By Bhajahari das
To All First Generation Disciples of Srila Prabhupada
Please accept our respectful obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
You are warmly invited to attend the above gathering at the Letchmore Heath Village Hall.
Saturday 14th June
1.00pm until 8.00pm
We really hope that you will be able to come along. Below are most of the important details for your information. Would you kindly let us know if you will be attending by emailing us at address given at the end
We decided to move the annual gathering this year to Rathayatra time. If it works as well as we are expecting, then our plan is to make it a permanent fixture on the calendar for this time of the year. Already 50 direct disciples of His Divine Grace have confirmed that they will be attending this first re-scheduled annual reunion.
The Village Hall will be open from 1.00 pm onwards. The first part of the gathering will be informal. At 2 o’clock we will bring everybody together for a blissful kirtan led alternatively by Kishor Prabhu, Krpamoya prabhu, Sripati prabhu, Sakshi Gopal prabhu and other kirtan leaders.
After this, devotees will be able to spend time associating and catching up with each other. Some devotees will be invited to make some glorification of Srila Prabhupada or recount some personal pastimes. This will be followed by a feast between 5 and 6 o’clock.
We have arranged for the Special Feast to be cooked by Her Grace Lalita Sakhi dasi. Who will be assisted in the kitchen by Manjuali dd and Mandakini dd as well as several other special cooks.
We have been promised an OLD SCHOOL STYLE FEAST all cooked in ghee
Remember that ingredient?
The menu is top secret until the day. But we will all definitely………
‘take this prasadam to our FULL satisfaction’
Following the prasadam, the evening’s events will start with a brief talk given by His Grace Dhanesvara prabhu, author of the powerful book “Spiritual Economics”. By the time of the gathering he should also have completed the second volume in the series entitled “Change Your Karma!”. I am certain that his second book will be just as powerful and pertinent as the first volume.
Then our very talented Godsister, Her Grace Govardhan dasi, will perform three beautiful Bhajans and lead us in kirtan. This will be followed by another unique vocal rendering by His Grace Paravidha Prabhu.
There is still some room for devotees to offer a creative contribution to the evening’s events, and we wholeheartedly encourage you to get in touch with Bhaja as soon as possible with any proposals.
Initially we planned to hold the gathering in the Theatre Room at Bhaktivedanta Manor, but we have now decided to move it to the Village Hall. There will be much more room for everyone to bring along their children. We also want to have enough facility to be able to invite the localleaders and managers, along with other senior Vaisnavas.
Kindly reply BY RETURN to let us know as soon as possible if you will be able to attend
RSVP to Bhajahari das at gokula.vegcafe@virginmedia.com
We really hope that you will be able to join us for this auspicious Vaisnava gathering on the day before Their Lordships Jagannatha Subhadra and Baladeva enjoy
Their yearly parade through the streets of London.
VIP – IF YOU KNOW THE WHEREABOUTS OF ANY DISCIPLES THAT MAY NOT HAVE BEEN NOTIFIED YET – PLEASE INVITE THEM IMMEDIATELY
If you have any questions – please do not hesitate to contact us.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada
Yours servants,
Bhajahari das
Kishor das
Saksi Gopal das
Sri Kama dasi
Ramya dasi
Jagatam Dasi
Question: Jesus Christ is jagad-guru, the spiritual master of the whole world. His instructions alone are sufficient for our spiritual welfare. Is it still necessary, then, to accept a mahānta-guru – a great spiritual ācārya (one who teaches by his example) – who is still living in this world?
Answer by Srila Bhaktisiddantha Sarasvati Thakur Maharaja Prabhupada:
We accept both – jagad-guru and mahānta-guru. If only the jagad-guru-vāda [jagad-guru-ism] is accepted the result has many undesirable consequences (anarthas). If someone accepts such a great soul from the past – in this case Jesus Christ – as jagad-guru and wishes to follow in his footsteps in the present but considers that there is no need for any mahānta-guru, it is questionable to what extent he will be able to properly follow the views of Jesus. Only the succession of mahānta-gurus mercifully delivers to us the words of the Supreme Lord or of the jagad-guru ācāryas.
The stream of water that originated in the Himalayas has travelled between Gaṅgā’s banks all the way here, to Navadvīpa. As a result, even though we are sitting at such a distance from her source, we are able to touch water from the Himalayas. In the same manner, mahānta-guru brings the current of the river of śuddha-bhakti – as pure and sacred as the waters of Mandākinī (Gaṅgā). He brings that current, which originates at the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord, all the way to us and showers it on our heads.
Had the banks of the Ganges not existed, then a person as ordinary and weak as me, a person without resources, could never have been able to climb the Himalayas and touch the water there. And without those riverbanks, the concentrated flow of that pure source from the Himalayas would be scattered and we would often tend to accept some polluted stream as pure Himalayan water, inviting our own misfortune.
If the teachings preached by Jesus Christ two thousand years ago are not carried forward through guru-paramparā into the present time, if Jesus Christ’s message is sought only in books and recorded instructions, then there is a possibility that we will mistakenly accept distortions of the truths preached by Him or even accept views that are opposite to his as his own.
Mahānta-guru is also jagad-guru. He is the manifestation of the previous jagad-guru. He receives the teachings of the jagad-guru through disciplic succession and mercifully delivers them to us.
…/…
…/…
He is not someone who would deceive us by not presenting the real truth or say things just to please us; He does not wish for any worldly thing from us. He is the unbiased deliverer of the truth.”
Happy Festival to all Prabhupada disciples and to their guests.
Quote offered by a grateful grand-disciple of HDG A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada