An Authentic Life 1.1 for pdf - Universalist Radha-Krishnaism

Then, about thirty devotees got on the flatbed
truck and drove through Muir Woods to Swamiji's
house at Stinson beach for a feast and a talk about the
significance of the festival. The drive and devotees
carrying the deities down the beach on a canopied
platform reminded me of something out of a Fellini
film. It was surreal--the deities seemed to float down
the beach in slow motion on the devotees' shoulders
as if they came from another time and place. They
did.
Kirtanananda and Swamiji prepared a wonderful
feast. Swamiji talked about the Rathayatra festival
in India and how Jagannath left Puri to go to Vrindaban
to see his friends and lovers. The deities spent a
week at the beach with Swamiji just as they stayed at
a sea side temple near Puri after the festival there.
Kirtanananda was the first Western disciple I
saw with a shaved head. I thought, "Now that I'm going
to start a temple, I'm ready to shave my head." I
saw this as a sign of commitment. A couple of devotees
helped me shave. They left a lock of hair in the
back called a sikha, which is the sign of a Vaishnav or
Krishna devotee. I kept my head shaved for the next
eight years.
Krishna Devi freaked out when she first saw
me with a shaved head. She thought I was entering
the renounced order and would leave her. I assured
her that was not my intention.
Jananivas and I planned to go to Santa Fe the
same day Swamiji left for India. Swamiji was going to
get help from ayurvedic doctors or die in the holy land
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