n the cover picture: We had the great fortune to welcome a new full time O resident in our Montreal BLISS center recently, her name is Tulsi Devi and she is a pure devotee of Krsna. Devotees worship Tulsi devi as part of their daily spiritual practice. Her leaves are placed on all the offerings we make for Krsna and this makes it especially pleasing to the Lord, who is very fond of this. Srila Prabhupada’s inspiring devotees to distribute his books: Devotee: We’ve got a great desire to distribute Back to Godhead magazines. We’ve got such a great desire. We want to distribute a lot of Back to Godheads more and more Back to Godheads. Prabhupada: Hm. Devotee: We wonder, perhaps you could advise us. Prabhupada: So, so what do you want? That desire is nice, that’s all. Either you distribute or not distribute, keep that desire, that’s all. (laughter) Sri Brahma-samhita, Verse 35 -- New York, July 31, 1971 Rabbits When Attacked By Greater Animal Close Their Eyes So here Pariksit Maharaja says that “It is not that if I say there is no God there will be no God, and whatever I do, that will not be…, I’ll not be responsible for that.” That is atheistic theory. Atheists do not want God, because they are always sinful, and if they think of God, that there is God, then there is a great link[?] of punishment; they suffer. Therefore they deny God. [break] Because if they forget God—there is God—then there is no punishment. He can do whatever he likes. Just like the animals: the rabbits, when they are attacked by greater animal, they close their eyes. [laughter] He thinks that “I am not going to be killed; that’s all right.” But he is killed. Similarly, we may deny the existence of God, the law of God, the exigencies of God, but they are already there. Just like we all know in state, if you say, “I don’t care for God,” I mean “the state, government,” but you will be forced to accept government laws. You will be put into the prison house, and you will be forced. Because you deny state laws, now you will suffer. Similarly, I may decry the existence of God, “There is no God. I am God.” That you may think foolishly like that. But you are responsible for all your activities—either good or bad, it doesn’t matter. (Srila Prabhupada)

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What is B.L.I.S.S?

B

haktivedanta Lives In Sound Society is an international organization of Hare Krsna devotees practicing and teaching bhakti-yoga (the essence of religion) under the direct guidance of His Divine Grace A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who is the last link to the ancient unbroken chain of disciplic succession (parampara) originating with the Supreme Personality of Godhead Sri Krsna Himself. Although His Divine Grace has departed physically from this world in 1977, the members of the society hold him to be still transcendentally present in his instructions.

Surrender Means Satisfaction of Intelligence by Purujit Dasa

The greatest book of knowledge is the Srimad Bhagavad-gita. While covering topics such as reincarnation, karma, God, soul, material nature, time, etc., the summum bonum of this great literature is that one should give up all other duties and simply surrender to Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is what Sri Krsna instructs to His devotees at the conclusion of the Bhagavad-gita:

“Give up all varieties of religiousness, and simply surrender unto Me. I shall protect you from all sinful reactions, you have nothing to fear.” (Bg. 18.66) Such surrender however should not be blind. Quite the opposite, the true surrender is the surrender of everything: the body, mind and intelligence. It is not that I show surrender to Krsna by my body by following the different rules and regulations, but in my mind I do not surrender, or internally my intelligence is not satisfied with the explanation of why I am surrendering to Krsna in the first place. Such a so-called surrender only leads to hypocrisy and deviation of the true religion. When one’s mind is turbulent and flickering due to unsatisfied intelligence, one might think to surrender to Krsna when things are very nice, but when circumstances change and the Lord puts us into tests, one might think the opposite way- namely to give up the service of the Lord altogether. Such unsteady nature of the mind is admitted even by Arjuna who has heard the Bhagavad-gita from the Lord directly and who was His confidential associate:

Arjuna said: O Madhusüdana, the system of yoga which you have summarized appears impractical to me, for the mind is restless and unsteady. (Bg. 6.33) But the Lord explains in the Third Chapter that superior to the mind is the surrender of intelligence, which is the next door neighbor to the soul. So one’s intelligence must be absolutely satisfied, otherwise why should we give up all our duties and simply surrender to the Supreme Lord? For this reason the Lord has explained the science of self-realization in the Bhagavad-gita and many other Vedic scriptures. He gives a conditioned soul an opportunity to satisfy his intelligence by reasonable arguments and logic. For example, in the Second Chapter Krsna explains that although we had a body of a baby, a young man, and a grown up, similarly we will have another body after death. This is logic, not a sentimental faith. If in the past I had a body, if in the present I have a body, shouldn’t I have a body in the future also? Where is the reasoning of not having a body in the future coming from? Krsna thus very intelligently challenges our attitude with the help of logic and reason, before He asks us to love Him unconditionally. The Lord in this B.L.I.S.S Newsletter

