Seeing the Person Prabhupada

Everyone can meditate on Prabhupada in a personal relationship, and the perfection of thinking of him is to see him as a person.  Prabhupada sitting like a lotus on the water, writing his books, honoring prasadam, sitting in a simple room, plotting, planning, getting involved – always transcendental.  Prabhupada meditation is a sanctuary from material hassles and from the frustrations that occur in socializing and dealing within his movement.  Prabhupada meditations can encourage us by reading a few pages of Prabhupada-lilamrta or any of the many memoirs about Prabhupada. 

Prabhupada states in the Krishna Book that any bona fide book about Krishna, “Even this book Krishna,” can be a solace for devotees feeling separation from the Lord.  We read the Krishna Book and hear of Krishna’s activities while working within Krishna’s movement.  Similarly, we hear about Prabhupada’s activities while carrying out his work in contemporary forms.  Prabhupada himself is the classic, inviolable essence – always a person, the great teacher, the simple, pure-hearted devotee.  The person who is mysterious to us because his intimacy with Krishna is beyond our vision, that person we want to remember. 

Sometimes we can study Srila Prabhupada’s life and teachings at leisure.  More often we have to remember Prabhupada while on the run, while in the struggle to live and preach.  We have to renounce the pleasure of sitting at the lotus feet of the spiritual master.  We have to go out and preach on his behalf.  Sometimes this work on behalf of the guru creates a kind of separation from him that is only relieved by remembrance.