By Krishna’s inscrutable will, only one month after Tribhuvanath’s body was cremated at Bhaktivedanta Manor, George Harrison himself passed away, on November 29^th. George was beloved by the devotees in England and there was quite a lot of media attention on his passing around the world. When he heard the news, Srila Gurudeva was very concerned, hoping devotees were present with George when he departed. Srila Gurudeva saw George several times in India when he was serving Srila Prabhupada and also while pioneering Krishna consciousness in England in the early days. Anxious to find out more details of his departure, Gurudeva immediately made a number of phone calls. He finally learned that Syamasundar Prabhu and Mukunda Goswami, two old devotee friends who were very close to George as well, were able to chant and associate with him in his last days. Gurudeva was present when the Beatles helped the devotees record the Radha Krishna album at their Apple Records studio. In fact, Srila Gurudeva sang on the "Govindam Adi Purusam" song that was led by Yamuna devi dasi and which is still played today at ISKCON temples in the morning at the greeting of the Deities darshan. On the same album, Gurudeva played the flute and mrdanga drum on the song, "Govinda Jaya Jaya."

SRIMAN GEORGE HARRISON PRABHU KI JAYA!!!

This newsletter includes a report of Srila Gurudeva’s visit to Houston in November by Radha Krishna dasa and a description of a class Gurudeva gave at the temple in Denver, Colorado during his visit to Denver for the American Academy of Religion (AAR) annual convention, prepared by Dharma dasa of Dallas. We appreciate the extra effort made by these devotees in compiling these accounts. We will not include a report of Gurudeva’s planned visit to Dallas because after the AAR convention, his schedule changed and he did not go to Dallas at that time. Fortunately the devotees in Dallas saw him quite a lot this summer during his Vyasa-puja and Mother Kirtida’s passing, and Gurudeva plans to visit there again when he can.

At the time this newsletter goes out, Rasikendra dasa and his wife Padaduli dasi are in the midst of a pilgrimage that will take them to Vrndavana, where they will bring Kirtida’s ashes.

Overall, Srila Gurudeva was very happy with the outcome of his visit to Denver, in which he interacted both with scholars and devotees. And it was an exhilarating experience for the devotees who were there to personally serve him. Nityananda dasa, the Dallas temple president, was his right-hand man, accompanying Gurudeva almost everywhere. Mothers Hladini Sakti dasi from Florida, Sita dasi from North Carolina, and Manjuali dasi—Nityananda’s wife—cooked, delivered and served out unbelievable prasadam. Srila Gurudeva was very pleased with their service. Dharma dasa from Dallas also rendered various services throughout the weekend.

Denver Temple, November 18, 2001 (described and paraphrased by Dharma dasa)

Icy rain and snow accompanied Srila Gurudeva, Nityananda and myself on our way to the Denver temple from the convention center. When we arrived at the temple, Srila Gurudeva reminisced about his time there as the leader of the Radha-Damodara party. He remembered the buses being parked all around the temple and how beautiful the Deities were; and, of course, how he had seen Srila Prabhupada there.

We arrived a bit early, before the 6 p.m. arati. Srila Gurudeva sent Nityananda Prabhu to our god brother Caitanya Chandra's house. As I waited in the warm car with Srila Gurudeva, Naikatma Prabhu, the Denver temple president and Srila Gurudeva's god brother, walked by. Srila Gurudeva happily called him over and he got in the car. They smiled broadly at each other and hugged. They were happy to see each other and began to bring each other up to date about their lives. Naikatma served in temples like Chicago and Dallas when Gurudeva was leading those temples and his brother Svavasa Prabhu is the temple president of ISKCON Los Angeles, and his other brother Vyapi Prabhu knows Gurudeva from when he lived in Houston with his family. After their quick chat, Srila Gurudeva sent me to the temple with Naikatma Prabhu to join in the kirtan. After twenty minutes or so, Srila Gurudeva arrived in the temple room and offered his obeisances to Srila Prabhupada and to each set of the Deities. The kirtan was going on nicely. Srila Gurudeva danced and chanted ecstatically in front of Their most merciful Lordships, Sri Sri Gaura Nitai, Sri Sri Radha Govinda and Lord Jagannatha, Lord Baladeva and Lady Subhadra. The Deities were extremely beautiful. After kirtan the Damodara Astakam was sung and Srila Gurudeva offered a lamp to Lord Damodara. After the Damodara prayers were sung, Srila Gurudeva sat on the Vyasasana to give the Sunday feast lecture.

