A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada - Perfect Questions Perfect Answers

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This free for download ebook is a direct reproduction of the original bona fide personally approved and blessed by Srila Prabhupada.

This ebook was made by the official website for
Srila Prabhupada's original books:
Krishnapath.org
All the content was directly taken from the original scans, is unchanged and intact.

More free downloads at:
www.krishnapath.org

On an ancient island in Bengal, between thewaters of the Ganges and the Sarasvat, a youngPeace Corps. worker began a mystical, innerjourney into a new and deeper reality....

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Perfect Questions
Perfect Answers

Perfect Questions
Perfect Answers

Conversations Between
His Divine Grace
A. C. Bhaktivedanta
Swami Prabhupda
and Bob Cohen,
a Peace Corps worker
in India

Readers interested in the subject matter of this book
are invited by the International Society
for Krishna Consciousness
to correspond with its Secretary.

International Society for Krishna Consciousness
3764 Watseka Avenue
Los Angeles, California 90034

1977 Bhaktivedanta Book Trust

All Rights Reserved

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 74-27525

International Standard Book Number: 0-912776-62-5

First printing, 1977: 220,000 copies

Printed in the United States of America

Table Of Contents

Contents

One
Ka, the All-Attractive
February 27, 1972

Two
Vedic Culture: Varrama-dharma
February 28, 1972

Three
The Real Goal of Life
February 28, 1972 (continued)

Four
The Three Modes Of Nature
February 28, 1972 (continued)

Five
Becoming Pure
February 29, 1972

Six
The Perfect Devotee
February 29, 1972 (evening)

Seven
Acting in Knowledge of Ka
February 29, 1972 (evening, continued)

Eight
Advancing in Ka Consciousness
(an exchange of letters)

Nine
Deciding for the Future
New YorkJuly 4, 1972

His Divine Grace
A. C. Bhaktivedanta
Swami Prabhupda

Introduction

Introduction

God, spiritual lifethose were such vague terms to me before I met rla Prabhupda. I have always been interested in religion, but before I met the Ka conscious devotees, somehow I did not have the proper perspective needed to inquire fruitfully about spiritual life. The existence of a Creator is only common sensebut who is God? Who am I? I had been to Hebrew School and had studied Oriental philosophy, but I could never get satisfying answers to my questions.

I first heard the Hare Ka mantra in Greenwich Village, New York, in late 1968.

Hare Ka Hare Ka
Ka Ka Hare Hare
Hare Rma Hare Rma
Rma Rma Hare Hare

The chanting was captivating, and it made me feel very comfortable. The mantra stuck in my mind, and I soon regretted that I had not taken a magazine from the devotees. As explained to me later, a transcendental seed had been planted that could eventually ripen into love of Godhead.

Several months later, I came across a card with the Hare Ka mantra on it. The card promised, "Chant these names of God, and your life will be sublime!" I would occasionally chant, and I found that the mantra did, in fact, give me a feeling of peace of mind.

After graduating from college with a B.S. in chemistry, I joined the Peace Corps in 1971 and went to India as a science teacher. In India I inquired about the Hare Ka movement. I was attracted by the chanting and intrigued by the philosophy, and I was curious about the movement's authenticity. I had visited the Ka temple in New York several times before going to India, but I did not consider the seemingly austere life of a devotee for myself.

In India I first met the Ka conscious devotees at a festival they were holding in Calcutta during October of 1971. The devotees explained to me the purpose of yoga and the need to inquire about spiritual life. I began to feel that the rituals and ceremonies they practiced were not dull, sentimental obligations, but a real, sensible way of life.

At first, however, it was very difficult for me to understand the philosophy of Ka consciousness. In so many subtle ways, my Western upbringing prevented me from seeing things that were as plain as the nose on my face! Fortunately the devotees convinced me of the need to practice some few basic austerities, and in this way I began to gain some insight into spiritual life. I can now recall how distant and tenuous were my concepts of spirituality and transcendental existence. I met rla Prabhupda briefly at this timein November of 1971and shortly thereafter I decided to become a vegetarian. (I was proud of being a vegetarian, but later rla Prabhupda reminded me that even pigeons are, too.)

In February of 1972, I met some devotees in Calcutta who invited me to a festival in Mypur (a holy island ninety miles to the north). The festival was to be held in honor of Lord Caitanya Mahprabhu, who is considered an incarnation of Ka Himself. I had then been planning a trip to Nepal, but the Peace Corps denied me permission to leave India, and so I went to Mypur.

I left for Mypur planning to stay for two days at the most, but I ended up staying a week. I was the only Western nondevotee on the island, and since I was living with the devotees on their land, this was a unique opportunity to learn intimately about Ka consciousness.

On the third day of the festival, I was invited in to see rla Prabhupda. He was living in a small huthalf-brick and half-thatched, with two or three pieces of simple furniture. rla Prabhupda asked me to be seated and then asked how I was and whether I had any questions. The devotees had explained to me that rla Prabhupda could answer my questions because he represents a disciplic succession of spiritual masters. I thought that rla Prabhupda might really know what is going on in the world. After all, his devotees claimed this, and I admired and respected them. So with this in mind I began to ask my questions. Inadvertently, I had approached a

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