Letter to: Sudama
—
Bombay
10 December, 1973
73-12-10
Oahu, Hawaii
My Dear Sudama das Goswami:
Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 10/4/73 and have noted the contents carefully. Regarding the Hawaii situation, do not worry. I shall rectify when I come there. They are chanting, this will save them. Otherwise, they are all good boys, and they cannot go away. It is not hopeless situation. Whenever you meet them, tell them that Prabhupada is coming and that they should not give up the chanting, never mind they can do whatever they like. Send me their address and I shall write them. Where is Govinda dasi?
Regarding what is a Vaisnava, Vaisnava means that when others see him, they will also chant Hare Krsna. So why not give them the chance of seeing by wearing the beads, tilaka, and sikha? You are not paramahamsa that you can do whatever you like. So my advice to you is that you remain ideal Vaisnava internally and externally, and everyone will respect you. Don't be agitated. They will come back because they are chanting maha mantra. You keep your standard and try to help them, but don't become influenced by them. Regarding the Deity worship, it must go on nicely. Govinda dasi was doing very nicely. Decorate with flowers and incense and have arati and offer bhoga.
Regarding your travelling plans, yes that is good. You can go in bus all over the islands. Live there for sometime and make Honolulu your headquarters. Sometimes you can visit Japan and the neighboring islands. For a sannyasi, travelling gives him more experience for serving Krsna.
So far your health is concerned, Hawaii is very good climate. You can take bath in the sea, and that will keep your health. Take dhal, especially urd, arhad, and tour, a little cheese, peanuts, green vegetables, especially squash leaf.
Please offer my blessings to Gaurasundara and Govinda dasi. I have not heard from her. She is the center of Hawaii organization. Let her cooperate with you. She is a good preacher. Sometimes reverses may be there, but just depend on Krsna. Balabhadra is a very good boy. Make him in charge, also Govinda dasi, and you come and go. Yes, you can go to Brazil. Also, you come to Mayapur on Mahaprabhu's appearance day as many as possible at least for a week. Yes, the Gaura nitai Deities may be taken out for festivals. I am glad to hear of the excellent book distribution that is being done there. From other parts of the world there is also very good report of book distribution. That is our main propaganda work. So you go on with your preaching work and I will be pleased to receive your report regularly.
Enclosed is the sanctified sacred thread for Krsna Caitanya dasa. Now hold a fire sacrifice amongst the devotees and let him hear the gayatri mantra from the tape through the right ear and teach him how to chant it three times daily.
I hope this meets you in good health.
Your ever well wisher,
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
ACBS/bs
Editor's note : Let's see how Prabhupada's faith in Balabhadra (William E. Dove) is rewarded just three days later.
—
Los Angeles
13 December, 1973
73-12-13
Hawaii
My dear Balabhadra Prabhu,
Please accept my blessings. I understand from Sudama Goswami that Gaurasundara has handed over to you some portion of the proceeds from the sale of the Temple there. I do not know why he has sold the Temple without my permission. He had no right to do such a thing. I request that you kindly send whatever money he has given you directly to me in Los Angeles by registered post. The old Temple BBT and Spiritual Sky debts may be cleared with it first and the rest should be sent directly to myself. We require huge sums of money for our Temple projects in Vrindaban and Mayapur so we have good use for it.
Gaurasundara and Siddha-svarupa have almost fallen down. Do not join them. Stay in the association of our Temple and work according to established programs as I have already directed.
I hope this meets you well.
Your ever well wisher,
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
ACBS:Kda
c.c. Sudama Goswami
Letter to: Govinda
—
Los Angeles
18 December, 1973
73-12-18
Kona, Hawaii
My dear Govinda dasi,
Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated December 1, 1973. I thank you very much for the check for $20,000.00 which has been duly received by me.
I understand however that out of the sale of the Temple, $54,000.00 was taken as net proceeds so where is the balance money? Has Gaurasundara spent or distributed it? I also understand that Balabhadra has been paid $15,000.00 by Gaurasundara so $15,000.00 and $20,000.00 makes $35,000.00 so where is the balance of $19,000.00?
Anyway, I beg to request you to arrange for sending the balance money because for our Vrindaban project we require a few lakhs of rupees immediately. In Bombay also we have purchased a large tract of land at Juhu Beach so why not ask Balabhadra to send his $15,000.00 and Gaurasundara also to send the balance money?
