Godhead is light. Nescience Vol.lO No.l2 THE MAGAZINE OF THE HARE KRISHNA MOVEMENT A SHORT STATEMENT OF THE PHILOSOPHY OF ~~A CONSCIOUSNESS The lnternatio1zal Society for Krislma Consciotlsness (ISKCON) is a worldwide community ofdevotees practicing bhakti-yoga, the eternal science of loving service to God. The Society was founded in 1966 by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Stvami Prabhupiida, a pure devotee of God representing an unbroken chain of spirit11al masters originating with Lord Kr~ra Himself The following eight principles are the basis of the Kmza collSciotHness move­ ment. We invite all our readers to consider them with an open mind and then visit one of the ISKCON centers to see how they are being applied in everyday lifo. v . ·.·..· Devotees outside the Los Angeles Center of the International Society for Krishna Consdousoeu. 1. By sincerely cultivating a bona fide spiritual 5. W e should learn the Vedic knowledge from a science, we can be free from anxiety and come genuine spiritual master-one who has no to a state of pure, unending, blissful conscious­ selfish motives and whose mind is firmly fixed ness in this lifetime. on Kr ~J:ta . ... 2. We are not our bodies but eternal spmt 6. Before we eat, we should offer to the Lord souls, pam and parcels of God (Kr~I:ta) . As such, the food that sustains us. Then Kr~J:ta becomes we are all brothers, and Kr~J:ta is ultimately our the offering and purifies us. common father. 7. We should perform all our actions as offer­ 3. Kr~Qa is the eternal, all-knowing, omnipres­ ings to Kr~J:ta and do nothing for our own sense .,~ ent, all-powerful, and all-attractive Personality gratification. ... ~j:t ,• . of Godhead. He is the seed-giving father of all 8. The recommended means for achieving the living beings, and He is the sustaining energy of mature stage of love of God in this age of Kali, the entire cosmic creation. or quarrel, is to chant the holy names of the 4. The Absolute Truth is contained in the Lord. The easiest method for most people is to Vedas, the oldest scriptures in the world. The chant the Hare Kr ~J:ta mantra: H are Kr$J:ta, Hare essence of the Vedas is found in the Bhagavad-gita, Kr ~J:ta, Kr~J:ta Knr)a, Hare Hare/ Hare Rima, a literal record of Kr~I)a' s words. Hare Rima, Rima Rama, Hare Hare. BACK TO GODHEAD T HE MAGAZINE OF THE HARE KRISHNA MOVEMENT Voi.IO No.l2 FOUNDER CONTENTS (undC'r 1hc dirtC'uon o( Hh OtvinC' GDCC Sri Srhn:ad Uhaltti•iddhint:a Su:a.s,·;lti Pu.bhupid:a) HI$ Divine" GutC' ~ Prahhupida A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Life Comes From Life 5 that life begins with chemicals. But SENIOR EDITOR His Holiness Sauv:m1pa dSsa Gosviml Scientists say the real question is, "Where have the chemicals come from?" MANAGING EDITOR jagann:ltha Suta disa A morning walk conversation with His Divine Grace ASSOCIATE EDITORS Oamodara d:isa. Ouvi<)a disa A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. ART DIRECTOR Nav>dvlp> d:isa RESEARC H EDITOR Karul)isindhu d:lsa SANSKRIT EDITOR Gopiparil)adhana dasa How The Hare Kr!!t:ta Movement 10 PRODUCTION MANAGER !Udhavallabha diisa Came To Africa ILLUSTRATORS Bhaudvaja disa, Muralidhara d:lsa, A personal account of how the Kr~t:~a consciousness Parlk$it disa, Railcora d:lsa, Y>durar.ll-devi disl movement was brought to a new frontier. PHOTOGRAPHERS Bhargava dasa, Muullvadana d:lsa. by His Holiness Brahmananda Svami. Yaduvara d:lsa. Vi;:lkha-drvi d;isi. Gopavrndeh dha TECHNICIANS Arcita disa. Gopavrndda diu, Yug>!.-kisora disa. Yamarij> d:isa. Madhusildana disa, 18 K>lanb disa. llh>kta Lennie Africa's Bright Future COPY EDITORS Dcvamrra d:lsa. Gopipara1,1:odhana d:lsa. The prospectus for a peaceful, prosperous and Srlk:\rua dis• self-sufficient Africa is outlined in this interview with COMPOSITORS Ual:\i.dcvi d:isi. Surasa-dcvl disl His Holiness Chayavana Svami, chairman of the ISKCON Africa mission. Publi1hed monthly. S6.()() p<r year (S7.()() outside 0 USA), by rhe Uh>kti,·ed>nt> Book Tru><. 3764 Watseka Ave., L<» Angeles. Cali(. 