Volume 1

The FSK Spy Becomes a Devotee

Volume 1, Chapter 30 June 16, 1995. I awoke exhausted with a bad headache, and didn’t know how I was going to do any service today. I considered taking some aspirin. I don’t generally do it, unless my headache is really bad, so after a little reflection I decided not to. But all I could [...]

A Wonderful Harinama in Almaty

Volume 1, Chapter 29 June 15, 1995. We had a wonderful harinama in downtown Almaty. There are no laws forbidding chanting in the streets here. The people loved it. One middle-aged woman stopped to watch us with the rest of the crowd assembled around us. I was speaking to the crowd at the time, and [...]

I’m in Such Anxiety that I’ve Fallen ill

Volume 1, Chapter 28 June 14, 1995. News came from South Africa that they are still debating postponing Ratha-yatra. I spent much of today trying to contact them, to no avail. I’m in such anxiety that I’ve fallen ill as a result. This evening the local gurukula children put on a performance for me in [...]

Touching the Hearts of Officials with Prasadam

Volume 1, Chapter 27 June 13, 1995. While leaving today the Customs officials at the airport requested us to have a kirtana. We are not allowed to do harinama on the streets because of the war, but somehow they had heard about our kirtanas at the temple. So right there in the Customs hall, with [...]

They Stood on the Balcony Watching the Rockets

Volume 1, Chapter 26 June 12, 1995. Totally exhausted from yesterday’s activities, we slept until 7:30 am. Later I went with temple president Subuddhi Raya and Govinda Maharaja in a car to chant our rounds in the city. Just after we entered the city’s main street, a car drove by us and gunfire started coming [...]

Big Smiles and Slaps on Our Backs

Volume 1, Chapter 25 June 11, 1995. After a short morning program with the twenty devotees of the Samarkand Yatra, we left in two cars for the city of Dushanbe in Tajikistan, which borders Afganistan. Boris’ yellow Mercedes led the way, with Govinda Maharaja and four other devotees inside. The rest of us followed in [...]

The Golden Road to Samarkand

Volume 1, Chapter 24 June 10, 1995. We left Tashkent this morning for Samarkand. As we were driving, Yasomatinandana dasa, the regional secretary for this area, told me that in the nineteenth century all the Muslim countries in this area, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, were actually one country called Turkmenistan, with the Imir of [...]

The First Muslims to Invade India Were from Here

Volume 1, Chapter 23 June 09, 1995. Being Pandava-nirjala ekadasi, I decided to observe the full fast – even from water. It wasn’t easy because we were in the desert, and somehow there often seems to be many complications on ekadasi – and this one was no exception. I received a COM message early this [...]

My Kingdom for a Horse

Volume 1, Chapter 22 June 08, 1995. After the morning program I went with Sri Prahlada into Tashkent to buy a few necessities. I was looking for a tube of insect repellent! We went to the biggest market where the upper class people shop. Shopping in the market was not easy, for the reason that [...]

Arriving in Tashkent

Volume 1, Chapter 21 June 07, 1995. Beginning early this morning we drove eleven hours from Bishkek to Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekhistan, passing briefly through Kazakhstan. It was a long and arduous journey through eight hundred kilometres of arid land. One compensation was the snow-capped Himalaya Mountains that remained always to our left for [...]