Śrīla Prabhupāda physically departed from this world in November 1977.
And yet, look around the world today.
Millions chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra he carried across oceans and continents.
Millions read the books into which he poured his devotion, his knowledge and so much of his life.
Millions endeavour to follow the four regulative principles he gave us.
Millions visit the beautiful temples he established, inspired and dreamed of.
And millions are trying, in their own way, to follow the philosophy he taught.
Look a little deeper.
The śikṣā-gurus are explaining what Śrīla Prabhupāda gave us.
The sannyāsīs travel and preach the message he carried around the world.
Temple presidents, pūjārīs, book distributors, kīrtan devotees, congregation members, parents and children — generation after generation — continue something that Śrīla Prabhupāda began.
Some follow him directly.
Many follow him through those whom he inspired.
And many who never saw him, never heard him speak in person and were not even born when he physically walked among us nevertheless chant his praṇāma-mantra, read his words, hear his voice and try to serve the mission he gave us.
There is something deeply moving about this.
During his physical presence, one Śrīla Prabhupāda travelled from country to country, tirelessly preaching.
Today, his books travel where he cannot physically travel.
His recorded voice enters homes he never visited.
His teachings reach people he never met.
His disciples, grand-disciples and succeeding generations carry forward what they received from him.
His physical presence ended.
His reach did not.
It has only grown.
Trace so much of what we see in ISKCON today backwards — the chanting, the books, the temples, the Deity worship, the preaching, the prasādam, the festivals, the devotees, the kirtans — and eventually the path leads back to him.
Perhaps this is why, after almost half a century, Śrīla Prabhupāda can sometimes feel remarkably close.
Srila Prabhupada is present in the Altar in the form of his Photograph and Murti.
His books are in our hands.
His voice is in our ears.
His instructions remain before us.
And his Hare Kṛṣṇa movement continues around the world.
He has not gone away.
Perhaps, in the ways that matter most,
he is reaching more souls than ever before.
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