My Inspiration

Sometimes people ask me what convinced me about the spiritual path. I have to say, the philosophy made sense, the people were nice, spiritual life seemed exciting - all of this helped, but it was something else that really touched my heart. One fine day, I read the biography of Srila Prabhupada (the founder of ISKCON). It literally brought tears to my eyes. How much could I know of God and the spiritual reality from my limited vantage point? However, in Srila Prabhupada I found incredible spiritual depth and devotion that I could relate to. I realised this was the life of an incredible person.

Srila Prabhupada was followed at every step, most hours of the day, constantly being observed and watched. Never was he found to be superficial, harsh or hypocritical. All his lectures, correspondence and conversations were recorded and disseminated. There is no trace of contradiction or inconsistency in his message. Over 30 years after his passing away, millions find inspiration in his life, understanding the extraordinary relevance and importance of the message he came with. To read of his sacrifice, his selflessness and incredible determination in giving spirituality to others truly inspired me. I felt impelled to make some humble attempt to reciprocate with that.

They say you can cheat some people for all time, and all people for some time, but you can't cheat all people for all time. As the scriptures are said to be amalam ('spotless'), we understand the living embodiment of the scriptures to similarly be spotless in character. As a famous Vaisnava (devotee of Krishna) poet writes: he reasons ill who tells that Vaisnavas die when they art living in sound - they die to live, and living they spread the holy name around.