Negative (Letters)

Expressions researched:
"negative" |"negatively" |"negativeness" |"negatives" |"negativism" |"negativity"

1947 to 1965 Correspondence

Letter to Dr. Y. G. Naik M.Sc., Ph.D -- Delhi 28 March, 1960:

According to the Visnu Puranam the material energy is called Avidya or nescience which is exhibited in the fruitive activities of sense enjoyment. But the living being belongs to the group of anti-material energy or spiritual energy while he has the tendency of being illusioned and trapped by the material energy for sense enjoyment.

In this sense the living being is the positive energy whereas the matter is the negative energy. The matter does not develop without being in contact with the superior spiritual or anti-material energy which is directly part and parcel of the spirit Whole.

Letter to Mr. Nakano -- Delhi 18 April, 1961:

You have requested to send you my photograph and personal history and thank you for this. I am sending herewith some cuttings of photograph (Present) which appeared in the press. If these are not suitable for your purpose, then you can get a fresh promo-copy from the original negative which also is being sent herewith. Regarding my personal history I beg to state it shortly as follows: I was born 1st September 1896 in Calcutta as the third son of my father Late Gaura Mohon Dev and mother late Rajani Devi in the family of one of very respectable Gold merchant aristocracy of Calcutta. I was educated in the Scottish Churches College (B.A. 1920) and Netaji Subhas Candra was my college mate. I left education influenced by Mahatma Gandhi in 1921 and joined for some time in the national liberation and other social service movements.

1968 Correspondence

Letter to Gurudasa -- Los Angeles 24 February, 1968:

He has also advised me to take help of a professional photographer if your assistance is not available immediately because I am away from your place. Please let me know if you can send such glossy photo from many negatives which you have got in your possession. I understand also that Rayarama has taken some of the negatives from you in New York so if you like you can advise him to do the needful. Anyway the matter is urgent and I ask you to do the needful. I am expected to return to San Francisco by the 10th of March and I shall let you know the exact time and date later on.

Letter to Sivananda -- Los Angeles 11 November, 1968:

Regarding your question, about living alone, living alone is a general tendency for a person who wants to get disassociated with the materialistic persons. That is also recommended by the Goswamis in their instructions. It is better to remain alone than to mix with materialistic persons. But this is not applicable when we have the opportunity to get the association of pure devotees. Our program is negative and positive simultaneously. We want to negate the materialistic side and make positive the spiritual side, it is not one sided. If you have no positive standing, negating only will not make you successful. Therefore it is better to remain positively within the society of pure devotees. That is also recommended by the Goswamis. That one should be occupied in activities in the modes of goodness and associate with spiritualistic persons, that will make one's advancement very quick.

1969 Correspondence

Letter to Manager of The Bank of Baroda -- Tittenhurst 30 September, 1969:

The shipping documents for London shall be mailed by registered cover to INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR KRISHNA CONSCIOUSNESS, 7 Bury Place, WC 1, London, England.

We have received complaint from the Bina Musical Stores that on their inquiry about $400 dispatched from America you have replied in the negative. The $400 was sent by cable on the 3rd September 1969, and before that you received $300 and odds. Then why you should reply them in the negative? For this reply the dispatch is held up and delayed. Kindly inform the immediately in the affirmative so that the consignment may not be delayed. Please reply this letter to my above address. Thanking you in anticipation.

1970 Correspondence

Letter to Gurudasa -- Los Angeles 21 April, 1970:

You can send the negatives and one print here to me also.

Letter to Uddhava -- Los Angeles 9 June, 1970:

One of our friends, Sri Sarafji, Chief Editor of the "Godarsana" magazine, has requested some photographs for an article which is to be published in the "Godarsana." Please send therefore some negatives of pictures of Sankirtana, Deities, and some other pictures of our devotees and temples to the following address:

Sri Tarachand Saraf

Chief Editor: "Godarsana"

11-7 Kalakar Street

Calcutta-7, India

Please send these negatives by Air Other mail as soon as possible.

Letter to Brahmananda -- Los Angeles 30 June, 1970:

Can you send some negatives of some very nice color and black and white photographs of our Tokyo center—Sankirtana on the plaza, etc. for propaganda purposes?

1972 Correspondence

Letter to Niranjana -- Los Angeles 26 May, 1972:

It doesn't matter if the Hindi translation is perfectly the same length as the English original, translate any issue of BTG or any book and send the manuscript after composing to Japan for printing, that is the best plan. For our English BTG's they have got the original photographs and negatives in Japan, so if you translate some issue of English BTG you can send there for printing and the cost will be cheaper because they have already got the photos, etc. In Benares there are many presses and they supply very cheaply. So you take quotations from Benares and find out the lowest quotation for soft binding, first-class paper, and printing in the size of our present Bhagavatam booklets, Easy Journey To Other Planets, like that. In Delhi and Mathura also there is very good facility for Hindi printing.

