Permanent Source of Happiness
Kurma Dasa: In ordering Srila Prabhupada to carry the message of Lord Chaitanya to the Western countries, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Goswami had not specifically mentioned Australia. Yet Prabhupada knew of the desperate need for spreading Krishna consciousness everywhere. Human life, Prabhupada said, was awarded to a living entity so that he could realise his spiritual identity and his permanent source of happiness.
In Australia, like in any other Western country, people laboured hard, dedicated to the illusion of material happiness. Prabhupada was convinced that, as it had been for the Americans, the power of God's holy name would cleanse away desire for material enjoyment from the hearts of the Australians and awaken them to their real identities as loving servants of Krishna. The fact that Srila Prabhupada had sent only one devotee to Sydney was not without precedent. Prabhupada had already opened many branches by sending a sole person to a particular city. "We do not require more men to start," Prabhupada had said. "If there is one sincere soul, that is sufficient to start a new centre."
Srila Prabhupada had spent his entire first year in America, alone. Or so it appeared. I was seemingly alone for one year. But I never felt alone. I always felt the presence of my guru-maharaja. "A Vaishnava," he said, "is never alone."
In Australia, like in any other Western country, people laboured hard, dedicated to the illusion of material happiness. Prabhupada was convinced that, as it had been for the Americans, the power of God's holy name would cleanse away desire for material enjoyment from the hearts of the Australians and awaken them to their real identities as loving servants of Krishna. The fact that Srila Prabhupada had sent only one devotee to Sydney was not without precedent. Prabhupada had already opened many branches by sending a sole person to a particular city. "We do not require more men to start," Prabhupada had said. "If there is one sincere soul, that is sufficient to start a new centre."
Srila Prabhupada had spent his entire first year in America, alone. Or so it appeared. I was seemingly alone for one year. But I never felt alone. I always felt the presence of my guru-maharaja. "A Vaishnava," he said, "is never alone."
Reference: The Great Transcendental Adventure by Kurma Dasa
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