The “Radical Act” of Remembering Prabhupada

I am aware that my concentration on memories of Prabhupada may be seen as a radical act.  Most of Prabhupada’s disciples are serving him by active service, but I think that remembrance of Prabhupada is also very helpful for all of us.  We should know the person whose will we are following.  It is important for us to know how he lived, even in all its detail.

Recently a Godbrother asked me to read the biography of a Jewish teacher of Hassidism, The Great Maggid; The Life and Teachings of Rabbi Dove Ber of Mezhirech.  The founder of the Hassidic movement was Bal Shem Tov, and his successor was the great Maggid (“the great preacher”), Rabbi Dove Ber.  I found something in this book which gave me encouragement in my proposal that remembering Prabhupada is very important.

The most comprehensive evaluation of the Maggid, perhaps, is that offered by Rabbi Leib Sarah’s.  This saint was wont to say that man’s purpose is himself to become a Torah; all one’s doings, every emotion, act and speech should personify the Torah.  This ideal he found fully realized in Rabbi Dove Ber, of whom he said: ‘I went to see the great Maggid of Mezhirech of blessed memory, not to learn Torah from his mouth but to learn how he ties and unties his shoelaces!’

It is important to hear the guru teach the Torah or the scripture, and yet we also want to learn everything about him, because a bona fide guru is a living example of the scripture.  We want to learn how the realized speaker of the Bhagavad-gita dealt with his disciples; how did this great author of Srimad-Bhagavatam eat his prasadam?  How did he sleep and how did he walk?  This is similar to Arjuna’s request of Krishna.  “What are the symptoms of one whose consciousness is thus merged in transcendence?  How does he speak and what is his language?  How does he sit and how does he walk?”  (Bg. 2.54)

It is stated in the Srimad-Bhagavatam that the scriptures are hard to understand because their imports are very grave, and sometimes they even appear contradictory.  Therefore one should follow the way of the mahajanas.  This following should be very comprehensive.  To know how a realized spiritual master personifies the scripture, we should actually live with him.  If a reputed preacher comes down from the pulpit and beats his wife, kicks his dog, and accepts bribes, then you know that he is actually a hypocrite.  We want to see him not only when he is sitting on the vyasasana, but all the time.  We want to learn, as far as possible, how he manages to serve and love Krishna 24 hours a day.