Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaja in Zurich (23 June 2013)

In Zurich yesterday, a devotee told Bhakti Charu Swami, "You seem to be always the same age."
He replied with a smart smile, "Yes, but my material body is getting older."

Anecdotes with Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaja by Chandrashekhara acharya dasa

Guru Maharaja is now, june 2013, in Locarno, Switzerland, after having spent three days in Villagio Hare Krishna (near Milano). Five days ago, Guru Maharaja was driven all the way to Villa Vrindavan, near Florence - four hours away. There, Guru Maharaja met with several of his godbrothers such as Madhusevita prabhu and Trai dasa prabhu. After lunch prasadam in the Govindas’ restaurant, Madhusevita prabhu accompanied Guru Maharaja to the Ratha Yatra procession, during which Guru Maharaja led the kirtan for fifteen minutes. Early through the parade, Guru Maharaja took his leave from Lord Jagannatha and drove back in Madhusevita prabhu’s car to Villagio Hare Krishna. The next day, he went to a program that his disciple Raghunatha prabhu had arranged in Piacenza. Today he goes to Zurich.

Below are a  few personal anecdotes that I forgot to post while Guru Maharaja was in New York and Gītā Nagari several weeks ago.

One day, I asked Guru Maharaja how can it be that one individual associate of the Lord - namely Vrinda devi - can be present simultaneously in a countless number of physical bodies (i.e., each and everyTulasi plant). Guru Maharaja answered, “Actually, the Tulasi plants are her hair.”
I said, “This makes the answer even more esoteric.” Guru Maharaja smiled.
He added, “It is similar to Krishna being present in the deity. Krishna is present in the deity - He expands Himself unlimitedly in each deity.”

I said, “But one may ask how it is possible for an individual jiva soul, or at best one of Krishna’s shaktis  (and not Krishna Himself or any Vishnu-tattva) to expand unlimitedly...”

Guru Maharaja replied, “Tulasi cursed Lord Vishnu to become a stone. So he became the shaligram shila. And Lord Vishnu cursed Tulasi to become a plant and said that the worship of Himself as a stone would not be complete until she was there.” 

++

Another time, Guru Maharaja recalled with a smile how, in Vrindavan in late 1977, Tamal Krishna Goswami “cursed” Guru Maharaja to get married. Guru Maharaja said, “I became worried, and so I brought it up to Srila Prabhupada and told him, “Srila Prabhupada, Tamal Krishna Maharaja cursed me to get married.” 

Srila Prabhupada replied, “You are already married to Krishna.” 

++

On another occasion, Guru Maharaja recalled how Tamal Krishna Maharaja had chastised Guru Maharaja rather heavily in the adjacent room in Srila Prabhupada’s personal quarters in Vrindavan. The walls were quite thin, and thus Srila Prabhupada must have heard Tamal Krishna Maharaja’s loud voice. Indeed, when Guru Maharaja entered into Srila Prabhupada’s room, Srila Prabhupada reassured him, “The real sign of advancement is not the high position that one has attained; the real sign of advancement is how much one has learned to tolerate.”

++

On our way to Gītā Nagari, we stopped at a "Rest Area" on the freeway, and Guru Maharaja, Sumon, Prema-Sindhu dasa and I had a picnic on the grass - stir-fried Chinese noodles that Guru Maharaja had cooked earlier before leaving. At one point, I served myself with my left hand. Guru Maharaja told me, “You know the standard, Chandrashekhara.” 

He added, “Don’t serve or accept anything with your left hand.” 

He continued, “Sumon is doing the right thing; he is serving while we take prasad, and he takes afterwards.”

Sumon said, “It is all by your mercy, Guru Maharaja.” 

Guru Maharaja smiled. 

++

In Gītā Nagari, at Bhakti Tirtha Swami’s home, Guru Maharaja was humbled by the fact that Bhakti Tirtha Swami had given precise instructions to his disciples Ekavirya and Vrajalila to the effect that Guru Maharaja should stay in Bhakti Tirtha Swami’s personal room when Guru Maharaja would visit. Vraja līlā confirmed to Guru Maharaja,  “Maharaja, Gurudeva especially wanted you to stay here in his room, most probably because of all the times he stayed in your residence in Mayapur.”
Guru Maharaja looked down in embarrassment, softly shaking his head.

