An Authentic Life 1.1 for pdf - Universalist Radha-Krishnaism

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Lalita Prasad Thakur tives, a white tee shirt, beige sweater and black blazer that he called his office coat, which he wore when he was secretary to the governor of Bengal. As I sat on the floor at his feet looking up at him, he looked a lot like his father, Bhaktivinode Thakur, whom I saw many pictures of. I was awed by him. I realized he was the fountainhead of wisdom I sought all this time. Lalita Prasad was happy to see us. He told us many things that broadened my perspective of devotional yoga. His personal presence deeply touched me. However, he wouldn’t give me the initiation I desired without Swamiji’s approval. “I wanted to teach him [Swamiji] these things, but he was not interested in hearing them. Even my brother, his guru, did not know these things.” Lalita Prasad said, “What can I do?” My perspective on devotional matters rapidly changed. We visited Lalita Prasad a couple more times. He had given Guru-kripa a piece of a gunja 144
seed and tulsi-wood bead necklace his father, Bhaktivinode Thakur, wore. Guru Kripa broke off a small section and gave it to me. It remains one of my most cherished possessions. I stayed in Mayapur until Gaur Purnim, the full moon day celebrating Chaitanya’s birth. I cared for Swamiji’s brass Radha-Krishna deities in the cottage temple at the front of the land where he had stayed. I especially liked bathing and dressing Radha. A devotee advised me to return to the West and preach to a receptive audience rather than fundraise and build temples, which was all that was going on in ISKCON India. After all, how long could I stay in Mayapur doing devotional practices before being ordered to go on another mission? He advised me to contact Jagadish, the ISKCON Governing Body Commissioner for Canada. The Canadian Tour Jagadish arranged my airfare to Toronto. I flew out of Calcutta, March 27, 1973. I changed planes in New York and was shocked to see how businessmen looked. Most of them had long hair and wore bellbottoms. Did the hippie revolution succeed while I was away for three years? Jagadish bought a new blue school bus the devotees setup as a traveling temple complete with 145
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An Authentic Life A Spiritual Autob
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Copyright © 2012 by Steve Bohlert
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TABLE OF CONTENTS IN THE BEGINNING!
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Chapter 1 IN THE BEGINNING When I w
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I laid in my crib at night listenin
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When I was eight, we moved to a new
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oad jump far enough. The Coast Guar
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other engineering students. I made
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ens, goats, vomiting babies, and po
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cali, on the California border. I t
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As the new year began, we went to W
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saying, “No, don’t stick me wit
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We heard a couple of fishermen appr
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When we reached Colima, Mexico, we
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started out, so we should march to
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Swami Bhaktivedanta would arrive at
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The small storefront temple was ful
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anarchist, and Swami advocated the
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Rubbing his head, Swamiji replied,
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Swamiji said, "What is your name?"
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were on the bill. The biggest names
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Subal seated left front, Krishna De
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The next day, we told Swamiji what
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was a big responsibility running a
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of Vrindaban. He gave a powerful ta
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plained that there were Indian buri
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the spiritual master. The bonafide
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sion and please try to follow my in
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The next morning, I took a train to
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When I got back to Santa Fe, Krishn
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for help. But we have to pray at ev
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and start ISKCON Press. Other times
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jana. Anthony later became Rebatina
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me Prabhupad was going to initiate
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ics, was senior editor. Cover artic
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tenement and had bed bugs in it. Mu
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Devotees went downtown afternoons a
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scene. When Prabhupad was in Boston
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A van full of devotees picked me up
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Prabhupad who handed us our staffs.
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wanted to run ISKCON, the Internati
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world. It was an opportunity to ren
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like the good fairy or aliens from
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was raining, but we managed to get
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I stayed with the devotees in their
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visible on many Berlin buildings al
Page 93 and 94: Bhaktivinode wrote many poems that
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Page 97 and 98: I was in charge of publicity. I han
Page 99 and 100: For a devotee like me, Vrindaban re
Page 101 and 102: enjoy sweet drinks, spicy pastries,
Page 103 and 104: Next, Sharma and I went to the Radh
Page 105 and 106: it was. I was enchanted by the exot
Page 107 and 108: woman. I didn't know what to do. I
Page 109 and 110: The next day, they visited me. It w
Page 111 and 112: Native residents of Vrindaban were
Page 113 and 114: ground together into a medicine. I
Page 115 and 116: courtyard. There was no toilet. We
Page 117 and 118: Dr. Kapoor referred me to Gauranga
Page 119 and 120: used to develop that mood. Swamiji
Page 121 and 122: Another time, we three monks went t
Page 123 and 124: who resisted Moslem conquest. Some
Page 125 and 126: Gaur-kishor Goswami, the head pries
Page 127 and 128: Rohini-nandan was Mr. Sharma's olde
Page 129 and 130: manufacturing family. When Swamiji
Page 131 and 132: We decided to risk spending the mon
Page 133 and 134: We raised 35,000 rupees in three we
Page 135 and 136: walking cane and told Biharilal to
Page 137 and 138: yard. However, the whole thing was
Page 139 and 140: chastised Yadav-acharya and I in fr
Page 141 and 142: The priests daily apply layer upon
Page 143: Thakur and brother of Bhakti-siddha
Page 147 and 148: and decorated in an Asian motif. We
Page 149 and 150: Chapel Hill, North Carolina, a univ
Page 151 and 152: Chapter 4 NATURAL DEVOTION I took a
Page 153 and 154: you've come all by yourself prepare
Page 155 and 156: This is my and Bhaktivinode Thakur'
Page 157 and 158: as a "Russian heart attack." They t
Page 159 and 160: thirteen even though I wanted to be
Page 161 and 162: It was spring, and devotees from th
Page 163 and 164: and a great way to end my stay in I
Page 165 and 166: make a counter-emblem. The communis
Page 167 and 168: A woman devotee got backstage and t
Page 169 and 170: quitoes. There was no body surfing,
Page 171 and 172: ers wanted it. We decided to resign
Page 173 and 174: Chapter 5 NEW LIFE I moved to Wailu
Page 175 and 176: “Yeah, but I couldn’t get the n
Page 177 and 178: As I regained outward consciousness
Page 179 and 180: along on the low branches from tree
Page 181 and 182: They accepted my offer. Jake let me
Page 183 and 184: dedicated to Shiva-Shakti, and she
Page 185 and 186: ing me astrology. There was a fring
Page 187 and 188: through Study of Religion and the W
Page 189 and 190: I met and knew many wonderful peopl
Page 191 and 192: lack-sand beach. I climbed down the
Page 193 and 194: He said I could camp on the beach,
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headed for Gaursundar’s farm on t
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attle or a prisoner on death row be
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in Bangkok, I found out why it's ca
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was asked to give a lecture in the
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loyalties would be divided between
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When I discussed this with Kuladri,
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an first, but since the other guy w
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Then she got more money from her fa
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times. Doing manual labor and worki
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firewood business off of the ranch.
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Chapter 7 UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST A
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He and I hosted an ecumenical study
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smoke sacrament together. We went t
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She asked me to do her horoscope. I
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The interview went smoothly. We dis
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where we’d be more independent an
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paying nursing jobs and enrolled in
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Marv questioned whether Moses ever
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On vacation in the Oregon Cascades
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from birth to death. This along wit
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The next step was for me to fly the
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When we arrived in Clinton, church
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gued that he should be allowed to h
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fire me. They said if I left volunt
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I told Van, “This is no youth gro
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Our first winter there was unusuall
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I felt baptism was for people who j
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I met with Don Stalhutt, a UCC mini
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Sunday morning, I preached at St. J
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celebrate my call and her birthday.
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attended the ceremony, and Mom cook
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I worked with Concerned Clergy of W
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source materials. The hymns and pra
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pastor of Wallin United Church of C
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I must admit, I found it refreshing
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We walked to a meeting of this co-h
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I lay my life at your feet. My only
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live upstairs from Above and Beyond
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construction was out of our reach w
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meetings at our yurt. Jahnava and I
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from the past that entail a degree
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outstanding job of designing the bo
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