My plan is to come to Hawaii by mid January 1974 when, of course, we shall meet together. I have no ill feelings against Gaurasundara, rest assured, neither anyone is accusing him or you. Everyone considers it has been done by some supernatural influence on Gaurasundara. We suffer on account of our karma—that is a fact. In this material world our karma is responsible for everything. Therefore, due to our work we create our own circumstances. So, if you like to cooperate with our missionary work you are welcome to return back. I have already written a previous letter to you, a copy of which is enclosed.
At the present, I am so pleased that you have found some shelter and an opportunity to preach—it is all by Krsna's Grace. If you like you can come here or if you are satisfied, stay there. At any rate, go on with preaching work—that is our main business.
When we meet in Hawaii we shall discuss everything in detail. In the meantime, kindly induce Balabhadra and Gaurasundara to send the balance money. I still have very high regard for Gaurasundara. I have praised him always for being a kind and gentle boy. All of a sudden he has gone crazy even to the extent of abandoning you. It will all be forgotten history if you again begin preaching work sincerely.
I hope this letter finds you well.
Your ever well-wisher,
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
ACBS:Kda
Editor's note : Prabhupada still has high regard for Gaurasundara but doesn't mention Balabhadra. Also $1 in 1973 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $7.09 today. The dollar had an average inflation rate of 3.92% per year between 1973 and today, This means that today's prices are 7.09 times as high as average prices since 1973, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics consumer price index. So in today's money $15,000 would be $106,350.
From ISCOWP webpage :
Balabhadra (William E. Dove)
William E. Dove (Balabhadara das) met A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada, founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, in 1969. The same year, Srila Prabhupada initiated him at the Honolulu temple on the island of Oahu, Hawai. William was the first to be initiated by Srila Prabhupada in Hawaii. He was a local boy who had grown up in Hawaii since he was five years old and, from an early age, had an interest in agriculture. Due to Srila Prabhupada’s teachings, he has dedicated his life to cow protection and diet change.
He and his wife co-founded the International Society for Cow Protection, ISCOWP, in 1990. In addition, he served as the ISKCON Global Minister of Cow Protection and Agriculture from 1998 – 2012, when he resigned due to health issues. He is currently the president of ISCOWP and is personally involved in the everyday care of the cows and land at the ISCOWP center in Florida.
Editor's note : Strange, no mention of the temple stealing incident.
More from ISCOWP website :
In 1981, our family (myself, wife Chayadevi, son Baladeva and daughter Lakshmi) moved to the Gita Nagari farm community in Pennsylvania, USA. In the mid-’80s, the farm started a program called “ADOPT-A-COW,” which raised funds to help support the cows. By then, the farm had a herd of 157 cows, which the land could not support. So, Gita-nagari became the 1st ISKCON farm in North America to stop breeding as a commercial dairy. The leaders of Gita-nagari realized that if you are not killing your unproductive cows and male offspring as a commercial dairy does, you lose your economic profit. So, raising funds to pay for the feed that we could not grow on the farm was necessary. My wife and I ran the “ADOPT-A-COW” program from 1988 to 1990. During this time, we also were in charge of the agriculture department on the farm.
Editor's note : The lies are like waves on the ocean.
1) The herd was close to 200 with more cows on the way. I personally put an end to the commercial dairy paradigm at Gita-nagari.
2) If by the "leaders of Gita-nagari" he means the ISKCON demons in charge they realized no such thing. They had a much more nefarious plan in mind : to neglect the cows to death (which they were doing and had been doing for years at other ISKCON farms) and then sell the farm off for profit which I personally prevented. This is detailed in my article
3) They diverted funds, animals, and equipment from Adopt a Cow and the farm, which were desperately needed for the cows at Gita-nagari, to start his own separate program. All this while I was using my own personal funds to support the cows.
4) At no point was he "in charge of the agriculture department" at Gita-nagari. His involvement consisted of bringing in an "agricultural expert" whose recommendation was to destroy the cows pasturing grounds which were now saving them, and to harass me in anyway possible on behest of the ISKCON usurpers. All while we were revolutionizing cow protection and agriculture through rational pasture grazing management of which he had no part.
The whole thing is beyond belief and I have so much more to say about this time period ... but that will have to wait for another day as having to discuss these people and their avalanche of lies and deceit is practically unbearable.
Yours Truly,
Ralph Laurino