Commentary on splitting some 'hares'
This article, "Commentary on splitting some 'hares'" was published in The Daily Cougar, November 2, 1971, in Houston, Texas.
By HRIDYANANDA DASA ADHIKARI
As president of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness in Houston, I wish to express my disappointment at the coverage which we have received by the award-winning Daily Cougar. We are presenting a spiritual movement for intelligent men and women who have sufficient brain substance to understand a simple philosophy.
Our simple philosophy is that every living being is not his material body but is pure spirit soul, part and parcel of Krishna or God. If we are thinking that we are Americans, Chinese, Russians, black or white, Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, etc.; that is called Maya or illusion. Due to this misidentification of ourself as either the gross bodily machinery or as the subtle mind, each of us is suffering the three-fold miseries of material existence and additionally, we become vulnerable to the cruel laws of material nature in the shape of birth, death, disease and old age.
In this bewildered bondition, each of us is struggling very hard for existence, although the cruel laws of material nature will not allow a single one of us to survive. This illusory struggle, however, can at once be stopped by revival of our dormant Krishna Consciousness or God Consciousness. In this age of quarrel and hypocrisy, this consciousness is most easily aroused by chanting the holy names of God; Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.
We are presenting behind this chanting, a post-graduate philosophical study of God, as is contained in the voluminous Vedic literature, especially the Bhagavad-Gita. Those who are serious about utilizing this human form of life for elevating themselves beyond the animal platform of merely eating, sleeping, mating, and defending like the cats and dogs, should finalize their intentions by determining to go back to Home, back to Godhead where life is eternal, full of bliss and full of Knowledge. We are simply trying to present this ancient Vedic philosophy for the highest welfare of all living beings.
Unfortunately, we must make the following corrections on the article about our movement which appeared in the Cougar on Wednesday, Oct. 27, 1971.
• Hridyananda does not mean "blissful heart." Hridyananda is any name and it refers to an expansion of God within the heart of all living entities.
• Devotees do not "kiss the wooden floor" upon entering the Temple Room. We are offering our respects to our Spiritual Master who is a bona fide representative of Krishna or God.
• Hridyananda is not the spiritual master of the Krishna Consciousness movement. I am the president of the Temple in Houston. Our Spiritual Master is His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.
• Hridyananda does not "interpret the actions of God." All devotees in Krishna Consciousness refrain from giving their own opinions of what they think God or his activities are.
• The Hare Krishna Mantra is not a "motto," it is the holy name of God.
• The handerchief is not soaked in water, it is touched with a drop of water for purification. It, as well as all other articles, are offered to the Spiritual Master, not the Supreme Lord. They are offered because they are nice. The article is of no importance, the sincere devotion with which it is offered is what counts.
• We do not "blow a few notes through a large sea shell." We sound a conch shell because its sound vibrations are very pure, and the pure sound reminds us of Krishna or God who is All-Pure.