Homages from ISKCON Centers

Homages from ISKCON Centers
Belfast
nama oà viñëu-pädäya kåñëa-preñöhäya bhü-tale
çrémate bhaktivedänta-sväminn iti nämine
namas te särasvate deve gaura-väëé-pracäriëe
nirviçeña-çünyavädi-päçcätya-deça-täriëe
Dear Çréla Prabhupäda,
You never visited Ireland during your manifested pastimes, yet you always remain here with your
faithful followers and disciples. And you will remain here as long as they remain and worship Rädhä and
Mädhava under the wise direction of your väëé.
You are the life that sustains us. You sustain our intelligence by your instructions, and you sustain
our emotions by your Kåñëa conscious ways. And on your order we are offering everything we love in
service to the Deities. You sustain us by being the center of our lives, and when we keep you in the
center of everything we do we feel your direct presence. We take your instructions literally: we do not
speculate on ways to justify them, nor do we selfishly pick and choose which instructions to follow. We do
not change them to our liking. We just accept them, because we love you. We do not rely on the opinions
of others if they are contrary to your opinions, because you are the embodiment of the compassion of
the whole paramparä, presenting Kåñëa’s opinion, the opinion that ultimately matters.
Since you said we should shave our heads, we do it unquestioningly. Since you told us “don’t give
up pushing on this movement,” we are trying to do so, expressing our love for you in this way. Since
you asked us to cooperate, we cooperate even with the most uncooperative, because your words were
“Try to continue the [Belfast] branch by co-operation.” You told us to love Kåñëa, and you said that in
Deity worship no one but the Deity should be seen as the beneficiary of the worship. And you also said
that when we “forget this fact” we “develop an intense desire to enjoy this phenomenal world.” And we
“cannot be fully satisfied by such endeavors, and thus anger develops. Anger causes frustration, as in
the story of the unsuccessful fox and the sour grapes.”
So please let us live in the guiding light of your saìga instead of the “sour grapes” saìga of anyone or
anything else. Let us do as you did, and let us speak as you spoke, undeviatingly. You never compromised,
yet you personally gave us such a simple and sublime standard of worshiping Rädhä and Kåñëa that
even a couple of devotees can maintain an outpost of Kåñëa consciousness, all for your pleasure, as we
are doing here. And you went on to open so many of your outposts around the world!
Things certainly have changed in the last thirty-five years, since the time when you walked among
us. Indeed, many things we thought would never change have changed, and we know that many things
will continue to change. Yet our faithfulness to your mission and our fidelity to your version of Kåñëa
consciousness, to your words, especially your direct and explicit instructions, must never wither. So
many things about you, Çréla Prabhupäda, have remained an enigma to us. But we do not doubt that your
instructions are our guiding principles. Thus we reject suggestions from those who reject your words and
speculate on what you “ought to have said.” We focus on what you did say: “Once Kåñëa is there, we
cannot tell Him to now leave.” (Letter to all GBCs, 14 September 1974) So please save us from becoming
“a farce” and acting “against the bhakti cult” (Letter, 1 October 1974), and keep our Rädhä-Mädhava
happy for your pleasure. Let us finally embrace bhakti as it should be, without the stains of karma or
the ice of jïäna. Remaining humble and free from vice, and maintaining fidelity to your strict standards,
Çréla Prabhupäda, let us serve out of selfless love and inspire others to do the same. We may become
attracted to you by dong the things that are easy, but we will stick with you, Çréla Prabhupäda, by doing
those things that seem impossible. This undiluted devotion is the only guarantee that we will remain
dear to you and that we will eventually be blessed to become your true followers, not just on paper.
Every day we put you to bed along with your beloved Gaura-Nitäi, who stand nearby your beloved
Rädhä-Mädhava. We then offer you milk sweets with love and say good night in Sanskrit. We pray to
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