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He Accepts Every Circumstance With Utmost Humility

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I heard something very deep and nice from a devotee that I met in Switzerland. He told me about how he had been staying at a temple there while Guru Mahārāja was visiting.  He said that the maṭha-in-charge expressed his desire that Gurudeva speak about Bhāgavatam. But then an order came that he was not allowed to speak there. In the room where the Bhāgavatam reading was, there was a young boy,. He was maybe only three months in the maṭha and recently came out of a completely material life, eating meat, smoking, etc. Anyway, he was the only one who had permission to speak about Bhāgavatam. And what did Guru Mahārāja do? He entered the room, bowed down to this boy and he sat in front of this boy and listened to his Bhāgavatam reading. This is his humbleness. This is always the way; they teach by example, not by punishing or whatever. When this maṭha-in-charge saw this whole situation, he decided in one moment to leave this institution forever. Although he left that organization, he did

His Teachings Come to Us As Dear Memories

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I remember that for a long time, I wanted to have a Gurudeva in Kṛṣṇa Consciousness. I was already praying to Kṛṣṇa for many years, but I thought how can I choose Gurudeva on my own behalf? This is completely impossible because I would choose him using the wrong basis such as how he is looking, or if there was a nice community, or other types of social things. When I always prayed to Kṛṣṇa I told, "Please You choose my Gurudeva who is the best for me." And I remember one friend of mine, Arjuna, who afterward brought me to Gurudeva. One day he sent me the website of Gurudeva and when I was opening up that website such a laugh and light came into my heart and blew me away. And I immediately knew this was my Guru Mahārāja, this is my Gurudeva. And I never had any doubts since that day. And then I started to read the website and it was written that Gurudeva’s thought of being a Gurudeva was that he got that favor from his Guru Mahārāja because he thought he had to learn to serve

His Renunciation Resembles That of Śrī Raghunātha Dāsa Gosvāmī

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I know about those times when Gurudeva was taking dalia (broken wheat), ripe papaya, and a protein drink called "Resource" every day. In 2006 or 2007 during Kārtika in our Delhi maṭha, there was a celebration of Rādhā-kunda's appearance day. Gurudeva spoke about how Raghunātha Dāsa Gosvāmī was following a very strict diet of only taking one bowl of buttermilk. So Gurudeva was explaining how this was possible for Raghunātha Dās Gosvāmī. It is not like Siddhartha Gautam Buddha who only wanted to renounce this world. Raghunātha Dāsa Gosvāmī had so much positive attachment to Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa's service and was getting that transcendental bliss. So because of that, he could totally minimize all these worldly necessities. Before Gurudeva started to speak, I offered a garland to Gurudeva as devotees requested me to do so. Because of this service, while sitting and hearing his Hari-kathā, I felt such transcendental bliss coming from within my heart that I felt I would explode. Gur

Remembering When He Would Take Prasād

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I remember once when Guru Mahārāja was eating prasād and suddenly began talking about his mom. He suddenly said, "atom bomb." I was just surprised and I said, "Mahārāja, what do you mean atom bomb?" He showed me a chili in his hand and said, "It is an atom bomb." I was puzzled and said, "Mahārāja, the atom bomb fell on Hiroshima in Japan." He said, "No, this one is." That made me laugh and he was smiling as well. My wife and I used to make different vegetables, different dals, and different types of chapatis in his kitchen and he loved all the cooking. He used to speak very gently and I could hardly hear sometimes. I always said, "Yes, Yes, Yes." And that was when he always had prasād.  When having prasād instead of taking the typical 15 minutes to half an hour, he used to take an hour and a half and everyone used to start worrying, thinking what is happening inside? He would take prasād so long.  When somebody starts speaking

"You Would Better Care About Your Own Purification"

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There is one  līlā  that inspired me very much and inspires the devotees to whom I shared this. They asked me to tell them about this. So you most probably remember when Śrīla Bhakti Ballabha Tirtha Gosvāmī Mahārāja started manifesting his  līlā  of being ill. They performed a medical procedure on Mahārāja and devotees stated concerning themselves with how to serve Mahārāja better. Some devotees considered it necessary to follow all the doctor's instructions to take care of his physical body by restricting him to a certain diet and limiting his communication. During one  Navadvīpa- p arikramā,  some consensus prevailed and the devotees serving Mahārāja declared that there would be no more initiations. So many devotees were distraught and I was among them. It came like a bolt from the blue sky. There was very much misunderstanding and it was so disconcerting. Every day Śrīla Mahārāja came to the veranda to offer some water to Śrīmati Tulasī Devī. I was staying in the maṭha and I usu

His Gentle Way of Instructing

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I first saw Guru Mahārāja in December 1996 in Jalandhar when he came to install deities in the Śrī Śrī Rādhā-kṛṣṇa Mandir there. Before Śrī Devendra Prabhu built the temple, it was only known to my friends and I as a plot of land where we played cricket. After the temple was built, my friend invited me to a very nice function there.  We saw Mahārāja there for the first time and then we got attached. Then next year Mahārāja came there again and I went to the temple. At that time Mahārāja and Acharya Mahārāja were in the room and we asked a sevāk whether we can have darśana and he said, "Yes, yes, you go." That time I think Mahārāja was dictating and Acharya Mahārāja was writing. We paid obeisances and I spoke to Mahārāja and told him I wanted to apply tilak. He said, "If you desire to make the tilak, first pour the water in the pañcapātra and then call the holy rivers." I can't forget this kind of dialogue that took place while sitting near to Mahārāja; he was sp

The Greatness of His Simplicity

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When Guru Mahārāja visited Ukraine his programs were in a public place such as a camp near the Black Sea, like a tourist camp. So he had his own room there and after harikathā or before harikathā devotees could visit him and speak with him. Generally, it was very free, everyone could come and ask some questions and he was very happy to answer them.  My personal experience was that when I met Guru Mahārāja in his room, he was very open. I was shocked because after association with ISKCON devotees for a long time it was very difficult to meet some Guru or talk with him. It was like an audience with some Prime Minister or President, very difficult to get. But still, when we first entered Guru Mahārāja’s room I was surprised that such a great person was at the same time very humble and he asked us, "How can I serve you?" It was very very sincere, in a very simple way.  He replied to all the questions that we asked and we just talked. It was like a conversation with a family membe