Vancouver

Dear Srila Prabhupada

In the Age of Kali, men become like dogs, fighting and snarling over the bones of material sense objects. Although human life is meant for elevation of the self away from selfishness and greed, towards greed's opposite, pure live, in this age even the process of elevation-religion-becomes an acceleration for the degradation of human consciousness. As a result, human life has become a hopeless, confused nightmare, as humans frantically try to put out the fire of anxiety by dousing the flames with the gasoline of sense gratification. Escalating this desperate condition are the fools posing as educators, politicians and philosophers, who lead the path on the road to hell, waving the flags of atheism, impersonalism, and voidism as their standards. This is actually the condition of the world today. The glitter of the steel and glass skyscrapers blinds the world to the misery of those living within. All discrimination, truth, and reality are rapidly disappearing from the world, as the leaders extort the people to forget God, like a myth, and worship the television and rocketship as ultimate reality.

In the Bhagavad-gita Krsna promises that he will intervene when all truth and hope are in danger of being overwhelmed by illusion and despair. Krsna's promise to protect His devotees has been proven again and again in pastimes described in the Srimad-Bhagavatam. This promise is now being fulfilled by Krsna, and the personification of this promise is Srila Prabhupada, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami. Srila Prabhupada is obviously the direct representative of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Lord Caitanya was so kind that he killed the demons by flooding the world in the ocean of nectar and drowning them in krsna-prema. Lord Caitanya made the process of religion all-attractive, even to the materialists whose only thoughts are sense gratification. Lord Caitanya distributed His mercy so profusely that even tigers and deer would dance together in ecstasy. Srila Prabhupada is also flooding the whole world with this mercy so that dogs and cats like ourselves are now dancing together, swooning in ecstasy and forgetting our differences. You are uniting us in the purpose of satisfying Krsna and in this way removing all chaos from our lives.

In this age, when faith in God has declined to practically nil, Srila Prabhupada is singlehandedly pushing back this tide of atheism. Srila Prabhupada is fighting this battle of atheism on all fronts with logic, philosophy, anecdotes and stories that surpass any of the feeble arguments of the atheists. His kindness, magnanimity, warmth and affection can conquer even the most dubious heart. His scholarship, perseverance and brilliance can conquer even the most dubious heart. His scholarship, perseverance and brilliance are beating back the tides of impersonalism and voidism. Srila Prabhupada, we are just dimly able to perceive your greatness, but even that small understanding is filling us with the greatest awe and respect, and we are simply praying that we can, by Krsna's grace, properly appreciate your most elevated position and become bona fide disciples. A bona fide disciple is one who is always obeying his every instruction, and who is fully accepting his spiritual master's desire as his life and soul. Our only desire is that Krsna will give us the intelligence to become your bona fide disciples so that we can somehow please you, as this is the only desire we now have. We at Vancouver temple are looking forward to another year to dedicate ourselves in your service and hope to expand the Krsna consciousness movement in a way that will please Your Divine Grace.

ISKCON Vancouver