From Sri Nrsimha Das and Sundari Devi Dasi

Hare Krishna, dear Srila Gurudev, please accept my obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada! Two years ago You accepted me and my wife as Your disciples and during these two years many amazing realizations and strong shocks, revelations and awareness happened. On Your Vyasa-pujas You often said that till next Vyasa-puja the disciple must offer to his spiritual master his heart purified from some anarthas. And this will be the best offering. That’s why You say that if the goal is set, it is achievable. I would very much want to say that I got free from some inauspicious things during these two years, but unfortunately I can’t. These two years turned out to be infinitely sweet and infinitely bitter. They were sweet because from the moment of initiation You blessed me to chant the Holy Name and due to Your mercy I obtain more and more realizations and taste in the service to the Holy Name. More responsibilities had come, I had to become the temple president having no qualities. But due to Your diaries and how Your acted practically in different situations, I was able to do something. But alongside the taste for chanting the pride was growing. Then the war came. But more awful was that the inner war had come, I had to face my motives, impurity and pretence and this was the most strong shock. I would like to say, my dear Srila Gurudev, that I passed this stage worthily but I can’t. And from this my heart is torn to the parts. As Bhaktivinod Thakur wrote in the bhajan” Gurudev”: “I look into my heart and don’t find any good qualities, I’m devoid of all mind and power.” Therefore, I beg You, my merciful spiritual father, please take my selfish heart and make it unified with Yours– loving and merciful. Once you said that You are very grateful to Your disciples who after many years of practice remained in the movement: battered, tortured but survived. I’m endlessly grateful to You for supporting me, giving straight directions through Your lectures and diaries. When I don’t know what to do, I put Your lectures and get the very precise answer stright into the heart. Once in the Bhaktivedanta Menor You said that we must keep connection with You through the sound vibration and if we will not listen Your lectures You will not have sense to speak. That’s why I support my life by hearing Your wonderful lectures. I admire how devoted You are to the Holy Name and Srila Prabhupada. And I hope that one day I’ll be able to love You as You love Srila Prabhupada. Such happiness which I see on Your face when You speak about Vrindavan and Krishna’s attributes give me hope that even if I’ll follow You stumbling, I ‘ll succeed. I thank You, dear Srila Gurudev, for Your universal patience and kindness to all of us, for the example of love to the people, never mind to what confession they belong to, for the happiness which You share with us, for the inextinguishable enthusiasm and the example of how to be happy in the service to Srila Prabhupada. All glories to Your lotus feet! The servant of Your servants, Sri Nrisimha das.

Dear Shrila GuruDev, please accept my humble obeisances at the dust of your lotus feet. All glories to Shrila Prabhupada!
From the bottom of my heart, I want to thank you for rescuing me from the raging ocean of material existence. When I joined Shri Prabhupada’s movement, I thought my life had truly changed. But two years after initiation, I realized that it was only preparation. Spiritual life truly began after initiation, and I never imagined that the process of diksha would be so deep and sometimes difficult.
So much has happened over the past two years, both externally and internally, with its ups and downs. I have learned that without good sadhana, chanting the Holy Name, and preaching, life is empty. True happiness lies only in Krishna consciousness, in Harinama, and in the association of the Lord’s devotees.
There has been a lot of service and responsibility added to my life, and I understand that it is your mercy. In this way, you cultivate and make me a perfect person, a perfect devotee. I see you as a loving father who removes all masks and unfavorable things from my heart so that I can ultimately perform pure devotional service to you.
But what truly amazes me in this process is your causeless mercy towards me, the causeless mercy of the Vaishnavas and Krishna. It is impossible to describe it in words, only through tears of gratitude. You are with me in my heart and mind. Thinking of you, listening to kirtans and lectures, I realize that I am not living in vain. I see my guiding light. That is you.
Your endless enthusiasm, devotion to Shri Prabhupada, your relationships with your disciples and spiritual brothers, all of it inspires me greatly. I am very grateful to the Lord for having such a living example, and I pray that I may follow in your footsteps for my entire life and be useful to you.

Your servant, Kishori Sundari Devi dasi.