Remembering Prabhupada Favorably

When I read Conversations With Srila Prabhupada, I find that although one can come close to Prabhupada by reading them, they give a very stripped-down picture of him.  We don’t see how he looks as he speaks, how he moves, what his non-verbal language is.  We see only his words printed in black and white.  We could get the wrong idea about Prabhupada by seeing only the words.  But it is also true that as we read one conversation after another, Prabhupada’s presence seems to accumulate in our minds and we begin to see all the non-spoken gestures, too. 

It takes faith to hear from Prabhupada.  Don’t think that Prabhupada’s presence can be gained without faith.  Don’t think it is wrong to be faithful, or to be favorable toward Prabhupada.  Don’t think feeling these things is in competition with anything else in your life.  You want your love to be revived.  There is no logical calculation involved, no prerequisite emotional objectivity.  You simply have to satisfy your own sense of service and inquiry at his lotus feet.  You have to satisfy your own sense of truthfulness by engaging your intelligence and your heart in understanding what he is saying to you.  Krishnadasa Kaviraja tells us to use our intelligence dynamically to study the qualities and character of Lord Caitanya.  Don’t argue with yourself (or with your spiritual master).  And don’t find fault. 

This is remembrance of Prabhupada in a favorable mood.  There is work to be done – we have to throw aside everything unfavorable in our remembrance.  Therefore, we have to understand the science of Krishna consciousness, the nature of the work to be done.  If we don’t know the difference between weeds and flowers, how can we expect our garden to produce fruit?  If we don’t know the difference between non-favorable meditation and favorable meditation, how can we expect our spiritual life to increase?

Selecting between favorable and unfavorable can sometimes be painful.  Again, we have to approach this process with faith.  Prabhupada will help us, he wants to help us, clear our hearts.  We have failed him many times, but he is still accepting us.  Let us serve him with full faith and consciousness and study his character and qualities with dynamic intelligence.  Let us pray to him to reveal to us the difference between the flowers and the weeds.