Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept my humble obeisances unto your lotus feet. All glories to Your Divine Grace.
Every year brings me to a deeper appreciation of your unparalleled contributions to enriching
my life and the lives of many all around the world. Your Divine Grace is the ācārya for the whole
world. The Vāyu Purāṇa defines the word ācārya as “one who knows the content of all the Vedic
literature, explains all the meanings of the Vedas, follows all the rules and regulations, and teaches
his disciples to act in the same way.”
By your mercy, this year I could meditate on your extraordinary dedication to preaching in
Western countries despite immense obstacles. Meditating on your preaching in Western countries
gives me the conviction that the more we study your example with a humble heart and prayers,
the more we will be guided by Your Divine Grace to follow in your footsteps.
Your Divine Grace traveled at an advanced age, boarding a cargo ship, the Jaladuta, and going
to an unknown land despite having no money, no followers, and no support. You were simply
carrying one instruction as your life and soul: to fulfill the mission of your spiritual master. Śrīla
Prabhupāda, you could have spent the rest of your life peacefully at the Śrī Rādhā-Dāmodara
temple in Vrindavan, but for the sake of all living entities, Your Divine Grace left Vrindavan to
preach the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement around the world.
Actually, we know you didn’t leave Vrindavan, because you said wherever you go, that is Vrin-
davan. In this way, by spreading Kṛṣṇa consciousness all around the world, by your presence you
manifested Vrindavan in the form of your ISKCON temples and centers. No one is dearer to the
Supreme Lord than a person rendering devotional service, preaching Vrindavan consciousness.
We in Tsukuba, Japan, conduct nutrition classes for Japanese people to help them continue a
vegetarian diet. Their families are not supportive; they think vegetarian food lacks nutrition. I am
teaching them to make vegetarian meals that are healthy and tasty. Our group is preparing nutri-
tious vegetarian food with locally available vegetables and ingredients for their families, and this
helps them continue their Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
We especially teach Japanese mothers with children in these nutritional cooking classes. They
are very glad to see how nicely we can make wonderful healthy vegetarian preparations and then
offer them to Kṛṣṇa. This humble help is bringing whole families to support the Japanese devo-
tees to continue their Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
We as a team conduct cooking classes at our place, teaching vegetarian cooking using Japanese
ingredients, and the easiest ways to make these dishes so the students can prepare them for them-
selves and their families. In our team we have yoga teachers, mothers, and doctors.
I train the twice-initiated devotees in Deity worship (I was trained at the Māyāpur Academy). I
teach these courses in Japanese. This gives us immense support with the Deity worship as well as
wonderful association and opportunities to learn. We also make Deity outfits locally.
We are thriving day by day and see immense potential among the Japanese who come to our
place to learn the Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
Along with the above training and educational programs, we conduct kīrtana melas, monthly
programs, and celebrate various festivals for the locals. We encourage all the devotees here to con-
duct other home programs for the Russian, Nepalese, and Bengali devotees.
On this auspicious day of your Vyāsa-pūjā, please kindly bestow your mercy so that I can be
of some use in spreading Mahāprabhu’s message. Thank you, Śrīla Prabhupāda. With profound
appreciation and gratitude, I bow down and beg for Your Divine Grace’s mercy that we can serve
constructively at the Japan yātrā.
Your insignificant servant of the servant of your servants,
Ujjvalā Gopī Devī Dāsī, on behalf of the devotees at ISKCON Tsukuba

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