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Sri Vyasa-Puja2011 the Appearance Day of Our Beloved Spiritual Master

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Sri Vyasa-Puja2011 the Appearance Day of Our Beloved Spiritual Master THE MOST BLESSED EVENT Sri Vyasa-Puja2011 The Appearance Day of our Beloved Spiritual Master HIS DIVINE GRACE OM VISNUPADA PARAMAHAMSA PARIVRAJAKACARYA ASTOTTARA-SATA SRI SRIMAD SRILA DHANURDHARA SWAMI SRI VYASA-PUJA 2011 DHANURDHARA SWAMI’S offering to SRILA PRABHUPADA My humble obeisances at the lotus feet of Srila There are many prominent yoga and spiritual Prabhupada! groups in America founded by powerful yogis and teachers from India. Who but Srila Prabhu- Sherlock Holmes said that from a drop of water he pada has transferred his legacy so powerfully to could tell if it was from Niagara Falls; in the same a new generation? New Yorkers of this type have way, the individual homages from the followers of seen everything, but this was something special, a Srila Prabhupada are the drop of his remembrance talent, energy, and purity of purpose that indeed that reveal the ocean of his glories. Here is mine: was unique. Although exuding confidence, these kirtaniyas were humble and though projecting ac- It was the opening ceremony of Yogamaya, a new cessibility, their lives and presentation was mold- upscale yoga studio in Chelsea, a studio where I ed by tradition. A legacy was being carried on. was also asked to lead a monthly sat-sanga. The headline of the program was kirtana, not just any Who but Srila Prabhupada has done this? kirtana, but prema-kirtana, kirtana done with devotion. Gauravani, Ananta, Acyuta, Viswamb- Praying to remain humbly in the service of Srila hara, Jahnavi, and others chanted. The studio Prabhupada, was jammed with a typical mid- town Manhat- tan crowd of professionals. Lawyers, hedge-fund Dhanurdhara Swami managers, architects, doctors, yogis, and students danced and danced with unabated enthusiasm. I sensed something notable was happening in Sri Caitanya’s sankirtana movement. I wasn’t alone in my feeling. When it was finished, Kaustubha turned to me and with earnestness said something that struck me: “Who, but Srila Prabhupada could have done this!” Here was the drop that revealed the ocean of his glory: 1 SRI VYASA-PUJA 2011 THE MEANING of VYASA-PUJA Mangalacaran Guru just as the soul operates though the body. We therefore perceive a peculiar difference and जय ओं विष्णुपाद परमहंस परिव्रजकाचार्य अष्टोत्तरशत non-difference between Krsna and Guru, similar श्री श्रीमद् धनुर्धर स्वामी महाराज कि जय to the ontological difference yet functional same- Jaya om visnupāda paramahamsa ness between a being and its body. parivrajakācārya astottaraśata śrī śrīmad dha- When awareness of this link between Guru and nurdhara svāmī mahārāja ki jaya Krsna illuminates our perception we can truly participate in Vyāsa-Pūja. Śrī Krsna is so pleased May my godbrothers and sisters, themselves limit- by appropriate worship of his functional self, Śrī less oceans of dedication and devotion to Śrī Guru, Guru, that the pedals we offer to the feet of Śrī be pleased with my flawed attempts and overlook Guru seem to become reddish from the kunkum my glaring audacities. powder falling from the ever-dancing feet of Na- May Śrī Guru be glorified ever increasingly with- tabara Krsna. The breeze we move towards Śrī out limit! Guru with our fan seems to create the breezes May the ever-joyful Śrīman Giridhārī Lāla, who moving over the lotuses of the Yamuna which cool delights in the glorification of his servitors, effort- Tribhanga-Sundara and carry his intoxicating per- lessly overcome the insurmountable ocean of my fume to Śrīmatī Rādhārānī! egocentric ignorance. May his deft virtuosity craft my stuttering words into something worthy of this Let us declare the glorious nature of that Supreme most auspicious occasion. Personality of Godhead Śrī Vamsidhārī Rāsabihārī To one without spiritual eyes, worship of Śrī Guru – the personification and perfection of ecstasy! In appears wrong. “Worship must be given to God, so doing we will clarify how Śrī Guru fulfills his not man!” he protests. Similarly to one without aims. modern eyes, speaking into a telephone seems in- God’s sole ambition is pleasure. sane. “Speak to people, not things!” he says. The Is it shocking? No. It is self-evident that enjoyment ignorance of these two blind fools is similar. The is the meaning of life – and the Upanishads con- later is ignorant of the fact that we speak not to a firm it by declaringānanda-maya to be the final phone but through it. The former is ignorant of the stage of life’s evolution. God is the Supreme Life, fact that Vyāsa-Pūja worships not man but God