My dear spiritual father, dear Guru Mahārāja,
Please accept my humble obeisances.
All glories to your beloved Śrīla Prabhupāda!
All glories to the holy dust of your lotus feet!
It is your causeless mercy dear Guru Mahārāja that you have lifted me, this unworthy rascal from the ocean of birth and death and engaged me in the service of Śrīla Prabhupāda’s mission. For this I am eternally grateful to you, and I will never be able to repay this debt.
This year, like last year, has brought many difficulties for both humankind and devotees. In addition to the pandemic that has been going on for years, a war broke out not far from us not long ago, with masses of people losing their lives every day. All this is a cause of great sadness. But our sadness is also mixed with a little happiness. Because in this sad situation the unity what was Śrīla Prabhupāda’s desire is shown. He wanted cooperation in the movement that he founded, so if we cooperate, we can satisfy him. Cooperation makes Kṛṣṇa satisfied, we see it in the history of the Pracetās, and what makes Kṛṣṇa satisfied makes Śrīla Prabhupāda satisfied.
Here in the Hungarian yātra we are trying to give shelter to those devotees who have been forced to leave their homes in this unfortunate situation. Every day, Mātājīs arrive with their children (men are not allowed to leave the country) and we try to provide them accommodation and prasāda according to our capacities. Some of them move on after a few days, but some have nowhere to go and stay here for who knows how long. It breaks my heart to think of the situation they are in, having lost all their material possessions. At the same time, I am happy because, despite all their difficulties, they seem to be happy too, more or less. They are fortunate that they have a tool – Kṛṣṇa’s love ‒ in their hands to help them to come through the trauma they have suffered. I am also fortunate because I can help them ‒ in my own insignificant way ‒ thereby realizing Śrīla Prabhupāda’s desire for unity in the movement.
I would especially like to highlight the Food for Life devotees who literally work-day and night to distribute prasāda to thousands of refugees and those stranded on the other side of the border in the war zone every day. It is a tremendous effort on their part, and I am sure they are bringing great happiness to Śrīla Prabhupāda.
In the last few days, I had the honor to facilitate the ISKCON Disciples Course for about 20 devotees. This activity is always a great pleasure for me. Although it can be very tiring to focus and teach them from morning till the evening for days, even if teaching is what I do almost every day. It is tiring, but it is nectar, because it is a great happiness for me to talk about the guru-tattva and Śrīla Prabhupāda to others. It is nectar because it is good to see how their knowledge and faith in the spiritual master and Śrīla Prabhupāda deepens during these few days. But deepening their understanding and faith is only the half of my happiness, the other half is that with the upadeśa, mine is deepening too. And it also deepens the feeling that I cannot be grateful enough for your existence dear Guru Mahārāja!
Śrīla Prabhupāda instructed you that you (and us) can demonstrate how much you (and us) love him by how well you (and we) cooperate. I pray for your blessings to always cooperate with the devotees and fulfill His Divine Grace’s desire this way.
I have many challenges facing me, and only by your mercy can I overcome them. So, I take the opportunity to reaffirm my commitment to serving your lotus feet in Śrīla Prabhupāda’s mission.
Dear most Guru Mahārāja, kindly shower your mercy upon all the devotees who are dedicated their life to fulfil Śrīla Prabhupāda’s desire and expand his glories by carrying out his instructions.
Your worthless and insignificant spiritual son,
Gaurasundara Kṛpāmaya Dāsa (dīkṣā)
Bhaktivedanta College, Budapest, Hungary