Prabhupada’s sacrifice is the reason we are able to visit and be absorbed in the dham. When Shrila Prabhupada was embarking on his mission of West, he stayed for some time in a dharmashala in Calcutta. He didn’t even have the money to go to the dockyard. Therefore, he requested his son Vrindavanchandra to drop him off.

Prabhupada had no means to travel from dharmashala in Calcutta to the dockyard. And he was having the determination to go from Calcutta to America!

Therefore, HH Radhanatha Maharaja emphatically says, “Shrila Prabhupada’s sacrifice was, is and forever will be our qualification to access the mercy of the Holy Dham.”

Seeing the general bogie of a train yesterday, I was remembering my own spiritual master. He too travelled like a mendicant, with no money with him, with no facilities. Even in Vrindavan, he would stay on the banks of Keshi Ghat. Once, he got bitten by a dog. And he had to take 14 injections with a blunt needle that would be forcibly injected into his abdomen. And what did it take for him to reach Vrindavan? He underwent tremendous hardships on his “Journey Home.”

What sacrifices do we need to undergo? Here I am, sitting in a 3AC compartment, with no worries about prasad, no worries about accommodation, and no worries about practically anything. Some of us may travel by flights. In that case, what are the austerities we must look forward to?

The greatest austerity in Kali Yuga is to not indulge in prajalpa. There are hundreds and thousands of subject matters which can distract us. Maharaja mentions, “Kali Yuga is a season of gossip.”

This one austerity we must definitely perform while being in the dham. Another austerity is to be absorbed in the glories of the dham, devotees, Lord Caitanya coming through the lotus mouth of our spiritual master and the senior Vaishnavas.

It is the grace of spiritual master that enables us to see the dham. We can see the dham only through our ears.

How can the spiritual be manifest by anything material?

Our eyes are material, and our vision is material. Our ears are also material. But guru vani is spiritual. When that guru vani enters the core of our hearts through the medium of ears, it creates a transformation in the heart. The transformation in the heart causes one to develop a spiritual perspective. With such transformed attitude, when we see, it no longer remains material, it becomes spiritual.

Through this art, everything material can be transformed into spiritual. We may see the devotees are material, we may see the dham as material, we may see the prasada as material, but when we accept guru’s grace, then the same things become an impetus of enhancing our spiritual absorption.

Mahaprabhu would see any mountain and remember Govardhan. Any river would remind him of Yamuna.

Similarly, Shrila Prabhupada would see Bowery as Vaikuntha. Pure devotees can reveal to us the grace of the dham. If there is any other purpose that we regard as more important, we may miss the mercy of our spiritual masters.

One most important item that can help us be absorbed is the mood of trnad api sunicena. Without humility, it is very difficult to access deeper levels of grace. Without a respectful attitude, it is but natural to take things for granted. Without tolerating the dualities that will surely come, it is almost impossible to be absorbed.

Thus, hearing attentively from the lotus mouth of our gurus, remaining totally absorbed in the dham, all with an attitude of “trnad api sunicena” is a very nice training for us to enable to remain absorbed through the rest of the year, and subsequently the whole life.

Then, there is no doubt that we will attain perfection.

acirād eva sarvārthaḥ
sidhyaty eṣām abhīpsitaḥ
sad-dharmasyāvabodhāya
yeṣāṁ nirbandhinī matiḥ
Those who are eager to awaken their spiritual consciousness and who thus have unflinching, undeviated intelligence certainly attain the desired goal of life very soon. CC Madhya 20.106