During our stay there, Guru Maharaja repeatedly reminded Sumon and I to keep the place clean. He said, “Keep the kitchen spic and span.” He added, “For Bhakti Tirtha Swami’s disciples, this house is a place of pilgrimage.”

++

Guru Maharaja once spoke to us about the state of affairs in Iskcon today. He cheered us up, “Everything goes in waves: light goes in waves, water goes in waves, sound goes in waves. So this movement also goes in waves.”

++

Sitting down at the table another time, Guru Maharaja asked an open question, “Why is it that today’s American youth are not coming forward?”
I said, “If I dare to answer to this question, Guru Maharaja, I would say that it is in large part because we stress too much the traditional Indian attire for our Western members, pressuring them to wear the dhoti, kurta, shaved head, shikha, and so on.”

Guru Maharaja did not think this was important, and he added, “Besides, there must be a temple standard.”
I then pointed to my pants and shirt, and said strongly, “Guru Maharaja, if one day - by your grace - I start a temple or a center in North America and I run it, I want to manage it just like this: on Western cultural terms - in Western clothes.” 

To my surprise, Guru Maharaja smiled and emphatically said, “Do it.” 

He repeated, “Do it.” 

***

One day, as the car was making its way from Bhakti Tirtha Swami’s house to the temple on the dusty dirt road, Guru Maharaja observed the cows on the green field to the right. He mentioned in passing, “Cows are such beautiful animals.” 

In fact, Guru Maharaja often glorified the efforts of Dhruva Maharaja prabhu - the Gītā Nagari temple president - and his team, to revive cow protection and the sustainable production and sale of non-violent mil. He urged everyone who lives in the Philadelphia/New York area to cooperate with this project by paying the extra dollars and purchasing their milk from the Gītā Nagari co-op. 

 

++

On another occasion, Guru Maharaja spoke about the Ritviks. He said, “The ritviks, what they are saying - indirectly - is that Srila Prabhupada was a failure. He was not able to make one pure devotee.”

++

One day, when I returned from getting a haircut - a small haircut, still keeping most of my hair, Guru Maharaja looked at me and said, “You got a hair-cut? I could have done better than that!”

++

At the end of a lecture, Guru Maharaja said to all of us, “Always remember that this human form of life is meant for spiritual advancement. Offer this life to Krishna.”
He added, “This is what Srila Prabhupada told me. He said, “For so many lifetimes you have been trying to enjoy. But you can see that you are still not satisfied. So just offer this life to Krishna, and see what happens. After all, it’s just one life among so many.” So, surrender. Become very good devotees. Thank you.”

Loving Exchanges with my Dear Godbrothers

Dear Devotees, 

Please accept my best wishes. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

A few days ago when I got to know that H.H. Giriraj Swami Maharaja was in Santa Barbara I decided to cut short my visit to Sacramento by one day and visit him. My initial plan was to spend two days with my very dear godbrother Udayananda Prabhu in Sacramento. When I informed him of my change of plan, he was not at all happy but when I explained the reason he understood my need to visit Giriraj Maharaja. Fortunately H.H. Indradyumna Swami Maharaja was also present with Giriraj Maharaja. He spends one month every year in Santa Barbara to prepare himself for his Polish tour. It was indeed a spiritual retreat to meet these two very exalted devotees and very dear disciples of Srila Prabhupada.

Giriraj Maharaja has a place in Santa Barbara which is about one and a half hours drive from Los Angeles. It is a very serene and beautiful place famous for avocado and various fruit orchards. As soon as I reached, practically straight away, Giriraj Maharaja and I began discussing various spiritual topics. Indradyumna Maharaja had a severe migraine so he was taking rest in his room but when he got to know that I had arrived he immediately came. He mentioned, “I jumped out of my bed totally disregarding my headache, took my bath, and came running to meet you.” For about three hours we had very stimulating discussions about various spiritual topics on how to spread this Krishna consciousness movement all over the world, overcoming various difficulties and hurdles, and thus fulfilling the prediction of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Then we took lunch while Indradyumna Maharaja excused himself due to his inability to eat because of his painful migraine. It was a delicious Iranian cuisine cooked by Kandarpa Manjari and served by a host of Giriraj Maharaja’s disciples. We relished so much prasadam together that both of us felt the need to lie down for some time. We met again at 7:30 in the evening in Indradyumna Maharaja's room.

