I offer my unlimited obeisances to the lotus feet of my Guru Maharaja, om visnupada Sri Sripad Bhaktivedanta Damodara Maharaja. Begging for a particle of mercy that I can post something of value.
In honor of my Guru Maharaja's Vyasa-puja...
It seems that many of us do not know what our highest ideal is, while some of us are aware of a high ideal but ignore it or keep it just in the periphery; we figure that it is something that is negotiable or we can focus on later in life. Still rare, few others have searched for and realized their highest ideal; spent their lives stepping ever closer, no matter how steep the climb and no matter how many obstacles stood in the way. I see my Guru Maharaja and others in the Guru-parampara as this last type of person.
I would say, and maybe some will agree, that someone lives his highest ideal when he is not deterred by the distance he has to travel to find it nor by the number of times he has to leave, only to return again, nor no matter how many times he falls ill during the journey, seeking out, "Who is God?" Over the course of a couple years Param Gurudeva, Sri Sripad Bhaktivedanta Narayana Goswami Maharaja, went back and forth between his job at the police station and the Matha, coming home to his family for shorter and shorter periods of time until Sri Krsna called him to leave his family life altogether and stay at the Math for good.
But that is just the start... then to finally give up life as you know it to go the ones who know God and who protect and disseminate Absolute Truth. To find them what to speak of hang on tightly to their lotus feet, even amidst many storms in the form of chastisements and other austerities must take so much sincerity and determination. In the book, Sri Guru and His Grace, His Divine Grace Swami B.R. Sridhar says, "An attitude of humility, sincerity and dedication are needed to approach Absolute Truth." For example, in the early days of the Sri Caitanya Matha, due to lack of funds Sri Srimad Bhakti Prajnana Kesava Gowami (at that time Sri Vinoda-bihari) and other Matha residents were sustaining themselves some days on just 200 grams of rice, split four ways. After it was offered to Thakuraji with prepared leaves from a drumstick tree, the four brahmacaris would divide it and honor prasadam (source: Acarya Kesari Sri Srimad Bhakti Prajnana Kesava Goswami, 2013). Also, Guru Maharaja mentioned that he spent six summers in Vrindavan [the temperatures can reach 130 degrees Fahrenheit (52 degrees Celsius)], saying if you really love Vrindavan, you can manage.
If Sri Guru is merciful and leads the disciple to the watering hole, to life's highest ideal, then what? Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Madhusudana Maharaja says that there is no way to repay the ones who gave you everything. Merely saying "thank you" and going your own way is not sufficient. Instead he says that you stay and try to serve them. So my Param Gurudeva, my Guru Maharaja and many of his godsiblings did just that, stayed and served (click here to see some of Param Gurudeva's disciples who are serving). So then it seems they all have so much responsibility to preserve this thing given to them- to protect it from envious people or those who would try to destroy it, dilute it or mix in their own speculation. Sri Srimad Bhakti Prajnana Kesava Goswami Maharaja writes, "Sri Bhagavan is not for the weak-hearted. In the Mundaka Upanisad (1.6.4) it has been said, 'nayamatma balahinena labhya - The Absolute Reality, that Supreme Soul, is not accessible to those who have no spiritual strength.' But cowards manipulate religion with false interpretations, proclaiming, 'all are correct, all are correct,' and thus reveal the feebleness of their conception of bhajana" (Rays of the Harmonist No. 21, 2010).
So coming under the shelter of those who live their highest ideal, I am praying for a particle of their strength.
In honor of my Guru Maharaja's Vyasa-puja...
It seems that many of us do not know what our highest ideal is, while some of us are aware of a high ideal but ignore it or keep it just in the periphery; we figure that it is something that is negotiable or we can focus on later in life. Still rare, few others have searched for and realized their highest ideal; spent their lives stepping ever closer, no matter how steep the climb and no matter how many obstacles stood in the way. I see my Guru Maharaja and others in the Guru-parampara as this last type of person.
I would say, and maybe some will agree, that someone lives his highest ideal when he is not deterred by the distance he has to travel to find it nor by the number of times he has to leave, only to return again, nor no matter how many times he falls ill during the journey, seeking out, "Who is God?" Over the course of a couple years Param Gurudeva, Sri Sripad Bhaktivedanta Narayana Goswami Maharaja, went back and forth between his job at the police station and the Matha, coming home to his family for shorter and shorter periods of time until Sri Krsna called him to leave his family life altogether and stay at the Math for good.
But that is just the start... then to finally give up life as you know it to go the ones who know God and who protect and disseminate Absolute Truth. To find them what to speak of hang on tightly to their lotus feet, even amidst many storms in the form of chastisements and other austerities must take so much sincerity and determination. In the book, Sri Guru and His Grace, His Divine Grace Swami B.R. Sridhar says, "An attitude of humility, sincerity and dedication are needed to approach Absolute Truth." For example, in the early days of the Sri Caitanya Matha, due to lack of funds Sri Srimad Bhakti Prajnana Kesava Gowami (at that time Sri Vinoda-bihari) and other Matha residents were sustaining themselves some days on just 200 grams of rice, split four ways. After it was offered to Thakuraji with prepared leaves from a drumstick tree, the four brahmacaris would divide it and honor prasadam (source: Acarya Kesari Sri Srimad Bhakti Prajnana Kesava Goswami, 2013). Also, Guru Maharaja mentioned that he spent six summers in Vrindavan [the temperatures can reach 130 degrees Fahrenheit (52 degrees Celsius)], saying if you really love Vrindavan, you can manage.
If Sri Guru is merciful and leads the disciple to the watering hole, to life's highest ideal, then what? Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Madhusudana Maharaja says that there is no way to repay the ones who gave you everything. Merely saying "thank you" and going your own way is not sufficient. Instead he says that you stay and try to serve them. So my Param Gurudeva, my Guru Maharaja and many of his godsiblings did just that, stayed and served (click here to see some of Param Gurudeva's disciples who are serving). So then it seems they all have so much responsibility to preserve this thing given to them- to protect it from envious people or those who would try to destroy it, dilute it or mix in their own speculation. Sri Srimad Bhakti Prajnana Kesava Goswami Maharaja writes, "Sri Bhagavan is not for the weak-hearted. In the Mundaka Upanisad (1.6.4) it has been said, 'nayamatma balahinena labhya - The Absolute Reality, that Supreme Soul, is not accessible to those who have no spiritual strength.' But cowards manipulate religion with false interpretations, proclaiming, 'all are correct, all are correct,' and thus reveal the feebleness of their conception of bhajana" (Rays of the Harmonist No. 21, 2010).
So coming under the shelter of those who live their highest ideal, I am praying for a particle of their strength.
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