Jagat

One of the reasons I wanted to be in Vrindavan in March was to attend the 40th anniversary of the opening of Krishna Balaram on Ram Naumi. As it happens, I attended none of it, though I did enter the Iskcon property a couple of times. I was there in 1975. It was my first visit to India. The hosts of foreign devotees came there after the Mayapur festival, which is why the opening took place on Ram Naumi rather than some other auspicious day. Prabhupada knew how to make a statement with his " dancing white elephants ." We stayed in Fogla Ashram. The whole Raman Reti area was mesmerizing, with its dust and trees, monkeys and peacocks. And we were all so proud of the achievement, which in the end was truly a marvelous accomplishment for the young, inexperienced Americans and Europeans who managed the project in what would have been trying circumstances. Forty years later, here I was, back in Vrindavan, living in Vrindavan, serving in Vrindavan, immersed in Vrindavan, glori...

Since my visa extension was refused I have been undergoing something of a revisiting of my devotional past--visiting the seven temples, seeing an old Nabadwip friend at Gokulananda. Then on Thursday going to Iskcon for Vyasa Puja. It has been a bit like a palimpsest -- scraping off layers to see what was there below. So going to Iskcon represents the beginnings of my life as a Vaishnava, and since for better or worse I am still in this game, Srila Prabhupada remains my guru. I heard several teary-eyed testimonials read by Brahmananda Prabhu from a published volume, as well as others given by a number of other Prabhupada disciples who were present. They recounted many stories of amazing achievements by young and inexperienced Prabhupada disciples, such as Gunarnava Das, who somehow during Prabhupada's presence were endowed with almost superhuman capabilities to achieve tasks like the building of the Vrindavan temple. Indeed, it is almost impossible for anyone who lived through t...