My spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada, was in his heart very intimately related to Srila Sridhara Maharaja. He had even asked Srila Sridhara Maharaja to move into the Mayapura temple with him. He told him he would make a room, especially for Srila Sridhara Maharaja to stay in. Despite having such a great mission, Srila Prabhupada told Srila Sridhara Maharaja he sometimes felt lonely and wanted somebody to exchange his experiences with. He said, “At first, I wanted to take you all over the world so that everybody could listen to you. Now that you’re old, I can bring the whole world to Mayapura to listen to you.” Srila Sridhara Maharaja said he would think about it. Later he remarked that he never thought he would outlive Srila Prabhupada. Anyway, Prabhupada’s wish was fulfilled and the whole world came to hear from Srila Sridhara Maharaja.
We can also see that the relationships between the devotees are not always easy. We can’t always get along with everyone. Sri Krsna is using many different characters in His plan. Srila Sridhara Maharaja suffered a lot because of the behavior of some devotees. Sometimes they wanted to take things away from him, but being very detached, he always focused on the divine prasadam, on writing and on studying. Eventually, everything came to him. Devotees from all over the world started to come and hear from Srila Sridhara Maharaja.
My spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada, was in his heart very intimately related to Srila Sridhara Maharaja. He had even asked Srila Sridhara Maharaja to move into the Mayapura temple with him. He told him he would make a room, especially for Srila Sridhara Maharaja to stay in. Despite having such a great mission, Srila Prabhupada told Srila Sridhara Maharaja he sometimes felt lonely and wanted somebody to exchange his experiences with. He said, “At first, I wanted to take you all over the world so that everybody could listen to you. Now that you’re old, I can bring the whole world to Mayapura to listen to you.” Srila Sridhara Maharaja said he would think about it. Later he remarked that he never thought he would outlive Srila Prabhupada. Anyway, Prabhupada’s wish was fulfilled and the whole world came to hear from Srila Sridhara Maharaja.
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Srila Prabhupada once purchased a temple in Hawaii. One of the persons responsible for this project arranged things in such a way that he could sign for the whole property. One day the devotees saw a big truck arriving in front of the building. People jumped out and started to unload furniture. The devotees asked who they are and why they were unloading that furniture. They answered that they were moving in. The devotees were confused and said that this was a temple. “No, we have just bought this house,” they said. Then it was revealed that this so-called devotee of Srila Prabhupada had sold the temple secretly and had disappeared with all the money. The devotees were thrown out of the temple and together with the deities they had to find another place. Such incredible experiences! Later Srila Prabhupada had the chance to meet this devotee again in Los Angeles. He gave him his mercy, even after having done such a terrible thing, and again tried to rescue him from the material entanglements. Srila Prabhupada always, under all circumstances, encouraged the devotees and gave them another chance to become Krsna-conscious.
When Srila Prabhupada wanted to establish a temple in Bombay, he was offered a very nice site. He accepted it and made efforts to arrange its purchase. However, the man who was selling this place had previously made several attempts to sell it to others and had cheated them out of the down payment. He tried to do the same with Srila Prabhupada. On top of that, he was a person with a lot of official connections with the local government of Bombay, so he was able to generate great bureaucratic obstacles for the young American and European devotees who were living on this empty land, trying to make a Radha Krsna temple there. An incredible struggle arose out of this situation. Srila Prabhupada’s disciples told him many times that they couldn’t take it anymore, that they had to leave this place, but Prabhupada insisted, “If you go, we will lose it. You must stay.”
Srila Prabhupada went there and fought against the cheater and his governmental connections. After a prolonged struggle, Srila Prabhupada emerged victoriously and the wonderful Juhu Beach temple with the beautiful Sri Sri Radha Rasa-bihari deities became a reality. From this temple, many millions of people have been affected by the message of Srila Prabhupada. This is just one example of how Srila Prabhupada had to undergo so many struggles to make his mission a success. By mentioning these struggles here, I’m not trying to discourage anybody from dedicating themselves to the process of Krsna-consciousness. I just want to show that even pure devotees have to undergo the harshest situations, and still they continue to distribute their mercy to others. Srila Prabhupada wanted all of his devotees to participate in the preaching. There is one story related to this that is very touching. At one point, devotees were gathered around Srila Prabhupada, and out of the blue one devotee asked a question, “Prabhupada, what will happen to us after you leave?” With that question, such total silence penetrated the room that you could hear a pin drop. Everybody’s eyes focused on Srila Prabhupada with great anxiety about how he would respond.
