Bhakti Vikas Swami
So this modern way of life — now we have electricity and TVs and people spend hours, instead of chanting Hare Krishna they are watching TV, spoiling their life, and having all these bad vibrations pumped into their brain. Day after day they are watching murder, rape and so many horrible things on TV. And how it pollutes the consciousness! If we chant Hare Krishna, it purifies the consciousness. Prabhupada wanted these [farm] communities, where people could live simply and chant Hare Krishna — in an ideal way.
Lecture on “Simple Life on Farm Communities” (Pula Farm, Croatia, 20 October 2000)
Bhakti Vikas Swami
Growing your own food, protecting cows, even that is much healthier. The flavor of vegetables, when you take from the ground and immediately cook and offer to Krishna and take, then it has so many flavors and is so nutritious. But when you buy from the shop it’s at least two or three days old.
Lecture on “Simple Life on Farm Communities” (Pula Farm, Croatia, 20 October 2000)
Bhakti Vikas Swami
He [Prabhupada] wanted to make social reforms also, because he saw that modern society, the way it’s set up, is destroying spiritual values. Even in previous generations the people lived a much more religious life, and a much more moral life.
Lecture on “Simple Life on Farm Communities” (Pula Farm, Croatia, 20 October 2000)
Bhakti Vikas Swami
The more advanced the countries are, the more degraded they are.
Lecture on “Simple Life on Farm Communities” (Pula Farm, Croatia, 20 October 2000)
Bhakti Vikas Swami
Modern society is promoting lust, anger, and greed and especially the TV: everything is simply lust. They are promoting sex-everything is sold, advertisements, promoting lust. And anger. What are the two main things ? Sex and violence. So anger. You see so many murders on TV. And greed. TV is running on advertisements, all kinds of things that we don't need.
Lecture on “Simple Life on Farm Communities” (Pula Farm, Croatia, 20 October 2000)
Bhakti Vikas Swami
Srila Prabhupada wanted to show that people can live very simply and happily chanting Hare Krishna. Modern society is destroying the qualities of human beings. So Srila Prabhupada wanted that devotees, who have a higher philosophy will demonstrate this in life by living very simply together and not having so many [useless things].
Lecture on “Simple Life on Farm Communities” (Pula Farm, Croatia, 20 October 2000)
Bhakti Vikas Swami
Srila Prabhupada had quite a revolutionary vision: grow your own food, make your own cloth. That's the point: If you grow your own food and produce your own cloth – these are the basic necessities – then you don't even need money.
Lecture on “Simple Life on Farm Communities” (Pula Farm, Croatia, 20 October 2000)
Bhakti Vikas Swami
Everyone is controlled by the economic system, because you have to work and get money, and then you buy some food imported from South Africa, so many thousands of miles away. But you can become independent of the modern economic system; you grow your own food and produce your own cloth. Even the house, you can make from local ingredients.
Lecture on “Simple Life on Farm Communities” (Pula Farm, Croatia, 20 October 2000)
Bhakti Vikas Swami
Actually you can live very simply. You don’t need so many things. Modern society, they have given the idea that you need so many things: unless you have twenty pairs of shoes you can’t survive. It’s not true. You don’t need so many things. You don’t need so many different clothes and you certainly don’t need TV.
Lecture on “Simple Life on Farm Communities” (Pula Farm, Croatia, 20 October 2000)
Bhakti Vikas Swami
I often visit people’s homes and tell them, “Hey, you want to have a better family life? Then get rid of that thing in the corner [the TV].” And some people do it, and they say, “Actually, our family life is much better. Now we talk to each other. We never used to talk to each other, because we just used to watch TV.”
Lecture on “Simple Life on Farm Communities” (Pula Farm, Croatia, 20 October 2000)
