From Avadhuta Raya Das – Hungary, Eger

Dearest Srila Gurudeva,

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. All glories to you.

Even though your Vyasa Puja day is the most auspicious transcendental occasion in a disciple’s life, it is hard to ignore the troubles of the material world now. We are confined to our rooms as lockdowns are imposed globally by local authorities and our minds keep returning to the lurking dangers of the pandemic. However, we are so lucky that even such an unprecedented, but still mundane, event has been turned into a unique spiritual experience by your mercy. We have been glued to the screens of our laptops to watch your webinars which raise our spirits and help us focus on Krishna even in these trying times.

This reveals your heart, Srila Gurudeva. You are most concerned about the spiritual and material well being of your disciples. 3–4 days a week we have an opportunity to listen to your lectures that are full of pastimes, philosophy and
your personal realizations. You seem to spend hours preparing for the classes to be ready to tell us the pastimes in such detail, to quote dozens of verses and to relate several anecdotes from the lives of the previous acaryas, including our beloved Srila Prabhupada. As you often quote His Divine Grace, “attention to detail is the sign of love.” How much love must you have for us then? Your classes prove that your love is simply unlimited! Using your example of the multi-layered onion, you take us deeper and deeper with you on a trip to the sweetest depths of Krishna Consciousness.

Certainly it is not only the details you share with us that are amazing; what really makes the stories so pleasing for our soul is the devotion you put into them. We can witness your deep spiritual emotions and they give us further proof that Krishna Consciousness is a living and genuine process. When one practices it sincerely, the Lord reveals Himself through that devotee. How lucky we are that you are a pure devotee of the Lord, a pure devotee of His Divine Grace, Srila Prabhupada! No matter what mood I have when I start listening to a lecture of yours, I am guaranteed to have my face shining with a big smile and my faith multiplied by its end.

By the arrangement of the Lord, today is Akshaya-tritiya and as we have learned from your class, this is the most auspicious day for new beginnings or reaffirmations. So I would like to take this wonderful opportunity and to ask you to keep me at your lotus feet and to continue engaging me in the sankirtana mission. Although I am really unqualified to be near your pure lotus feet with my mundane personality, I have no other shelter in this world.

Thank you for giving me the Holy Name and accepting me as your disciple. This pandemic shows us once again that everything the sastra says is sure to happen. We live in a world with dangers haunting us at every step, and we were given another warning that our only genuine shelter is your lotus feet.

Your servant, Avadhuta Raya Das