| Deva
Gaura Hari das Dear Srila Prabhupada, Please accept my most humble obeisances
prostrate at your lotus feet. Recently I have been remembering a pastime
you had with one of your disciples walking on a beach in Bombay: Your disciple
said something like, "Srila Prabhupada, mostly I feel Krishna conscious,
but sometimes I feel like I am in maya". To that you replied, "You are
always in maya, just sometimes you remember Krishna." Srila Prabhupada,
I must admit that I undoubtedly fall under the same description as that of your
disciple - I am always under the sway of this illusory energy, of ignorance, and
only sometimes I have brief glimpses of what life is like above the clouds of
the material modes. Of course, I have been blundering along like this for
countless lifetimes, so this is nothing new, and I can do no more damage to myself
than what I have already done. But Srila Prabhupada, I now find myself
in a situation where, by your grace, I am asked to be responsible to assist others
in their service to your mission, and I am forced to make decisions which can
affect, either positively or negatively, how other souls relate to your service.
Therefore my prayer on this day, Srila Prabhupada, is that you give me
the blessing that I may have proper vision and intelligence to become a useful
instrument in connecting others to your divine service, and that I may never get
in the way of other's service to you. If I have been the cause of other devotees
feeling uninspired to serve you then I sincerely beg forgiveness from you, and
also from them. Srila Prabhupada, you were quoted as saying that this ISKCON
movement could only be stopped by quarrel from within the ranks of devotees, not
from any outside influence. I have seen how this quarrelsome age permeates even
devotee association at times, and we see that devotees disagree on how best to
press on the mission and execute their service. Of course it is natural
for us to have differences of opinion at times, and that is what makes for transcendental
variety, but I also pray to you today, Srila Prabhupada, that all of us here in
this community of devotees, may be able to always co-operate together when push
comes to shove and we need to keep your movement strong. Certainly when
we look back on this brief life from our death bed, we will rue any chance that
we lost to serve your lotus feet, and any differences amongst the Vaisnavas that
we felt strongly about in life will surely seem insignificant as we pass from
this life into the next. As the example of a handful of small twigs being
very strong even though one can be snapped easily, please give us all the intelligence
to always be strong in the association of your stalwart followers. This is the
perfection of our life. Please show us how to co-operate nicely; to create
Vaikuntha here in this material world. Truly there is no anxiety and a place really
is Vaikuntha where there are blissful devotees co-operating together in the service
of Sri Krishna, free from envy and criticism, and always singing the praises of
the pure devotees. Srila Prabhupada, I pray that we may all see the good
qualities in the other devotees, and in this way always remain inspired to serve
within your wonderful ISKCON house, which really is big enough to fit the whole
world in - including all of us. Jaya Srila Prabhupada! Your eternally
indebted and hopeful servant, Deva Gaura Hari das
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