so naturally his one and only occupation is to en- operating through man. joy bliss. The unbridled desire for pleasure which Śrī Guru is not God, but God operates through Śrī rages in the heart of the Supreme Being may baffle 2 SRI VYASA-PUJA 2011 and shock the unprepared mind, but this infinite night of my black and dead hearts. Even in this I and absolute hedonism engenders no apology! am selfish! Gurudeva I am so ugly! Only you can Rather it is to be glorified and praised as the most make me beautiful and attractive to Śrī Krsna. natural, righteous, and pure thing in existence. It Why wait? Destroy every obstacle and place us is in fact the root cause of all that be. in our proper spot in Śrī Vrindavana Dhama. We God is one, but in solitude and uniformity plea- will never be ready for this blessing. We will never sure is drastically crippled. Therefore – eko bahu deserve this blessing. We are nothing but lepers syāt – “the one decided to be many.” in rags appealing to your pity. Krsna has invested Thus everything and everyone came to be – all of it you with the power to make us like the Gopīs of for Śrī Krsna’s sense gratification! My friends, hear Vrndāvana. me clearly: we are not enjoyers – we are objects of his enjoyment. Alas, how our souls hunger to ক্র্সন্অ সে তোমার, ক্র্স্নঅ দীতে পারো, be relished by him, to be enjoyed by the supreme তোমার শকতি আছে enjoyer! It is an unbearable thing crushing the life আমি তোঽ কাগাল, ঽক্র্স্ন্অঽ ঽক্র্স্নঅঽ বোলিঽ, within our breast. But baffled by the upside down ধাই তৱ পাছে পাছে opposite-world we vainly try to satisfy that ach- ing hunger through sense gratification. In such krsna se tomāra, krsna dīte pāro, we only increase our pain, taste bitter misery, die tomāra śakati āche in vain, and are reborn in the crazy hope of try- āmi to kāńgāla, ‘krsna’ ‘krsna’ boli, ing again – bashing our skulls against brick walls dhāi tava pāche pāche of impossibility in an eternal, hopeless, unending cycle. “Dear one, please open your hearts to my words. You are part and parcel of bliss! You are meant to please the origin of all bliss! Let the flower of your heart be enjoyed by that Madhusudhana bee! Your aching soul will not stop breaking until you aban- don and throw yourself at the feet of the Supreme Enjoyer.” Krsna wants to tell us this. And it is through Śrī Guru that he does so. As a Gopi picks flowers, sorts them out, arranges them, and strings them into a garland. Similarly Śrī Guru takes the raw material of a destitute materialistic heart, and turns it into something which Krsna finds attractive, enchant- ing, and delightful. We are unruly and resist. We don’t care very much for the sādhana Guru gives, although it is the very thing that can transform us from vile lonely hag into beautiful goddesses of fortune. We are dumb and useless, but Śrī Guru is all powerful and his compassion is ever-fresh. Alas, Gurudeva! Take one brief look at me: miserable, ruined and self- destructive. My crushed heart doesn’t even func- tion. All merits flee from the stench of my ego, and I even lack the integrity to admit it! I need a miracle, Gurudeva, and impossible miracle: Please bring the light of bhāva and prema into the eternal 3 SRI VYASA-PUJA 2011 OFFERINGS from DISCIPLES & FRIENDS AKincana KRISHNA dasa devotional service, to help inspire others in their faith in the worship and remembrance of Krishna. Dear Guru Maharaja, You are exceptionally broad-minded, wise, intel- ligent, and the best spiritual counselor I know. Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories You are always funny and kind, and everyone to you! who knows you naturally loves you. You are the most rare and most important type of person in I really enjoy watching you relish sankirtana. It’s this world. Humanity is suffering only for want of so sweet when you close your eyes, raise your saints like you. Every day of my life, I feel incred- hands, and sometimes dance. Your spirit of bliss ibly lucky to know you and have a relationship and your devotional purity always amazes me with you. when I watch you in this mood. It puts all of my superficial chanting and dancing in perspective I am fully ashamed and embarrassed when I con- and inspires me to go much deeper. You are truly sider your sacrifice, and my complete inability to surrendered to Krishna, and when you chant and reciprocate. Every moment of every day, you are dance, it really shows. It’s one thing to be some offering me the highest benefit. But because I am type artist or music enthusiast, who enjoys sankir- cripple-minded and controlled by worldliness, I tana for its aesthetic value. It’s a completely differ- am hardly able to offer anything in return.
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