Srila Prabhupada in a very casual way replied, “You…” and he paused, “You will all become hippies again.” You can imagine how everybody’s heart dropped to the ground. We will be hippies again? What a disaster. But then Srila Prabhupada raised his voice and practically shouted to all of us, “If you don’t go on preaching for the rest of your life!" Relief returned to the hearts of the devotees. This single instance show us the very mood of Srila Prabhupada. He kept engaging all of us in preaching: single mothers, sannyasis, grhastas. He wanted all of us to study the scriptures so that we could teach their message. He wanted us to be in contact with him in that way. He wanted the inspiration to serve Krsna to flow - from him, through us, to others. His primary concern was to bless each one of us to a maximum degree. In one letter to me, Srila Prabhupada wrote, “All of my disciples should become spiritual masters, but unfortunately they are not yet qualified.” We have to focus on the sweet wish of Srila Prabhupada. We have to do everything possible, and we have to teach all the people that are coming to us to study these books and become qualified to give wonderful classes on these topics. Nobody in our line should be reluctant to give lectures. Srila Prabhupada asked women, men, young and old to lecture. Sometimes he requested Hemavati devi dasi, his young female disciple, to lecture in front of thousands of Hindus in pandal programs. Srila Prabhupada was proud that his sons and daughters were going out to preach, make movies, write articles, open centers, etc. That was his bliss. In fact, what he announced about us becoming hippies again if we didn’t preach has become a reality. We have seen this very clearly after Srila Prabhupada’s departure. If devotees were not practically engaged in living and distributing the sweet message of Srila Prabhupada, they were inclined towards other things and very often slipped away to return to the activities they had performed before they met Srila Prabhupada. What Srila Prabhupada declared on that occasion was the simple truth. He could foresee very clearly what would happen if we were not careful and didn’t keep proper association. Srila Prabhupada said, “You will show your love for me in how you cooperate amongst each other.” His wish was that his disciples would cooperate and encourage each other, and that they would maintain the same generosity and love which he had given to all of them, and that they would give this to others as well. Srila Prabhupada was not interested in forming an elite. He did not allow anything that might lead to exploitation in his name. There is a remarkable story about a young brahmacari who went to Calcutta in the early seventies. He was of an enthusiastic nature but could not live in harmony with the local sannyasis in Calcutta. The relationship became so unbearable that at one point it ended in a fist fight. The brahmacari bit the sannyasi in order to free himself. Prabhupada went to that place a few days later and the brahmacari was waiting, thinking he was going to be kicked out. As soon as Prabhupada entered his room, the brahmacari ran in and said, “Prabhupada, I have to talk to you.” Prabhupada asked him about the matter. The brahmacari answered that he wanted to take sannyasa. Prabhupada asked him why, especially as he had spent only a year and a half in the mission. The brahmacari said, “I cannot work with any of these people. I have to work directly for you. Please give me sannyasa”
Prabhupada responded, “That is a very good reason to take sannyasa.” Everybody was so surprised that Srila Prabhupada didn’t smash him for everything that had happened. A few days later Prabhupada gave sannyasa to the brahmacari and sent him to Hong Kong. He told him to open a Krsna-conscious temple there. This was the way Prabhupada used to face problems. He always loved and trusted devotees so much that they just couldn’t resist. They would go on and try to become more advanced, even though we all know spiritual life in the age of kali can be very hard. We are surrounded by sense objects and temptations all the time. In the middle of all of this we are trying to become real devotees, while almost everybody else in this world is just running after money and doesn’t care for spiritual progress. Thus it is quite a wonderful but challenging task we are trying to perform. All Glories to Sri Sri Guru and Gauranga
Sato Vrtteh by Svami Bhakti Aloka Paramadvaiti Following in the Footsteps of Previous Acaryas THREE SRILA A. C. BHAKTIVEDANTA SVAMI PRABHUPADA Mahatma Gandhi Srila Prabhupada, Srila Sridhara Maharaja, and Srila Puri Maharaja all had great sympathy for Mahatma Gandhi. His struggle for Indian independence, his preaching for simple living and high thinking and his rejection of the consumer society and materialistic lifestyle - all of this was charming to these great souls. In fact, in their university days, they participated in Gandhi’s propaganda and gatherings. However, that was not as strong as the call of their spiritual master who immediately reached for the higher purpose of the soul. Mahatma Gandhi had a great lesson for India and for the whole world, but Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura had an even purer and more urgent message for every single soul. Therefore, Srila Prabhupada wrote a letter to Mahatma Gandhi in which he tried to impress upon him the great need for spiritual upliftment in addition to the political accomplishment of independence and a simple way of living. They were pioneers of a new attitude, which receives more and more attention in today’s world: the need for simplicity, for ecological awareness, for respecting each other in a non-sectarian way and for seeking the truth with full dedication. All Glories to Sri Sri Guru and Gauranga
