s were the problems started. Clever lawyers will work out the technicalities of the approach.

First I met Ms Marie-Louise Howe, a “line manager”, at the Lismore Kmart “service desk”. Although I had found my receipt again in the very bottom of the original purchase bag, labelled “I am a keeper. Please reuse me. I am made from 80 % recycled plastic”, she absolutely refused to refund my $10.00, under the plea that the shoes had too much wear and tear. We had to interrupt further negotiations, as the time was 9 PM, store closing time. She advised me however to contact K-Mart Customer Service on 1800124125. I assume this office is situated in Melbourne. When I asked Marie-Louise to read the receipt, she replied that she was unable to do so because she didn’t carry her glasses.

Here we may challenge that if she requires glasses to see properly and is unable to read the receipt without her glasses, then how can she determine exactly the state of use of the shoes without her glasses? We may detect here some bad faith and a strong and overriding determination to NOT REFUND my miserly $10.00, whatever the case. But this is not all about money, as some people will think all the time. This is about integrity. This is about the legendary Australian Fair Dealing.

I may quote Alexander Hamilton, (1755/1795—1804), an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first U.S. secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795 during George Washington’s presidency, (info supplied by Wikipedia):

“A nation which can prefer disgrace to danger is prepared for a master and deserves one.”


This matter was going to culminate the next day with David, one of the general managers of the Lismore, NSW store. I shall also assume here that the daily income of an average K Mart store is not less that AU$ 100.000 Please correct me if I am wrong.

Yes, I decided to go back the next day and meet David, one the general managers of the Lismore K Mart store. First of all, when requested, David declined to give me his surname. In his great wisdom, David found yet another reason to NOT REFUND. He indicated that my receipt was FAKE.

I felt very much insulted and told him so because he was directly accusing me of dishonest dealings with K Mart.

We detect here a blatant bad faith on the part of this co-manager of Kmart. Being a top echelon executive in the Kmart business, we would expect David to know everything about Kmart business, including Kmart receipts. The widely used thermal printing technology used to print these receipts allows the relatively rapid deterioration of the receipts. It is not the good, old and lasting ink and paper technology. In this way, and in many others, we are being short changed by modern technology. But again that is a Kmart and other parties’ problem and it is not at all fair that the customers be penalised for the use of defective technology. I am wondering whether ATO will not have, at times, problems with such thermal printed deteriorating receipts.

Next I tried Kmart Ballina and the manager in person, a lady of the name “JO” still gave the same reply “No”. I shall now try Kmart Headquarters and / or website.

Kmart cannot be counted in the group of globally trusted brands such Toyota, Apple, etc…… or the outstanding Australians such as ALDI, BUNNINGS, OFFICE WORKS and JB HI FI. REPCO also is populated by generous and well meaning individuals.

On the whole, the balance of benefit in this transaction is totally in favour of K mart.

I derived 4, at the maximum 5 hours of service from those shoes and I will never wear them again. Kmart gets to keep the total amount paid, i.e. $10. So where is fairness? Where is the legendary Australian fair go?

In simple words, in this transaction Kmart gets EVERTYHTING and I get NOTHING.

In my dictionary, this is a plain rip off!

Let it be known to all Australians consumers that Kmart does not mind, under certain circumstances, to rip us off.

Besides that, we may ALL be here a victim of substandard Chinese imports and that’s another big story. The other day my hoodie’s zipper just fell irreparably apart. I checked the label and yes “Made in China” it read. Another cheap sub-standart Chinese import. In this way we are being cheated not only out of our money, but also of our time, which after all is even more valuable than money, as no amount of money can buy us time. Have you ever come across a time shop???

But finally on the 10th of September 2024, at Kmart Tweeds Heads, after my x-ieme try, one outstanding Kmart-gentleman agreed to give me a credit voucher of 10 dollars for these useless, sub-standard Chinese import shoes. He agreed to give me his full name. But better not publish it, as he may be criticised by his co-worker even though his outstanding action is fully justified. He deserves to be congratulated by Kmart instead for keeping up the good name of the company for just $10.00. That’s a good deal for Kmart. Hare Krishna!

