Samadhi message

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Letter PAMHO:9523472 (109 lines)

Giriraja Swami

06-Mar-05 06:37 (22:37 -0800)

SDHS Disciples [2104]

Attached: final_Samadhi_message5.zip (5491 bytes) "Mayapur"

Samadhi message

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brahma-bhutah prasannatma

na socati na kanksati

samah sarvesu bhutesu

mad-bhaktim labhate param

 

"One who is thus transcendentally situated at once realizes the Supreme

Brahman and becomes fully joyful. He never laments or desires to have

anything. He is equally disposed toward every living entity. In that state

he attains pure devotional service unto Me." -- Bhagavad-gita 18.54

 

 

My dear brother Sridhar Swami Maharaja,

 

I feel so much separation today. What can I say? Now Mrs. Singhal, Srila

Prabhupada's beloved daughter and our affectionate mother, has also left us

here. Somehow her departure has served to awaken my feelings of separation

from you, from His Holiness Tamal Krishna Goswami, and ultimately from our

Srila Prabhupada.

 

We all shared so much together--the struggles at Hare Krsna Land: the

struggles to get the land, to build the temple, to use the facilities as

Srila Prabhupada would have wanted, according to his standards and

priorities and mood.

 

We relished those struggles, because in them we came close to Srila

Prabhupada, and close to each other. We came close, in fact, to pure love.

And we knew that in the end Srila Prabhupada and Sri Sri Radha-Rasabhihari

would be pleased, however successful we may or may not have been by external

standards, by our effort to serve them--by Their grace.

 

As Sandipani Muni told his disciples Krsna and Sudama: "My dear boys, it is

very wonderful that you have suffered so much trouble for me. Everyone likes

to take care of his body as the first consideration, but you are so good and

faithful to your guru that without caring for bodily comforts you have taken

so much trouble for me. I am glad to see that bona fide students like you

will undergo any kind of trouble for the satisfaction of the spiritual

master. That is the way for a bona fide disciple to become free from his

debt to the spiritual master. It is the duty of the disciple to dedicate his

life to the service of the spiritual master. I am greatly pleased by your

acts, and I bless you: May all your desires and ambitions be fulfilled."

 

And as Lord Krsna told his old friend Sudama: "If a man is sufficiently

educated in student life under the guidance of a proper teacher, his life

becomes successful in the future. He can very easily cross over the ocean of

nescience, and he is not subject to the influence of the illusory energy. As

the Supersoul of the living entities, I sit in everyone's heart and observe

everyone's activity in every stage and order of life. Regardless of which

stage one is in, when I see that one is engaged seriously and sincerely in

discharging the duties ordered by the spiritual master and is thus

dedicating his life to the service of the spiritual master, that person

becomes most dear to Me. My dear friend, both of us can realize that without

the blessings of the spiritual master no one can be happy. By the mercy of

the spiritual master and by his blessings, one can fulfill the mission of

human life."

 

Our dear Godbrother Bhurijana Prabhu recently quoted a statement by one of

Srila Prabhupada's Godbrothers. That Godbrother, at an advanced age, was

walking, with some difficulty, on his veranda, chanting softly. And under

his breath he muttered, "Eleven years with Srila Prabhupada [bhaktisiddhanta

Sarasvati]; forty years without him."

 

Even advanced souls feel separation--what to speak of us. I so much depended

on your guidance and encouragement and friendship. Where will I find them

now? Even till the end I would look forward to phoning you and talking with

you. In your humility you called me your siksa-guru and asked for my

guidance. But you were the one who was instructing me--and the whole

movement--how to serve our spiritual master with all energy and resources,

and how to encourage each other with love and good humor.

 

As a teacher you were heavy. "Guru means heavy." Yet you were like an angel.

"Angels fly, not because they know how, but because they take themselves

lightly." You took Srila Prabhupada and his mission most seriously. But you

took your own bodily pains and pleasures lightly. And so you could easily

give of yourself to others and be our "guardian angel" in service to Srila

Prabhupada.

 

I wish I could just fly to you now, fly into your loving embrace. But I fear

I do not have the strength. I am too strongly tied to the body and the

world.

 

But I do have one hope: your mercy, in the form of your love, your care,

your example, your instructions, and the strength and inspiration we get

from them to continue to serve Srila Prabhupada and ISKCON to the end,

whenever that may be.

 

You wished His Holiness Indradyumna Swami "Happy trails." I wish mine could

be happy too. And they will be, as long as they lead to you, in eternal

service to Srila Prabhupada, Sri Panca-tattva, and Sri Sri

Radha-Syamasundara.

 

Today is the grand opening of your samadhi-mandira. It is beautiful, just

like your heart, just befitting the king that you were--king of Srila

Prabhupada's staunch, surrendered, stubborn servants. May you and your

samadhi give shelter to all who come to you.

 

On this auspicious occasion I, among many, pray to you:

 

Please bless me and keep me under your shelter. Teach me to serve as you

did, without duplicity, with heart and soul. And teach me to laugh as you

did, even in the face of death, convinced that "there is no utility in

negativity" and that in the end "the joke is on me."

 

Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!

 

Nita-Gaura-premanande hari-haribol!

 

Your eternal servant,

Giriraj Swami

(Text PAMHO:9523472) ------

 

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