Pushpanjali on Friday; Changes in Sunday Program Timings

[Guest guest]

ISKCON Seattle <iskconseattle

>ISKCON Seattle Devotees <iskconseattle

>Pushpanjali on Friday; Changes in Sunday Program Timings

>Tue, 2 Apr 2002 23:02:10 -0800 (PST)

>

>Hare Krishna,

>

> Please accept my humble obeisances. All Glories to

>Srila Prabhupada.

>

> We have two important announcements for this week:

>

>1. Friday, April 5th: Pushpanjali for His Holiness

>Tamala Krishna Gosvami Maharaja

>2. Sunday Program Timing changes to 4.30 pm from next

>week onwards.

>

>1. Pushpanjali

>==============

>

> His Holiness Tamal Krishna Gosvami Maharaj, one of

>the most senior disciples of Srila Prabhupada, who has

>so expertly assisted Srila Prabhupada in propagating

>this Krishna Consciousness movement since 1968, left

>this world on March 14, 2002 at Mayapura, India. We

>have a flower-offering program this Friday, April 5th

>at the Temple honoring Gosvami Maharaj. The following

>is the schedule:

>

> 7:00pm Gaura Arati

> 7:30pm Bhajans

> 7:40pm - 8.30 pm Disciples and Godbrothers of

>H.H. Tamal Krishna Maharaj share their realizations

>and association with Maharaj.

> 8:20pm Puspanjali

> 8:30pm Prasadam

>

> We request everyone to come and participate in this

>offering to show our gratitude for Maharaj's

>superexcellent contributions in building our Society.

>

> For those who are interested to know more about HH

>Tamal Krishna Maharaj, the attached text file contains

>some very nice realizations shared by His Grace

>Mukunda Prabhu.

>

>

>2. New Sunday Program Timings

>=============================

>

> Beginning next Sunday, April 7th, our Sunday Feast

>program begins at 4.30 pm instead of at 12.30 pm. The

>following will be the new Sunday schedule:

>

> 4:30pm Tulasi Puja

> 4:45pm Guru Puja

> 5:00pm Bhajans

> 5:30pm Bhagavad Gita Class

> 6:30pm Gaura Arati

> 7:00pm Prasadam

>

>

>Hare Krishna,

>your servant,

>jayendran.

>

>=====

>Please Chant

> Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

> Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

> ... and be Happy!

>For Temple address, driving directions and other

>information, please visit http://www.iskconseattle.com

>

>

>Jaya Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada!

>Jaya Srila Tamala Krsna Gosvami Maharaja!

>

>I think personal anecdotes might be painful now for those who have had

>extensive association with his holiness. I thought of Mayapura shortly

>after the accident, and the following line by the Braj poetSuradasa came to

>mind (he sang in the voice of the gopis who so acutely felt Krsna's

>absence): binu gopala bairini bhai kunjai--i.e., "Without Gopala, even the

>forest of Vrndavana has now become our enemy."

>

>I feel like we've lost at least two-thirds of ISKCON itself, though not

>everyone will know why. What's undeniable is that ISKCON from now on will

>never be quite the same; we can only hope that things get better than

>worse. To vouchsafe the former, we will all have to work as hard as he

>would push us if he were personally still giving his directions. However,

>none of us can ever really replace H.H. Tamala Krsna Gosvami, and frankly

>I'm not sure even all of us together can do so either.

>

>I don't know anyone whom Srila Prabhupada trusted as much as Tamala Krsna

>Gosvami Maharaja, nor anyone else who was so close, so often, to Srila

>Prabhupada. His followers may rightly feel lost now without the personal

>guidance of such a fitting master, someone from whom even so many GBCs and

>other senior devotees regularly sought guidance themselves. However, this

>painful occurance repeats itself with every generation. For those who

>similarly felt like they had lost the captain of their ship, or their

>"guru-karnadhara" (Bhagavata, 11.20.17), Srila Prabhupada said this upon

>his own guru's disappearance in 1936 (SSR chapter 2):

>

> "Gentlemen, the offering of such an homage as has been arranged

>this evening to the acaryadeva is not a sectarian concern, for when we

>speak of the fundamental principle of gurudeva, or acaryadeva, we speak of

>something that is of universal application. There does not arise any

>question of discriminating my guru from yours or anyone else's. There is

>only one guru, who appears in an infinity of forms to teach you, me, and

>all others."

>

> ". . . The Vedas enjoin us to seek out a guru; actually, they say

>to seek out the guru, not just a guru. The guru is one because he comes in

>disciplic succession. What Vyasadeva and Krsna taught five thousand years

>ago is also being taught now. There is no difference between the two

>instructions. Although hundreds and thousands of acaryas have come and

>gone, the message is one. The real guru cannot be two, for the real guru

>does not speak differently from his predecessors. . . . The guru may be

>this person or that, but the message is the same; therefore it is said that

>guru is one."