Indradyumna Swami Maharaja has a deep inclination to visit various pastime places of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, especially in Vrindavan and Gaura Mandala Bhumi. He was expressing some disappointment about the difficulties in visiting the places of Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s pastimes, whereas in Vrindavan it is quite easy. I pointed out that Krishna's pastime places are spread over a rather small area while Mahaprabhu and His associates' pastime places are spread over the entire Bengal. In course of his travel to these places, Maharaja collects various articles. He is an ardent worshiper of Lord Nrsimhadev and he narrated how he received a beautiful Ugra Nrsimha murti killing Hiranyakasipu which is more than 600 years old. Then he told us about how he befriended the main pujari of a temple in Vrindavan, who still has the japa beads of Jiva Goswami. Maharaja received one of the beads from that mala from the pujari. He showed us that bead that he very carefully preserves within a silver casing and often wears around his neck. In this way he started to show us different articles that he has and he also told us that many of them are in Vrindavan. He only travels with a few of them. 

One of the articles came from one of Maharaja's acquaintances, a mahant of a temple in Vrindavan. Maharaja was helping him renovate the temple and assisting him in various ways. The mahant brought out many articles of Mahaprabhu and His associates which he had in his possession. He also brought out two armlets of Nityananda Prabhu made of nine jewels called nava ratna. While he was showing them, one of the gems fell and Maharaja immediately pounced on it and when picking it up asked, “This is a clear indication. Can I please have it?” The mahant replied, "You have done so much for us, how can I say no to you." The mahant gave that gem to Maharaja. Both Giriraj Maharaj and I held all these incredibly rare spiritual articles on our heads, meditating upon Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Nityananda Prabhu, Jiva Goswami and other associates.

After showing us the articles, Indradyumna Maharaja asked me to translate a very beautiful verse from Prabhodananda Saraswati Thakur's "Sri Caitanya Candramrta."  (verse 88)

yatha yatha gaura-padaravinde 

vindeta bhaktim krta punya-rasih 

tatha tathot-sarpati hrdya-kasmad 

radha-padambhoja-sudhambu rasih

I wrote the translation on a piece of paper as follows: "As one develops his attachment to the lotus feet of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, due to heaps of pious activities, accordingly, all of a sudden his heart becomes inundated with the nectar emanating from the lotus feet of Srimati Radharani." 

Indradyumna Maharaja, out of his humility, took a photo of me writing the translation and said with a bright smile that he would stick the photograph on that sheet and preserve it. He also said, "And then eventually, I will auction it to my disciples." He mentioned how he once took the hand-written notes that Radhanatha Swami had used in his lecture. Later on the occasion of one of Radhanatha Swami's disciple's birthday, he presented it to him and the disciple was very happy. The disciple naturally considered that this was one of the best gifts he had ever received. Indradyumna Swami really knows how to collect nectar and distribute it. 

It was already about quarter to eleven at night. Giriraj Maharaja reminded me that I had to start early the next morning to catch my flight to Sacremento. When he expressed his desire to meet me before I left around 5am, I requested him not to do so because of his delicate health condition. However, he responded by saying, “Let us see what happens. If I get up then I will come to see you off.” I reluctantly parted with a desire to meet them again in Vrindavan during kartika. 

At about 4:30am, as I was preparing my things, Sumon whispered to me, "Giriraj Maharaja is here." I saw him standing by the door with his usual bright smile. We embraced each other and I told him that he should not have taken the trouble. Bu he said, "I woke up with thoughts of you and I am so sad that you have to leave now." Then with a smile, he jokingly said, "I was telling Svarup Damodar that if I throw myself in front of Maharaja's car, then he should restrain me from doing that." 

I took leave of a very wonderful godbrother of mine with a heavy heart and an intense desire to be with him again. Giriraj Maharaja, who after his heart condition fifteen years ago, has not been traveling much. However, he is planning to come to India in September and spend a few months there and I am looking forward to his very wonderful association with a lot of expectation and joy.

There was a time when we used to spend a lot of time together in South Africa and Mauritius. Due to his request, I became the co-GBC with him in these countries and had the good fortunate of serving Srila Prabhupada together. Maharaja is a very special devotee who at a very young age surrendered himself to Srila Prabhupada’s lotus feet. He totally disregarded his very wealthy family environment and his millions of dollars' worth of inheritance. Srila Prabhupada recognized his sacrifice and sincerity and made him one his most intimate and reliable assistants. During those days, when preaching in India was just developing, Srila Prabhupada brought Giriraj Maharaja to India and engaged him in the very difficult service of establishing Krishna consciousness there. After spending a short time in Calcutta and Mayapur, Giriraj Maharaja went to Bombay where there was nothing but an empty piece of land and devotees had to live in very austere conditions of temporary structures made of bamboos and tins. He was such an effective preacher that many important people of Bombay became ardent admirers of this young American. Srila Prabhupada commented that everyone in Bombay knew Giriraj Maharaja. In spite of being such an exalted devotee, Maharaja maintains such a genuine humble disposition. I use the word 'genuine' because one cannot fail to see how real his humility is. Even though he is so exalted he remains so simple and sincere.

When I arrived in Sacramento, I was telling Udayananada Prabhu about the wonderful time I had in Santa Barbara and he commented, "You are always giving yourself to your disciples and others. You need such association from senior godbrothers." Then he added, "Although I was disappointed that you cut short your visit to Sacramento in order to meet me, now I can see by your demeanor that the three of you should spend a month together every year." And I am indeed looking forward to that opportunity.

Yours in the service of Srila Prabhupada,

Bhakti Charu Swami

Prabhupada taught Bhakti Charu Swami cleanliness

This morning (1st June 2013) in the kitchen of Bhakti Tirtha Swami's house, Bhakti Charu Swami mildly reprimanded me because the place was unkempt. He told me, "Srila Prabhupada taught me the standard personally. He told me that whenever you use a pot in the kitchen, immediately wash it, dry it and put it away." "In this way," he continued, "the kitchen remains clean and clutter-free." He added, "Remember that this is Bhakti Tirtha Swami's house. For his disciples, this is a place of pilgrimage. Make sure everything is spic and span. Devotees here should say, after our visit, "Bhakti Charu Swami and his devotees were here, and they left everything so clean."
By Chandrashekhara Acharya Dasa

Bhakti Tirtha Swami remembers Bhakti Charu Swami by Kisora Krishna Das

one night while i was serving Bhakti Tirtha Swami,normally before Gurudev went to bed he would asked me to put his walk man on,where was Aindra prabhu kirtan,and everyday he would listen to the kirtan softly and fall asleep,while travelling to Krishna Balaram temple to phoenix temple,i left it to krsna Balaram temple,At night when Maharaj ask me to play the kirtan,i noticed that i forgot his tape there! i was stressed because i know he love this tape,i run to search for another kirtan tape and i got a kirtan tape of your Guru Maharaj,and i told him i got a kirtan tape of Bhakti Charu swami,Maharaj closed his eyes and said ''O Bhakti Charu Maharaj'' with so much love,i played the kirtan on sofly,Maharaj closed his eyes and with so much appreciation expressions on his face with a sweet smile meditating on the kirtans...

Memories from Gita Nagari Retreat with HH Bhakti Charu Swami

I am very grateful that I had the opportunity to attend Guru Maharaja’s Gita Nagari Retreat, May 30-June 2. There were around 150 devotees in attendance and even more arrived during the weekend. Guru Maharaja spoke for five and a half hours every day on the topic of Uddhava Gita and in the evenings there were Srila Prabhupada katha sessions. It was enlivening to hear Guru Maharaja speak for so many hours each day. I felt that my consciousness was being purified by the sound vibration and that my vision and focus was becoming more and more clear. I thank Guru Maharaja from the bottom of my heart for giving us so much of his time.

The retreat setting was beautiful and peaceful, like Vrindavan. Gita Nagari is in a rural town in Pennsylvania. The temple property is around 300 acres and the temple has 70 cows. There are also many peacocks roaming the property and purifying the atmosphere with their enchanting calls. Gita Nagari is the home of the most merciful, Sri Sri Radha Damodara, Who, in the 1970’s, traveled all over the US in a bus called the Radha Damodara Sankirtan Party. It is also the temple that was under the guidance and leadership of H.H. Bhakti Tirtha Swami. His samadhi is just next to the temple.

Guru Maharaja’s classes were held in the airy, well-lit temple room surrounded by windows looking out into the beautiful outdoor setting. On Thursday evening Guru Maharaja gave an opening address wherein he talked about the glories of Srila Prabhupada’s ISKCON. Srila Prabhupada set up ISKCON so that we can spread the movement collectively. We should not think what ISKCON will give us, but rather what we can give ISKCON. He spoke about the dedicated devotees in Gita Nagari who have been serving here for years. Guru Maharaja said that he noticed that Radha Damodara’s altar was not befitting the beautiful Lordships, so he decided to have a new altar built for them in Ujjain. At the end of the retreat, so many devotees raised their hands and pledged donations for Radha Damodara’s new altar. Guru Maharaja said that he was touched by the response. He had already planned to build the altar regardless, but now, he said jokingly, we had taken the service away from him. Part of the money devotees offered will also be used to build a new altar for Srila Prabhupada in the temple room.

Guru Maharaja mentioned that the idea behind holding the retreat in Gita Nagari is to support ISKCON projects. Gita Nagari is struggling financially and is lacking man-power. So Guru Maharaja said that holding retreats like this provides financial support and also gives encouragement to the devotees living here. He urged all devotees living in the surrounding areas of New Jersey, New York, etc., to buy the pure, ahimsa milk from Gita Nagari cows, as well as the fresh vegetables. This is a way of offering support to the project. Although it is more expensive to buy the milk from Gita Nagari compared to store-bought milk, the money stays within the family of ISKCON. Guru Maharaja emphasized that we should support and encourage our family of ISKCON.

On Sunday, there was an initiation ceremony. Nineteen devotees received first initiation and seven devotees received second initiation. Guru Maharaja emphasized that at the time of initiation we are officially surrendering to the representative of the Lord. Srila Prabhupada is the Founder-Acharya and therefore he is the siksa guru of everyone in ISKCON. Srila Prabhupada is Lord Krishna’s representative and Guru Maharaja is Srila Prabhupada’s representative. For example, glasses don’t obstruct our vision but rather enhance it, similarly, the guru is the transparent medium of Krishna and Srila Prabhupada’s instructions. A telescope has many lenses so that we can see further, so in the same, the more we become connected to our spiritual master in disciplic succession, the more our vision becomes clear. Guru Maharaja’s final instructions to the new initiates were to always stay within ISKCON (“if you leave ISKCON there is no hope for spiritual advancement”) and to make Srila Prabhupada the center of their lives.

The schedule of each day was as follows:

4:30-7am Morning Program

7-8:30 Uddhava Gita Session 1

9:00 Breakfast

11-1 Uddhava Gita Session 2

1:30 Lunch

4-6 Uddhava Gita Session 3

6:30 Dinner

7:30-9pm Srila Prabhupada Katha Session

Though there were plenty of breaks in the day for devotees to rest, I noticed that Guru Maharaja did not get much rest. Sometimes he would stay after a session answering further questions by devotees. Or there would be personal darshans scheduled for disciples. On Saturday, Guru Maharaja also had to meet all the new initiates. I was amazed to see how much time Guru Maharaja sacrifices for our spiritual benefit and advancement. After the Sunday initiations, Guru Maharaja said that he had to now hurry to be in time to give the Sunday Feast lecture in New Jersey (3 hours away). All glories to Guru Maharaja’s profound and amazing service to Srila Prabhupada. I pray that the instructions he gave in his wonderful seminars stay in my heart and that I can somehow assist him in his service to Srila Prabhupada.

Guru Maharaja said that next year’s Gita Nagari Retreat will probably be August 21^st-24^th, 2014.

H.H. Bhakti Charu Swami ki jaya!

Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!

Your servant, 

Ratna Radhika dasi

A VERY Humble Request

Dear Devotees, Godbrothers and Godsisters,

 

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. All glories to Guru Maharaj.

 

Thank you so much to all of you for sharing your input, advice and experience in serving Guru Maharaj... I sincerely appreciate how many of you pledged to take care of Guru Maharaj better and how many shared your valuable suggestions.

 

Good news I have is that Guru Maharaj arrived in Ujjain yesterday at 11:00am. He had darshan of the Deities and had darshan with the devotees of Ujjain, after which he mentioned that I have requested that he have complete rest so he therefore will not be giving any program and will commence as usual the next day. The first day should be complete rest!!  :) I gave Guru Maharaj the thumbs up and was so happpy.

 

This morning Guru Maharaj gave Srimad Bhagavatam Class and despite his cold he was looking much rested. He said he will do kirtan as usual in the evening, but at 11:30am I heard Guru Maharaj singing in the temple room as I was serving my Giriraj and the kirtan was ecstatic as always. I was so happy that Guru Maharaj was taking time out and singing kirtan when we least expected it...unfortunately my Giriraj seva did not permit me to run across the road and join the kirtan:(

 

Then at around 3:00/3:30pm ish... I was chanting my rounds on my balcony and saw Guru Maharaj and a group of devotees walking in the temple rose garden!  I could see Guru Maharaj giving instructions and was so happy that Guru Maharaj was relaxing though he was having meetings....

 

Please lets all pray that Guru Maharaj can have the rest he needs whenever he is travelling to various yatra... there is great power in prayer as we all know.

 

Once again thank you all for participating actively and positively in our discussions.

 

Your humble servant and sister,

Radharani devi dasi

Past Diary Entries (Chandrashekhara Prabhu) with H.H. Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaj

Guru Maharaja was speaking about a certain devotee with whom I and a few other devotees in Guru Maharaja's entourage had slight conflicts with. Guru Maharaja said, “She’s very respectful to the senior devotees.”   I waited a moment and then asked him, “Guru Maharaja, please bless me that I can be respectful not only to senior devotees, but to godbrothers and junior devotees also — that I can be the insignificant servant of all the devotees.” As I started saying this, Guru Maharaja smiled and said, “You have all my blessings.”  He added, “That is the perfectional stage of life, actually.”

**
As I came back from the local barber, Guru Maharaja, who was sitting in his office finishing a slice of papaya, told me, “You know that one peg of your wodden shoes is broken?”  I answered, “Yes; someone broke it. I’ll get it repaired in Mayapur.’ He asked me, “Do you wear these shoes in the West?” I replied ‘yes’ and told him, “Sometimes people walk up to me in disbelief, staring at my feet, and tell me, “Dude; those are the most far out shoes I have ever seen in my life!!”
Guru Maharaja laughed heartily. He then recalled, “A long time ago, I used to wear wooden shoes, even in the West. They make a lot of noise. Even with the rubber, they make noise. People would hear it and look at such a strange looking person as myself.” He added, “Once, I was walking down 5th Avenue with Bhavananda Maharaja. I was wearing my wooden shoes. He gave me twenty dollars and told me, ‘Go buy some shoes.’ Since then I don’t wear them anymore. I only wear them in the house.”  He finished, “You just went to get shaved up? You look smart.”

***

Guru Maharaja recalled how once he and Tamal Krishna Maharaja got into a disagreement. Tamal Krishna Maharaja apparently had told Guru Maharaja, “I curse you that you’ll get married!”  “In those days,” Guru Maharaja recalled, “it really was like a curse to get married. So I got really worried, and I went and told Srila Prabhupada what Tamal Krishna Maharaja had said to me. Srila Prabhupada stated, “You are already married; you’re married to Krsna.”  Guru Maharaja added, “Two months later he gave me sannyasa.” Guru Maharaja continued, “I then went and told Tamal Krishna Maharaja what Srila Prabhupada had said to me. Tamal Krishna Maharaja told me, “I was just joking.” Guru Maharaja recalled how special a relationship Tamal Krishna Maharaja had with Srila Prabhupada. “For example,” Guru Maharaja recalled, “Whenever Srila Prabhupada woke up, the first thing he would say was, ‘where is Tamala?’ He also remembered how, during those last days in Vrindavan, Srila Prabhupada used to call Guru Maharaja "the famous cook." Since I had never heard Guru Maharaja say this before, I told him, "You've never told us this before, Guru Maharaja.” I added, “Once in a while you let out some information which we never heard before."  Guru Maharaja smiled and replied, "I told you that I am not the type to blow my own trumpet."

***
Guru Maharaja flew into Washington DC the next day, May 29th. Bhakta Henry greeted him at the Dulles airport and drove him to his beautiful ancestral home on Massachusetts avenue. Guru Maharaja is attended a three-day meeting at the Iskcon Potomac temple, with godbrothers including Prahladananda Swami, Radhanatha Swami, Jayapataka Swami, Ravindra Svarupa Prabhu, Garuda Prabhu and Anuttama prabhu. The three-day meeting consisted of discussions on how to establish a standard, or a course, for future gurus in Iskcon. Guru Maharaja appeared very happy to be in their association. During the occasional session intermissions, Guru Maharaja and Radhanatha Maharaja would take a stroll together in the parking lot of the property, hand on the other's shoulder.

In the evening of June 30th, Guru Maharaja gave a talk in the temple. As often, he sang 'tavakathamritam' and explained how this verse, spoken five thousand years ago by the gopis, actually predicts the appearance of Srila Prabhupada, who was later confirmed by Lord Caitanya (to King Prataparudra) as being "bhuri-da, bhuri-da," or "most munificent, most munificent." After this talk, as Guru Maharaja was putting on his shoes in the temple hallway, a six year-old girl, standing with a plate of prasadam in her left hand and a spoon in her right hand, looked up to Guru Maharaja and asked him, "Are you are real Maharaja?"Smiling, Guru Maharaja bent down and patted her head, saying, "No, no; I am just a servant of the servant of the servant."

Letter Bhaktin Carol To H.H. Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaja (Wonderful New Years letter for His Divine Grace)

Please accept my humble obeisences
All glories to Srila Prabhupada
All glories to Guru Maharaja
January 1, 2013
Dallas

Dear Maharaja, when when you first spoke to me at the Dallas temple,if I can tell you, I had been sad for three days. I was so sad. It had to  do with the death of the Pope. A mentor at the time had said the Pope
was a very evil man and that I should not think  kindly toward him. The mentor seemed angry with me and I was so sad. It seemed anothe sad idea on top of what seemed many sad ideas to me, since I didn't understand those topics and was new to the temple.

I had tears and was wandering around, wandering for three days. I happened to visit the temple the night that you later spoke to me. I walked in to the temple room to hear you speaking. You were speaking  -- about the Pope. I'd never heard anyone speak like you. You seemed to radiate love. And you spoke with love about the Pope. Without me telling you my thoughts your class answered my questions, you provided
explanation that soothed away the distress I'd been feeling. I knew I wanted to learn from you.

You left with several devotees and walked down the hallway. I followed behind. I didn't know if it was proper. I followed behind as you with the group walked up the stairs in another building. I don't know if I
had heard this somewhere else or what the reason that it was in my thoughts, but as I followed behind on the stairs I felt like a dog following it's master. I don't know how to explain this.

I had followed at a distance and the door was closed when I got to the top of the stairs. I knocked and was invited in to speak to you. I asked would you teach me. And you said you would teach me. I couldn't
believe it was happening! You were so kind, and good, to me who was so foolish and didn't know what to do.

I am so grateful you agreed to teach me, Guru Maharaja.

Thank you so much, Guru Maharaja

your servant
bhaktin carol