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BOOK IS HARDCOVER AND NOT PAPERBACK. ORIGINAL UNEDITED 1972 VERSION “O Supreme Lord, I know that young girls have natural affection for young boys and that young boys have natural affection far young girls. I am praying at Your lotus feet that my mind may become attracted to You in the same spontaneous way.” The Nectar of Devotion Chapter 9. This book is especially intended for those who are engaged in the Krsna consciousness movement. The text is flooded with nectarean stories, philosophy and poetic verses about Krsna and His pure devotees—all taken directly from the Vedic literatures. It is a summary study of Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu, which was written in Sanskrit by Srila Rupa Gosvami, the chief of the six disciples of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Lord Caitanya, who appeared in India 500 years ago, is revealed by Vedic scriptures to be an incarnation of God in the role of His own devotee. He and His followers are thus most authorized to teach us how to become perfect in spiritual life. The subject matter is love of God. The basic principle of the living condition is that we have a general propensity to love someone. At the present moment the human society teaches one to love his country or family or his personal self, but there is no information where to repose the loving propensity so that everyone can become happy. That missing point is God, or Krsna. The Nectar of Devotion teaches us how to stimulate our original love for Krsna and how to be situated in that position where we can enjoy our blissful life. The presentation of this authoritative information about the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna, and our relationship to Him is simply the mercy of His pure devotee, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the acarya for the present age, who is coming in disciplic succession from Caitanya Mahaprabhu Himself.

Our unique personality manifests in our relationships with others. The Supreme Person is no exception; however, His personality is unlimited. The variety of spiritual relationships one can have with Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the subject of Bhakti Rasamrita Sindhu, the spiritual masterpiece composed by Rupa Goswami, one of the prominent disciples of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Nectar of Devotion is Srila Prabhupada’s English translation and commentary on Bhakti Rasamrita Sindhu, presented in the form of a summary study. “Summary study,” Prabhupada once quipped, “means I can do what I want.”

Srila Prabhupada published Nectar of Devotion in 1969 to clearly describe for his students the variety of relationships (rasas) one can have with Krishna and the various stages of progress one can hope to reach on the spiritual path. For those on that path, he also wished to caution of the many pitfalls to be avoided. Of all the books Srila Prabhupada translated and commented on, Nectar of Devotion gives the most clear and concise presentation of the specific practices of Krishna consciousness.

He subtitled Nectar of Devotion “The Complete Science Of Bhakti-Yoga,” to stress the scientific nature of Krishna conscious practice. The bhakti-yoga practitioner regularly employs observation and experiment, not in Petri dishes or using electron microscopes, but on his own state of consciousness. Bhakti-yoga’s ultimate goal is pure love for the Supreme Person, minus any selfishness or agenda other than unceasing devotional service. To achieve that goal—as in any scientific experiment—there are things one should do and things one should not do.

Citing many, many case studies found in Vedic writings, as well as lists of principles to be observed and symptoms by which to evaluate ones progress, Nectar of Devotion guides the reader from the very beginnings of sadhana-bhakti—devotional service in practice—all the way to the highest limits of prema-bhakti, spontaneous devotional service in pure love of God.

Here’s the world’s most distinguished teacher of the science of self-realization, and global ambassador of Krishna Consciousness, talking freely with journalists, scholars, disciples and guests about meditating and practicing yoga in the 1970’s and the modern age, gaining liberation from the law of karma, achieving superconsciousness, and much more. Prabhupada’s insight is guided by scholarship, and his life long devotion in spirituality, in the line of the greatest Gaudiya Vaishnavas such as Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Maharaja, the spiritual master of the author, which is directly descending from Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Self-realization explained.

Through the interviews, lectures, essays, and letters of this book, Srila Prabhupada exhaustively explains how to practice yoga in the modern age. Topics include karma and reincarnation, superconsciousness, how to choose a guru, Krsna and Christ, and spiritual solutions to today’s social and economic problems.

Lord Kapila is a renowned sage and the author of the philosophical system known as Sankhya, which forms an important part of India’s ancient philosophical heritage.

Sankhya is a system of metaphysics that deals with the elemental principles of the universe; it is also a system of spiritual knowledge, with its own methodology, and culminates in full consciousness of the Supreme Absolute.

Lord Kapila, however, is not an ordinary philosopher or sage but an incarnation of God.

This book deals with his answers to his mother’s enquiry about how to overcome ignorance and delusion and attain spiritual enlightenment.

The underlying theme running throughout his answers and throughout Srila Prabhupada’s commentaries on them is that one can achieve this goal by practicing bhakti-yoga, the process of linking one’s heart to the Lord’s heart through loving devotional service.

This series, with original Sanskrit, translations, and purports, sheds light on such topics as the significance of the guru, the psychology of consciousness, the characteristics of a self-realized person, the science of meditation, the nature of transcendental knowledge, and the process of ultimate liberation.

There’s material yoga, and there’s spiritual yoga. The material kind will make us feel more peaceful, limber, and healthly. The spiritual kind will teach us how to attain a state of ever-increasing transcendental pleasure.

In this book Srila Prabhupada teaches the path of spiritual yoga, Krishna consciousness, elaborating on the instructions a divine king named Rsabhadeva imparted to His sons long, long ago in India.

Journey of Self-Discovery is a collection of transcribed conversations and lectures by Srila Prabhupada on a variety of subjects, including the means for achieving global unity, the myth of scarcity, spiritual economics, superior evolutionary models, and predictions of the future state of the world.

Many of these pieces previously appeared in Back to Godhead magazine, and helpfully address the doubts that inevitably arise for those new to the Vedic view of reality.

While Srila Prabhupada published definitive, scholarly translations and commentaries on some of the world’s most important ancient texts—Bhagavad-gita, Srimad-Bhagavatam, and Chaitanya Charitamrita—his printed talks found here in Journey of Self-Discovery capture the humorous, refreshing flavor of his lively debating style.

As the ambassador to the West of the age-old Krishna bhakti cult—which teaches practical devotional service to God in His most approachable and attractive form—Srila Prabhupada speaks with an authority that is hard to resist. His arguments for intelligent design, and the existence of a supremely intelligent person possessing such intelligence, have inspired many skeptics, agnostics, and atheists to reassess their worldview.