>

>Actually, any and all gurus merely represent Krsna, who appears in some

>form whenever there is a decline in religion or a rise in irreligion. As

>Krsna says in Gita (4.11, 10.10, etc.), He always helps those who seek Him,

>one way or another (cf. Srimad Bhagavatam 11.26.32). Those who have been

>scrupulous enough to assimilate the teachings of Srila Prabhupada's books,

>or those of Srila Tamala Krsna Gosvami, now have to utilize this god-given

>discrimination in order to recognize the further guidance they receive from

>his Divine grace, even though it may come through any potential number of

>diverse agents. An example of this principle has been given regarding

>Aurobindo Ghosh, the erstwhile freedom fighter and mystic. Aurobindo used

>to write inflammatory political essays in Calcutta during India's

>independence struggle, which resulted in his being arrested and eventually

>forced underground. However, he continued writing under so many pen names,

>though his followers (and even!

> the British) could nevertheless understand from the content and style of

>these articles that it was none other than Aurobindo writing them. His

>audience had internalized his message to that extent. So it is with the

>disciples in the physical absence of their bonafide guru.

>

>I've recently heard many realizations regarding this tragedy, from senior

>devotees and admirers of H.H. Tamala Krsna Gosvami, which I'll try to

>share. Such atma-tattva can help those suffering the tremendous pain of

>separation from their guru. I was recently in Houston, where most of the

>devotees are H.H. Tamala Krsna Gosvami's disciples. There, H.H. Rtadhvaja

>Maharaja, Gosvami Maharaja's godbrother and intimate associate,related this

>personal experience. At a Houston temple program shortly after the news

>broke, a guest who had never even been to the temple before asked why

>everyone was crying. Maharaja explained to him that we had all just lost

>one of the greatest devotees of Srila Prabhupada, one whose preaching made

>many other senior devotees and who was very, very dear to Srila

>Prabhupada--one of his most dependable servants. The boy then told

>Maharaja, "We should actually all be joyous, because now while dutifully

>serving he has gloriously gone on to the supreme g!

>oal, beyond all suffering." Maharaja said he felt this was the voice of

>guru-vani.

>

>Those who were in touch with Tamala Krsna Gosvami in recent times know that

>he also encouraged his many, many disciples to take shelter of other

>siksa-gurus who inspired them, almost as if he knew he was leaving soon

>(which in fact he said he felt, several years ago). Those who faithfully

>represent him are another way by which his vani is still available.

>

>Here are some statements from Srila Prabhupada that may also help ease some

>of the separation H.H. Tamala Krsna Gosvami's disciples are now feeling:

>

>Letter to: Uddhava

>Los Angeles

>5 March, 1968

>68-03-05

>

>My Dear Uddhava,

>Please accept my blessings. I am just in receipt of your letter forwarded

>from New York. Please be happy in separation. I am separated from my Guru

>Maharaja since 1936 but I am always with him so long I work according to

>his direction. So we should all work together for satisfying Lord Krishna

>and in that way the feeling of separation will transform into

>transcendental bliss. . . .

>

>Your ever well wisher,

>A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami

>

>

>Letter to: Syamasundara

>Los Angeles

>19 July, 1970

>70-07-19

>"So let us meet by Sankirtana. I also do not feel separation from my Guru

>Maharaja. When I am engaged in His service His pictures give me sufficient

>strength. To serve the Spiritual Master's word is more important than to

>serve him physically. Please try to open as many branches as possible in

>European countries."

>

>Your ever well wisher,

>A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami

>

>Similarly, this was a morning walk (on July 21, 1975) in San Francisco:

>

>Narayana: "Guru-krpa only comes by pleasing the spiritual master, Srila

>Prabhupada?"

>Prabhupada: "Otherwise how?"

>Narayana: "Excuse me?"

>Prabhupada: "Otherwise how it can come?"

>Narayana: "So those disciples who don't have opportunity to see you or

>speak with you..."

>Prabhupada: "That he was speaking, vani and vapu. Even if you don't see his

>body, you take his word, vani."

>Narayana: "But how do they know they're pleasing you, Srila Prabhupada?

>Prabhupada: "If you actually follow the words of guru, that means he is

>pleased. And if you do not follow, how he can be pleased?"

>Sudama: "Not only that, but your mercy is spread everywhere, and if we take

>advantage, you told us once, then we will feel the result."

>Prabhupada: "Yes."

>Jayadvaita: "And if we have faith in what the guru says, then automatically

>we'll do that."