Srila Gurudeva began by telling how the devotees around Srila Prabhupada at the time of his passing were crying, but Srila Prabhupada told them to not lament, because just as we come into this world, surely we will depart.

He then discussed Bhismadeva, who had the ability to leave his body at will. He said that Srila Prabhupada also had this ability. Srila Prabhupada told Srila Gurudeva that Lord Krishna had given him the ability to say when he would leave. Gurudeva said he couldn’t believe it has been twenty four years since Srila Prabhupada left this world, because even though it has been a long time, he still feels close to Srila Prabhupada by listening to his tapes every day for thirty minutes.

In this way he gets Srila Prabhupada's association. Vani (spiritual master’s words or instructions) versus Vapu (his physical association); the words of the guru are always available - we can go on hearing from guru. Representatives from the Bhaktivedanta Archives attended the lecture and Srila Gurudeva pointed out his god brothers. He appreciated how there valuable service of preserving Prabhupada’s spoken and written words allows us to go on hearing Srila Prabhupada.

Srila Gurudeva said he has a life-size murti of Srila Prabhupada that he worships in England. He said that he was not so happy with chota [smaller] Prabhupada murtis, but this life-size one keeps him feeling connected to his spiritual master. The disciple, he went on, should feel the presence of the spiritual master the way Srila Prabhupada felt the presence of his Guru Maharaja, Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Maharaja.

Gurudeva then mentioned how dreams can be a way to feel Srila Prabhupada's presence. He said that you can always tell it is Srila Prabhupada in a dream by his personality, even if his form is different—such as an older or younger, etc. But, he said, you can feel it is Srila Prabhupada because of his actual presence. Srila Gurudeva told how after he once had a dream of Srila Prabhupada he thought, "Wow, Srila Prabhupada is not physically present. Maybe I should watch more of his videos. I still listen to tapes a lot".

Gurudeva told how Madhuvisa Prabhu had a lot of physical association with Srila Prabhupada, but then he left ISKCON for a while, but he could always remember Srila Prabhupada and this saved him. Madhuvisa Prabhu always intensely meditated on his experiences with Srila Prabhupada and remembered him, whereas Srila Gurudeva said that he personally continued working for ISKCON so he can't always completely access his remembrances.

Gurudeva then discussed how the disappearance of the spiritual master throws everything into chaos; simply because Srila Prabhupada was gone it was chaotic. The devotees were the same as before, he noted, but with Srila Prabhupada gone it was chaos. Srila Prabhupada said he could have stayed longer, so we have to acknowledge Srila Prabhupada left when he was ready to show us how to leave in Krishna consciousness—just like Bhismadeva. On his deathbed Bhisma continued to instruct the Pandavas. Srila Prabhupada instructed us the same way.

Srila Gurudeva recalled how he suggested to Srila Prabhupada that people generally come to Vrndavana to quietly die, but that he should be like a soldier and die fighting. Srila Prabhupada became enlivened and decided to go to the United Kingdom (UK). A devotee in Vrndavana compared Gurudeva to Akrura (who took Krishna to Mathura, much to the consternation of the gopis and other residents of Vrndavana). Srila Prabhupada's final pastimes had special meaning for the devotees there and caused transcendental madness. They would feel helpless that Srila Prabhupada was about to leave, and then he would recover.

