³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ

Good morning. My very good friend Nitai and I joined a Hindu ashram in Dublin in the same week, in 1979. We came from very different backgrounds. I was from a small town, and Nitai from the city. Nitai was into literature, and I was into history. He was ponderous, and I was passionate.

Yet we both  share a deep spiritual interest. He is one of the most humble and selfless people I know and has developed a spiritual depth which is seen in everything he says and does. Once we had a chat, among friends, about one of his failings – his stubbornness. He announced to me he would use it in God’s service by taking a vow to remain stubbornly celibate. And he did – a mark of the man.

 We later both settled in Belfast to help develop a Hindu temple community there. Nitai had by this time become a Hindu temple priest. Someone once put it around that people like Nitai were lacking in ambition, hiding in a temple. I asked if he was hurt by this, and on the contrary, Nitai said that he was much more ambitious than to aspire for material position or power. He aspired to love purely, expecting no return, and remarked that his detractor was not as ambitious as that – would not even try for it – and that he would pray for him. That’s why I like Nitai.

Nitai now has cancer. He is in his usual good cheer and stubbornly detached in the face of adversity. He has faith in his Lord, and accepts His kindness, with a love that expects no return.

I pray that my good friend, and all who share his difficulty, and the family and friends who care for them, be blessed with the strength to bare their suffering, and the peace of heart to accept it. Hare Krishna