From Vraja Sundara Das – New Zealand, Christchurch

Dear Srila Gurudeva,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and your tireless efforts to serve his mission.
This year to express my appreciation for you and the impact that you have had on my life, I want to focus on the one thing that continues to have the most significance in my daily life.
Sometimes remembering the nature of my relationship with Krsna and prioritising this relationship is difficult amidst all of the other competing priorities and responsibilities in my life, despite the fact that nothing could be more important than this. Somehow I have a small amount of genuine attraction for Krsna and I can feel this tangibly when I am in Sri Vrindavan Dham where daily life is focused on Krsna and there are very few competing priorities. But in the course of my regular life outside of Sri Vrindavan Dham, I often feel like the only thing that makes me any different from the other people in my life that have also neglected their relationship with Krsna is the fact that I chant japa every day.
While I feel a strong sense of pride in the fact that I haven’t missed one round of japa since I took initiation from you, I also recognise that this commitment owes much to the manner in which you gave me the holy name that day. The special effort to obtain such beautiful japa mala for me and the memorable way you presented them to me that day created a strong samskara in my consciousness that has prevailed ever since; “Radha, Radha, Radha on every bead”. Thank you for recognising what it would take to create such a samskara in my consciousness that day and for taking the effort to ensure that I would always remember the mercy I received.
I am unsure about what I mean to you today. I am unsure about whether I am really a devotee of Krsna at all. But your kindness and effort on my behalf that day has enabled me to continue chanting Krsna’s names every day, and that offers me hope of avoiding a human life wasted.
Thank you for this lasting impact on my life; I remain forever indebted to you.
Your servant, Vraja Sundara Das