Krishna Consciousness Movement Can Start Anew From Your Place | HG Vaisesika Dasa | Feb 2023

Śrī Advaita Ācārya’s place is indicative of how the Kṛṣṇa conscious movement starts. It’s a small place out in the countryside, and anyone can start a Kṛṣṇa conscious wave from anywhere. How is it done? Advaita Ācārya’s penchant is for presenting the Bhagavad-gītā As It Is. Many people present the Bhagavad-gītā, but then they give some mal‑interpretation. They say Kurukṣetra means “the senses.” They say Kṛṣṇa doesn’t really mean Kṛṣṇa when He says “surrender unto Me”; it just means “surrender to the unborn within Kṛṣṇa,” whatever the heck that means—which ultimately means you can do whatever you want. Advaita Ācārya—and the reason He’s called Ācārya—is because He teaches the Bhagavad-gītā As It Is. It’s from this place that He would hold forth every day and speak the truth of the Bhagavad-gītā. And people would come to His class. So this is what we can do also. Someone might say, “Oh, I don’t have any service. What can I do?” It’s like: Do you have a Bhagavad-gītā As It Is? Anyone? If not, see me afterwards. If you have a Bhagavad-gītā, (better you have a few boxes) invite some people to your house. And what will you give them to eat? Śāk. Give them a little śāk and fried cream. If you give nice prasādam, people will come—even if they don’t like philosophy. When we first started, Nirākulā and I began a program at our house that went for sixteen years, and we had people come over every week. When it first started, I was putting together some very simple prasādam. We had dates and mascarpone cheese and just a few little snack‑like things. And we were getting, you know, one person, three people, five people.And then Nirākulā started cooking all of everyone’s favorites—pies, macaroni and cheese—and then all of a sudden we couldn’t fit everybody in the house. Then I realized the formula for the Kṛṣṇa conscious movement: If you cook, they will come. And then if you have a discussion on the Bhagavad-gītā, even if you don’t know the philosophy well, that’s okay. It’s written down. You just read it and discuss it, and a magic happens—and that is, people’s hearts change when they hear that actually God is a person, and we’re sparks of that person. We’re also persons, just like Kṛṣṇa. We’re His expansions, and we’re also His servants, and there is service to do. Chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa is the Yuga‑dharma—simple things—and people suddenly feel aligned, like, “Yes, I can do this too.” And yes, you can, from any little spot—wherever you might live, out in the country or in the middle of a big city. If you hold a Bhagavad-gītā class, then people will come, and the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement will start anew from your place. Because it’s the vibration that comes from the Bhagavad-gītā, as presented by Advaita Ācārya that actually sustains the Kṛṣṇa conscious movement. It has nothing to do with our infrastructure. You can have brick and mortar here, there, and everywhere, but unless you have the vibration of the Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, you don’t have anything different from the downtown buildings you find in Minneapolis, Minnesota, or Cincinnati, Ohio—any other place; they’re all the same.What defines a realm is the sound vibration of that realm, and what defines our lives is the sound vibration that we take in on a daily basis. (22:51) ------------------------------------------------------------ To connect with His Grace Vaiśeṣika Dāsa, please visit https://www.fanthespark.com/next-steps/ask-vaisesika-dasa/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=launch2025