Srila Prabhupada allowed devotees to be around him all the time. Gurudeva said Prabhupada would wake up, and he would help him sit up, rub his back and Prabhupada would reminisce about his life, especially his childhood. Gurudeva would bathe Srila Prabhupada and he remarked that it was like bathing a Deity. Srila Gurudeva would even brush Prabhupada's teeth. He told Srila Prabhupada "you are the best Deity" and Prabhupada simply smiled. One time Srila Gurudeva put Srila Prabhupada's shirt on backwards or inside out and Srila Prabhupada said,

"My mother did that one time." Gurudeva said these were sweet times to be with Srila Prabhupada. It was heartbreak to see Srila Prabhupada leaving. Srila Gurudeva mentioned the song "Je Anilo Prema Dhana". The hardest thing to take is separation from a devotee.

Srila Gurudeva then remarked how the Deities here are very beautiful, that the Denver

devotees have the right to say, "They are the most beautiful." Srila Gurudeva commended the devotees in Denver; encouraging them to continue performing devotional service and reading Srila Prabhupada's books. Srila Prabhupada expects a lot from us, he said. Prabhupada often said than even if we do not increase, maintain. But Gurudeva pointed out that in the business world it is necessary to expand or grow even to maintain—and if you don’t, you will dwindle.

Gurudeva remarked how Srila Prabhupada's time was charismatic and that somehow we must recapture that again. But first, he said, we have to "move out of the box" and self examine objectively. The product is the same, he concluded (Krishna consciousness), but the marketing can change, like Coca-Cola's new adds, etc. We identify with Srila Prabhupada and this makes it hard [to change progressively]. We hold on to the form, he pointed out, but we can change it if we keep the essence.

The temple’s congregation now, he observed, is mostly Indian-bodied and this is quite different from Srila Prabhupada's days—so we must be sensitive to the congregation. Years ago Krishna consciousness was more unique, he commented, but today times have changed and yoga and vegetarianism are quite popular: we are now challenged to present this movement to the world [in innovative ways]. This is important seva to Srila Prabhupada, he pointed out, not just the offering of fruits and flowers and words.

Srila Prabhupada wants us to spread Krishna consciousness everywhere, he said. Prabhupada picked certain individuals to be in the GBC because those devotees took the most risk. (he told this to Srila Gurudeva.) Gurudeva added that by saying this, he is trying to serve Srila Prabhupada. He proclaimed that our product, Krishna consciousness, is unique. The problem is not the product, he said, but with the "sales."

Srila Gurudeva said he got a phone call and told the devotee, "Not many people call me to ask my opinion. Now I’m out of the loop, mostly." The devotee said they wanted a bigger temple, but Gurudeva said, "No! Use the money to attract people to Krishna consciousness. Srila Prabhupada said no more temples – start restaurants and reading rooms. Do this." But, the devotee replied, there are already many vegetarian restaurants. What do we have that is unique?" Gurudeva said, "We have Krishna! How do we convey this? Krishna. Our explanation of God is far out – the best! We have to convey it in a way people can take. We must tax our brain to spread Krishna consciousness. If we do so, we’ll get life and new people, new ideas. Gurudeva said he wanted to remind us about Srila Prabhupada’s mission and wishes for us, not just talk about Prabhupada’s pastimes.

Srila Gurudeva gave an example of how Prabhupada changed tactics in spreading Krishna consciousness in Bombay. At first the devotees there did harinama, chanting in the streets and

people threw money. But he said, "Stop – we’re not beggars." But then later on, once people realized how to accept the devotees as genuine seekers of God and not merely beggars, the harinamas resumed. Some things you cannot change, Gurudeva said, (Srila Prabhupada’s teachings) like the nine processes of devotional service. But we can offer more. Srila Gurudeva said leadership in ISKCON might be clinging to old ways; he said it is possible to innovate while at the same time continue to actually follow Srila Prabhupada.

Srila Gurudeva was then asked about the danger of going out to preach in terms of protecting our purity. Srila Gurudeva said we must go out and spread Krishna consciousness, even at the risk of our purity. Srila Gurudeva said he was going out to spread Krishna consciousness and this was the essence of the movement. The essence is to take over the world. If we don’t do this then we’re not keeping our purity. Srila Gurudeva said he is not going to sit in the temple and be pure and let the world go to hell: no compromise. Follow Srila Prabhupada, he advised, go out to preach and take risks. "Purity is the force." Even though Srila Prabhupada did not use this saying and it’s not in the folio, Srila Prabhupada DID say take the risk. Then another questioner reiterated the point that we must be careful to protect our purity. Srila Gurudeva replied strongly: Srila Prabhupada took risks; he traveled constantly, even though he had a heart condition and was very old. If you take risks, he concluded, Krishna will protect your purity.

