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An Authentic Life 1.1 for pdf - Universalist Radha-Krishnaism

An Authentic Life 1.1 for pdf - Universalist Radha-Krishnaism

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anarchist, and Swami advocated the strict authority of<br />

scripture and the disciplic succession of which he was<br />

the current representative.<br />

I often came to class with questions. Sometimes<br />

Swami answered them during the lecture without me<br />

asking. I felt like he read my mind. Other times, I<br />

asked them during the question and answer period<br />

after each lecture. Swami Bhaktivedanta seemed to<br />

know what he was talking about and had an answer<br />

<strong>for</strong> everything. He spoke with unequaled authority<br />

and self assurance. He didn't speak of vague possibilities,<br />

but of Absolute Truth.<br />

Allen Ginsburg often came to the seven a.m.<br />

worship. One morning, he sat on the storefront window<br />

ledge putting on his shoes to leave. I asked, "If<br />

everything is void, where do all these people and<br />

things we see come from?"<br />

He replied, "At some time be<strong>for</strong>e the beginning<br />

of time, phantasmal noises and things started happening<br />

in the void. They gradually developed until we<br />

got to where we are now."<br />

I didn't think his answer was satisfactory. It<br />

didn't explain this variegated life or the experience<br />

that when I peaked on acid and lost ego consciousness,<br />

I came down as the same person again. The ego<br />

appeared to be a permanent reality rather than a temporary<br />

illusion.<br />

Swami's explanation of the eternal soul and<br />

Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, being<br />

the cause of all causes seemed a more plausible and<br />

complete explanation of our origin. I decided I<br />

35

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