Remembering Prabhupada

When I was eight years old and in the fourth grade of elementary school, Miss Williams taught us a good lesson about forgetfulness.  Some students had forgotten to do their homework, so she wrote the word “FORGET” on the blackboard in very large letters.  She then drew many arrows shooting at the word.  It was a bad thing to forget.  Later, Miss Williams covered up that section of the blackboard with a map of the United States.  We all forgot what was underneath, but at the end of the year, she removed the map and there it was …

Some forgetting is good.  Prabhupada used to say, “We have to forgive and forget, or how can we live?”  Forget grudges and forgive minor offenses that people may commit against us.  We should never forget Krishna, however,   and we should always shoot arrows at our forgetfulness of Prabhupada.  According to the scriptures, even a moment’s forgetfulness of the Lord and His pure devotees is the greatest loss.

How do I remember Prabhupada?  First of all, I remember that there was (and is) such a person as Prabhupada.  Descartes said, “I think, therefore I am.”  That was his bottom line of truth.  Our bottom line is, “I remember Prabhupada, therefore I am.”  I am now in spiritual life because my spiritual master delivered me from darkness.  I do not forget that.  I remember him and follow him.  Basic remembrance of Prabhupada refers to the promises we made him at our initiation – the four rules and sixteen rounds and other obligations.  We aspire to be Krishna conscious and to read Bhagavad-gita and his other books.  We aspire to serve among his devotees. 

When we remember him in personal ways, that is the sweetness which  makes life worth living.  We may say duty is enough, but who does not crave joy, “the nectar for which we are always anxious.”  For example, I remember soft saffron on Prabhupada’s body.  I sense his stature.  He was not tall or fat, but neither do we think of him as gaunt.  None of these words seem to apply.

Our remembrance of Srila Prabhupada is more than nostalgia for a wonderful person who was here, but who is now gone.  Remembering Prabhupada is the cutting edge of our life at every moment. 

Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura said that when one forgets his guru, then all one thinks of is, “I run in a hurry for my bath.  I become busy for preventing a cold.  I run after other occupations different from the service of Sri Gurudeva.”