Bala dasa, Sarada devi dasi, Divija and Avanija
nama om visnu-padaya krsna-presthaya bhu-tale
srimate romapada-svamin iti namine
nama om visnu-padaya krsna-presthaya bhu-tale
srimate bhaktivedanta-svamin iti namine
namas te sarasvate deve gaura-vani-pracarine
nirvisesa-sunyavadi-pascatya-desa-tarine
om ajnana-timirandhasya jnananjana-salakaya
caksur unmilitam yena tasmai sri-gurave namah
Dear Guru Maharaja,
Hare Krsna!! Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!! and All glories to Your Divine Grace.
On the occasion of your Vyasa-puja celebration, we would like to express our sincere gratitude for accepting us as your disciples and giving us shelter.
Our journey towards reviving the dormant Krsna consciousness started by attending a ‘Discover yourself’ course in ISKCON Seattle accidentally. The very same year we met you for the first time in Seattle ISKCON temple. We got introduced to your “in person lectures” at Vedic Cultural Center during occasions like Thanksgiving weekends and Japa retreats. Japa retreat is our best outing and every year we await that time for gaining your personal association. Our kids plan and talk about this event all-through the year. We were inspired by your lectures and workshops organized under your guidance especially during Japa retreats to increase both quantity and quality of chanting. Your lectures have more practical tips and have nothing but pure nectar about supreme Lord Sri Krsna. We learned great qualities such as being punctual, dealing with respect, planning ahead of time, being compassionate and prioritizing things from you as we observe these qualities in you and your actions. We always contemplate your instruction on priorities – health, job, family and kids, chanting and service to check if we are heading in the right direction and balancing all. You enlighten us on a regular basis with your personal email communication, whenever we need any guidance and provide clarification when we are in doubt.
We are very grateful to you for so many wonderful hearing opportunities you create for us on a regular basis even though we are situated miles apart using technology, we can remain connected. We feel that you are just a click away and always connected through your heart transforming lectures and personal emails. You have dedicated tremendous, long hours of effort in research in our vedic literature, your quality of fearlessness to travel around to ensure that fallen souls like myself connect with your wonderful lectures and discussions daily with your live streams. Sometimes multiple times per day. All the lectures were thorough and deep, it just shows your love towards Lord Krsna and the scriptures glorify Him. Your lectures often bring a sudden tranquility to a hectic and chaotic day.
Dear Guru Maharaja, you are absorbed one hundred percent in serving the instructions and mission of your beloved spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada. Your faith that “A spiritual master lives forever by his divine instructions and the follower lives with him” shows your guru–bhakti and inspires me to follow your guidelines. You lead by example in exhibiting exemplary dedication to your spiritual master You have instructed and trained us in a way where our relationship with Srila Prabhupada and the entire disciplic succession is continuously nurtured. All your services are directed towards fulfillment of the instructions of your spiritual master especially in assisting the devotees in their journey towards Krsna. You spend countless hours in preparing for lectures which is the life force for moving forward in bhakti. Your words and messages filled with purity melts and transforms the hearts of the audience.
From your various Gita-nagari retreat lectures on gratitude, we learned the deeper connection between bhakti and the feeling of gratitude. Time and again you taught us how to lead life in gratitude and to be ever grateful to one who is nourishing bhakti in us. Instead of just taking things for granted, you taught us those daily reflections of gratitude can allow one to achieve maturity as feelings of gratitude are the beginnings of loving relationships. You also taught us that when our love and care go to the soul there can be detachment from all circumstantial things. The best way to express our gratitude is to serve with genuine love and sincerity. I always contemplate on the personal message which you shared last year to all the disciples that discipline alone makes heart hard but discipline with feelings of gratitude makes heart soft and it is more effective than just discipline alone. I realized this fact in many situations in my life.
In your most recent lecture on theme of alignment, you have explained in detail about how the proper alignment and persistent re-alignment of body which represents our behaviors, mind which represents our values and beliefs and heart which represents our deeply held beliefs and implicit convictions, proper alignment of these three makes bhakti possible towards Krsna. Also, your popular tag that says YES to chanting, say YES to serve, say YES to Krsna. The letter Y in YES represents Yearning, E represents Enthusiasm and S represents Spontaneous or voluntary always helps me to chant and serve with proper ‘YES’ attitude.
Again, on the auspicious occasion of your Vyasa-puja we would like to express our gratitude for all the blessings, guidance and encouragement you are giving us and thank you very much for making us fortunate by giving shelter at your Lotus feet and letting us join the transcendental parampara of disciplic succession in our life.
Maharaja, I pray that the Supreme Lord continues to grant you a health, and strength to continue your most valuable mission of leadership, guidance and blessings. Your service to Srila Prabhupada’s movement provides strength and stability to all who come in contact with you. I wish that you remain safe from this pandemic and also pray that your sincere disciples who are at the forefront in directly helping you to carry out your duties also be protected.
Your servants,
Bala dasa, Sarada devi dasi, Divija and Avanija