Our best friend and ever well-wisher
We all know that Srila Prabhupada signed letters with 'Your ever well-wisher.'
Today's Srimad Bhagvatam class, followed by some sankirtan, gave me a small glimpse into what it means to be someone's well-wisher.
This morning in class I asked Vaisesika Prabhu a question: How not to constantly feel like a failure in service?
One key message he gave was to have friends and mentors – and he specially stressed the point of having friends.
So I was thinking about this topic, about friends, as I was distributing books outside city hall. It was a bit of a struggle to get people to stop, but then one gentleman stopped. He was not into meditation or yoga, but he somehow stopped to talk.
As I showed him Srila Prabhupada's picture, before I could say anything, he said, "This is your friend, isn't he?"
I started to smile, and he said, "He is your best friend, isn't he?"
My eyes filled up with tears and my heart with joy as he asked me what I called Prabhupada. I felt joyful to see how Srila Prabhupada directly reciprocates with our heart's questions. I never take these-middle-of-sankirtan comments lightly – but as Prabhupada's special arrangement to remind us who we are doing this whole marathon for – for our dearest well-wisher. My discussion with this man continued as he talked about the importance of friends, and I shared with him the Bhagvatam class comments by Vaisesika prbahu. He appreciated and took a book, giving a donation and chanting Gauranga.
A little while later, as I was about to leave, I ran into another lady from Vancouver who was wandering around Toronto looking for knowledge about consciousness. I showed her a picture of Srila Prabhupada, and she appreciated it so much – saying how nice and wonderful he looked. She gave me her number and took a Bhagavad Gita and promised to visit us.
The Bhagvatam class + Sankirtan combo is deadly! Whatever one is looking for, one can find it there. I was thinking about friends and Krishna helped answer my question both theoretically and practically – in His completely perfect style.
