My Life's Dream

There's no way I can measure how much I am indebted to my eternal spiritual master, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. He has saved me from a hellish, nightmarish existence in the cycle of unlimited births and deaths. How much my heart was burning in agony before I was blessed with his sublime shelter. I was so distraught. It was horrible. I remember wandering the streets of Austin, Texas in a state of total bewilderment simply crying in grief with no one I could communicate with to explain the depth of my despair. Was it anything in particular that was disturbing me? No. It was the pain of meaningless existence itself that was piercing my heart like burning arrows.

Now for the last thirty-seven years of my life, since Srila Prabhupada so mercifully blessed me with the supreme gift of Krishna bhakti, I have been tasting the sweetest bliss. And this bliss just keeps on increasing more and more. There's so much bliss in Krishna consciousness that there's nothing else that makes sense to me except to try share it with the entire world. How much they are desperately needing this Krishna consciousness! If only somehow or other by Lord Sri Krishna's grace I can convince them to take it up, this will be the fulfillment of my life's dream.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

My Spiritual Master: His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami PrabhupadaHis Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Answers According to the Vedic Version:

Question: How to Develop Awe and Reverence?

Yesterday in your "Thought for the Day", in the question and answer section one of the questions your student asked you was, "Should one chant with intimacy or with awe and reference?

Your reply was, "Intimacy with the Lord is there only in the liberated stage. Our present relationship with the Lord should simply be one of awe and reverence. In order for Arjuna to become liberated, he had to lay aside his intimacy as the Lord's personal companion and humbly hear the message of Bhagavad-gita in a state of pure awe and reverence."

My question is what is the meaning of being in a state of pure awe and reverence and how does one develop and act in it?

Your servant,

Rebecca

Answer: By Faithfully Serving Krishna

While in our present conditioned stage of consciousness there is an intimacy of master and servant in our relationship with the Lord, but we cannot have the intimacy of a friend, parent, or lover with Him. Our present position must always be awe and reverence. This means that we must humbly bow down at the Lord's lotus feet and accept whatever orders He gives us as our very life and soul. The recommended way to develop this awe and reverence is to fully surrender ourselves unto the lotus feet of His representative, the bona fide spiritual master, and faithfully carry out whatever instructions the spiritual master gives us.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

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