All is well that ends well. But thats because I am a traveler. Everyday Australians, sedentary people, the mums with kids, will not get this opportunity and WILL ACTUALLY GET RIPPED OFF. They need protection from these kinds of unfair dealings by the mercantile class.

Yesterday, October 8 th 2024, Kmart gave me a chance to acquire a pair of China made boots. Label says: Boot so Rainboot. Black. Mens footwear. I was the last pair at Kmart Noosa Junction and the size was 13, which gives easy slip in and easy slip out feature just like a pair of thongs. That is very welcome. My normal size is 11. No leather either, which we, Hare Krishnas, avoid for non-violence reasons. All synthetic. And the bang lies in the price: a whooping $ 8.00, yes, you heard me right: $8.00 only, discounted from $25.00. Even the sales guy couldn’t believe it when his handheld computer gave him $8.00. I was looking for this type of boots for a long time. It’s just perfect for the rainy days. So on the whole, I have to admit, Kmart wins. My confidence in Kmart is now fully re-established. All glories to Kmart! Now I have $2.00 left only on my original $10 credit voucher. What other miracle is Kmart going to perform for these remaining $2.00? That is the question. Please stay tuned……..

Different companies send at different times to their consumers a survey to gauge their impact. This is the most comprehensive survey I have ever done. And the result is very positive for the company Kmart. And I am happy for them. After all:” Errare human est”, which is Latin for “To err is human.” As long as the intention is good, beneficial and benevolent, even though we may err, it will be fixed to everyone’s satisfaction at the end.

Just like our respected Prime Minister himself, Anthony Albanese, apologised for his “unkind and hurtful” comment using the Tourette disease. Full wording of the apology by the Prime Minister:

“Today in question time I made comments so unkind and hurtful. I knew it was wrong as soon as I made the comment. I apologised and I withdrew as soon as I said it. But it should not have happened. I also want to apologise to all Australians who suffer from this disability. I regret saying it. It was wrong. It was insensitive and I apologise.”

The Krishna Conscious Observer. (KCO)

SAMKIRTAN RASA.

For the last two years, I did not perform at the very top of my capabilities for Krishna. This is perhaps an understatement. I was exhausted from a life time of exertion in Krishna’s service, because for Krishna I never hold back. He is the top most object of sacrifice as He confirms in His book, the Bhagavad Gita As It Is 9.27: 

Roman transliteration from original Devanagari script.

yat karoshi yad ashnashi

yaj juhoshi dadasi yat

yat tapasyasi kaunteya

tat kurushva mad-arpanam

Translations

Version 3. Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer, whatever you give away, and whatever austerities you perform—do that, O Arjuna, as an offering unto Me.

Version 2. Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer or give away, and whatever austerities you perform–do that, O son of Kunti, as an offering to Me.

Version 1. O son of Kunti, all that you do, all that you eat, all that you offer and give away, as well as all austerities that you may perform, should be done as an offering unto Me.

One thing I could have perhaps done better, is to approach the whole thing with more balance and I beg to apologise herewith to all prabhus (including female “prabhus”) that I may have upset in the process. Instead of passionately engaging in Krishna’s service and getting burned out over an over again, I could have perhaps acted more in the mode of goodness and in a more steady and energy conserving pace.

These are however, retrospective remarks after the events. And Bhagavad Gita 3.5 clearly states: 

na hi kashcit ksanam api

jatu tishthaty akarma-krit

karyate hy avashah karma

sarvah prakriti-jair gunaih

Version 2. Everyone is forced to act helplessly according to the qualities he has acquired from the modes of material nature; therefore no one can refrain from doing something, not even for a moment.

Version 1. All men are forced to act helplessly according to the impulses born of the modes of material nature; therefore no one can refrain from doing something, not even for a moment.

Srila Prabhupada’s Original Transcript (OT) is not available at this point of time and we hope this will change in the future.

