An Authentic Life 1.1 for pdf - Universalist Radha-Krishnaism

Chapter 4
NATURAL DEVOTION
I took advantage of this freedom to see Lalita
Prasad Thakur. ISKCON devotees weren’t supposed
to visit him. Swamiji and ISKCON leaders considered
some things he said controversial and offensive. I
knew only Lalita Prasad could teach me what I
wanted to know about developing my relationship
with Radha-Krishna.
I took the train to Birnagar, and I passed
through Calcutta without stopping at the ISKCON
temple. A rickshaw brought me to Lalita's house located
on a quiet residential street in this small town.
Bhakta Ma greeted me at the door and invited
me in. Bhakta Ma was around fifty, had short hair,
and didn't speak much English. She took care of Lalita
Prasad for twenty years. She was born when his
mother died. His mother charged this newborn girl
with the care of her son. Lalita was a lifelong celibate.
He allowed her to move in with him only after he was
seventy so people wouldn’t be suspicious.
Lalita Prasad sat on his wooden bed wearing
his black office jacket, a beige sweater, and white cloth
chanting Hare Krishna on his prayer beads just as he
was a year earlier when we first met. He had a large
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