9()()34. , Tbe' Special Kindness of Lord Caitanya 26 lnlree vivid accounts of how Lord Caitanya showed @ 1975 Uhak<ivedanu Book Trusc His mercy to the sinful, the atheists and All righ" reserved. Princcd in USA. even the jungle an imals. From the writings of His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. PRONUNC IATION OF SANSKRIT WORDS Sanskrit words and names in BACK TO GODHEAD arc spelled according tO a system that scholars throughout the world usc to show how to Letters 16 pro nounce each word. Vowels in Sanskrit arc pronounced almost as in Italian. The sound of the 17 short a is like the" in b11t. The long dis like the a in Farm Report far and held twice as long as the short a, and tis like the a in evade. Long i is like the i in pique. The Special Centerfold Section: vowel r is pronounced like the ri in the English word ring. The cis pronounced as in the English word chair. The >Spirated consonants (ch,jh, Jh, Srimad-Bhigavatam etc.) He pronounced as in staunch-heart. hedge-hog The continuing presentation of India's great spiritual classic. and reel-/rot. The two spirants i and 1 arc like the Translation and commentary English Jlr, and J is like rhc J in nm. So pronounce by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Kmra as KRI SHNA and C•ir;mya as CHAITANY A. ON THE COVER The founder and original editor of BACK TO GODHEAD is His Divine Bei11g a11 i11camario11 ofrhe S11preme Lord Grace A. C. Bhaktivcdanta Swami Prabhupida. Srila Prabhupida first carne to the r of 1965, and by October of 1966 he and his first Km;a, Sri Cairanya Mahaprabhu is also dear United Stales in Septembe American student had begun the International Society for Krishna Consciousness in ro alllivi1111 crearures. When He traversed rht a small srorcfronr in New York Ciry. holy forms oJV,dovana, India, jive hrmdred From the beginning. BACK TO GODHEAD magnine was an integral part of years ago, all rhe a11imals, plams, a11d evm JSKCON. In fact. ir has ofren been called "the backbone of thc Kmr" consciousness rhe insecrs became very jubilant. Cows movement" by Srila Prabhupada. who began writing. printing and distributing it followed Him, peacocks dat~wl, cuckoos sa 11g, himself in 1944. Over rhe years, BACK TO GODHEAD has changed in many ways. a11d the deer came a11d licked His body. bur irs purpose has remained one: ro present topics concerning Knna. the Suprcrn~ (An or(~inal oil pailttit~g by Muralidlrara dasa.) Personality of Godhead. for rhe spiritu3l enlightenment of its readers. His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada Founder-Acarya of the In ternational Society for Krishna Consciousness HARE KRSNA~• • • HARE KRSNA• • • KRSNA KRSNA~ HARE HARE • • • • • • HARE RAMA~ HARE RAMA RAMA RAMA~ HARE HARE It's natural to praise eternal truth about someone who does Himself, which can something wonderful, liberate us from all and God does the most suffering, and H e wonderful things of sends His representa­ all. He creates the en­ tives to teach it. tire cosmic manifesta­ Moreover, He Himself tion, orbiting count­ descends into the ma­ less planets and stars terial world and per­ with astonishing skill forms superhuman ac­ and artistry. He gives tivities to attract and light to the sun and purify our minds. fragrance to a rose, and He invests life in all that He knows everything-past, present and fu ­ lives. Whatever wealth, wisdom, beauty, strength, ture- and never forgets any service rendered to fame or renunciation we see in this world is merely Him, no matter how small. His glorious qualities a fragment of His opulence. He directs the wander­ are unlimited, and He is known by millions of ings of all living beings by expanding Himself into names, like Kr~l)a and Rama. The Hare Kr~l)a everyone's heart. Indeed, the entire universe is per­ mantra is both a glorification of God and an appeal vaded by His energy. to be engaged in His service. Find out more in this He gives humanity great scriptures revealing the issue of BACK TO GODHEAD. BACK TO GODHEAD 3 Can science create life in the laboratory? On a morning walk with his disciples, Srila Prabhupada explains why it's not possible to produce life from chemicals, now or in the future. LIFE COMES FROM LIFE Srila Prabhupada: The whole world of science and eternal; it goes through no such changes. Life appears to technology is running on the false idea that life is born be developing and decaying, but actually it is simply from matter. We cannot allow this nonsensical theory passing through each of these six phases until the ma­ to go unchallenged. Life does not come from matter·. terial body can no longer be maintained. Then the old Matter is generated from life. This is not theory; it is body dies and the soul enters a new body. When our fact. Science is based on an incorrect theory; therefore clothing is old and worn, we change it. Similarly, one all its calculations and conclusions are wrong, and day our bodies become old and useless, and we pass on people are suffering because of this. When all these to a new body. mistaken modern scientific theories are corrected, As Kr~t:ta says in the Bhagavad-gita (2.13), dehino 'smin people will become happy.