Perhaps because taking risks is generally more advisable for advanced or experienced devotees, Anuttama dasa, the ISKCON head of public affairs for North America (who was involved in the AAR conference also), encouraged even new devotees who can do service in the protected environment of the temple. "Leadership is not just a position," he said. "Sometimes it is [demonstrated by] the person in the temple who is simply doing their duty by washing pots, etc. This helps spread Krishna consciousness. Like any devotee taking extra effort to do their job or to do it well." Yes, Gurudeva agreed and gave the example of Caru Prabhu, the devotee who spread Krishna Consciousness in Utah; he has gained the admiration of the Mormons.

Then a person said he was new to the temple and was attracted by two devotees who exuded Krishna consciousness and he thought the point was to go out and preach and that this is not a contradiction with maintaining purity. (He was there because of preaching). He felt also that Gurudeva had perhaps been too harsh with the devotee who was worried preaching might put one’s purity at risk. Srila Gurudeva agreed and apologized to the previous questioner, explaining that he may have reacted to what he had been hearing so many times as an excuse for not sharing Krishna with others, so he was grateful to have this pointed out.

Then a young man seated right in front of Srila Gurudeva dressed in a dhoti and kurta asked "Are you accepting disciples?". Srila Gurudeva said, "You don’t want me for a guru; I am too

crazy." (Laughter) Srila Gurudeva said the characteristics he looks for in a disciple are social stability. Will he or she chant 16 rounds daily and live according to the regulative principles? He said he was asked to take disciples in New York City in the early 80’s but he refused, saying "I

don’t see how they will be able to stay around." (They were too unstable in their lives.) Srila Gurudeva explained that if your social conditions change too much it could affect your sadhana. So Srila Gurudeva wants stable disciples who will stick with it.

Gurudeva told the story of how Srila Prabhupada was at a Unitarian Church and there were only three or four people there in the audience. But when a devotee apologized that almost no one had come, Prabhupada said, "Did you not see Narada Muni, Lord Brahma, Lord Shiva, etc.?" Srila Gurudeva said, "I am very disturbed about the current state of preaching in ISKCON, so I am going to disturb a lot of people. I think this is what Srila Prabhupada would want me to say as a

remembrance of him today. I just don’t accept that we have to stay in the temple to protect our purity. We must preach. Tax our brains and preach."

(*note: this does not include Diwali and Govardhan Puja, to be covered in the next newsletter)

Srila Gurudeva was picked up at the airport at 8:40 p.m. Due to the recent terrorist attack in New York, the airport security in Houston was tight; hence the devotees could not park and wait. Rather, Caitanya dasa kept driving around the airport terminal until the devotees came out. Otherwise he would have had to park the car about a block away and then walk with Gurudeva to the car park. Since the devotees did not want to inconvenience Srila Gurudeva, they had instructed Caitanya to drive around the airport terminal until we all came out.

Srila Gurudeva did not have to wait long. When his car came, he was quickly whisked away to Cakradhari Prabhu's house for reception.

At the house, there were about 60 devotees - disciples as well as friends. After the guru puja and arati, Srila Gurudeva spoke about the preaching he wanted to see in Houston. He explained very nicely that Srila Prabhupada came from India to preach to the Westerners and Srila Gurudeva himself had preached to the Indians in Houston. Now, he said, it was the turn of the Indian devotees and disciples to preach to the Westerners. He clarified, however, that it wasn’t that the devotees were not preaching, but rather he wanted more Hispanic preaching, more Black preaching and more White preaching - overall more Western preaching. He wanted the devotees to use the radio, television or invite devotee musicians and bands to attract the different types of people to Krishna consciousness. He said this kind of diverse preaching would please him very much. Thereafter he led a roaring kirtan and then everyone honored prasadam with Srila Gurudeva.

