His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

In spring of 1967, Srila Prabhupada became very ill and appeared to have a stroke. He was taken to the hospital and remained there for some days. He considered the hospital an unhealthy place and expressed his wishes to go to the seashore. Often he described that his guru maharaja lived by the seashore on Puri when he was in ill health and he considered the seashore a healthy place to recover. Srila Prabhupada would say: “The ocean air is full with vitamins. It is rich in iron, it is very nutritious”. So a place in Long Branch, New Jersey, was rented for his recovery spot. It was a two bed room cottage apartment upstairs, just by the seashore and Gaurasundara and I were sent there to clean and prepare the apartment for his arrival. When Srila Prabhupada arrived, though to climb up the stairs was difficult for him, he seemed to quickly gain strength from the healthy atmosphere. During the 3 weeks we lived with him at New Jersey seashore, his strength seemed to increase daily and our spiritual joy increased as well. Being in his company was a daily wonder as there were always new things to learn and to remember. Here are some of the things I remember and always try to recall of our days at the New Jersey seashore: I try to remember them in my daily life. Maybe they can help others to remember Srila Prabhupada as well and if so that is the greatest blessing. Story # 1 / Preachers everywhere Each day, Gaurasundara and I and Kirtanananda would go out to the beach, spread blankets on the sand and sit with Srila Prabhupada. It was a very blissful experience to simply sit and chant japa with him by the seashore. He was weak, so he talked less but as he grew stronger he seemed to enjoy teaching us different things about the world we live in. One day he was looking at the vast expanse of Sandy Beach and noting that there were tiny insects - crabs, ants, and bugs - crawling here and there. Srila Prabhupada would say: “Just see, they say there is no life on other planets but we can see there is life everywhere, even on this barren sand. There are small creatures here and there. How can there be any part of God’s creation without life?

There is life everywhere. The form may be different but there is life.” When I see small crabs or ants on the beach or in the dessert, I think of Srila Prabhupada sitting calmly chanting Hare Krsna and viewing the New Jersey beach with understanding and detachment, explaining to us how life is everywhere and am reminded of how kind you are, Srila Prabhupada to come into this dessert-like material world in order to teach us bug-like living entities who are foolish enough to believe that our tiny world is the only world. Thank you beloved master for your grace.

Sometimes when sitting on the beach blanket in New Jersey, Srila Prabhupada would look out at the waves while chanting japa. He was very beautiful and serene, always absorbed in Krsna, yet also carefully scrutinizing the world around him. On some days there were big waves and surfer boys would be out, swimming and surfing in the waves. Srila Prabhupada watched with great interest as they mounted their boards and slid down the faces of the waves. He asked us: “What is this?” And Gaurasundara and I replied that this is a sport called “surfing” wherein one mounts a board and slides swiftly on the water as the waves roll in. Srila Prabhupada watched intently for some time, then began to chuckle. He said: “You call it surfing, I call it suffering. They are simply wasting their valuable human form of life by jumping in the ocean waves. They have no idea what will happen next. If they become so much fond of remaining on the ocean, then Krsna is very kind: he will satisfy their desire and give them bodies of fishes so that they can enjoy jumping in the ocean more and more but that will be greater suffering. So I call them sufferers, not surfers. He mused as he continued his eternal chanting of Hare Krsna, softly and serenely with the crashing ocean waves in the background. Even now when I see surfers mound their boards on the waves of Sunset beach, North Shore, near where I live, I am always reminded of Srila Prabhupada’s observation and the nick name Srila Prabhupada gave surfing and I am reminded of his kindness in walking amongst us foolish living entities, wasting our lives this way and that and his compassion for us who live in various states of delusion. Srila Prabhupada you are so kind, you observed us in surfer consciousness, dog consciousness, money consciousness, so many various forms of consciousness, and you so mercifully taught us about Krsna consciousness, and you gave us the opportunity to serve you and Krsna. Thank you, Srila Prabhupada!