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way explains in the Bhagavad-gita very nicely why we should surrender to Him. At the end He says:

Thus I have explained to you the most confidential of all knowledge. Deliberate on this fully, and then do what you wish to do. (Bg. 18.63) Despite being the all-powerful, yet perfect logician (which is manifested in the pages of the Bhagavad-gita in the way how the Lord very reasonably explains the real nature of the soul, God and the relationship between the two), Lord Krsna still respects our freedom: Do what you wish to do. Surrender to Me, or also you don’t have to surrender to Me. It’s up to you. If you would like to surrender to Krsna however, it should be because it is something you wish to do and unless your intelligence is satisfied by some reason and logic why you should wish to do what you wish to do, you will not wish to do it. Many motivated persons “surrender” to Krsna not because they wish to do it, but because they get something out of it. This is not surrender, rather it is prostitution. Just as a man does not keep regular relationship with a prostitute after satisfying his lust, similarly motivated so-called surrendered persons do not practice the path of devotional service regularly because their mentality is aimed at satisfying their senses, rather than thinking of the Lord’s satisfaction. As soon as their senses are satisfied, they give up the process and take up their old ways. Krsna however says:

But those, who out of envy towards the very principle of Krishna consciousness, do not regularly follow My injunctions, are to be considered bereft of all knowledge, befooled, and ruined in their chances to reach perfection. (Bg. 3.32) So it is not that one can go on with unsurrendered devotional service and yet reach perfection. The Lord clearly says here that these people are ruined in their chances to reach perfection. It is symptomatic that such persons rarely find pleasure in the association of devotees. The devotees’ discussions about Krsna expose their lack of surrender and a lack of understanding in the questions of surrender. Thus they avoid such association. The process of surrender is not a one-off, but a long journey starting with the humble admittance of one’s utter foolishness and taking shelter at the lotus feet of the spiritual master in the association of devotees. One should always feel foolish in front of the spiritual master in order to receive transcendental knowledge from him as it is. This has been exemplified the best by Lord Caitanya, the last appearance of the Lord in this world, who in his conversation with a great scholar of the name Prakasanandi Saraswati said that his spiritual master found him a fool number one. Lord Caitanya is the Lord Himself. The Lord is certainly not a fool being able to recite the perfect science of the Bhagavad-gita, which is studied even now

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by all the great scholars and scientists all around the world, in half an hour only. But just to show to the neophyte devotee how one should develop a humble attitude in life, he submits to his spiritual master in this way. One who does not feel foolish before the spiritual master will hardly be able to hear from the spiritual master with submission or take part in discussions about the process of surrender in the association of like-minded devotees. He will prefer to engage in the discussions pertaining to the ever-changing mundane character of material affairs, which simply agitate his mind further and further on the path to hell. A serious student of the bhakti- yoga therefore should not feel intimidated by such foolish men and should go on with the discussions about the conclusions in the matter of surrendering to the Lord. As recommended in the Sri Caitanya Caritamrta:

A sincere student should not neglect the discussion of such conclusions, considering them controversial, for such discussions strengthen the mind. Thus one’s mind becomes attached to Sri Krsna. (CC Adi 2.117) One should not speculate but inquire about the spiritual doubts from the spiritual master. Thus mind becomes solidified in Krsna consciousness by the help of intelligence. If there is any doubt, one should not suppress it, but immediately bring it to the attention of the spiritual master, who can clarify the matter. On the other hand, suppressing one’s doubts and making a show of surrender benefits no one. Neither the Lord nor the spiritual master is impressed by such a display of false devotion. By careful examination of the philosophy of Krsna consciousness, one will ultimately attain a doubtless state of mind, where the further progress on the path is dictated from within the heart by the Lord Himself. One must therefore attain firm faith in the authority of the Lord and that of the spiritual master by submissive hearing and inquiry. By keeping firm faith in the statements of the Lord, namely that He will take care of all sinful reactions for one’s misdeeds, one will not hesitate to sacrifice everything for the sake of the Lord and such a devotee will also have no fear. Culprit’s mind is always suspicious; therefore fearful persons who doubt the authority of the Lord and the spiritual master and who are not willing to face their doubts in the association of honest devotees can never surrender to the Lord, neither to the authority of the spiritual master. Neither are they able to appreciate their transcendental nature. Thus there is no hope for them.