But above all, and as I am now hovering around the seventies: one illusory thought started creeping sneakily into my mind as follows: “I am now getting old.” My dear reader, please note that this is an absolutely illusory and dangerous thought and the reality is that, yes, the body is getting old and we are emphatically not these bodies. We are conclusively spirit souls instead: “Aham Brahmasmi”. Perhaps we should chant this mantra more often and reflect upon its meaning and implications. Srila Prabhupada sometimes use to challenge His disciples: “Are you really convinced of this philosophy?” Or are we just paying lip service?

And what helped me again to deepen this essential realization? It is further absorption in the study of Bhagavad Gita As It Is by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada that helped me to turn the tide. Instead of foolishly thinking:”I am getting older”, I am now productively thinking “I am getting younger.” I am also thinking: “Old body just after some little time, means brand new body”, either material or spiritual. Is this not a bright future for everyone and an encouraging perspective? It definitely is! Srila Prabhupada confirms this in BGAII, 2.20, purport. I am quoting version 3:

“The soul is not born, but because he takes shelter of the material body, the body takes its birth, on account of the soul. The soul does not take birth, therefore the soul does not die. Anything which has birth has also death. And because the soul has no birth, therefore he has no past, present and future. He is eternal and ever existing, although being the oldest, there is no trace in history of his coming into being. Under the impression of the body, we seek the history of birth, etc. of the soul. Denial of his future means the soul does not at any time become old, as the body does. The so-called old man, therefore, feels in the same spirit as he felt in his childhood or youth. The changes of the body do not affect the soul. The soul does not deteriorate like a tree, or anything material.  The soul has no by-product either.” 

Just see the very great power of thought and controlled mind lead by authority! 

As I implied, I interrupted my Prabhupada-given-travelling-samkirtan-book-distribution-mission for 2 years. And now since the 2^nd of September 2024, I am back on the road again. And what a blissful experience it is indeed. Externally, the weather is very inviting, not too hot not too cold as in BGAII 6.16:

Versions 1, 2 and 3: There is no possibility of one’s becoming a yogi, O Arjuna, if one eats too much or eats too little, sleeps too much or does not sleep enough.

The yogi will prefer the middle grounds to both extremes. Walking on the Byron Bay beach while chanting one’s rounds is just wonderful! I just could not resists the pull and remain locked up in the big city of Brisbane, the 2024 Olympic City. And The Australian people and visitors are just soooooooo friendly!

I come across all kinds of people and memorable experiences too numerous to relate here. But let me give some:

Because I had forgotten my own blanket and because in September it still can get cold at night in the van, I had to quickly find some suitable blankets. Charities can help and do such a wonderful job in giving a second life to all sorts of items. Some blankets are slightly damaged, are clean and a meant for dogs because of the damage. They cost one dollars per blanket. To save Krishna’s money this is what I bought on September 2nd in Murwimlumbah. Their body warmth retaining function is not affected at all. In olden days, surplus riches were directly donated by the rich to the poor. Nowadays, this function is perfectly carried out by charities and one can only encourage people to donate their surplus goods to bona fide charities. Many practice this type of charity already.

On 3 Sept. 2024, I met a male drunk in the main street of Lismore. Of course, he totally denied being drunk. His girlfriend was in Brisbane, 150 km away. They were taking a brake from each other. Which sane woman will want to associate with such a fellow? But he started chanting the Hare Krishna Maha mantra a bit in hideous way and squatting way. He was jumping like a frog. He wanted me to drink from his so-called water bottle, which I absolutely declined. But he was chanting and I went along for some time because he will be benefited. Devotees from Iskcon New Govardhana come here regularly for Hari Nam. That was perhaps the source of his inspiration. Under Srila Prabhupada’s inspiration, devotees from Iskcon New Govardhana also exhibited their mercy by distributing much needed prasadam during the 2022 floods. So the Hare Krishnas enjoy a good reputation in the town of Lismore, NSW. That was the flood of the century and according to a Lismore man I met yesterday, many people died as well. The flood was alarmingly several meters high, more than enough to drown. I was staying at ISKCON New Govardhana at the time. Krishna had by force dropped me there.

