My Dear Devotees,

Jaya Srila Prabhupada. I have only good news to report! Lord Krishna has brought me to a beautiful, peaceful region, the southern coast of Oregon, and I am able to focus, finally, on my writing.

My health has improved significantly and I am able to devote more and more time to writing. Rather than search for an “ideal” place to stay, I am simply meditating on Krishna as my eternal guide and leader, and going wherever he leads me. I stay in each place as long as I feel Krishna wants me there and then I go to the next place. This lifestyle is refreshing for a sannyasi and I am able to do my work.

If in the future Krishna indicates that I should stop in a particular place, I will be happy to do so, but for now I am very happy to simply follow Krishna.

I must say that I am delighted to be retired from management and similar public duties. Lord Krishna states at the end of the Bhagavad-gita that one who teaches the Gita to the devoted becomes most dear to Him. With all my famous faults, I can say that I did try to teach Krishna’s message as well as I could. My present experience should encourage all preachers: if we try our best to teach the Lord’s message, then Krishna will make extraordinary arrangements for our happiness in Krishna consciousness.

So my writing retreat has not ended. In a sense, it is just beginning.

It has taken me some time to unwind from so many years of management etc and after several months, I have regained much of my health and I am able to focus more and more on my present duties. So it is now that I am finally able to really focus on this service.

I also find it invigorating and liberating to take care of myself. Lord Krishna states in the Gita that a devotee should not unnecessarily depend on anyone. Of course, I am eternally grateful for all of the invaluable help I receive from the devotees, however I do not at all lament that Krishna has now placed me in a situation in which I can do my own laundry, prepare my own prasadam, etc etc. For someone like me who has spent most of his life taking service from others, it is a healthy change.

As I said, none of us can be entirely self-reliant, we all depend upon some amount of help from others and I am very grateful indeed for all the kind assistance that I receive from the Lord’s servants.

As I type this, I am looking out a large window at the Pacific Ocean as the sun sets over the sea. As always, I wish you all health, happiness and purity in Krishna consciousness. Very recently a dear disciple of mine, Isvara Puri Prabhu of Brasil, left this world and I ask all the devotees to say a prayer on his behalf. Let us also pray for all those devotees who are suffering and need our concern. In fact, a Vaishnava should desire the true happiness of all living beings.

I miss you all, but when I “reappear,” I want to bring something with me that will enliven the devotees and the world.

With best wishes,
Hridayananda das Goswami
September 27, 2010