By the time it was all over it was almost 10:45 p.m. Then he went to the house of Sarvabhauma and Guru Bhakti, where he would stay during his visit to Houston until the 16th morning. Radha Krishna dasa, who has a lot of experience in serving Srila Gurudeva, stayed with him at the house, which was made entirely available for Gurudeva’s use. On several recent visits Gopal dasa had stayed with Gurudeva but this time Radha Krishna had the honor. After carefully unpacking his luggage, Srila Gurudeva went to bed at 11:00 p.m.

Srila Gurudeva woke up and was ready to go to the temple at 5:30 a.m. He said he was experiencing the effects of jet lag but would feel better when he sees all the devotees. Some of the devotees were in the temple room. He met a few and then sat down to chant his gayatri and rounds. After the greeting of The Lordships Sri Sri Radha Nila Madhava he performed Srila Prabhupada's guru puja. After the arati, he led the singing for a while. Thereafter he gave class.

After class, he said he wanted to take prasadam alone. While he was taking the prasadam, he heard some devotees talking outside his room, so he invited them all in to sit down. As he continued to honor prasadam, he asked the devotees a few questions each about how they were all doing, etc. Then he took a little rest before meeting with some devotees to discuss about the future planning in Houston. Kaustubha Prabhu drove from Austin to attend the meeting. Thakur Haridas from Krishna Culture was also invited to give his inputs as well.

The meeting lasted about three hours. Then Srila Gurudeva went back to his room to do his mail and prepare for his presentation at the AAR meeting in a few days. So he had a full agenda. At 3:30 p.m, he was ready to take prasadam. Syamasundar Prabhu had invited Gurudeva over to his house for prasadam. It was Ekadasi and Syama Vallabhi made such a nice variety of Ekadasi prasadam. Srila Gurudeva liked it very much.

About 4:10 p.m., he left to take a little rest. By 4:30 p.m. a few devotees and interested people were invited over to meet Srila Gurudeva. Some had questions pertaining to their devotional practices, while others were interested in making a genuine relationship with a guru. Srila Gurudeva met and was very pleased with all of them. He encouraged them to follow the process very carefully and diligently so that they can eventually develop the love and taste for Krishna conscious activities. By the time he was through with the last couple it was time for him to give the Sunday feast class. He walked over to the temple and decided to let the people ask a few questions and he answered them. He read from the Bhagavad-gita and then encouraged the audience to ask questions. It was a very lively and interesting discussion.

After the class he met with more devotees, friends and guests who wanted his darshan.

Then Srila Gurudeva strolled around the temple grounds, which have been beautifully landscaped and kept up by Mr. Gupta, a jolly devotee who volunteers much time and energy in caring for the flowers, bushes, trees and lawn at Hare Krishna Dhama. Gurudeva enjoyed interacting with the different guests who had shown up, and they were very happy to talk to him.

After this he went back to his room and did some more work on his presentation and then he read a little. Before he took rest he asked to be massaged and then he took rest.

Despite the fact that he was still experiencing jetlag, Srila Gurudeva got up early and went to the temple. He said he wanted to meet the devotees. He saw one of his dearest devotees, Brahma-samhita dasa. He spoke at length with him about his family and career. Brahma-samhita Prabhu is a jovial and expressive person who laughs a lot. So during their talks you could hear uproarious laughing from Brahma-samhita Prabhu.

Then Hari-lila Prabhu walked in and Gurudeva began speaking to him for a bit. After that Srila Gurudeva called the Syamasundara Prabhu, the temple president, Gurubhakti dasi and Radha Krishna dasa for a quick meeting. He explained that he wanted to meet as many devotees he can while he was in Houston. He mentioned a few names and asked the devotees who else he should meet. Thereafter he got up and left to walk around the temple chanting on his japa mala.