Letter to Brahmanya Tirtha -- Ahmedabad 10 December, 1972:

Child should not be forced. This is all nonsense. Who has devised these things? If we want them to become great devotees, then we must educate the children with love, not in a negative way. Of course, if they become naughty we may show the stick but we should never use it. Child is nonsense, so you can trick him to obey you by making some little story and the child will become cheated in the proper behavior. But never apply force, especially to his chanting and other matters of spiritual training. That will spoil him and in the future he will not like to do it if he forced.

1973 Correspondence

Letter to Lynne Ludwig -- Los Angeles 30 April, 1973:

I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter from California dated November 27, 1972, and I have noted the contents carefully, although due to extensively travelling and preaching tour in India, I have not yet got the opportunity to reply you at length until now. Your complaint is that you have met two of my young disciples in California and they appeared to you as having "a very negative outlook towards the people they meet." Of course, I do not know the case, what are the circumstances, but kindly forgive my beloved disciples any unkindness or indiscretions on their part. After all, to give up one's life completely for serving the Lord is not so easy thing. And Maya, or the illusory material energy, she tries especially hard to try to get back and entrap those who have left her service to become Devotees.

Letter to Lynne Ludwig -- Los Angeles 30 April, 1973:

They may even over-indulge in such feelings just to protect themselves, and thus they will appear to some non-devotees, who are perhaps themselves still very enamoured by the material energy of Maya, as being negative or pessimistic.

But actual fact is that this material world is a miserable, negative place, full of danger at every step, duhkhalayam asasvatam, temporary abode of death, birth, disease and old-age, home of suffering and pain only. To come to that platform of understanding of things as they are, that is not a very common thing, and therefore such persons who attain to it, they are described as "great souls":

Letter to Lynne Ludwig -- Los Angeles 30 April, 1973:

Krishna, is always enjoying "great satisfaction and bliss" and he is constantly "enlightened", always positive, not negative as you say. The advanced devotee is the friend of everyone: yoga-yukto visuddhatma, purified soul engaged in loving devotional service to Krishna, sarvabhutatmabhutatma, he is dear to everyone and everyone is dear to him; and in another place Krishna claims that: yo mad bhakta sa me priya, that His devotee who is very dear to Him, advesta sarva-bhutanam, maitah karuna eva ca, is not envious but is the kind friend to all living entities. The devotee is supposed to be, furthermore, equal to everyone, panditah sama-darsinah (BG 5.18), never discriminating; this one good, this one bad, no.

Letter to Minister in charge of Immigration -- Bhaktivedanta Manor 24 November, 1973:

This is our principle. We are trying to broadcast this message on the authority of Vedic knowledge. Everywhere we are very much peaceful, trying to reform the character of the modern man. We teach our students to follow the following regulative principles, namely no illicit sex life, no meat eating, no intoxication, and no gambling. These are the negative principles, and the positive principle is to chant always the Holy Name of God. By the grace of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, we have become successful everywhere, in all parts of the world. We have no principle striction that one is Indian, one is America, one is African, or one is Hindu, one is Christian, one is Mohammedan.

1974 Correspondence

Letter to Damodara -- Paris 8 June, 1974:

I am glad to hear all the participants have stopped. So you convey to them my instructions in this matter. We have an immense field of work in distributing books, reading and chanting and working for Krsna in many fields. And the aim of it is to always remember Krsna. Some philosophers think that in response negatively to the nasty consciousness of material life we should become "thoughtless" but this is not Krsna Consciousness, nor is it possible to become void or like a stone. Our process is to purify the thinking by always thinking of Krsna, actively and positively.

Letter to Yadunandana -- Melbourne 25 June, 1974:

Similarly Gaura Keshore das Babaji the spiritual master of my guru maharaj would chant alone in a solitary place so as not to be bothered by anyone in his meditation on Krsna. But these great personalities are not to be imitated. If we artificially imitate, out of some negative feeling or out of desire for adoration as a saintly person, it will not be very beneficial. On the authority of Lord Caitanya and my spiritual master, I am requesting my disciples to always stay in the association of devotees and to propagate the sankirtana movement all over the world, so that others may get a chance also to become liberated from the material condition. Prahlada Maharaja prayed I am not satisfied to go back to the kingdom of God alone, but I must bring back with me all these poor fools who have no alternative ultimately than to surrender to You.