An Authentic Life 1.1 for pdf - Universalist Radha-Krishnaism

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Suddenly, they were happy to give me what I asked for previously, and the contract was agreed upon. ❡ July 25, 1999, was the date set for me to return and do a candidate sermon for the Comstock Park congregation, after which the congregation would vote whether or not they wanted me as their pastor before signing the contract. They flew Geraldine and I there for a more extended stay at a less expensive motel so we could buy a home. They didn’t pay enough for us to live in the suburbs with them, and after eight years in Iowa and North Dakota, we were ready for an urban experience. E.J. helped us find an old two-story, threebedroom home in a fairly hip, progressive inner city area of Grand Rapids two miles from downtown and six miles from church, which made our church and home life separate. Grand Rapids has a quarter million people with about a million in the county. North Dakota only has around 660,000 in the whole state. It felt good to be back in civilization again. I preached and the congregation had a question time after worship. They voted to call me as their pastor. Although Comstock Park was now a suburb, the older members remembered its rural past. Coming from North Dakota must have given them certain ideas about me. We went to lunch with Ron Shoemaker, the chair of the deacons. Geraldine and I went to Charlie’s Crab on the Grand River for dinner to 252
celebrate my call and her birthday. We felt the day went well. We returned to Valley City, sold our house, and wrapped up my ministry there. Geraldine found someone to take over Faith in Action. We agreed to do our own packing to save the Comstock Park church some money. We decided to never do that again. The movers didn’t come when scheduled, which delayed closing our house sale. We left for Grand Rapids in our vehicles. We had to be there to close on the new house. Grand Rapids Fortunately, we had enough money to close the purchase in Grand Rapids. We took possession of the house and stayed in a motel while we waited for our furniture to arrive. We read Buddy Guy was playing at the Orbit Room, a local club, and were excited about going to see him. He is definitely one of the all time greats. One of the perks of living in Grand Rapids was great entertainment. Ron Shoemaker told us about Rev. George Heartwell, who ran the Heartside Ministry for the homeless. He was a city commissioner too. Geraldine and I met him for coffee to network. She was looking for work, and I was interested in ministry opportunities. George recommended Faith in Motion, a group working on public transportation issues. Geraldine and I both got involved and increased bus services. 253
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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
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Bhaktivinode wrote many poems that
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queen did not accept unsolicited gi
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I was in charge of publicity. I han
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For a devotee like me, Vrindaban re
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enjoy sweet drinks, spicy pastries,
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Next, Sharma and I went to the Radh
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it was. I was enchanted by the exot
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woman. I didn't know what to do. I
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The next day, they visited me. It w
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Native residents of Vrindaban were
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ground together into a medicine. I
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courtyard. There was no toilet. We
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Dr. Kapoor referred me to Gauranga
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used to develop that mood. Swamiji
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Another time, we three monks went t
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who resisted Moslem conquest. Some
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Gaur-kishor Goswami, the head pries
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Rohini-nandan was Mr. Sharma's olde
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manufacturing family. When Swamiji
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We decided to risk spending the mon
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We raised 35,000 rupees in three we
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walking cane and told Biharilal to
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yard. However, the whole thing was
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chastised Yadav-acharya and I in fr
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The priests daily apply layer upon
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Thakur and brother of Bhakti-siddha
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seed and tulsi-wood bead necklace h
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and decorated in an Asian motif. We
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Chapel Hill, North Carolina, a univ
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Chapter 4 NATURAL DEVOTION I took a
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you've come all by yourself prepare
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This is my and Bhaktivinode Thakur'
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as a "Russian heart attack." They t
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thirteen even though I wanted to be
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It was spring, and devotees from th
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and a great way to end my stay in I
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make a counter-emblem. The communis
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A woman devotee got backstage and t
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quitoes. There was no body surfing,
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ers wanted it. We decided to resign
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Chapter 5 NEW LIFE I moved to Wailu
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“Yeah, but I couldn’t get the n
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As I regained outward consciousness
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along on the low branches from tree
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They accepted my offer. Jake let me
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dedicated to Shiva-Shakti, and she
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ing me astrology. There was a fring
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through Study of Religion and the W
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I met and knew many wonderful peopl
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lack-sand beach. I climbed down the
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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
Page 201 and 202: was asked to give a lecture in the
Page 203 and 204: loyalties would be divided between
Page 205 and 206: When I discussed this with Kuladri,
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Page 209 and 210: Then she got more money from her fa
Page 211 and 212: times. Doing manual labor and worki
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Page 215 and 216: Chapter 7 UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST A
Page 217 and 218: He and I hosted an ecumenical study
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Page 221 and 222: She asked me to do her horoscope. I
Page 223 and 224: The interview went smoothly. We dis
Page 225 and 226: where we’d be more independent an
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Page 229 and 230: Marv questioned whether Moses ever
Page 231 and 232: On vacation in the Oregon Cascades
Page 233 and 234: from birth to death. This along wit
Page 235 and 236: The next step was for me to fly the
Page 237 and 238: When we arrived in Clinton, church
Page 239 and 240: gued that he should be allowed to h
Page 241 and 242: fire me. They said if I left volunt
Page 243 and 244: I told Van, “This is no youth gro
Page 245 and 246: Our first winter there was unusuall
Page 247 and 248: I felt baptism was for people who j
Page 249 and 250: I met with Don Stalhutt, a UCC mini
Page 251: Sunday morning, I preached at St. J
Page 255 and 256: attended the ceremony, and Mom cook
Page 257 and 258: I worked with Concerned Clergy of W
Page 259 and 260: source materials. The hymns and pra
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Page 263 and 264: I must admit, I found it refreshing
Page 265 and 266: We walked to a meeting of this co-h
Page 267 and 268: I lay my life at your feet. My only
Page 269 and 270: live upstairs from Above and Beyond
Page 271 and 272: construction was out of our reach w
Page 273 and 274: meetings at our yurt. Jahnava and I
Page 275 and 276: from the past that entail a degree
Page 277: outstanding job of designing the bo
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