Homages from ISKCON Centers

Homages from ISKCON Centers
experienced the bewilderment of birth, death, old age and disease. Then . . . Traveling at an advanced
age on an old Indian cargo ship across the vast expanses of the Atlantic Ocean, you came, with only
a few rupees and a few hundred sets of the ever-fresh Çrémad-Bhägavatam volumes you had diligently
translated into English. After much prayer and preparation, you compassionately came West to expound
the ancient, eternal philosophy of Vedic knowledge, desiring the highest welfare for all.
This knowledge is the king of education, the most secret of all secrets. It is the purest knowledge,
and because it gives direct perception of the self by realization, it is the perfection of religion. It
is everlasting, and it is joyfully performed. [Bhagavad-gétä 9.2]
Representing the culmination of the transcendental forces of the glorious Gauòéya Vaiñëava sampradäya,
you came to the West and gave us the greatest gift. Your heroic sacrifices to ignite a spiritual revolution
in a degraded civilization brought you to the place of greatest need. “Chant Hare Kåñëa and your life
will be sublime,” you patiently taught. This chanting, you explained, was the easy and joyful method to
awaken our dormant love of God. This process would raise us to the spiritual platform, beyond material
happiness and distress. You gave us a tangible process to experience the eternal bliss of the soul. Your
conviction and sincerity awoke the seedling of understanding within our hearts. Your transcendental
charm, your fatherly nurturing, and your astounding wisdom, Çréla Prabhupäda, captivated our hearts.
The exemplary path you set—the path of pure, unalloyed, and tireless devotional service—drew us into
the eternal realm of love. The timeless teachings of the spiritual world came to life in your presence.
Thank you, Çréla Prabhupäda, for saving us from the darkness of ignorance. Thank you for teaching us
that using everything in Kåñëa’s service “turns on the one switch that brightens everything everywhere.”
Here at Gétä-nägaré we have always felt protected by your love and nurtured by your encouraging
words. From within our hearts we feel you assisting us to fulfill your desire for a thriving self-sufficient
community based on the glorious teachings of Çré Kåñëa—a farm community where the cows are revered,
the women and children are cherished, and your instructions guide our lives. On your behalf, your servant
Bhaktitértha Swami tirelessly promoted a revival of your vision for Gétä-nägaré, with special emphasis on
loving relationships between devotees. We continue to strive for a place where all elements are drawn
together in a Kåñëa conscious center, with all activities revolving around Their beautiful Lordships Çré
Çré Rädhä-Dämodara.
Recently we have become increasingly bereft due to the physical departure of so many of your
enthusiastic and saltwort soldiers in this compassionate mission of Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu. Consequently,
more than ever we feel an urgency to beg for your intervention. We are in absolute need of more internal
guidance.
Please empower our chanting of the holy names of Kåñëa so we may become fully motivated in your
loving service. Please, Çréla Prabhupäda, strengthen our resolve to follow your instructions, your mood,
your kindness, your honesty.
Farming projects like Gétä-nägaré are at the heart of the future. We wish to carry out your vision to
create a peaceful, loving, spiritual environment with the highest ideals. Please bless us, Çréla Prabhupäda,
so we may develop the necessary qualities of humility, hard work, tolerance, and perseverance. Then we
may be able to work and worship in a simple village atmosphere, living in harmony with Mother Earth
and each other. By His personal example in the village of Våndävana, Çré Kåñëa taught us the beautiful
and bountiful gifts of simple village life centered on loving Kåñëa.
As you aptly predicted, this artificial industrial society is running out of steam. Sustainable agriculture,
working with the animals, learning to spin our own cotton and weave our own cloth, and growing our
own food are the essentials. Our dream, Çréla Prabhupäda, is to provide fulfilling engagement for all
devotees and establish a legacy for future generations to live simple sattvic lives. People in general will
naturally be attracted to this purity.
These people, they are attracting villagers to work in the factory, and they are exploiting them.
Instead of producing food, they are attracted by so-called high salaries, to the factory, and they
are producing bolts and nuts, motor parts. . . . Our philosophy is that you produce your food
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