That was in the afternoon of September 3rd 2024. In the morning and in the previous town, I met a martial art teacher of good stature. Some of the men here and in Brisbane are bulky and could really be heroes of the Maha Bharata; an awe inspiring sight. He was just taking his brunch in a popular cafe. He paused and paid attention to my words. When promoting BGAII, I generally mention that Srila Prabhupada states that the Japanese word “ju jitsu” comes from the Sanskrit “yuyutsava” as in BGAII 1.1 “dharma-ksetre kuru-ksetr samaveta yuyutsavah.”

These words by Srila Prabhupada also struck me and prove perhaps that the Japanese language also comes from Sanskrit, the mother of all languages. What about Chinese anyway? Does Chinese come from Sanskrit as well? I have not found yet a conclusive reply to this question. He very calmly accepted a copy of BGAII. I also asked him what happen if two fighters actually hit each other. He replied that he has to personally intervene and cool things down. This is not my kind of entertainment for sure.:)

And an hour or so previously, I had a very wonderful experience with a lady in her forties. People think that times are tough and are therefore very reluctant to donate away money. So I tried to engage her, especially I tried to get her to give a donation. But none of it worked. So I gave her my printed Hare Krishna mantra business-card-size-sheet and led her through the chanting. Before we finished she grabbed a box, searching for something. I thought she was looking for a counter mantra for my attention. But actually she was looking for Laksmi and donated. I congratulated her for enthusiastic chanting and asked her to chant more in my absence also.

Morning of the 5th of September 2024: It was 2AM and I had just woken and was driving down the main street of Ballina, New South Wales town in search for a public toilet to pass water. When I passed the town’s police station, two officers were exiting the station and entering their service police vehicle. I quickly approached and asked: “Officers please, where can I find a public toilet now.” He replied quickly and courteously: “Just use the toilet in the entrance lobby.” It took me a few instants to realise that he was giving permission and enjoining me to use the police station’s toilet. I did not expect such friendliness and fraternity. But I was really flattered. Thanks very much, officer, for making my life a little easier! And that’s not all. Inside the station there was a graceful female police officer. When I offered her a complimentary copy of “Reservoir of Pleasure” by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, my illustrious Guru, she gladly accepted. She sounded like she knows Hare Krishna a bit and likes it.

Later in the morning I met a real demon, hard and deadly. As I approached him for book distribution, he literally ordered me in no uncertain terms to clear his space. I counter-asked him who he was and what authority he had order me in this way. We were both trembling. I received an incoming phone call at that very moment, which I missed. He went to get the drink he was waiting for and I shouted loudly: “Have a nice day, Sir”, courtesy being most important in such situations and in all other situations. That was a somewhat tense situation.

The idea is that to deal with people in general on behalf of Sri Caitanya Mahapabhu, and especially to try to get them to take a Prabhupada book, carries a very special taste or Rasa.

Srila Prabhupada emphatically declares that:

“Sankirtana means preaching, so for some time try in other ways to spread our Krishna philosophy anywhere and everywhere, by selling books, as many as possible, by holding kirtana and classes in schools and college — wherever there is preaching, that is Sankirtana. You have an American brain, now use it to think of new ways to preach in Japan”. Ref. VedaBase => Letter to: Sudama — Delhi 20 November, 1971

and

“My dear Bhakta das,

Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter of January 28, 1972, and I am pleased to note that everything is progressing nicely in San Diego center. I especially appreciate your attitude toward increasing more and more the sales of our books, that will sanctify all other activities of preaching because preaching means selling books.“Ref. VedaBase => Letter to: Bhakta dasa — Calcutta 21 February, 1972

and there is of course, His now famous Los Angeles class:

Srimad-Bhagavatam class 1.16.8.