Fools, faithless and those who are doubtful when it comes to the revealed scriptures fall away from knowledge of Krishna consciousness. For the doubtful persons there is nothing good either in this world or in the next, nor any happiness. (Bg. 4.40)

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Who can serve Krsna?

by Makhancora Dasa

In course of our preaching work, we many times encounter persons with doubts about their ability to take up devotional service to Krsna, especially when they see the procedures in the temple, the devotee looks (shaven heads, robes, tilak etc.) and when they hear about the discipline followed by the devotees, the deep philosophy behind the practice and so on and so forth. Often it becomes „too much“ in their minds. Seems like a completely different world. And it indeed is a different world. It´s the spiritual world, but now we are encaged in this world of material forms and procedures. So how can one come to the platform of connecting with the Absolute Truth, how can one achieve that perfection of yoga? It may seem like an insoluble difficulty, to come out of our common ways and take to the path of bhakti. But is it so? Is it really so difficult? What is actually required? The thing here is, that nowadays people in general are superficial. They let themselves to be guided by their eyes without hearing patiently and sufficiently, what to speak of pondering over what was heard. They come, they SEE and they go. They see these strange guys bowing down to pictures, ringing bells, speaking some freaky language and smashing their cherished ideas. „This brainwash is not for me.“ So let´s see. You had a body of a small child, but that body does not exist any more. Now you have a grown up body, but this body you´ll also have to give up, just like all the old people used to have a young body, but they have given it up. By force, naturally. Isn´t that so? But you are still the same person. „No, I´m not the same, i have changed.“ Yes, your mind has changed, your intelligence has changed and your idea about who you are has also changed, but who is observing these changes? The transcendental consciousness which is the symptom of an eternal soul within the ever-changing body of five gross and three subtle elements (earth, water, fire, air, ether and mind, intelligence and false ego). This is the plain logic and simple truth of consciousness. Now, what is beyond of the purview of this consciousness limited by the material senses and the mind, that has to be searched out by hearing from an authority, just like everytime we want to learn something we don´t know, we have to approach some sort of an authority – a book, a teacher, go to school, ask our mom etc. The Vedas, the ancient, better to say, timeless scriptures which the devotees study inform us about this fact and they also go beyond, to tell us about the Supreme Consciousness, the Supreme Being, God, Krsna, the Supreme Ultimate Personality of Godhead, the Absolute Truth. That Supreme Truth is a conscious living entity just like us, yet there is a vast difference between our respective positions. Krsna is the controller, we are the controlled. Krsna is the enjoyer, we are the enjoyed. Krsna is the maintainer, we are the mantained. Nityo nityanam cetanas cetananam, eko bahunam yo vidadhati kaman. He is one, we are many. He provides, we depend. He is vibhu, great, we are anu, small. He si the whole, we are parts. And our relationship is that of service, just like a limb of the whole body enjoys only when it cooperates with other parts, serves, to satisfy the whole. Our position in this material world is that of a limb cut off from the complete body. Just like now, we see so many pictures from the world of wars and fights, where severed limbs of human bodies lie down on the ground. How does such a limb enjoy? There is no question, it is dead. Similarly, when we become severed (in our consciousness) from the Complete B.L.I.S.S Newsletter

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Whole, we end up dead and cold like the limbs severed from the body. That is the position of every soul forgetful of his eternal loving relationship with Krsna, conditioned by the external energy of the Lord, the matter. This applies to everyone and it manifests in our separatist consciousness of „I & mine“, fighting like cats and dogs, subtly or openly over supremacy in our relationships, communities, families... Everyone is more or less intensely subjected to the threefold miseries coming from one´s own body and mind, from other living entities or from natural occurences. The consciousness is filled with anxiety: „What will happen next?“ „Oh, she doesn´t want me.“ „Oh, I have to pay this and that.“ „Oh, what shall I  wear today?“ „Oh, where shall I  get clean water to drink today?“ and so on, unlimitedly. So to get again in touch with Krsna, the Supreme Complete Whole Personality of Godhead is the interest of everyone, not just some band of „cultists“ who don´t know what else to do. Everyone is a  part and parcel of God, His transcendental servant, and accepting this position voluntarily, on basis of sound philosophy and simple practice is the eternal interest of all. So what is the process? Very simple. To hear from an authorized source, to examine that source without bias and a  priori prejudice with an attitude of sincere inquiry and „maybe I  don´t know everything“ understanding, to chant the transcendental Maha-mantra Hare Krsna Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna Hare Hare / Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare, to offer one´s food to the Lord according to what He likes (He discloses this secret in the Bhagavad-gita), to associate with devotees of the Lord in the temple, take prasadam and serve the mission of Krsna consciousness in any possible way under the merciful guidance of a bona fide Spiritual Master. If one simply tries to go a bit deeper, he/ she will find out, that to serve Lord Krsna, God, is actually easy and blisful. Anyone can do it, the only required qualification is sincerity. And that is often the difficulty. No? B.L.I.S.S Newsletter

