690403 - Letter to Krishna dasa written from San Francisco

Letters by Date, 1969

His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

April 03, 1969

Dear Krishna das,

Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated March 27, 1969, and I have carefully noted the contents. In the first portion of the letter you have expressed your desire how to learn surrender. This surrendering process is unconditional. Surrendering does not mean that one should surrenderly only in favorable circumstances. That is not surrender. Surrender means in any condition the surrendering process must continue. In the latter portion of your letter it appears that you have been disturbed on some trivial matters, and you wish to leave the place and go to London. That is not at all good. You must work conjointly. That is my desire, and if you fight amongst yourselves for some individual interests, that is not surrender. Whatever the other two boys may do, that I shall see, but unto you my request is that you must remain in Hamburg until I order you to leave the place.

I understand that you have sent passage money to Jaya Govinda. Let him come first. He is a very sensible boy, and I hope on his arrival there will be no dissension. Last night, one German boy was initiated by me, and he will be entrusted for rendering all my books in German language. There will be now no difficulty to publish the German edition of Back To Godhead therefore, in your newly purchased press. You should take the indication given by Lord Krishna: The press is already there, the press worker, Jaya Govinda, is coming, and the German scholar has joined our institution. Don't you see the indication by Krishna that we must make propaganda in the German language in that part of the world? So you have to adjust things by the indication of Lord Krishna. Don't do anything whimsically. The direction comes through the Spiritual Master, and any one who abides by the order of the Spiritual Master to give shape to the wish of the Lord, he is perfectly surrendered soul. So don't be childish, stay there. Let Jaya Govinda come and begin printing the BTG. Go altogether in Sankirtana Party and try to sell BTGs. In other centers they are doing very nicely with this. Sometimes they are selling more than 100 copies of BTG and collecting $130.00 or $150.00. The Los Angeles temple has become unique in this connection. They have decorated the temple room so nicely that in the Love Feast and any other ceremony, hundreds of people are coming. Why don't you follow this example and try to exert your energies to make your temple more important than Los Angeles? In the spiritual world there is also competition, but the center is always Krishna. In the material world there is competition, but the center is sense gratification. That is the difference. So competition, disagreement, or even dissension, if they are there, and the center is Krishna, such disagreement is not material. Even in Krishna Loka, there are rival parties of Srimati Radharani whose name is Candrabali, and there is competition between the two parties how to serve Krishna the best.

So you are all good souls, please do not be agitated in trivial things. Do your duty nicely, develop the center as nicely as possible. If you think that your personality has been minimized, you can tolerate it. That is very nice. Lord Caitanya has taught us to be more tolerant than the tree in the matter of chanting Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare. You can show this letter to Sriman Sivananda and Sriman Uttama Sloka, and my request to you all is not to be childish, but to be serious for propagating Krishna Consciousness.

Regarding your other points, I am pleased that you are trying for legalization of our society. This has been already done both in London and the United States. As for your eye trouble, you need not take to an operation for your sickness. Doctors are not the Ultimate Healer. This is Krishna's position. In your Western countries, the doctors are very much fond of surgical operations. When there is no other alternative, of course we have to take shelter of such demonic treatment, but as far as possible try to avoid that, and depend on Krishna.

I hope this will meet you in good health.

Your ever well-wisher,

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami