690000 - Letter to Archbishop of Canterbury written from Los Angeles
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Unknown Date
His Divine Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury
London, England
Your Holiness,
Please accept my respectful and humble obeisances. I beg to introduce myself as an Indian monk, following the Vedic principles of religious life. At present, I am in the renounced order of sannyasa (age 73) and preaching God Consciousness all over the world. I came to America in 1965, and since then, I have many followers belonging to both Christian and Jewish faiths. Thus far I have established 17 centers for Krishna Conscious temples throughout the United States, Canada, Germany, London, and France.
My mission is in the line of Lord Caitanya, Who advented Himself 482 years ago in India, and Who preached God consciousness all over the country. His mission is to revive God consciousness throughout the world, on the basis of Srimad-Bhagavatam (Science of God). The basic principle of Srimad-Bhagavatam is that any religious faith which helps a man to develop Love of God, without any other motive, is transcendental religion. And the easiest process for this age is to chant the Holy Names of God. From this definition of religion as we find in the Srimad-Bhagavatam, the criterion test of religion is how it helps people to develop their dormant Love of God. This love is not artificially invoked, but it is aroused by association with devotees of the Lord and by hearing from the authorized scriptures.
The human form of life is especially meant for this purpose of reviving our God consciousness because the better development of consciousness is found only in the human body. Animal propensities are found both in animal life and human life, and unfortunately, people are nowadays more concerned with the principles of sense gratification, or the animalistic part of life. Thus, the world is gradually declining in God consciousness. This tendency is very much deteriorating, and because Your Holiness is the Head of a great religious sect, I would be very pleased to meet with you, and perhaps chalk out some program for helping to alleviate the present Godless situation.
The human society should not be allowed to continue in its present path at the risk of decreasing truthfulness, hygienic principles, forgiveness, and mercifulness. Without proper instruction on these principles, the human society is gradually degrading in the matter of religiosity and justice. At present, "Might makes right" is gradually taking the place of morality and justice. There is practically no more family life, and the union of man and woman is gradually degrading to the standard of mere sexuality. Our Krishna Consciousness Movement is meant for overhauling the whole situation. We are creating man of character, and we are training our disciples to become lovers of God, or Krishna. From the very beginning, they are trained to refrain from the following four principles of degradation: 1) sex life outside marriage, 2) intoxication, 3) meat eating, and 4) gambling and idle sports. Our teaching are based on the authorized movement of Lord Caitanya, the teaching of the Bhagavad-gita as the beginning, and the teaching of Srimad-Bhagavatam as the graduate study.
I do not wish to prolong the body of this note further, but if you think that a meeting with you will be beneficial for the human society at large, I shall be very much pleased if You Holiness will grant me an interview. Thanking you in anticipation for an early reply.
Yours in the service of the Lord.
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami