SERVICES OF THE DAY

Thursday, February 16th, 2023

Mayapura, West Bengal, India

I’m somewhat glad to be a northerner like Krishnadas, my godbrother from Lindsay, Ontario. We are often together at the Prabhupada Samadhi, where it’s fairly cool at 4 am. I envy him for braving the marble floor with his bare feet and short-sleeved kurta. That’s better than me. I have to have my socks. Everyone else is all bundled up, highly protected from what the both of us consider perfect air.

THE SENIOR BRAHMACHARI ASHRAM.

By noon it is too warm already when I gravitate to the shade. There at the senior brahmachari ashram, I sat outside with local Krishnandu for a read of Hari Sauri’s latest book on our guru, Prabhupada’s last days. I have stirring feelings about these pastimes of those six weeks of his physical closure. It is hard to bear hearing about the body’s deterioration. Nevertheless, they are days of transcendence.

With the final day of ISKCON Leaders Sangha (ILS), I was given a slot in the “Meet the GBC” presentation. Being one of the Governing Body Commissioners (although soon retiring), I had the privilege to speak from a leader’s perspective on the admins of a global spiritual community. Those who participated (not many) represented a multicultural landscape. Our topics centred around how to progress spiritually, our mission of the arts, more gurus with fewer disciples for each, etc.

After the heat of the day came another devotional obligation – another performance of Witness Gopal. Well received. We have another four nights of this, by Krishna’s mercy.

MOST OF OUR "WITNESS GOPAL" CAST.

MAY THE SOURCE BE WITH YOU!

5 km