Dear brothers and sisters,
At 1 am est on 11/24 I received the call from Dr. Mohantiji that our beloved Dada Devashraddhanada had just departed his physical body. His mind was clear and he was surrounded by loving and caring devotees of Baba. His life exemplified the meaning of his name. As Shiva said to Parvatii; "You know, Devii, there are seven essential factors for success.....The first "I must be successful in my mission" ... Secondly "Withdrawing the mind from all other objects, and guiding that mind unto that object which has been accepted as the Absolute Truth, is shraddha. It has no corresponding term in English or Latin, or in any other language. Thirdly "one must develop shraddha for one's preceptor, one's teacher.... Devashraddhadananda.....was such a man. It is often when we are weakest our underlying nature gets expressed.
Dada in the recent and most difficult of times would always first be thinking of the children's homes, the schools and the health conditions of his fellow margiis and acharyas. I am flooded with memories that speak to his kindness and sincerity. I have created an email address for which I invite you to share your fond memories and experiences of our good and close friend: Dadadeva at charter.net. In the near future we will publish the stories as a testimony to this great soul. In addition, as a fitting gesture to his incredible desire to help the needy, we are creating an endowment fund in his name, for which the principal will be secured and the income generated will go to lend support for the projects he cared so much for. In each of our lives we will be able to name a few that have changed the course of our destiny. For me and my family as for many of us, Dada was such a force.... a DEVA no doubt translating Baba's wishes into action bringing all closer to the BLISSFUL realization of the essence of SHRADDHA.
In His Name,
your brother,
Valmiki
At 1 am est on 11/24 I received the call from Dr. Mohantiji that our beloved Dada Devashraddhanada had just departed his physical body. His mind was clear and he was surrounded by loving and caring devotees of Baba. His life exemplified the meaning of his name. As Shiva said to Parvatii; "You know, Devii, there are seven essential factors for success.....The first "I must be successful in my mission" ... Secondly "Withdrawing the mind from all other objects, and guiding that mind unto that object which has been accepted as the Absolute Truth, is shraddha. It has no corresponding term in English or Latin, or in any other language. Thirdly "one must develop shraddha for one's preceptor, one's teacher.... Devashraddhadananda
Dada in the recent and most difficult of times would always first be thinking of the children's homes, the schools and the health conditions of his fellow margiis and acharyas. I am flooded with memories that speak to his kindness and sincerity. I have created an email address for which I invite you to share your fond memories and experiences of our good and close friend: Dadadeva at charter.net. In the near future we will publish the stories as a testimony to this great soul. In addition, as a fitting gesture to his incredible desire to help the needy, we are creating an endowment fund in his name, for which the principal will be secured and the income generated will go to lend support for the projects he cared so much for. In each of our lives we will be able to name a few that have changed the course of our destiny. For me and my family as for many of us, Dada was such a force.... a DEVA no doubt translating Baba's wishes into action bringing all closer to the BLISSFUL realization of the essence of SHRADDHA.
In His Name,
your brother,
Valmiki
I was very sad to learn that Dada Devashraddhanandaji has passed away. I
ReplyDeletewas lucky work with him closely for many years in the eighties and nineties
in New York Sector. What I saw was a man of extraordinary qualities – I
can’t think of anyone I have met with such a high level of integrity; he
kept his words, and he was able to fulfil his organizational
responsibilities and commitments.
Dada Devashraddhanandaji was a serious worker, always obedient to the
structure of the organization and always trying to follow Baba’s rules and
discipline to the letter. Perhaps he could fairly be described as ‘old
school, in his outlook and position on issues. Still, he was SS in 1996
when New York Sector became pioneers by taking the board system seriously
and involving margiis in sectorial decision making and policies. He was
liberal and had the courage to embrace new and progressive ways to move
Baba’s Mission forward.
He was often misunderstood/. He was accused of ‘overdoing it’ or being
‘over-sincere’ in the way he battled and laboured. (A curious tag that,
for is it possible to be too sincere? I think not.). Dada
Devashraddhanandaji felt restless as long as any problem in the sector
remained unsolved. He was never one to sweep things under the carpet, and he
had the character, courage and personal capacity as a leader to face the
problems. So Dadaji took his duty and responsibilities very very seriously.
He had his lighter side too, we can still hear his (very!) loud and
spontaneous laughter, and remember how he liked to show his affection with
bone crunching bear hugs. The moments, when he let himself go and set his
responsibilities aside for a few moments, he was a very funny man, and
exuded an almost childlike simplicity and joy of living.
Through out his life as a worker he battled health problems, most which
could be traced to exhaustion, as he wore himself down. It can only be
through His Devotion to the work of Baba’s mission, that he was able to
overcome many serious challenges to his health. He identified so much with
his role as worker; as someone who accepted responsibility, moved, struggle
and made things happen, that when his health finally started to deteriorate
in a serious way, it was doubly difficult for him to tolerate. He could not
bear to find himself dependant on others, confined to the house and unable
to work for Baba’s mission the way he had for so many years.
I feel very sad today that I didn’t meet Dadaji for the last seven or eight
years of his life, and I am ashamed to say that after his health started
deteriorating seriously, I only called him once. I remember that
conversation very well. His affection and also the way he shared the pain,
not of the illness, but of not being able to work as before.
We will miss him deeply. The best we can do in his memory, is to increase
our efforts, to try harder, to emulate the spirit of commitment, hard work
and absolute integrity that Devashraddhanandaji so brilliantly manifested in
his long life as a worker and Acharya of Ananda Marga.
In His Mission
Dada Daneshananda