Sato Vrtteh by Svami Bhakti Aloka Paramadvaiti Following in the Footsteps of Previous Acaryas THREE SRILA A. C. BHAKTIVEDANTA SVAMI PRABHUPADA Intellect, Knowledge and the Highest Ideal All our spiritual masters declared that involvement in intellectual pursuits and acquiring knowledge is not the highest goal. They often used to tell us the story of the brahmana in South India who couldn’t read the Bhagavad Gita properly. People were laughing at him, but then Sri Caitanya came to see him. He saw the tears streaming from thebrahmanas eyes as he was looking at the Bhagavad Gita and asked him, “Why are you crying? What is the reason?” He replied, “I’m looking at this picture of Krsna and Arjuna on the chariot. The Supreme Personality of Godhead comes all the way down to drive the chariot of his devotee and to instruct him. When I see this, I can’t control my emotions.” Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu took him into his arms and said, “You have truly understood the Bhagavad Gita.” Of course knowledge has its value in this world. All our spiritual masters were definitely capable of defeating illusion, impersonalism and all other anti-devotional ideas and philosophies. They had no scarcity of knowledge, but the emphasis for success in spiritual life was not placed on this aspect. Most important are unalloyed devotion and true spiritual eagerness. This eagerness that brought great pleasure to their spiritual master was definitely present in them. There are countless stories to prove this. All Glories to Sri Sri Guru and Gauranga
Sato Vrtteh by Svami Bhakti Aloka Paramadvaiti Following in the Footsteps of Previous Acaryas THREE SRILA A. C. BHAKTIVEDANTA SVAMI PRABHUPADA Intellect, Knowledge and the Highest Ideal The preaching of Srila Bhaktivedanta Svami Prabhupada was so amazing because he could adapt himself to any circumstance. Whether he was speaking in universities, to a politician, or to some devotee in private, he always found the right words to touch the hearts of his listeners. AtthesametimePrabhupada was fearless in denouncing atheists and speculating scientists. To academic audiences he would state that universities were like slaughterhouses because they don’t teach students the meaning of the human form of life. They simply give titles to people so that they remain fixed in their certified illusions. Therefore people are becoming proud of their material position instead of learning about their real spiritual identity. All our spiritual masters declared that involvement in intellectual pursuits and acquiring knowledge is not the highest goal. They often used to tell us the story of the brahmana in South India who couldn’t read the Bhagavad Gita properly. People were laughing at him, but then Sri Caitanya came to see him. He saw the tears streamingfromthebrahmanaseyes as he was looking at the Bhagavad Gita and asked him, “Why are you crying? What is the reason?” All Glories to Sri Sri Guru and Gauranga
Sato Vrtteh by Svami Bhakti Aloka Paramadvaiti Following in the Footsteps of Previous Acaryas THREE SRILA A. C. BHAKTIVEDANTA SVAMI PRABHUPADA Misunderstandings in Prabhupada’s Mission Prabhupada dismissed both of these points immediately. As a matter of fact, he was so upset about this resolution that one of the sannyasis, who had been instrumental in bringing this resolution to pass, was sent away from America to China to open a temple there, practically exiled for his proposal. Srila Prabhupada was very loving and very cautious. He took all of his disciples into consideration. He was extremely sensitive about everyone being happy in his mission. It was also true, and this has often been misunderstood, that he didn’t want his disciples to expect or demand a large income from the devotee community. Whoever needed more than a basic income was encouraged by Srila Prabhupada to go out and earn that money in an honest way. They could then offer their free time for the publication of books or the management of his community. Under no circumstance were Srila Prabhupada’s people to come to live in the temple and use the donations which were given to the temple for their personal maintenance. He condemned living off the deities, as is the custom at some of the Gosvami temples in Vrndavana. He condemned earning a living from teaching the Srimad-Bhagavatam, as well as the desire to earn money instead of being charitable and generous to the people. Srila Prabhupada wanted purity in the center of his mission. He knew that without purity, things would not progress very easily and positively in the future. Therefore he placed great emphasis on this matter. All Glories to Sri Sri Guru and Gauranga
Sato Vrtteh by Svami Bhakti Aloka Paramadvaiti Following in the Footsteps of Previous Acaryas THREE SRILA A. C. BHAKTIVEDANTA SVAMI PRABHUPADA Misunderstandings in Prabhupada’s Mission We can learn much from observing the effects of the immaturity of Srila Prabhupada’s young disciples. At times conflicts arose between some sannyasis and grhastas (householders), temple presidents. Sannyasis and brahmacaris wanted to do everything very strictly, while Srila Prabhupada had encouraged married persons to open temples and become temple presidents in different places. Being married, they had other needs as well. So sometimes sannyasis would come to these temples and simply steal the brahmacaris away by telling them it was not very auspicious to work under the authority of a grhasta. Another dispute arose about what to do when single mothers with children approached the devotees for shelter. In many of the temples quite a few women had one or more children, as this is common in the West. This was obviously not an easy situation, and the GBC at one point had a meeting and decided that single mothers shouldn’t be allowed in theasramas anymore. In that same meeting, they decided that every temple president would have to be a renunciate, a brahmacari. When that news got out to the devotees that had come to the festival in Mayapura, temple presidents and others were extremely disheartened. How was it possible that all these big changes were taking place by GBC resolutions? The next morning, one of the grhastaswent with Prabhupada on his morning walk. He asked Srila Prabhupada whether it was true thatgrhastas could not be temple presidents anymore, and that all the single mothers had to be sent away from the temples. Srila Prabhupada stopped, looked at him and said, “Who said that?” So the grhastadisciple answered him that the GBC had made that into a resolution. Srila Prabhupada became very thoughtful and with a fierce voice he answered, “I made all of this so that you may all become spiritualmasters, so that you will become very mature devotees. These girls have come to the human form of life and found their spiritual master and now they want to send them away?” |
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