With regard to your question about Bengali style kirtana and mrdanga playing, one or two styles is best. To introduce more styles is not good. It will become an encumbrance. Who is that Krsna das Babaji who is teaching? If we introduce so much emphasis on style of kirtana, then simply imitation will go on. Devotional emotion is the main thing. If we give stress to instrument and style then attention will be diverted to the style. That will be spiritual loss. (Prabhupada letter to Satsvarupa Goswami 30th June, 1976)
Once when Srila Prabhupada saw what was being served to the devotees, lavishly prepared multi-course lunches, he told the managers that it was too opulent. He said we should eat simply during the week with rice, dhal, chapatis and a little subji and once a week on the Sunday love feasts we could be more lavish. Today with more of us becoming Health Conscious, it is good to remember the very simple devotee diet that was recommended to us so long ago.
Standard Devotee Diet
Srila Prabhupada recommended a standard diet for the devotees, and instructed that all of the temples should follow it every day. That menu follows:
BREAKFAST:
Simple farina cereal with nuts and raisins Milk (steaming hot), or yogurt in the summertime Chick peas (raw, soaked overnight) Ginger root (raw) Oranges, apples and/or bananas
LUNCH:
Rice Chapatis Dal made with freshly ground ginger root and freshly ground spices Subji made with ghee, freshly ground ginger root and freshly ground spices
BEFORE TAKING REST:
Milk (steaming hot) Bananas
For a free download of the Hare Krishna Cookbook on pdf
Associating with His Holiness Visnujana Swami for my first year in Krsna Consciousness was amazing. Chanting with him all day every day was nonstop bliss. He used to say we should be so busy in Krsna Consciousness that we have no time for Maya.
I used to make the flower garlands for Sri Sri Radha Damodar which included picking the flowers wherever we were. Since I was serving Sri Sri Radha Damodar in this way Their pure devotee Visnujana Swami showed me favor. Most devotees that joined our party got shipped out to other buses. I got to stay a whole year.
My wife shared these photos with me she saw on Facebook. Some beautiful photography of the beautiful deities at the Sri Sri Radha Rasabihari Temple, ISKCON Juhu, Mumbi.
When I clicked on the About Srila Prabhupada link, the following essay appeared, we share it with you here today.
About Śrīla Prabhupāda
His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
It is very difficult to write about His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda for several reasons. First is the challenge how to properly honor and represent such a personality who exhibited unprecedented greatness by his humility and dedication to the order of his spiritual predecessor. Second, how to condense into a short historical and introductory narrative his mission, his mood, his struggles, and his kindness and endearing humanness. And last, how to present his mission and the organization he formed to perpetuate it while recognizing that it has deviated from his mood and standards since the time of his passing. This last challenge is the most difficult for our hearts to face, having ourselves dedicated many years of hard work to building and supporting the organization, and having those efforts discounted, minimized, and in fact, betrayed by later management. We have observed persons who would have otherwise studied Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books been too affected by the misdeeds of the organization to enter into the wisdom upon which it had been founded, not being able to separate the pure spiritual essence from the superficial structure. We have also suffered the embarrassment of being “lumped in” with something that has become a mere shadow of the original intent and purity. We are bound out of our love for Śrīla Prabhupāda to keep his teachings alive and to create community in which those who are sincere in their spiritual quest may find support and solace in a kind and genuine way if they desire. That all being said, here is our humble effort to introduce to you our spiritual preceptor.
“Therefore, Krishna Consciousness is also a sort of fight; but not with rifles. Our weapon is kartals. In this age there is no need of fighting with rifles because the population is so poor that they are already killed by so many disturbances. They are short lived, poor in knowledge, slack in advancement of spiritual life, unfortunate, and embarrassed by so many miserable conditions of life; like war, famine pestilence, poverty and so on. So to kill these persons by rifle is like bringing a cannon for killing a mosquito. So Lord Chaitanya introduced this fighting principle of Sankirtan Movement to reclaim all the fallen souls, who consist of so-called philosophers, half-educated scientists, misguided educationists and a miscreant society. If you can consolidate a party of soldiers as described by you, chanting Hare Krishna Mantra and claiming everyone of them to Krishna Consciousness, that will be a glorious task, and you have all of my good wishes for you for this purpose.”
(Srila Prabhupada letter to disciple, August 3, 1969)
“Consider this example: when the sun is in the sky, there is no question of darkness. Similarly, when the Hare Krsna mantra is vibrating on your tongue and you are hearing attentively, then your consciousness becomes Krsna consciousness, or clear consciousness, and there is no question of maya, or hazy consciousness. Just as when light and darkness come together the darkness cannot stand before the light, maya cannot remain in the presence of Krsna.
“In Bhagavad-gita, Krsna says to offer Him at least a leaf or a flower. It is not that Krsna needs a flower or leaf. He is full. He does not need you. But He wants you to come to Him in love. Therefore Krsna says, ‘Just stop all your nonsense and surrender to Me.’ “
“People are thinking that if they get a car and an apartment, everything will be all right. But the problems are still there. Still they must undergo death, old age, and diseaseóso how is everything taken care of? They are thinking in terms of this spot life. They do not know that they are eternal. There are so many kinds of bodies, and they don’t know which kind they will have to take in their next life. But if they take to Krsna consciousness, all problems are solved.”
The process is that everything is offered to the Spiritual Master, and the Spiritual Master is supposed to offer the same foodstuff to the Lord. When a thing is offered to the Spiritual Master, he immediately offers to the Lord. That is the system, and as we come by parampara system, it is our duty to go through the right channel—namely, first the Spiritual Master, then Lord Caitanya, and then Krishna. So when we chant prayers, we do this, Bande ham Sri Guru . . . and gradually to the Goswamis, then to Lord Caitanya, and then to Radha Krishna. That is the praying system. But offering the prasadam to present everything before the Spiritual Master whose picture is also in the altar, means that the Spiritual Master will take care of offering the foodstuff to the Lord. Therefore simply by chanting the prayer to the Spiritual Master, everything will be complete. (Prabhupada letter to Harer Nama 28th May, 1968)