Los Angeles, 5 January 1974

There is no comparison. There is no literature throughout the universe like Srimad-Bhagavatam. There is no comparison. There is no competition. Every word is for the good of the human society, every word, each and every word. Therefore we stress so much in the book distribution. Somehow or other, if the book goes in one’s hand, he will be benefited. At least he will see, “Oh, I have taken so much price. Let me see what is there.” If he reads one shloka, his life will be successful, if one shloka, one word. This is such nice things. Therefore we are stressing so much, 

“PLEASE DISTRIBUTE BOOKS, DISTRIBUTE BOOKS, DISTRIBUTE BOOKS!

The simple definition of Rasa is the taste we experience from carrying out a particular activity. Rasa is not just between Krishna and the gopis. When we observe the world, we can see mostly material Rasas everywhere. The smiling mother lovingly holding her new born baby is Rasa. And have you observed how happy the dog is when the master throws the ball and the dog fetches it? Some dogs will perform this activity all day, I assume. So we could say Rasa, not money, makes the world go round, because we are pleasure seeking entities: “Ananda mayo ‘bhyasat.”

“When we mention the name Krsna, we do not refer to any sectarian name. Krsna means the highest pleasure, and it is confirmed that the Supreme Lord is the reservoir or storehouse of all pleasure. We are all hankering after pleasure. Ananda-mayo ‘bhyasat (Vedanta-sutra 1.1.12). The living entities, like the Lord, are full of consciousness, and they are after happiness. The Lord is perpetually happy, and if the living entities associate with the Lord, cooperate with Him and take part in His association, then they also become happy.” Ref. VedaBase => Bg Introduction

My apologies to Mayapur Sasi Prabhu and others: I do not take the trouble any longer to report to the World Samkirtan Newsletter in Los Angeles, USA, for various reasons, one of which being that time is extremely precious and one is always looking to claw back again a few minutes here and there, which will ultimately amount to a serious saving of time. Besides that, my personal scores at WSN are substantially understated, as in the beginning we never reported our scores. In some European countries, we did not even know of the existence of WSN. Mayapur Sasi Prabhu and myself talked about this some years backs and we estimated that my score was underestimated by 50%. But no corrective action was taken. Besides that it may be argued that collecting Samkirtan results just for the sake of it, comes under the heading “niyamagraha” as in Nectar of Instruction, verse 2. If that is the case, collecting scores will be a hindrance to the execution of devotional service. This is what I am experiencing, and time spent collecting scores would be more wisely used in actually distributing books. But I shall be happy to send you one kg of New South Wales macadamia nuts, as a token of appreciation for your steady services over the years. Just send me your address please.

atyaharah prayasash ca
prajalpo niyamagrahah
jana-sangash ca laulyam ca
shadbhir bhaktir vinashyati

“One’s devotional service is spoiled when he becomes too entangled in the following six activities: (1) eating more than necessary or collecting more funds than required; (2) overendeavoring for mundane things that are very difficult to obtain; (3) talking unnecessarily about mundane subject matters; (4) practicing the scriptural rules and regulations only for the sake of following them and not for the sake of spiritual advancement, or rejecting the rules and regulations of the scriptures and working independently or whimsically; (5) associating with worldly-minded persons who are not interested in Krsna consciousness; and (6) being greedy for mundane achievements.”Ref. VedaBase => NoI: verse 2

Travelling book distribution Sankirtan adventure requires good physical energy and careful planning and organization. I did the 3600 km Cairns round trip, plus extra kms for side trips, every single year from 1997 to 2021, that’s 25 years or a quarter of a century of book distribution between Brisbane and Cairns in the sunny and glorious Queensland. And if you ask about my identity, I shall reply that I am simply a beggar with a “Village Natural Pot Set Yogurt 2 kg. From the heart” plastic container in the guise of a kamandalu.

Which brings to mind the following. Yesterday I also saw a man who had artificial legs from both knees down. I enquired about his predicament. He replied “Crocodile attack in Darwin, Northern Territory”. He did not allow me to take pictures even of his legs only, sorry. What did he do in his previous life to be so mangled in this life?

For the time being, I shall restrict my travels to 150 km north and south of Brisbane. Krishna willing I shall, in due course, resume my trip to Cairns as well. 

