A Friendship worth a lifetime: my experience with Matsya Avatar Prabhu
Dear Devotees,
Please accept my humble obeisances.
All glories to Shrila Gurudeva and Shrila Prabhupada!
We are delighted to share with you a truly special letter addressed to our beloved Guru Maharaja, written by His dear godbrother, Yogesvara Prabhu.
These words reflect the deep sense of gratitude that we all feel for our spiritual Master, witnessing how much His tireless service to the mission of Shrila Prabhupada has touched countless minds and hearts.
In the following letter, with the author’s permission to publish it, Yogesvara Prabhu expresses his appreciation for the unique way Shrila Gurudeva has contributed through the Centro Studi Bhaktivedanta to create an inclusive reality. Here, anyone seeking a deeper meaning in life can find a welcoming environment and a way of learning that nourishes the intellect and the spirit.
We share these words with you, with the hope that you will find inspiration in reading this wonderful testimony and in how our Guru Maharaja continues to influence the lives of many people positively. Through an approach that weaves together cultural, humanistic, and spiritual elements, He brings people closer to Krishna Consciousness, fulfilling their need to understand the relationship between the immanent and the transcendent planes, and helping them rediscover their own relationship of Love with God.
Yours in the spirit of service with devotion,
BalaRadhya dasi
Letter dated June 23, 2024, New York
Dear Matsya Avatar Prabhu,
We have known each other for nearly fifty years. During that time, you have done something unique in service to Srila Prabhupada’s mission. You have created an environment that is socially and culturally non-judgmental, an institution that is devoid of the terrible competitive spirit that plagues scholarship, and courses of study that are both intellectually and emotionally rewarding. It should not surprise me that a program sponsored by you, such as our dialogue for the International Day of Yoga, so quickly garnered hundreds of registrations. To use your phrase, people are hungry for “authentic spirituality,” and that is what you are providing.
Perhaps your achievement is something unique to Italy. As you eloquently described, Italy is the birthplace of human civilization, and the urge to return to ancient truths is strongest there. What was the Renaissance if not an expression of this desire to rediscover ancient truths and then create innovative ways of implementing those truths in a spiritually exhausted world?
We are at a similar tipping point today, a time when leadership has been replaced with demagoguery, when the nobility of in-depth reporting and commentary have been replaced with shallow aggregated data, when truth itself is challenged by “alternate facts,” when appointments to supreme courts are made not based on exemplary legal wisdom but party politics, when reality has been shoved aside by technological simulacra, and Artificial Intelligence is very quickly replacing Organic Intelligence. No wonder people live with such fear. They no longer know who or what to trust.
One of your many gifts is an ability to read into human nature and see this terrible fear. You know how vulnerable people feel. You understand they are desperate for someone they can trust, knowledge they can depend on, and safe place they can go. The lack of these basic necessities has led to physical and emotional isolation. In the extreme, such withdrawal can last for decades. In Japan, this pattern of behavior is so common it has a name: hikikomori.
One day, Centro Studi Bhaktivedanta will be the model for a new generation of Krishna temples, a template for future outreach.
Meanwhile, we will continue to meet in virtual space, enjoy each other’s company, and reveal our hearts to one another and to the many wonderful people whom you have assembled.
With much affection and admiration,
Yogesvara dasa