Prem Vilas Prabhu:

Dear devotees and friends,

As you have read in the chats of Gurumaharaj, during the mela in Hungary I had a severe accident in a lake. For those who don't know me, my name is Prema Vilas das, disciple of Gurudeva Paramadvaiti. I lived six years in the farm of Vrindavan Jardines Ecologicos in Ecuador, and now I live with my wife and our five months old dauhgter in Potsdam, Germany. In the european melas I am in charge of recording and amplifying the lectures, bhajans, kirtans and artistic performances. This mela I was constantly occupied in this service, with support from some devotees, such as Tulasi Maharani dd from Bulgaria. We made some nectarean recordings, for example of our honorable visitor Vaiyasaki. One day before the satuday, the day of most work (with official program),  I decided to accompany my wife and our daughter, and the parents of my wife, Shyama Mohini and Haladhara, my brother in law Arjuna and some other devotees to a near lake to take a bath, because the summer of Hungary is very hot. Before entering I measured the depth and thought it was enough, so I could take steps back, run forward and then jump in. Before me some devotee did the same and nothing happened, so I went some meters back and ran until I reached the shore, and I jumped head first with my hands behind my back. I crashed in the sand of the bottom of the lake. And I felt my head was in the air. Holding my head with two hands I could make it out of the lake and immediatly layed down on the shore to wait a little to be sure that it wasn't a serious case as I felt in the moment I crashed. So I told my family to call an ambulance and it came a short time after. They took me to the emergency department and when I arrived to Szeged hospital they put on me a metal frame, called halo-fixator, that kept my head by means of a frame on my chest and four screws that were screwed directly into the skull. I had broken the first two vertebrae of my spine. The first broke in three and the second in two. The doctors said that 90% of these people die instantly, 5% becomes paralyzed and the other 5% is saved. Finally, after five days in the hospital they transported me by helicopter to Budapest and from there with a jet to Berlin. Then began the chain of prayers led by Gurudeva in Europe and some South American devotee friends, wishing for my operation to be successful, because the doctors assured me nothing. The operation was necessary because the vertebrae had been dislocated so it was not possible to join. But still there was the danger that I could be paralyzed for life after the operation.

Dear spiritual brothers, sisters and friends. Thanks to the desire of Gurudeva and all my friends that implored Krishna mercy for me, I was operated successfully. Although I now have several screws in my neck that set the vertebrae, I can walk and move all the joints of my body. I am writing this story, because I want to thank everyone who supported me, visited me and prayed for me at this time when I was in a difficult situation. There were many devotees who visited me, sent me greetings and wishes of healing, and made their prayers at the time of the operation. And I thank you wholeheartedly. Now I'm in the 5% group who are still alive and recovering satisfactorily after the operation. In the hospital a physiotherapist told me that just a few days before, she had the case of a young man of 18 years, who broke "just" the first vertebrae, but was not so "lucky" or, better said,  didn't have as much protection as I have, and now that boy can only move his eyes. I am very grateful to Krishna who protected me from the fate of death. Of course, to leave this body is a part of life as is birth, but in this case I would have left my wife as a 25 year old widow and our daughter five months old. That was very hard, very sad and impossible to accept in my heart. But today I'm really recovered. I want to especially thank Gurudeva for this miracle, for all the love he gave me through his sincere concern. He even visited me some evening and filled me with great joy, and in the recent days he called many times, always being informed by my family of my health. The prayers by heart has much effect and thanks to that fact today I can write my story.

Before I say goodbye I want to share a very special vision which was revealed to a member of my family at the time of my operation:

To begin with, Gurudeva gave me a little picture of Shri Nrisimha and with the permission of the doctor in charge, we put it into the room where I was operated. So while all the devotees and friends were praying for me somewhere in the world, also my mother-in-law, Shyama Mohini, chanted her rounds and prayed to Krishna for my protection and that all would go well. She had a vision. She saw me lying on the operation  table and I had some dark negative beings around me, trying to get closer to the operation table. But other shining beings stopped them and kept them away from me. And more and more resplendent beings were coming and surrounding the operation table and allowed only doctors to pass. Shyama Mohini realized that the resplendent beings were coming by the force of the prayers. Outside this circle she saw  Lord Nrisimha with open arms giving protection. Wonderful, when I heard this story after I awoke from the anesthesia  I was very excited. To tell the truth, it's the first time I heard such a story of someone of this vaishanva generation and that came from a family so nearby. First I thought that that vision should not be spoken about in public, but after talking with Gurudeva, I changed my opinion. As Gurudeva says that Krishna wants that we have faith in miracles. And what kind of miracle are we talking about? The miracle, that the Supreme Lord hear our prayers and that these prayers have a real effect to help save others! That the Supreme Lord protects us and that we must know very well how to use our valuable time of life especially when we are healthy. In recent days I had a lot of time, opportunity and motivation to think about life and death. And the truth is that we forget so quickly that death can reach us at any time and often tend to think we are going to die someday when we're old and fragile. But nobody calculates that it could be in this time, which may be so close. In the hospital I saw people too old, too sick, who are one step from death. These people are not seen on the streets. Some are tied to their beds, or not being able to turn around, much less stand or monitor their needs. People who can hardly breathe, or breathing through ventilators, and others having bedsores. When I saw all these cases I thought: "My God, these people did nothing for Krishna in his life. Wasted their lives accumulating karma. Did not worry about their health, food, and here they are paying the bill (at least a part). I pray, that these experiences stay forever in my memory. Now I want to live a more conscious, more surrendered and a more healthy life.

About the Mela. the last recordings of this I need a little longer than usual because I have to take care, I can not sit for long periods. I ask you to wait with some patience but I promise it's worth it, because we made some recordings of very nice bhajans. Vaiyasaki accompanied us most of the mela kirtans, many nectarean bhajans. One "update" I have already made, 2 lectures and one very nice bhajan with Vaiyasaki. http://premavilas.zv1.de/english/Jukebox/Hungary_Mela_2010_2.html But sometimes recorded with up to 8 microphones simultaneously, I have to do a good mix of production. As always I am going to publish my recordings in the page www.premavilas.zv1.de/espanol The ones that want to be informed about the new advances of songs can write to my  email: premavilas108@gmail.com

Greetings, Nitai Gaura Premanande!

Aspiring to serve

Prem Vilas Das

Here you can see a foto from x-ray: http://premavilas.zv1.de/fotos/image5.jpg

And here another one from the machine I had to wear during those days: http://premavilas.zv1.de/fotos/IMGP1756.JPG