Homages from ISKCON Centers

Çré Vyäsa-püjä 2012
Yes, it sounds like a pipe dream, but it is you who have given us the inspiration to dream. Yes, it’s
farfetched, but what is farfetched for you? Yes it requires hard work, but what work is hard when it’s
for you? Anything for you, dear Çréla Prabhupäda.
We only have one request. You are the magician, but we are simply feeble fools. Please, if it pleases
you, transform our feeble attempts at pleasing you into a grand success. No, we don’t want any glory;
we just want to show the world that your mercy is so great that it can make even feeble fools like us
victorious. A miracle here will give others like us the inspiration to ultimately exceed our attempts. In this
way, please enable us to become the fuel of never-ending attempts to please you. May the effulgence of
your lotus feet blind our eyes to the false glitter of this material world and draw us ever closer to serving
your ISKCON with every breath.
We take inspiration from our heroes, extolled in such books as Miracle on Second Avenue. This book
shows us how so many have already achieved what we ask for. It tells stories of faith and dedication,
love and trust, success and satisfaction. Now it’s our turn.
Thank you for everything, Çréla Prabhupäda. Pleasing you is our only focus. May this Vyäsa-püjä
celebration broadcast all your glories as a true servant of your Guru Mahäräja.
Your servants at ISKCON Lenasia, South Africa.
London (Soho)
Our dearest Çréla Prabhupäda,
Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to your service to the Divine Couple and the Guru
paramparä!
At the ripe old age of sixty-nine you came and planted the seed of bhakti in the West, without
discrimination. We have no words to express our gratitude for this supreme gift, and we remain indebted
to you in this life and for many lifetimes ahead. By your instructions we can know the true purpose of
life and the very essence of how to live it.
Çréla Prabhupäda, we are lost and seeking guidance at every step of our lives. As bewildered, naive
souls, we stand at the shore of the ocean of devotional service, hesitant to take up spiritual life. We seek
inspiration from you to enable us to dive deep and retrieve the nectar from the pearls of wisdom that you
have invested in your books. We are like infants struggling to swim on our own, but we have full faith that
by your oceanic, divine grace we will be able to attain the shelter of the lotus feet of Çré Çré Rädhä-Kåñëa.
You are the personification of unconditional love and unalloyed service to Kåñëa. It is due to your
tireless efforts that many thousands and millions of people around the world have come to know about
Kåñëa and are seriously practicing spiritual life. We are eternally grateful to you for giving us Kåñëa in
the form of Çré Çré Rädhä-Londonéçvara, your favorite Deities and the first to come to ISKCON. By your
causeless mercy you “stole” Them and placed Them in the center of London. Even the most sinful cannot
escape being captivated by Their beauty.
This temple is the heartbeat of ISKCON, a spiritual oasis in the blazing fire of material existence that
is London; it is our lifeline, taking us back home to Kåñëa. You once described London as hell on earth,
and sometimes when we say to our colleagues “I’m going to Soho,” they laugh. However, one just has
to visit here to understand how you have created a spiritual heaven in this hellish place. Out of your
unlimited compassion the short-lived, quarrelsome, lazy, misguided, and disturbed souls of Kali-yuga have
a soothing shelter in the very capital of Kali, London.
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