Our dearest spiritual father,
nama oṁ viṣṇu-pādāya kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāya bhū-tale
śrīmate jayapatāka svāmin iti nāmine
nama ācaryapādāya nitāi-kṛpā-pradāyine
gaura-kathā-dhāma-dāya nagara-grāma-tāriṇe
nama oṁ viṣṇu-pādāya kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāya bhū-tale
śrīmate bhaktivedānta-svāminn iti nāmine
namas te sārasvate deve gaura-vāṇī-pracāriṇe
nirviśeṣa-śūnyavādi-pāścātya-deśa-tāriṇe
Please accept our most humble obeisances again and again at Your divine lotus feet. All glories to You and His Divine Grace AC Bhaktivedānta Swāmi Srilā Prabhupāda.
It is by Lord Kṛṣṇa’s causeless mercy that we have an opportunity to have You as our spiritual master. We do not have the words to describe Your affectionate and loving attitude towards our whole family. It is indeed by Your blessings and guidance that we have any hope of crossing this miserable ocean of birth and death.
We are so awestruck by how you constantly motivate and urge all your disciples as well as others to give their best towards devotional service. You continue to be there for all of us despite so many bodily discomforts and responsibilities.
Guru Mahārāja, kindly we beg you to keep us under the shelter of your lotus feet as we know that without that we cannot even take one step in spiritual progress. Kindly keep us in your prayers so we can serve you in some way as we promised you at the time of initiation.
Guru Mahārāja, with your permission, we would like to humbly submit last year’s activity report of Bhakti Yoga Tempe (BYT), Tempe, Arizona USA, dedicated to Your lotus feet, in the hope that these insignificant efforts may still somehow please you.
On Rādhāshtami day, we re-started in-person meetings at Bhakti Yoga Tempe on every Saturday. We have mainly western attendees, students coming to our weekend Kṛṣṇa-Love festivals from Arizona State university and some more from our harināma activities in downtown Phoenix and Tempe. Through this program, we are introducing the full Kṛṣṇa Conscious experience - Gaudiya Vaiṣṇava philosophy, kirtanā, japa sessions, prasādam, book gifts and follow up, to complete newcomers coming to know Krsna for the first time.
This year we restarted our Monthly First Friday Art Walk Downtown Phoenix Harināma programs - distributing KC literature, nagara-harināma-saṅkīrtana, engaging in open Q&A 1:1 with thousands of local public -through which we have had several attendees come to our in-house programs.
Continuing to conduct twice-a-week, Kids & Youth Bhagavad-gītā classes on Zoom. Kids are being exposed to Kṛṣṇa Conscious philosophy and practice. This has also been going on non-stop for many years as well.
Continuing to conduct daily 30-minute Śrīmad Bhāgavatam readings on Zoom with the gṛhastha ladies, 7 days a week all year. No stoppage. We started reading Śrīla Prabhupāda books in 2020 and on Jan 1st 2021 we started reading Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, this is now 2 years of daily zoom readings without interruption. Every verse, translation, purport is being read and discussed. In this way we are now in the early stages of Canto 5.
For Kārtika 2022, re-started in-house Dāmodara Āratī Programs every Friday, Saturday and Sunday for 4 weeks - in different devotee homes, and gave opportunity for new groups of people to offer ghee lamps to Lord Dāmodara. Through this program completed 600+ Dāmodara Month Āratīs in several home venues around the Phoenix area during the month of Kārtika 2022.
For 2023, we have newly started Valley Kirtan Nights once a month in different homes in various parts of the valley, to give the opportunity to chant the holy names of the Supreme Lord with as many new people as possible. These are 90-minute non-stop traditional-format kirtans by accomplished kirtaniyas, followed by prasādam - with very limited lecturing/speaking. The response has been very highly enthusiastic, with host homes packed to the brim with congregation and friends of the hosts at every meet.
We pray to continue growing these programs even more in the coming year as we come out of Covid restrictions, through your mercy with as much ability given by you. Our congregation devotee families here are like a tender plant & you are a seed giving father. It is growing steadily and with your blessings it will soon grow into a big tree and please you.
Guru Mahārāja please bless all of us in the Phoenix Arizona valley - so we can develop loving relationships among us and that always remain situated at your lotus feet and please you by preaching.
On the personal front, we are maintaining our sādhana bhakti by reminding ourselves every day of our promise to you at the time of initiation 27 years ago. We both were very fortunate to have your darsanā in-person this last year, once in Atlanta and once in Sridhāma Māyāpura. We pray we will be as fortunate to see you this year also.
Our two children are making progress in KC, interested in the kirtanā programs, doing their chanting rounds along with schooling, and helping us in our preaching activities. Kindly bestow your blessings on them so they can become more and more serious in KC and make their lives successful as future soldiers in Śrīla Prabhupāda’s on-going army engaged in Lord Caitanya’s Mahāprabhu’s mission to bring everyone to Kṛṣṇa.
Last but not the least, your direct presence is very important for our tender spiritual life. We beg the mercy of Their Lordships Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava Hari, Srināthaji Gopālā and Śrī Gaura-Nitāi to keep you safe and in good health for many years to come for your incomparable preaching services in Kṛṣṇa Consciousness all over the world.
Srilā Guru Mahārāja Ki Jaya! Srilā Prabhupāda Ki Jaya!
Your humble servants,
Rādhāprānarāja dāsa
Anupama-Gopī Devī dāsi
Bhakti Yoga Tempe
Mind*Body*Soul Institute
KRSNA Club of ASU
1100 S Mill Avenue
Tempe AZ USA 85281
Phone: (480) 231 9915
Email: BhaktiYogaTempe108@gmail.com