While arriving in the Holy Land of Byron Bay on the 6th of September, I FIRST paid my obeisances, as one should when arriving in a Holy Place. A place is made holy by the activities of the Lord Himself. In the past, Lord Jaganath, Lord Balaram and their sister Lady Subhadra paraded many, many times in Byron Bay, New South Wales, Australia, in what we call the Ratha Yatra parade. That definitely makes Byron Bay a “Tirtha”, or Holy Place. We may also ask: “Why was this most important event, in such an important, cosmopolitan, internationally visited and most easterly town of Byron Bay stopped ?” WHY WAS IT STOPPED??? Perhaps the correct policy would be to resume the yearly Byron Bay Ratha Yatra. Brisbane City Ratha Yatra cannot replace Byron Bay Ratha Yatra.

On one prestigious and mercyfull occasion, the Supreme Lord Jaganath, chose even this humble self to be His carrier, as He travelled in my book-distribution-Samkirtan-van from New Govardhana, Murwillumbah to Byron Bay and back. Hard copy pictures are available. I shall have to transform them into e-pictures and publish them. Under the original inspiration of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the very founder of the International Hare Krishna Movement, the Ratha Yatra parade happens now yearly in many great cities of the world, including New York, Tokyo and Brisbane, the 2032 Olympic City.

I would have liked to mention exactly the number of times Lord Jaganath paraded in Byron Bay. I can remember probably about 8 times, two times per year, so 4 years. But the person who detains this information is Ajita Prabhu, the organiser or the 2 yearly Ratha Yatras and CEO of ISKCON New Govardhana, Murwillumbah. I have sent him an e-letter of request. But he is not replying. It seems that Ajita Prabhu is sulking. But the more pin-pointed question will be: WHAT IS AJITA PRABHU HIDING behind HIS PERSISTENT SILENCE. That is the real question. We know how badly Ajita treated my God brother Gopinath Acharya, who has now passed away. The neighbour farm owner in his humanitarian kindness gave shelter to Gopinath Acharya. It just seems that sometimes so-called ISKCON devotees or PSEUDO DEVOTEES exhibit inhuman behaviour. There was a case in ISKCON France where a disabled lady committed suicide out of despair and also cases of inhuman exploitation of older defenceless people. Krishna consciousness does not mean to re-install the darkest of ages. Did you see how kindly the so-called non-devotees treat their disabled individuals? We have a lot to learn from them in that regard and other regards as well.

From personal experience, I know that Ajita is an ice cold, feelingness, ruthless business person. That is unfortunately a trait of his character. He will stir up your feelings for Krishna and get you to make a donation for his temple. And if you subsequently ask him for a favor, he will just ignore you. If you will try to stir up his feelings for your cause, you will find that Ajita just has no feelings, he is as cold as an iceberg in Antartica.

I prescribe the best cure for this disease: Please get out on the front line and please distribute books, please distribute books, please distribute books. Get smashed in confrontation with adversity of the real world, instead of taking shelter in your soft cushioned temple. “Do-or-die” is the motto. And then later, please become a rasika-Samkirtan-book-distribution bhakta!

Australia is such an amazingly dynamic and efficient place! That means good brains are overseeing things, and if we can engage such good brains in Lord Krishna’s service, the result will exceed our wildest expectations. I have an inkling that one of the reason of this state of affairs is that there are still many Britishers involved in the management of Australia. This was confirmed by a former Canberra public servant I met in the Ballina swimming pool. (Not that I have time to go swimming. But I do need a shower possibly mornings and evenings at any possible location.) This gentleman informed me that up to the point of Gough Whitlam, the 21 Prime Minister of Australia, the public service was the exclusive domain of Britishers or something like that. Srila Prabhupada also had high esteem for the Britisher and how they managed Kolkata. I believe in one letter He writes that He Himself is Britisher by education.

