Volume 3, Chapter 25 February 25 -28, 2001 I arrived in Cape Town, South Africa, after an exhausting thirty-three-hour journey from India. After a few hours’ rest, the devotees whisked me away to a Sunday Feast program in a large auditorium near the temple. Somehow I delivered a lecture to the mainly Indian audience, emphasizing [...]
Volume 3
Eyes to see the Holy DhamaVolume 3, Chapter 24 February 20 -23, 2001 May my eyes become overwhelmed with ecstasy by seeing the nectar waves of Vrindavana’s beauty. May my intelligence drown in the nectar ocean of Vrindavana’s glories. May my body become agitated by the swiftly moving currents of ecstatic bliss and thus roll about on the ground of [...] |
Treasures of JaipurVolume 3, Chapter 23 February 18-19, 2001 Our entourage of Gaura Sakti, Mickey and Sherry Goldman, and I reached Jaipur on the morning of February 18. There we were joined by Sri Prahlada and Rukmini Priya from Vrndavana. Mickey and Sherry were eager to see the sights of the Pink City, constructed by Maharaja Jai [...] |
Tourists Ripe for Spiritual AwakeningVolume 3, Chapter 22 February 13-15, 2001 ON FEBRUARY 13, Sri Prahlad, Rukmini Priya and myself arrived in New Delhi from Moscow. I will be spending ten days in India, resting and recuperating from our trip to Russia, before embarking on a preaching tour of Africa. After spending one precious day in Vrindavan, I traveled [...] |
Close Ties with St. Petersburg YatraVolume 3, Chapter 21 October 02 – November 02, 2001, St. Petersburg, Russia. Last night we had to fly to St Petersburg from Moscow because of the large bomb that exploded in the Moscow train station yesterday. We are four devotees, and the flight was much more expensive, but we didn’t want to risk taking [...] |
On a Razor’s EdgeVolume 3, Chapter 20 September 02, 2001, Moscow, Russia. On the way to visit the Moscow gurukula this morning, we received an impassioned call from Sakatara das, who was at the train station purchasing our tickets to St Petersburg. In a distressed voice he said that a powerful bomb had exploded in the station on [...] |
Meditation on Narottama Dasa ThakuraVolume 3, Chapter 19 August 02, 2001, Moscow, Russia. Today was the auspicious celebration of the appearance of Srila Narottama das Thakura. As Narottama das Thakura is one of my favorite acaryas, I rose early to read his biography, compiled by my god-sister Sitala dasi. She spent years researching his life in various sastras and [...] |
New Facade Replaces CommunismVolume 3, Chapter 18 July 02, 2001, Moscow, Russia. The Moscow temple, located near the center of the city, has served a steadily growing community of devotees since 1991. There are currently more than 1000 initiated devotees in Moscow and probably twice as many aspiring devotees. The temple is the nerve center of ISKCON Russia, [...] |
Allies in MoscowVolume 3, Chapter 17 June 02, 2001, Moscow, Russia. The flight to Moscow yesterday afternoon was uneventful. I kept my eye open for something to comment on in the diary, but there’s not always material available. After all, this is the material world and things aren’t generally very exciting. Krsna consciousness is the only source [...] |
Just Remember VrindavanaVolume 3, Chapter 16 May 02, 2001, Perm, Russia. Today I asked Sri Prahlad to go to the temple and give the Srimad-Bhagavatam class. I remained behind, mainly so I could sit peacefully and chant my rounds. Afterwards, I read from Sivarama Swami’s book, Venu Gita. The book is my constant companion on my travels. [...] |
