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Anyone who had the privilege of knowing Yamuna devi often experienced that rare quality of feeling an immediate connection of intimacy with her. She had the unique ability to bring out the inner devotional core of a person, often after a short association. Whether it be a friend of long duration or a humble cook…

I arrive home to an August clear blue sky, with east and west mountain ridges that parallel each other in our rectangular-shaped valley. Down its center, three glassy-smooth lakes mirror the images of thick Douglas fir and pine forests. No man-made sounds, just nature, pretty much as it has been for thousands of years. When…

My family came from the Catholic tradition and, as is so often the case, the elder women of the family were the most devout. They would tell us stories about saints and martyrs, about people who were noble and sacrificed themselves for God and mankind. I was fascinated by these stories and my interest in…

I remember you asked me to grocery shop for my sister’s wedding feast in the morning, and then assist you in cooking for the remainder of the day. First I bungled the shopping, and then made numerous blunders trying to make aloo kachori for the next several hours. By this time I thought I might…

Toward the end of the ceremony, Swamiji, smiling broadly, picked up a small bongo drum and said, “Now we will have kirtan.” His chanting started off slowly, and he appeared fully absorbed in it. His voice was vibrant and clear, the melody simple, the cadence strong and steady. I was relieved because this part seemed…

For me chanting became an amazing form of meditation. You could still work, still perform what were ‘mundane’ duties, but because you chanted, everything became different—spiritualized. How could three little words carry such potency? The one meaning that stayed with me was the most simple—chanting the Hare Krishna Mahamantra is an exchange of love between…

I remember how in San Francisco, we were informed by the New York devotees of your life-threatening stroke in 1967. And how, at your request, we stayed in the temple for almost twelve hours straight, praying to our Jagannatha Deities for your protection. I remember how, after some hours praying, the eyes of Lord Jagannatha…

When Swamiji was in India, Acyutananda das once sent pictures of him on Sankirtan in Calcutta. When we saw Swamiji chanting in the streets of India, all of us were just praying for the day we would be able to join him there. So, of course, Srila Prabhupada knew of my long-held desire to go…

In England, there were just six of us in the beginning. What happened in two years was incredible. It was just impossible. We didn’t know what we were doing. But we were just enthusiastic to try. That’s really something. So that is what I want you to try to catch—that ray, that moonbeam of Krishna…

One night an extraordinary thing happened. Prabhupada led the first kirtan and then gave a lecture. I sat on the floor just to his right with the harmonium, and after the lecture, I began leading the second Hare Krishna kirtan. All of a sudden, Srila Prabhupada’s voice cut through the auditorium with the potency of…