Birthday thoughts

Dear friends,

I have been trying to respond to all your happy birthday wishes, but my connection here is not so good and I have not been able to answer all of them. Please be assured that I appreciate getting so many happy birthdays. It helps me forget that I am just getting older and closer to death...

On the other hand, some people have told me to have a "Krishna conscious" birthday. Though I could be a little smug and say, "Then it is no different from any other day," in fact I have to say that today I awoke singing the Maha Mantra to one heck of a happy tune and truly feeling as though I was the luckiest person in the world.

I told Babaji this morning that this year at Jiva has been the happiest year of my life. Babaji's friendship is making it possible for me to accomplish many things that I would like to accomplish before I finish this particular lila. I am becoming more and more eager to do bhajan -- something about seeing Binode Bihari Dasji in Barsana, but doing these services to the Dham and the Goswami literature in the Dham is anukula to bhajan -- but hopefully not for too long.

It seems that somehow a drop of the joy of bhajan and Vrindavan vasa and bhakta sanga and the mercy of my gurus has penetrated to the point where it is truly bubbling over, spontaneously and continuously.

All glories, all glories to Vrindavan Dham! The effects of the Dham can only be truly known to one who has rolled in its dust continuously for many lifetimes.

All glories, all glories to the Holy Name!

All glories, all glories to Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Nityananda, Adwaita, Gadadhara, Shrivas, Narahari, Rupa, Sanatana, Bhatta Gopal, Bhatta Raghunath, Raghunatha Das and Shri JIva, our heart's jivatu. On Nityananda Trayodashi I felt that Nityananda's special kripa had been given me. I translated Manjari Svarupa Nirupana while staying at Shringar Bat, which I visited on Nitai's appearance day. Could anyone deny that I have received Nitai's mercy?

All glories, all glories to the Guru Parampara from Jahnava Thakurani to Ramchandra to Rajvallabh to Bipin Bihari, to Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur, to my heart's Gurudeva, Sri Sri Lalita Prasad Thakur, who opened my eyes to the Yugal Svarupa, Gadadhar Radha Gaura Krishna and the doors to the next zone, who made me part of a larger, older family.

All glories, all glories to Dwadash Mandir, to the Bhakivinode Goshthi and to Hari Gopal Dasji Maharaj!

All glories, all glories to my godbrother Gadadhar Pran Das, may all his bhajan bear fruit and he enter Nitya Nabadwip Dham with Gaura Gadadhar in full nagara bliss!

All glories, all glories to Bhaktisiddhanta Sarawati and all his disciples and especially to Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, my eternal guru, my ground zero, my second birth father. And to Shridhar Maharaj too!

All glories, all glories to all my gurus, large and small, can I mention them all? To Madhusudan Das Babaji, to Sachinandan Bhakti Prabha, to Hridayananda Das Babaji, to Shambhu Narayan Ghoshal, and to all the Nabadwip Vasis, kirtaniyas, katha vachaks, to Madan Gopal Goswami, to Tin Kori Prabhu and all his disciples! To Nimai Chand Goswami and his sons!

To my Shikha Guru, Priyalal Gosai, may I one day see him again and find out what it was I learned from him! To my Shakti, may she also realize her true svarupa.

To Ananta Das Pandit Maharaj! Who kindled in me, more than anyone else, the desire to understand bhakti-rasa and increased a thousand-fold my love for the Goswamis' writings.

To Swami Veda Bharati! My yoga guru.

To all the Vrajavasis!

To Radharani, Shyamashya, Piya Piyari! To Radha Raman! To every square inch of this divine dham! Vrindavan is what Walt Disney might have wished to imagine, but could not, because the material intelligence cannot reach this world of eternal premananda!
And all glories to you, O Vaishnava sanga!
Jai Jai Shri Radhe Shyam!!!

Comments

Anonymous said…

"Happy birthday to my bhakti Guru."

My person has smiled many times whilst mentally recalling your words "Yoga for the bhaktas and bhakti for the yogis" since you wrote it on the 7th February.

With warmest regards,

M.N.
Anonymous said…
One has to smile, not one comment about the Elephant in the room, perhaps its an invisible Elephant seen by only a fortunate few...

Jacques Gontier's English translation entitled ‘Kundalini: Energy of the Depths’ from Lillian Silburn’s original French language text 'La Kundalini ou L'Energie des Profondeurs’ ("Kundalini, or the energy which springs from the depths of the human body" – speaking of the centre or heart {of light} of the body - from the infinite ocean {of light}).

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