An Authentic Life 1.1 for pdf - Universalist Radha-Krishnaism

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"How's this?” I asked Swamiji in his apartment. "You should cut the back also," he replied. One Thursday evening, in February 1967, Bhaktivedanta Swami initiated Carolyn and I. We dedicated our lives to a path of enlightenment under the direction of a spiritual master who claimed an unbroken chain of spiritual masters that went back to Krishna himself. In front of an altar, devotees <strong>for</strong>med a circle around a wok filled with dirt. Swamiji sat with his back leaning against a wall with the wok in front of him. Carolyn and I sat on cushions opposite him. A number of devotees muttered mantras on their prayer beads, and four of them read aloud at once from four different Vaishnava scriptures. Swamiji drew a pattern in the dirt with colored flours and built a fire in the center using splinters of wood dipped in clarified butter. Carolyn and I repeated mantras after him and threw a mixture of barley, sesame seeds, and ghee in the fire saying, "Svaha!" as an offering. As a final offering, we placed a couple of whole bananas in the fire. Then Swamiji chanted the Hare Krishna mantra on our large, red wood prayer beads to show us how to do it. He instructed us to chant at least sixteen rounds of 108 beads a day. It took us about ten minutes to chant one round of the Hare Krishna mantra in the beginning. Chanting a round with the whole congregation out loud was a regular part of morning worship. 38
Swamiji said, "What is your name?" "Carolyn." "From now on you will be known as Krishna Dasi." I thought that at initiation Swamiji would say that we were Krishna, but he explained, “Dasi means maidservant." "What is your name?" "Steve." "From now on you will be known as Subal Das." I was disappointed that I wasn’t Krishna. I expected at initiation Swamiji would reveal we are God. What he taught was we are infinitesimal parts of God one in quality with God but different in quantity. We practiced celibacy <strong>for</strong> a couple of days following the rule of no illicit sex now that we were initiated. Fortunately, our wedding took place that Saturday evening. Carolyn borrowed a white sari from Kris, who lived in the commune with us and ran a Haight Street boutique. I borrowed a saffron dhoti from Hayagriva, who came from the New York temple. Saris and dhotis are traditional Indian clothes adopted by the Krishna movement. They consist of a long piece of cloth that is wrapped pleated and draped in men's and women's styles. We spent the day preparing a feast. I went downtown to get rare spices, a case of milk, and ten pounds of butter so Swamiji could cook milk sweets. 39
Page 1 and 2: An Authentic Life A Spiritual Autob
Page 3 and 4: Copyright © 2012 by Steve Bohlert
Page 5 and 6: TABLE OF CONTENTS IN THE BEGINNING!
Page 7 and 8: Chapter 1 IN THE BEGINNING When I w
Page 9 and 10: I laid in my crib at night listenin
Page 11 and 12: When I was eight, we moved to a new
Page 13 and 14: oad jump far enough. The Coast Guar
Page 15 and 16: other engineering students. I made
Page 17 and 18: ens, goats, vomiting babies, and po
Page 19 and 20: cali, on the California border. I t
Page 21 and 22: As the new year began, we went to W
Page 23 and 24: saying, “No, don’t stick me wit
Page 25 and 26: We heard a couple of fishermen appr
Page 27 and 28: When we reached Colima, Mexico, we
Page 29 and 30: started out, so we should march to
Page 31 and 32: Swami Bhaktivedanta would arrive at
Page 33 and 34: The small storefront temple was ful
Page 35 and 36: anarchist, and Swami advocated the
Page 37: Rubbing his head, Swamiji replied,
Page 41 and 42: were on the bill. The biggest names
Page 43 and 44: Subal seated left front, Krishna De
Page 45 and 46: The next day, we told Swamiji what
Page 47 and 48: was a big responsibility running a
Page 49 and 50: of Vrindaban. He gave a powerful ta
Page 51 and 52: plained that there were Indian buri
Page 53 and 54: the spiritual master. The bonafide
Page 55 and 56: sion and please try to follow my in
Page 57 and 58: The next morning, I took a train to
Page 59 and 60: When I got back to Santa Fe, Krishn
Page 61 and 62: for help. But we have to pray at ev
Page 63 and 64: and start ISKCON Press. Other times
Page 65 and 66: jana. Anthony later became Rebatina
Page 67 and 68: me Prabhupad was going to initiate
Page 69 and 70: ics, was senior editor. Cover artic
Page 71 and 72: tenement and had bed bugs in it. Mu
Page 73 and 74: Devotees went downtown afternoons a
Page 75 and 76: scene. When Prabhupad was in Boston
Page 77 and 78: A van full of devotees picked me up
Page 79 and 80: Prabhupad who handed us our staffs.
Page 81 and 82: wanted to run ISKCON, the Internati
Page 83 and 84: world. It was an opportunity to ren
Page 85 and 86: like the good fairy or aliens from
Page 87 and 88: was raining, but we managed to get
Page 89 and 90:
I stayed with the devotees in their
Page 91 and 92:
visible on many Berlin buildings al
Page 93 and 94:
Bhaktivinode wrote many poems that
Page 95 and 96:
queen did not accept unsolicited gi
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 and 144:
Thakur and brother of Bhakti-siddha
Page 145 and 146:
seed and tulsi-wood bead necklace h
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,
Page 195 and 196:
headed for Gaursundar’s farm on t
Page 197 and 198:
attle or a prisoner on death row be
Page 199 and 200:
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,
Page 207 and 208:
an first, but since the other guy w
Page 209 and 210:
Then she got more money from her fa
Page 211 and 212:
times. Doing manual labor and worki
Page 213 and 214:
firewood business off of the ranch.
Page 215 and 216:
Chapter 7 UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST A
Page 217 and 218:
He and I hosted an ecumenical study
Page 219 and 220:
smoke sacrament together. We went t
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
Page 227 and 228:
paying nursing jobs and enrolled in
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 and 252:
Sunday morning, I preached at St. J
Page 253 and 254:
celebrate my call and her birthday.
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
Page 261 and 262:
pastor of Wallin United Church of C
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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