Volume 11

A Genuine Humble Soul

Volume 11, Chapter 20 September 16, 2011 Dear Gopiparanadana Prabhu, Please accept my most humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. It was with great sadness that I learned yesterday of your sudden departure from this world. Just weeks ago we were together on the festival tour in Poland. I considered it special mercy that [...]

Fulfilling Your Mission

Volume 11, Chapter 19 August 23, 2011 Dearest Srila Prabhupada, Please accept my most humble obeisances in the dust of your lotus feet. All glories to you! Today on the occasion of your Vyasa Puja it is with great pleasure I report to you that once again hundreds of thousands of people have received the [...]

The Signs of Change

Volume 11, Chapter 18 July 5, 2011 We were about to start our first harinama of the summer festival season. The devotees were busy preparing the musical instruments, banners, and flags, when a young Russian devotee walked up to me. “Maharaja,” he said, “my name is Slavik. I’m twenty years old, and it’s my first [...]

Your New Mayor Is Wonderful

Volume 11, Chapter 17 June 30, 2011 In the spring, Nandini dasi built up a full itinerary for our summer festival tour along the Baltic Sea coast in Poland. All the town officials were cooperative, even vying to have the festival at peak times during the tourist season. In many cases Nandini simply e-mailed or [...]

A Greater Reward

Volume 11, Chapter 16 May 25, 2011 I boarded an Aeroflot flight from Kiev to Moscow and quickly went to my seat. After the austerity of flying hundreds of times with Aeroflot throughout Russia, I had finally been upgraded to business class. I assumed that my servant, Uttama-sloka dasa, who had been on many of [...]

The Atheist and the Wind

Volume 11, Chapter 15 April 7, 2011 I spent most of the winter chanting and studying in Vrindavan. Then, in the early spring, I headed for South Africa for a number of preaching programs, including the Ratha-yatra festival in Durban. I was also looking forward to writing again. In Vrindavan I had been sitting in [...]

Ghee Lamps in a Bag and the Lord in My Hands

Volume 11, Chapter 14 Feb 27, 2011 In India I am always on the lookout for interesting puja items, so the other day in Jaipur, I visited the antique shop of Mr. Sharma, an old friend. As I walked in he greeted me and we sat down to talk. “Do you have anything interesting for [...]

An Offering of Love

Volume 11, Chapter 13 Jan 21, 2011 Dearest BB Govinda Maharaja, Please accept my most humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. I’m sorry I can’t be with you in Moscow at the auspicious celebration of your sixtieth birthday. I’m far away, but I want you to know that I am thinking of you and [...]

There Are Too Few Like You

Volume 11, Chapter 12 Dec 19, 2010 Dear Purnacandra Goswami,   Please accept my most humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.   It was with great sorrow that I heard about your sudden departure from this world. Although we regularly hear about these things in sastra and are constantly preparing ourselves for such inevitable [...]

The Sacred Necklace

Volume 11, Chapter 11 Dec 11, 2010 One morning in Vrindavana, I was sitting in my house chanting my rounds when my disciple Narottam Das Thakur Das came to see me. He offered his respectful obeisances and then “Guru Maharaja,” he said, “it’s been a long time since I have visited Govardhana Hill. If you [...]