700411 - Letter to Acyutananda written from Los Angeles

Letters by Date, 1970

3764 Watseka Avenue
Los Angeles, Cal. 90034

11th April 70

My Dear Achyutananda,
Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated 6th April, 1970. Just before receiving this letter, I have sent another letter to you dated 9th April, 1970.
Who told you that I am a citizen of America? I cannot even apply for citizenship unless I have stayed here legally for at least five years. I am admitted here as permanent resident so that I can go to India and come back again without any visa or passport for this country. There are many Indian business people also who come and go from India and U.S.A. and vice versa. So at my present status I can come and go to and from India without any passport or visa--that is my position.
My India citizenship is valid. If I adopt U.S. citizenship, then I renounce my Indian nationality. So at the present moment I am full Indian national. In technical language I am known in the Immigration Department as 'alien', not as citizen. So you can inform this to Mr. Ghosh.
You wanted to take citizenship of India. So why don't you take it? What is the difficulty in this matter? Cannot Mr. Ghosh help you in this connection?
You have written nothing about the Bhavanipur land. I shall be glad to hear from you what happened to this transaction.
I think you will have to take a formal sanction from the Reserve Bank of India on my behalf, and Mr. Ghosh knows it well. If it is necessary to take sanction, I have enclosed herewith the application which you may use if necessary.
I have already advised Brahmananda to send you books and magazines by surface freight, and that will be easier to distribute our books and literatures locally.
You have written to say that they must also write to Madhav Maharaj. I cannot understand what do you mean by this. They are not known to Madhav Maharaj, so how they can write directly to Madhav Maharaj? Neither I wish to overburden Madhav Maharaj with further addition of my disciples in his temple. This is a very delicate point. Better you can ask Madhav Maharaj whether he is willing to receive further members of our camp in his temple.
Therefore, I wanted that when we get our own place, the Brahmacaries may go.

Regarding long visa, as you say that you can arrange or advise how they shall apply for it. Sriman Nanda Kumar Brahmacary and Jaya Pataka Brahmacary are ready to start. So I do not know what to do in this connection. I do not think that writing to Madhav Maharaj for their accommodation from here will be right thing. Better verbally you can ask him whether he will allow two other Brahmacaries to stay there.
The procedure is quite admitted that you do not accept invitation in the fashionable meetings and you lecture exclusively. That is very nice. You do not allow anyone to touch your feet--this is very good attitude--but if they want to insist on touching your feet and there is no other way to avoid it, you can simply remember your predecessor Acaryas and Spiritual Masters and accept them and return namaskar with folded hands. That is the Vaisnava etiquette.
I hope all points inquired by you are cleared, and now you can do the needful.
Hope this will meet you in good health.
Your ever well-wisher,

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami

ACBS:db

Encl. 2

Sriman Achyutananda Das Brahmacary
35 Satisch Mukherjee Road
Calcutta-26, India