On a breezy day at lovely Ananda Ashram in Monroe, NY in August 2007, Shyamdas led the group of Bhakti Immersion Weekend attendees around the lake chanting call in response mantras, and finally settled on the little island over a rickety bridge. He had only recently begun to open up more about his deep relationship with his guru, Shri Prathameshji, having just published the book Ocean of Grace: The Teachings of Shri Prathameshji (which he reads from at the very end of the recording). It had taken him many years to gather up the strength to listen to the audio tapes he had made during his time with Prathameshji–the painful separation after his guru’s passing still felt so raw and deep. Luckily he was able to turn his full attention to those precious recordings again, translating many of them in the Ocean of Grace book, and setting Vallabhdas on the seva of digitalizing the cassette tapes to preserve them for posterity.
This island talk highlights Shyamdas’s sacred relationship with his guru Shri Prathameshji, while giving us a glimpse of his own journey into the depths of devotion. From his early days wandering around Braj, his residence in Jatipura to his mid-life back in the States, Shyamdas reveals in this satsang the subtle views that allowed him to imbibe and later transmit the unfathomable grace showered over him by the many saints and practitioners he was privileged to meet.
Category: Audio Recordings, Live Events Edited by: VallabhdasFeaturing: Shyamdas, Kamaniya
