Dearest Guru Mahārāja,
Please accept my most respectful obeisances from the bottom of my heart. All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda. All glories to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu
On this glorious day of your Vyāsa-pūjā, I wish to convey my deepest love and gratitude to you for taking me under your shelter. As I continue on this path, I realize how fortunate I am as I see you tirelessly continue to fulfill the desires of your spiritual master by spreading the mission of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Each day you share more and more nectar in your classes and instill in our hearts faith in this wonderful path of bhakti yoga. You are very much interested in making sure that all your disciples are adequately supported on their path of bhakti therefore you encourage us to connect with your local care coordinators. You exemplify to me what true bhakti means, not just loving Kṛṣṇa but also loving all of his children. Devotee care is one of your priorities and your desire is that as a spiritual family, we support each other as we face the difficulties that are inevitable in this material world.
I started the Karuna Care training because this is what I felt would help fulfill your desire to increase devotee care. I have finished my training as a volunteer lay chaplain through ISKCON Karuna Care and I am using those skills to help devotees handle the difficulties that Māyā can place in our path as we strive to become pure devotees. Through this program I have come to realize that it is as important to take care of the psychological, emotional and physical needs of a devotee as well as the spiritual ones. In the Nectar of Instruction, Rūpa Goswami talks about the six loving exchanges and one of those is sharing confidences. Many times all a devotee needs is someone to listen, without judgement, condemnation or even advice but just an open heart and a willing ear. It is amazing to see the miracles Kṛṣṇa performs in the heart of a devotee just by this act of compassionate listening. It is very humbling to see that true power lies not in brute strength, but in deep compassion.
The mentoring program that I have been working on with a few other devotees is making progress. We were able to present our initiative to the NAC and received very good feedback. Kṛṣṇa has been planning my life in such a way that your desire for more devotee care is being fulfilled, slowly but surely, step by step. Please bless us that this program will be beneficial for the devotees and help them in their bhakti.
I am trying to follow in your footsteps by doing my part in helping and encouraging the devotees with whom I come in contact. I continue to host a weekly Bhagavad-gītā class with other ladies. We each take a turn reading a verse and then we share our realizations. This has been beneficial not only for me, but also for the other ladies, as we are enjoying the process of studying together and coming to new depths of understanding as we “scrutinizingly read”, the Gītā and Śrīla Prabhupāda’s purports. Our Saturday evening Vaiṣṇavī Bhāgavatam class is continuing and as we read and share our realizations we’ve come to appreciate what each one brings to the discussion. We have a new group of younger ladies joining us and they too seem to be enjoying the discussions. Following in your footsteps and as per your desire, I am continuing my own study, I have just finished the Bhakti-vaibhava course and am in the process of studying the second part of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam through the Bhakti Vedānta course. I continue to serve Śrī Śrī Rādhā Giridhārī in my service as a cook and pujari. The Sunday School continues to flourish and our enrollment has increased. The kids love putting on plays, and although it is a lot of work, the benefits are immeasurable. Varsana Devī Dāsī (RPS) are training other parents to take charge of some of the teaching so that we can focus on congregational development, particularly we want to increase the presence of the children and women in the temple activities. The children are involved in serving the Sunday Feast and leading kirtans before and after the Sunday Feast program, we’re looking forward to many more changes.
Dearest Spiritual Father please bless us that we may continue to fulfill your desires. Please bless us to make our sādhana strong and our desires pure. Please bless us that we never forget what you have sacrificed for us and let us know how else we can serve you.
Your loving spiritual daughter,
Phāneśvarī Lakṣmī devī dāsī (dīkṣā śīkṣā) and Bhaskar Peesapati