A pretty girl wearing an exotic Indian dress and carrying a handful of flowers and a shoulder bag full of books pinned a flower on my lapel and asked, "Have…
I was Jewish, and my early education was steeped in the lore and culture of Judaism. Weekly my mother would send me for my violin lesson and dance class.…
In 1969 I saw the devotees of Krsna on the television program Top of the Pops. Disgusted by the shaved heads of the men, I turned to my mother, "You'll…
Although I was interested in Krsna consciousness, I doubted that I could follow the four regulative principles. I just couldn't see myself living the renounced life of a devotee. These…
The devotees' happy, smiling faces, their enthusiasm, and their music all attracted me deeply. Suddenly I felt that I'd like to be a part of this group. I let the…
John Favors, alias Toshombe Abdul, had become Bhaktitirtha Swami of the Hare Krishna movement. He had set aside the politics of the revolution and adopted the life of a monk.…
My interest in the Hare Krsna movement goes back to when I was a freshman at Southern Illinois University. When those strange-looking people with the orange robes and shaved heads…
I grew up in Connecticut in the fifties and sixties. Always "the observer," dissatisfied with the status quo, I saw my parents' lifestyle as boring and futile. They had to…
I was born in Aravade, a small village in the Indian state of Maharashtra that differs little from more than seven hundred thousand others in India. After I graduated from…
Having just spent four disappointing years at the Exeter Academy, in New Hampshire, I was enjoying a new freedom at Harvard. I could choose my own courses, make new friends,…
The language hypnotized me, to say the least, and I couldn't put the book down. After about two days of reading, I began to feel out of place around my…
In college I had delved into the thoughts of the great philosophers and literary personalities of the past. Echoing my godless upbringing, I would argue with my logic professor, a…
In distress I prayed out loud: "If there is someone behind all this, I want to know You. I will be obedient to Your will." I prayed from my heart,…
Everyone in New York City thinks he's a philosopher. And who do they talk with about politics, religion, traffic, and the weather? Not their psychiatrists, business associates, or even their…
When I came to New Zealand in 1972, the farthest thing from my mind was opening a Hare Krsna temple. I was on a world surfing safari and the closest…
When Vicki Overton was growing up in Auckland in the 1950's, duly attentive to her studies at St. Cuthbert's College for girls, no one would have imagined she would one…
At the end of each day, after trading in his Gucci suit for a simple cotton dhoti, Marco spends the evening hours chanting Hare Krsna on beads, reading Bhagavad-gita, and…
Srila Prabhupada's message to the world was not one of artificial renunciation but of devotion. Whatever you may be—family man, businessman, professional—add Krsna to your life and be happy. Business,…
A million dollars and three dozen magazine covers later, Anne had wealth, fame, and apartments in most European capital cities. Anne Schaufuss had everything. Except, maybe, happiness. …
I finished the school year, bade farewell to my family, girlfriend, and other intimates, and set off for Japan to practice Zen in earnest.…
Recent Comments