Offering

Dear Gurudeva,
Please accept my humble obeisnaces, All Glories to Srila Prabhupada. All glories to your lotus feet.

As I was talking to one devotee , I was thinking of your specific mission to spread compassion, love, and enthuse everyone to take up service. Many are of the opinion that LOVE is easy to come by. Anyone can teach living entities on how to care for and love each other they say. I have to disagree with the statement, because love is more than just affectionate dealings. Love is the opposite of Lust. So in that sense teaching devotees how to love each other would mean removal of the deadly Anartha called lust and it is no mean mission. It is one of the most difficult and arduous tasks that a spiritual mentor can take on. You once mentioned in a class that teaching can be both personal and impersonal. It becomes personal when the teacher takes an active interest in the life of the student and gives them what they 'need.' You are such a teacher who has given me what I need. The past year has seen us go through a roller coaster ride and as I try to reflect on what I learnt at the Samskara festival in 2004,viz. " Seeing Krishna in everything," I realize practically that Krishna exists in a kind word as much as in a racist comment. Krishna exists in a everyday dealings and not always in the way we picture Him to be. Thank you for teaching us how to see Him. In the past year I have felt more and more dependent on the will of the Lord and less dependent on my own thinking. At your Vyasa Puja celebrations and the following Gaura Purnima festival, I experienced an overwhelming gratitude for taking us under your fold. Without your teachings I would have been totally at a loss to deal with events both good and bad. Thank you for teaching us that a situation is not under our control, but how we respond to it is surely under our control. Thank you for being there at every step of my life.

your servant

Nitya Navina Dasi.