“I want to begin one revolution against materialistic society, so that the whole world may be happy.” -A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami (Srila Prabhupada)
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I am immensely grateful for this incredible soul. Discovering and reading his books and implementing the spiritual practices he taught relieved all of my uncertainty surrounding the big questions like: Who am I? What is the purpose of life? What is death?, etc… The timeless teachings he represented and shared have shaped my life’s purpose and provided boundless joy.
In February 2019, I was fortunate enough to visit the temple in Vrindavan, India (pictured above),where he lived for 6 years, translating ancient wisdom texts, chanting, and praying to his predecessors for the ability to carry out a seemingly impossible task. In 1936, Srila Prabhupada’s guru gave him a final request to bring the teachings of bhakti yoga to the west. Almost 20 years later (1965) at 69 years old, Prabhupada selflessly left the spiritual haven of Vrindavan with no money, suffering two heart attacks on the ship ride to America. 12 years later he had circled the globe 14 times and established an international spiritual movement. You can’t make this stuff up!
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Prabhupada’s message (as derived from the most ancient wisdom books on earth, the Vedas) is that we are not our bodies. Our true nature is spirit soul which is eternal, blissful, and full of knowledge. Therefore, material pleasures which are temporary and fleeting can never satisfy our innermost essence. Conversely, when we get in touch with the supreme pleasure principle, the divine source of our existence, through practices like congregational chanting, personal mantra meditation, reading sacred books, taking ourselves out of the center to serve others, and hanging out with those who are in touch, the heart and soul are nourished and we feel an unimaginable joy that is independent of any external conditions. As living spirit souls, we all have a unique loving relationship with God. Bhakti yoga is the process of reawakening that most important and nourishing relationship.
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As Srila Prabhupada so nicely sums up in his commentary to the Bhagavad-gita, “Krishna consciousness (bhakti yoga) is a scientific execution of transcendental activities which enables one to return home, back to Godhead. There is no loss of energy in acting in such a transcendental way.”
Check out Srila Prabhupada’s writings @ https://vedabase.io/en/
Or, if you’d like a hard copy of any of his books I would be thrilled to provide them for you. Feel free to reach out in this regard or with any other thoughts or questions.
Yours in service,
DK dasa (Dan Taylor)
dkdasa108@gmail.com