I have also noticed that even the co-CEO of Iskcon Australia His Holiness Rama Swami has blocked me from reaching him by email. And the question again will be: “WHAT IS WRONG WITH THEM. CAN THEY BE TRUSTED ??? There is no openness here. There is no glasnost, here. We do not know what they are scheming behind the scenes. Therefore EMPHATICALLY WE DONT TRUST THEM!!! UN POINT C EST TOUT. WE JUST DON’T TRUST THEM!

Instead OF LEADING A POLICY OF UNION for ISKCON, THEY SEEM INSTEAD TO LEAD A NONSENSE POLICY of ISKCON DIVISION and RESENTMENT.

I prefer by far the association of so-called karmis, especially when they are prepared to buy a Prabhupada book, to the association of PSEUDO DEVOTEES.

All glories to Lord Caitanya’s world wide Samkirtan movement, and all glories to its Commander in Chief, His Divine Grace A.C. Baktivedanta Swami Prabhupada!!! 

BYRON BAY, NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA, September 7th 2024, 4.30 AM.

PS. I want to put this down for the record. On the evening of the 7th of September 2024, at about 10.15 PM, Krishna got me to fetch a nice branch of an unknown tree. Oddly enough, I was then situated in the town’s cemetery. The reason I did this is that a have a somewhat stiff back and I was seeking a method to counter this situation. That same morning on the Byron Bay beach a kayaker, was warming himself up with some exercises using a paddle. I talked to him and decided that’s what I need to do to improve my back situation. Whence the fetching of the branch. The next morning, through some manipulation I transformed the branch into a nice stick about 2 meters high and of red-brownish collar, diameter: 2.5 cm at bottom at 3.7 cm at the top. There is a lingering suspicion that Krishna has another purpose in mind and gives me advance warning. In the past 24 years I had intense and decreasing lingering for this. And now I am totally indifferent to it. One way or another my preaching will go on. Let us see what the future will bring. Hare Krishna .

“Preaching is our real business, not getting big, big buildings and doing business for money just to maintain them, no. We shall live under a tree, that is not difficult, but we must go on preaching every moment, that will make us happy.” Letter to Chayavana Nov 11 1972.

“Regarding general state of affairs at Amsterdam temple, I can understand there is some disturbance among you, but that is not to be taken very seriously. Real business is preaching work, and if there is full attention on this matter only, all other businesses will be automatically successful. Fighting amongst ourselves is not at all good, but if our preaching work is neglected, or if we fall down in following the regulative principles such as rising before four, chanting 16 rounds, like that, if these things are not strictly observed then maya will enter and spoil everything. So my best advice to you is to strictly observe these things yourself and be the example so that all others may follow.” Letter to Madhumangala Nov 18th, 1972

PPS After having my ears pierced on September 12th 2024, at Sharkys Tattoo & Body Piercing, 1/103 Jonson st. Byron Bay 2481 NSW, Australia, phone 02 66808234, and after a full day of Samkirtan book distribution—they are an very excellent and long established business venture and I recommend them for their expertise and care— I have decided today at 8 AM of 16 September 2024 to go to the local pharmacy to buy nail polish. This is not a question of effemination. It is simply a matter of putting some color into one’s life. Color has a psychological influence on the individual. Yesterday three ladies in a row wore 1) red 2) black and 3) blue nail polish. It looked very good on these respectable ladies. Number 3 lady was from Norway in exchange from her own University in Norway with Gold Coat University and she was very straight forward in her dealings. I tell you later why I say this. No need to say she was also a very smart lady. If my memory is correct, her name was Elena. This is the first time I meet a lady from Norway on book distribution Samkirtan in Byron Bay. She mentioned how Norway has a very sound health system. But I meet so many people from South America, and especially from Argentina, incredible!

I think I shall start with blue, which at least for me is the colour of hope, just like the vast cloudless sky. After due consideration I may choose the tricolour, red, white and blue. After all, I was born in France and France is the land of the REVOLUTION. Please refer to the year 1789 for more information.

Today, Sept 16th, is another anniversary, the anniversary of my half year, in other words today I am XX and a half years old. All glories to Srila Prabhupada, the attorney general of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and my splendid Spiritual Master. May I ever hold tighter and tighter to His lotus feet.