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by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda
We know that this procedure also has its difficulties. The mixed aptitude is really opposed to the quest for the truth. It is opposed to absolute emancipation, to the supreme function, the supreme need and the supreme goal. Its nature as well as its language is equally opposed to the quest for the truth....
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by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda
If someone accepts such a great soul from the past – in this case Jesus Christ – as jagad-guru and wishes to follow in his footsteps in the present but considers that there is no need for any mahānta-guru, it is questionable to what extent he will be able to properly follow the views of Jesus...
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by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda
Externally, the activities performed while engaging in both imitating (anukaraṇa) and following (anusaraṇa) seem to be the same, just as the outward appearance of fool’s gold (iron pyrite) and pure gold are for the most part identical. To be clear, anukaraṇa is synonymous with pretension. A tendency exists in our hearts for such pretension, and it has been called vipralipsā; the tendency to cheat or delude others. That tendency leads us to deceive others for the purpose of accumulating prestige (pratiṣṭhā) and the like...
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by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda
One should not slacken in one’s chanting of the holy names due to the appearance of material thoughts while chanting. By progressively and regularly engaging in chanting the holy name, all of these useless thoughts shall gradually be dispelled. One need not worry for that...
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by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda
We, His eternal protégés, are conditioned to follow His lead in this matter. If we do so, we shall be doing the right thing and will obtain knowledge of the realm of the Absolute. We shall no longer have to remain penned within the narrow material scope of three dimensions. But we are hampered by our mixed aptitude. We have the option of meddling with the material as well as the spiritual...
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by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda
If I am to bestow My mercy upon someone, I must expose Myself to him fully. Those who have wrong aspirations and speculative minds will be debarred from having un-obscured perception of My actual Size, Figure and Colour. If I do not confer upon them My mercy, they will simply miss Me...
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by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda
Between subserviency and mastership, there should be an unbridgeable gulf of separation, one being separated from the other by the difference of functioning. But as nature abhors a vacuum, the very basis of thinking requires us to find out some principle of intermediacy between the two. Guru, or the principle of this intermediacy, is absolute master...
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by Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja
I have not even a scent of love for Śrī Kṛṣṇa. I am crying simply to flaunt whatever fortune I once obtained. If I truly loved Him, how could I endure this useless life bereft of the sight of His lotus face as He sports with His flute?...
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by Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Vāmana
Only he who is imbued with true devotion – whether a householder or a mendicant sannyāsī; whether a scholar or a fool – is a Vaiṣṇava. In the course of carrying out their sojourns through the corporeal plane, various forms of distress may even come to the physical and mental functions of Vaiṣṇavas. For devotees of the Lord, however, the occurrence of such distress is momentary and invariably leads to happiness...
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by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda
If his works are studied in the light of one’s own worldly experience their meaning will refuse to disclose itself to such readers. His works belong to the class of the eternal revealed literature of the world and must be approached for their right understanding through their exposition by the pure devotee...
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by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Prabhupada
And those who are unable to visit Kurukṣetra physically to have darśana of Śrī Kṛṣṇa can still help that meeting from a distance with the same mood of separation, and contribute by enhancing the rasa laden pastime from afar...
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by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda
The writings of Ṭhākura Bhaktivinoda provide the golden bridge by which the mental speculationist can safely cross the raging waters of fruitless empiric controversies that trouble the peace of those who choose to trust in their guidance for finding the Truth. As soon as the sympathetic reader is in a position to appreciate the sterling quality of Ṭhākura Bhaktivinoda’s philosophy the entire vista of the revealed literatures of the world will automatically open out to his reclaimed vision...