Request for Shelter

9 years, 5 months ago by sarita108 in Personal Sadhana Reports

Hare Krishna Dear Hanumat Presaka Swami, Hare Krishna Dear Hanumat Presaka Swami,

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Sri Prabhupada! All glories to you.

I hope this message finds you well. Please excuse the delay in posting the message on the blog as I've been traveling to NYC for annual rath yatra and just got back yesterday. I will be tomorrow moving to Houston! So crazy time.  

Attached below is the letter I sent to you via email.

Your aspiring servant, 
Sarita 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Hare Krishna Dear Hanumatpresaka Swami

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Sri Prabhupada! All glories to you.

Please forgive me in advance as I am unaware of the correct etiquette for addressing your grace. 

In fact, I look back retrospectively and I still remember the first time I had the fortune of meeting 

you in Richmond, Virginia almost 3-4 years ago. I could not even pronounce your name. You 

were so merciful to come to the university in Richmond and give a lecture hosted by the Bhakti 

Club (I was the fool who introduced you and totally messed up the introduction as well). You 

very gracefully saved the evening by captivating the auditorium full of students and introducing 

the concept of bhakti to the student body. That was the real start of the bhakti yoga club at VCU. 

With your and Srila Prabupad’s mercy– the bhakti club has prospered immensely these last few 

years. It has been my central point of sadhana all throughout my college career.  Your disciple 

and my mentor – Subala Sakha Prabhu comes weekly with Prasadam and offers his insightful 

classes. His daughter, Chandana, will be taking over now that I have graduated. Their entire 

family has been essential to the foundation and flourishing of this club as well as expanding my 

personal sadhana in my time in Richmond. 

Maharaj, the reason I am writing to you now is that I am ready for the next step. I’ve been 

praying for a while to find my spiritual master. So many sanyasis have come through Richmond 

and DC yet there always remained that gap in guru-tattva connection. After long consideration 

(and quite a few “universal” signs) I would like to request to be your disciple. 

I watch and listen to your lectures frequently and it is not only satisfying but pacifies any doubts 

or questions I have. I’ve heard a fair share of classes from Subala Sakha Prabhu and hold so 

much reverence from him- who in turn accolades only you Maharaj. I constantly think of how 

ignorant, and frankly stupid I was when I first met you and wish I could go back and retract all 

those statement and offer all glories to you again and again. I am so embarrassed.

 Besides attempting to run  the bhakti club- my workload in college inhibited me from 

chanting 16 rounds. I chanted maybe 4-6 rounds daily but I did read and follow all regulative 

principles and attend the bhakti vriksha programs weekly. I understand the chanting is what was 

vital and I just couldn’t keep up. Since graduation however, I have been keeping up with 16 

rounds daily. I am serious now. I have finished whatever my “material” goals were but still feel 

unfulfilled. I know there is no other way and nothing else to aspire for. 

I moved back home to Washington DC and it’s taking some time to get used to not being as 

engaged as I was in Richmond.  Nonetheless, with great mercy, Krishna still keeps me engaged 

in Sadhu Sanga, Kirtan, or finding some service at the temple.  

I do know that I am serious now about my sadhana and have absolute faith in the next step. 

Please forgive me again as I do not know the protocol nor the etiquette but I am following what 

my hearts tell me Maharaj. 

So here goes….

I humbly request Maharaj, for you to allow me to accept you as my gurudev. Please accept me as 

your aspiring disciple. I have been going to the temple for as long as I can remember but am as 

lost as ever and ignorant, blind, illusional and conditioned. Please drag me out of this 

conditioned state and guide me towards Krishna. 

Please forgive any offensives I have committed

Your aspiring servant, 

Sarita

HpS - ASA - Jaya. I thin kwe answered this, no?      You have another letter. Let us look at that one.