Srila Prabhupada Disappearance Day

Today was Srila Prabhupada's Disappearance Day when he left the planet. Im not sure why they said it's today when he had really left his body on November 14, 1977, way before I was even born.

I went to Mangal Aarti like I do every morning and attended the  7 am morning program where we worship guru and Lord Damodar since it is still the month of Kartik. Gaura das who is a Prabhupada disciple gave a long class this morning about Srila Prabhupada. Everyone seemed a bit emotiona. My guru Maharaj well he just spoke very gently but even he seemed to be a bit teary eyed too even though I couldn't see him on the other side of the room from where I was sitting.

The celebration was at 12 noon. Maharaj led kirtan almost the whole entire time. And another Prabhu who was visiting for the day led a fabulous kirtan at the end of the program. Toward the end Prabhupada disciples shared a five minute story abotu Srila Prabhupada and a few were very emotional as it was a tough time for them because I know the feeling of separation from guru. I feel it all the time when Maharaj is away travelling. But this is different because Prabhupada is not physically here like my guru Maharaj is. But as everyone always says to me Prabhupada is still here making disciples and he's present in his books as he used to say.

My guru Maharaj made a point at the end. He had one major fear. He fears that in the future that Srila Prabhupada may be forgotten. He wants us to try our best to keep Srila Prabhupada in our hearts and teach others about him so that he will always be remembered. Im not sure how I can help with that. Maybe I can ask him and see what he suggests. Im the shy type around people. But I should tell Maharaj that I want to help ease his fear about Srila Prabhupada being forgotten in the future.

Over all it was a nice program remembering Srila Prabhupada even though I never got the chance to meet him. A great soul like him a pure devotee. I know I certainly wasn't pure enough or fortunate enough to meet him personally. BUT I do however feel fortunate enough to have a guru Maharaj who happens to be Srila Prabhupada's disciple and that I am very fortunate to meet Srila Prabhupada's other senior disciples such as my close friend Mother Sudevi, Mother Malati, Mother Subhuddhi, Dharma Prana Das, Hara Kumar, Jayasri, Hari das Thakura and a whole list of others that I did not mention.

So thank you Srila Prabhupada for eveything you brought to us and everything you taught us about Krishna. All glories to you.

Here are some of my favorite photos of Srila Prabhupada to bring this blog post to a close: