Volume 1, Chapter 20 June 06, 1995. While brushing my teeth this morning one of my teeth fell out. I took it as a sign that at 46, I’m not getting any younger. Srila Prabhupada said in the Srimad-Bhagavatam that old age begins at fifty. I also heard a lecture tape recently of Srila Prabhupada [...]
Volume 1
A Wonderful Dream about Sri Sri Radha-KrsnaVolume 1, Chapter 19 June 05, 1995. This afternoon we had a big harinama in downtown Bishkek. The devotees had worked hard to get permission, so they were really eager to chant and dance. The public, being Oriental and quite reserved, didn’t chant or dance with us, but looked on respectfully and asked some nice [...] |
Bishkek: Half a Million ListenersVolume 1, Chapter 18 June 04, 1995. We left Baku for Bishkek at 3 a.m. on Azerbaijani Airlines. In the CIS, flights operate around the clock. The four-hour flight took us past Afghanistan and India to Kirgistan. The airplane was quite old, and it appeared it had never been cleaned. It was typical of airplanes [...] |
All Glories to the Devotees of Baku YatraVolume 1, Chapter 17 June 03, 1995. This morning I gave class on a verse from the Third Canto of Srimad Bhagavatam about the glories of the brahminical, or priestly, order. I was emphasising the point that by becoming a devotee of the Lord (a Vaisnava), one naturally develops the good qualities of a brahmana. [...] |
We Get the VisasVolume 1, Chapter 16 June 02, 1995. Today I held initiations in the courtyard of the temple. I accepted two boys as disciples, seventeen and twenty-three years of age. Because they are sankirtana partners I called them Nakula dasa and Sahadeva dasa, after the twin sons of Madri, the wife of Pandu. Besides a crown [...] |
The Fire-Temple of Agni-DevaVolume 1, Chapter 15 June 01, 1995. We awoke early to bathe and prepared to go to the temple. Although the devotees have given us the best facilities they can offer, they are austere by our Western standards. We are seven men (and one million mosquitoes) sleeping in two small rooms; and there has been [...] |
An Extraordinary ReceptionVolume 1, Chapter 14 May 31, 1995. This morning Govinda Maharaja found out that we definitely need visas to get out of the country, unless we want to go out the same way we came in. We voted unanimously not to do that and made plans to apply for visas at the Home Affairs Department. [...] |
Nineteen Hours through HellVolume 1, Chapter 13 May 30, 1995. Last night as I prepared to sleep I felt apprehensive about this morning’s journey. Because of a shortage of funds we are unable to fly all the way to Baku, Azerbaijan. So we planned two short flights across southern to Machatshkala, and from there a drive south along [...] |
One’s Own Spiritual Master Is BestVolume 1, Chapter 12 May 29, 1995. We held a morning program with about fifty local devotees in a park in Novorossisk. Govinda Maharaja gave class and during his lecture I met with my local disciples. One aspiring disciple, who lives outside the temple, shocked me when I inquired from her what type of work [...] |
No Peace for You in This LifetimeVolume 1, Chapter 11 May 28, 1995. For the past week I have been having bad dreams. It often happens to me after initiation ceremonies. Srila Prabhupada said, “A devotee sometimes accepts a sinful person as his disciple, and to counteract the sinful reactions he accepts from the disciple, he has to see a bad [...] |
