London (Bury Place)
LONDON (BURY PLACE)
Dear Srila Prabhupada,
Please accept our most humble obeisances. All glories to your divine lotus feet.
This is the first time that we are writing a Vyasa-pūja offering while you are no longer physically present on this planet. Your departure, causing intense feelings of separation in the hearts of your disciples, is a completely new test for us. A real test of our faith in the guru, a real test by which our realization is examined, of how much we are aware of the fact that the relationship between you and your disciples is a purely transcendental arrangement, and that this relationship cannot be checked by the laws of material nature. Maybe we have had friends or relatives, uncles or parents pass away, and we can probably recall the strange but mundane atmosphere surrounding such events. Everything appeared false and like a dream, without any real substance. We might even have felt something like separation, but of course completely based on the concept of "Oh, I am so sad he is gone, because now he cannot give me any more sense gratification." But there is absolutely no comparison with the feelings we experienced when you left this mortal plane. I think that this is the test that reveals that somehow or other by your causeless mercy we have develop attachment for you, in spite of the fact that we had no taste for spiritual life. Somehow or other, by your causeless mercy we have made some advancement on the path of devotional service to Krsna. That also reveals that your personality was so attractive that we became attached to you, in spite of our deep-rooted distaste for the uncompromising spiritual instructions emanating from your lotus lips. And the most important aspect of all these revelations is that strange but pleasant and reassuring feeling that you never left us, showing that our attachment to you is not mundane. It is not like one of those ordinary and temporary relationships in the material world, but it is an eternal, spiritual relationship of a superexcellent and inconceivable nature, although we are not fully aware of it. But a glimpse of that awareness is manifesting itself, giving us new strength, knowing that you are guiding and watching us at every moment through the agent of Krsna's inconceivable potencies. Of course, we already knew this from the revealed scriptures, but this direct confrontation has added a new dimension to our understanding.
But the ultimate test is whether we will be able to maintain this understanding and expand it in the future, since you are no longer here personally to encourage or chastise us, or as you yourself once stated in a letter, "to keep whipping us." And this will be shown in the way we carry on your mission. Our real faith in you will be shown in the way we are willing to sacrifice our own lives to fulfill your mission, just as you sacrificed everything to satisfy your spiritual master. But the greatest sacrifice is to always remain humble and meek, since the instruction is that one should feel like a fool in from of his guru. We should never forget that you are always here with us. To feel oneself humble and insignificant means that no matter what position we occupy, we never think, "I can do better than my guru. He was too compassionate," or "He did this wrong or that wrong." Abstaining from such ill thoughts, we may then also become gurus, since this was always your desire, that every one of us should become an acarya. And one of your most outstanding qualities was your unlimited compassion and love for all living beings, no matter how fallen or degraded they were. This was clearly shown in the way you picked us up out of the filthy gutters of maya. So we should humbly follow in your footsteps, endeavoring to develop the same qualities.
We have caught a glimpse of attachment to your lotus feet. Now we must be careful not to neglect this glimpse or to forget it in due course of time. We must deepen this feeling towards you at every moment. Then nothing can go wrong, and even the strongest temptation will not be able to stand in front of such genuine feelings of affection. Then we will be successful in glorifying you and the great mission which you have started. Then we will be able to fully establish that God conscious society the way you were envisioning it. And finally, by your causeless mercy, so many people will become pure devotees of the Lord and attain the perfection of life. Dear Srila Prabhupada, you are an ocean of compassion, and we simply pray that we may never forget your lotus feet and that we may never forget serving them.
Your most fallen servants from Sri Sri Radha-London-isvara Dhama
Hari Krsna dasa / Ranchor dasa / Bhaja Hari dasa / Visalaksa dasa / Rohininandana dasa / Vamsivadana dasa / Ahkottha dasa / Punyatama dasa / Kisora dasa / Bhojadeva dasa / Yasoda-dulala dasa / Prahrada dasa / Trnavarta-ghurana dasa / Jiva-daya dasa / Jagadananda dasa / Prakasatma dasa / Manonnata dasa / Parividha dasa / Bhūmadeva dasa / Jnana dasa / Dhurvanatha dasa / Dharanidhara dasa / Yavana dasa / Siva-Narayana-rathi dasa / Bhakta Billy / Lila-sakti-devi dasi / Rama-devi dasi / Astasakhi-devi dasi / Bhavani-devi dasi / Jagatam-adhisthatri-devi dasi / Kamadhuk-devi dasi / Kamalahgi-devi dasi / Gopimata-devi dasi / Anandalila-devi dasi / Rukmini-Dvarakadhisa-devi dasi / Kamala-netraya-devi dasi / Gandharvika-devi dasi / Laksmipriya-devi dasi / Kalalapa-devi dasi / Yasasvini-devi dasi / Damayanti-devi dasi / Radha-priya-devi dasi / Kunjamanḍana-devi dasi / Lilavati-devi dasi / Bhaktin Linda / Bhaktin Irena / Radha-Gokulananda-devi dasi / Ksama-Rūpa-devi dasi / Dhenuvati-devi dasi / Bhakta Matthew / Bhakta Mark / Kalindi / Candra / Premananda / Prema / Baladeva / Gopi-manjari
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