Disappearing

I'm in Mumbai now, in the state of Maharashtra; at the other end of the spectrum from Govardhan, in Vrndavan, in the state of Uttar Pradesh. Environmentally, socially, technologically, and in some ways, spiritually also. Although in India, glimpses of spirit are more thinly veiled than they seem in the West, even in modern cities like Mumbai.Vrndavan appears to be a rather backward, dusty village in Uttar Pradesh, yet there is the prakata: the visible, the apparent, the manifest, and there is the aprakata: the unseen, the unmanifest, what lies beneath the surface-- in both the places and the people here.There are jewels of consciousness (touchstones) to be uncovered in the holy places of Vrndavan, and there are jewels in the hearts of the people, even in modern cities like Mumbai. Mumbai is lush with palm trees, banyans, mangoes, champak, and flowering trees of every variety; with cutting-edge architecture in areas where you'd blink and think you're in New York City.In Vrndavan, the trees are more sparse, many looking gnarled and ancient. They are called desire trees, or kalpa vriksa: trees that can fulfill one's desires when we pray to them. Some are said to be perfected beings living there in moods of worship. Some are mentioned in scripture: the golden Kadamba is compared to Sri Radha; the blackish Tamal to Sri Krsna. The Goswamis were sent to Vrndavan by Sri Caitanya to rediscover the lost places of Krsna's pastimes. They were said to sleep under a different tree each night. And the trees would reveal to them the pastime that had taken place underneath each one. One Braj poet said that Krsna is blueish and Radha is golden. When the two meet, their color becomes green, and the trees of Vrndavan represent the union of Radha and Krsna.But in Vrndavan, many sacred trees that have been worshiped for centuries are disappearing. The holy Yamuna River that flows from her source in the Himalayas has been dammed at Haryana until hardly a trickle of her water reaches holy Vrndavan. The Yamuna is disappearing. The sacred Govardhan Hill is said to be shrinking, disappearing each day by the size of a mustard seed.Black carbon particles from coal plants are also settling on the once white snow-capped Himalayas. This causes the snow to melt and they say that in coming years the holy Ganges will also disappear.And in this Age of Kali Yuga, the age of quarrel and dissension, people's good qualities are said to be diminishing or disappearing.Today in Mumbai we celebrated the Disappearance Day of my guru, Prabhupada's guru, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur, who left this world in 1937. For a saint, we don't say that they die, but rather, they disappear from our vision and enter their eternal lila (pastimes) in the spiritual world with Krsna. Celebrate in the sense that such a passing from this world is glorious.Prabhupada said once, about his guru, in the dedication to one of his books:"He lives forever by his divine instructions, and the follower lives with him".It's said that there's no greater suffering than the feeling of separation from such a great soul. Yet the connection through hearing and receiving divine instruction is palpable and eternal. Inconceivable in a sense, but we can also perceive how longing for something precious or sublime pulls us closer."Longing, felt fully, carries us to belonging."--Tara BrachAs jiva soul, I am also eternal, yet temporary in my present body. What will disappear, and what will remain? My soul will travel, as I desire. But if I desire to know, to love, to go deeper into who I am in truth, then that longing will carry me to belonging, to relationship, to the celebration of the appearance of Krsna within my heart.