May/June 2008

In his lecture in this issue, Srila Prabhupada tells the people of Sanand, India, to “Grow Food, Not Tobacco.” His message: Live simply and use your time for spiritual pursuits.

Prabhupada often spoke of his desire for his disciples to set up self-sufficient farm communities. Some are striving to do that in remote British Columbia, Canada. In “Paving the Way on Unpaved Roads,” Yoginatha Dasa tells of the successes and challenges of living a Krishna conscious life off the grid.

Prabhupada pushed for farm communities mainly to aid our spiritual progress, but as one who saw everything as Krishna’s property, he also recognized the environmental benefits of living close to the land. In “Global Ecology and Human Psychology,” Murari Gupta Dasa explains the environmental benefits of Krishna consciousness by drawing the connection between our inner life and its effect on the outside world.

Our primary goal is not a healthy planet but a healthy consciousness linked to Krishna in full self-surrender. As shown by Narasimha Swami Dasa in “The Process of Surrender,” that’s the essential message of the Bhagavad-gita, which Prabhupada brought to the West in the form of his Bhagavad-gita As It Is. Satyaraja Dasa tells the remarkable story of the publishing of that landmark edition of Krishna’s timeless teachings.

Hare Krishna.  –Nagaraja Dasa, Editor

Departments

You Can Get There from Here

In Your Own Words

Letters

“We Are Hare Krishna People”

Vedic Thoughts

Vanishing Heroes and Whining Fans