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Questions And Answers

I have read in Srila Prabhupada’s books that ultimately after all the yugas are concluded, all the living entities are annihilated. Does this mean that at the beginning of new creation, all the new living entities are those who have fallen from the spiritual sky? What happens to the annihilated living entities –do they go to another universe? Stephan Answer by Purujit dasa: In the Bhagavad-gita Lord Krsna says: “For the soul there is never birth nor death. He does not, will not and had not come into being at any point in time. He is unborn, eternal, everexisting, primeval and is not slain when the body is slain.” Bg.2.20

The soul is never annihilated. If the souls are annihilated at the end of the material manifestation, it means they merge within the body of Mahavishnu and remain there until the next creation takes place. Srila Prabhupada comments: “Those who are less intelligent and who try to remain within this material world and who after being elevated to higher planets again and again descend to this earthly planet, are allowed to exhibit their activities in any of these planets during the daytime of Brahmä, but at the coming of Brahmä’s night they are all annihilated. In the day they have various bodies and material activities, and at night they do not have a body anymore. They remain compact in the body of Viñëu and are again manifest at the arrival of Brahmä’s day. Bhütvä bhütvä praléyate: in this way during the daytime they are manifested while during the nighttime they are annihilated and ultimately when Brahmä’s life is also finished, they are all annihilated and remain unmanifest for millions and millions of years. Finally, when Brahmä is born again in another millennium, they are again manifest” Bg 8.18 purport “Annihilated” means when they no longer have a material body to manifest their activities. They remain in an unmanifested state, almost devoid of consciousness, for millions of years. But when Brahma is born again, they again manifest and they carry the karma from the previous creation as well as confirmed by Srila Prabhupada in the following purport: “The law of karma continues birth after birth, and when there is a new creation, the same karma comes back with the living entities. They are born in different capacities according to karma even though their father is originally Brahma, who is the exalted qualitative incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” sb 4.8.2 B.L.I.S.S Newsletter

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Recipe of the month ½ cup of chickpea flour ½ cup of sifted wholegrain flour ¾ cup of gur ¾ cup of butter 1 clove 2 teaspoons of rosewater 3 cups of water

Pudding for Prabhupada

Sift the wholegrain flour and mix with the chickpea flour. Melt the butter on a medium flame in a pot with thick bottom. Add flours to the butter and roast nicely until brownish. Be careful not to burn and stir frequently. At the same time, boil water in a separate pot with gur, clove and rosewater inside. When the water boils and the flours are roasted nicely, decrease the flame on the butter-flours pot on minimum, and after 2 minutes slowly add the sugar water. Stir the mixture so there are no crumbles. Serve hot to Krsna and then serve the devotees as well as nondevotees with this nice prasadam.

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Monthly Book Distribution scores: 520 B.L.I.S.S Newsletter

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T h a n k Yo u L i s t :

We would like to use this opportunity to express our humble gratitude to the following contributors for their kind help and support of the Bhaktivedanta Lives In Sound Society in Montreal. May Lord Krsna bless your souls…

REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS:

Mr. Cyril (Canada) Mrs. Srimati Heather Davey (Canada) Mr. Surendra Krishnan (USA)

SPECIAL THANKS: Mr. Tarun (Netherlands)

REGULAR DONATIONS OF COOKING INGREDIENTS FROM LOCAL STORES: Depanneur Jean Talon West 992 Mr. Walid & his dear wife (Butter) JAFFA 1992 Queen Mary (fruits & vegetables) Ram-Sweet Shop on Jean Talon (milk products, gur). Marche Blair 557 Rue Jarry West (ghee)­. Madhuban (fruits and vegetables). Rama-Krishna grocery store (Gur). Bazzar Oriental Jean-Talon W.(puja paraphernalia)

Get Involved With B.L.I.S.S

Our Montreal Center is always in need of enthusiastic members and supporters. At the moment we are searching for contributors to sponsor the following:

MOVE IN AND PRACTISE WITH US We are also looking for persons who are willing to join us on full time basis. Are you looking for a life-changing experience? Are you willing to undergo a little austerity in exchange for deep spiritual realisations? Do you feel inspired by reading Srila Prabhupada’s books and want to give something back? Let us know and we’ll get back to you to see if we can work it out. IF YOU ARE INSPIRED FOR ANY OR ALL OF THESE SERVICES PLEASE CONTACT US: [email protected] Telephone: 438 937 1080 B.L.I.S.S Newsletter

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The Bhaktivedanta Lives In Sound Society Centers: THE HARE KRSNA CENTER MONTREAL 7070 Birnam h3n2s7, Montreal, Qc, Phone: +1 438 937 1080, e-mail: [email protected], CANADA website: www.hareKrishnaMontreal.com, Facebook: Hare Krishna Center Montreal

HARE KRSNA ASRAMA VINODOL Pod Hajom 123/23 95106, Vinodol Phone: +421 944 122 644, e-mail:[email protected], SLOVAKIA Facebook: Hare Krsna Asrama Vinodol