>Prabhupada: "Yes. My Guru Maharaja passed in 1936, and I started this

>movement in 1965, thirty years after. Then? I am getting the mercy of guru.

>This is vani. Even the guru is not physically present, if you follow the

>vani, then you are getting help."

>Sudama: "So there's no question of ever separation as long as the

>disciple follows the instruction of guru."

>Prabhupada: "No. Cakhu-dan dilo jei... What is that, next one?"

>Sudama: "Cakhu-dan dilo jei, janme janme prabhu sei."

>Prabhupada: "Janme janme prabhu sei. So where there is separation? Who has

>opened your eyes, he is birth after birth your prabhu."

>

>These quotes seem fairly representative of Srila Prabhupada's position.

>Actually, I can't find any references in which Srila Prabhupada expresses

>separation from his guru maharaja. Vani-seva is an eternal connection.

>Another dear godbrother of Tamala Krsna Gosvami, H.H. Hrdayananda Gosvami,

>wrote the following purport (Bhagavatam 11.18.39):

>

> ". . . A devotee who has been blessed by his guru with spiritual

>knowledge becomes qualified to directly engage in the mission of the

>Supreme Personality of Godhead. Srila Prabhupada always emphasized that

>service to the spiritual master in separation, pushing on the mission of

>the guru, is the highest form of devotional service. The word paricaret in

>this verse indicates waiting upon one's master by rendering personal

>service. In other words, one who has not clearly realized the teachings of

>his spiritual master should remain very close to the guru to avoid falling

>down into illusion, but one who has acquired realized knowledge by the

>mercy of his spiritual master may expand the spiritual master's mission by

>traveling around the world to preach Krsna consciousness."

>

>Those who knew H.H. Tamala Krsna Gosvami also know that this absorption in

>the mission of Srila Prabhupada is definitely what he would now expect, or

>even demand, of his followers. I remember that after Srila Prabhupada's

>physical demise in 1977, H.H. Tamala Krsna Gosvami immediately focused his

>entire attention (and any of Tamala Krsna Gosvami's attention was always

>considerable) on helping the devotees of ISKCON and on his own

>responsibility to it as one of Srila Prabhupada's foremost representatives;

>this spirit is reflected in his 1978 Vyasa-puja homage to Srila Prabhupada,

>which is worth reading.

>

>Unbelievable determination and ambition were key characteristics of Tamala

>Krsna Gosvami; he was simply never content with anything less than unique

>superexcellence. In Houston, H.H. Guruprasada Maharaja also emphasized the

>point that as determined leadership was one of Tamala Krsna Gosvami's

>hallmarks, it is only meet that those who follow him will emulate that

>qualification along with all his others. Krsna will arrange to bring about

>such full surrender.

>

>Guruprasada Maharaja also appreciated that, as Srila Prabhupada said about

>Krsna consciousness itself, H.H. Tamala Krsna Gosvami could often be "too

>hot to bear, yet too sweet to resist." He was nothing if not a controller;

>however, he was never inconsiderate, never incompetent, and never

>irresponsible. In his own, unique, and inscrutably contradictory way, he

>was also profoundly humble and amazingly sensitive, though it took me

>decades to appreciate this. The following verse depicts him perfectly

>(Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya-lila, 7.73):

>

> "The hearts of those above the common people are sometimes harder

>than a thunderbolt and sometimes softer than a flower. How can one

>accommodate such contradictions in these controllers?"

>

>Like Srila Prabhupada, perhaps because of Srila Prabhupada, he was intense.

>Such selfless, compassionate, powerful, and in general genuinely qualified

>authorities are always needed (if not always appreciated) in this world,

>and Tamala Krsna Gosvami was one of these rare souls. Those who would now

>follow in his footsteps have a lot of work to do. However, with his vani,

>they also have the means to do it (Bhagavata 10.2.31):

>

> "O Lord, who resemble the shining sun, You are always ready to

>fulfill the desire of Your devotee, and therefore You are known as a desire

>tree [vancha-kalpataru]. When acaryas completely take shelter under Your

>lotus feet in order to cross the fierce ocean of nescience, they leave

>behind on earth the method by which they cross, and because You are very

>merciful to Your other devotees, You accept this method to help them."

>

>There are personal memories and many offerings of praise and appreciation

>by various devotees, available through:

>

> http://www.mayapur.info/remembrance_letters.html

>

> http://www.chakra.org/mainpages/obituaries/tkg.htm

>

> http://www.goswami.com/

>

>Hare Krsna. His holiness Srila Tamala Krsna Gosvami Maharaja ki jaya!

>

> MDd

 

 

 

 

_______________

Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com