Again after greetings of the Deities, he performed Guru puja for Srila Prabhupada. Indranuja Prabhu, a brahmacari disciple of Gaura Govinda Maharaja who does traveling book distribution, led a nice kirtan and after that ended, Srila Gurudeva gave class. When class was over he invited Thakur Haridasa Prabhu, a disciple of H.H. Satsvarupa dasa Goswami who runs the devotional business Krishna Culture and Vidura Prabhu, a disciple of Virabahu Prabhu, to join him for breakfast. Mother Vishaka had cooked a nice breakfast for all of them. It was piping hot pastries and besan dosas (chila). All of them enjoyed this meal. Gurudeva asked both Thakur and Vidura about how they are doing and about what Krishna Culture's future is etc. In the end, because Gurudeva had an appointment with an eye doctor, he had to cut the conversation and thanked both the devotees for joining him. He then took a short rest.

At around 9:30 a.m. he got up and went back to his room at Guru Bhakti's house. There he did some correspondence and also was busy trying to determine which lectures he was going to attend during the AAR conference. At 10:00 a.m. Caitanya Prabhu came and told him it was time to leave for the appointment. Gurudeva got up quickly and said he was ready! He then asked if both Guru Dhyana and her sister Guru Nistha were coming with him. Since Guru Dhyana had come from Washington only the previous day and was leaving Tuesday morning, he wanted to meet both of them during the car ride to the eye doctor.

Gurudeva had initially thought he would be back for lunch but during the eye examination, the doctor had wanted to do a few tests, as Gurudeva had one of the hair follicles inflamed. This took a long time. In fact, he did not come to the temple at all. By the time he was given the clearance, it was already 5:30 p.m. so Gurudeva decided that he would take his lunch at the Yoga Center, where Yogesh Candra Prabhu teaches yoga and Krishna consciousness to the Westerners and Hispanics. Mother Draupadi who cooked the lunch at her home near the temple, packed everything up and drove through the rush hour traffic about ten miles, arriving at the Yoga Centre about fifteen minutes before Gurudeva got there. She heated up the prasadam and Gurudeva walked in. A table was set up in Yogesh's office and Srila Gurudeva was served. He enjoyed his meal speaking to both Yogesh and Rafael, Yogesh's dear friend and assistant director of the Yoga Center and Manasi Ganga dasi, another director of the Center.

After the meal, he spoke with Yogesh Candra for a bit and thereafter spoke with Manasi Ganga. At 7:00 p.m. Yogesh Candra introduced Srila Gurudeva to the eighty odd people who had come to hear his talk. Srila Gurudeva then spoke about what it is to be a yogi and who is a true yogi. It was a very interesting talk that generated a lot of discussion and questions. When it finally ended around 9:00 p.m. Srila Gurudeva requested Yogesh Candra to lead a kirtan, which he gladly did. After the kirtan, Yogesh thanked Srila Gurudeva for coming and taking so much trouble to enlighten all of them. Also he thanked Mother Sakuntala, who goes to the center every Monday to help in the preaching of Krishna Consciousness to the people who attend her program. Thereafter, prasadam was served out. Krishna Kripa and his wife Mother Guru Priya catered to the evening program. Srila Gurudeva spoke a little bit more to the different people interested and wanting to know more. Then after thanking everyone he left for the temple.

When we reached Guru Bhakti's home it was almost 10:00 p.m. Gurudeva decided to get on the Internet but encountered problems. Earlier he had asked Gopinath Prabhu to look into the matter but now he realized that the machine was not fixed as yet. So he decided to call Tirtharaja Prabhu for technical advice, but since there was only one phone line at Gurubhakti's home he had to log off from the Internet every time he wanted to make a phone call. He asked Radha Krishna dasa to get a cell phone from some devotee. But all the devotees who had cell phones did not have long distance service on them (since such a facility is exorbitant here in U.S. and thus most devotees only make long distance calls from their home phones) and Tirtharaja Prabhu was in Brisbane, Australia! Then he asked Radha Krishna Prabhu to somehow get a phone that works - 'There must be someone who has long distance!!!' He went to Caitanya dasa’s house across the street and got his cordless phone and brought it back to Srila Gurudeva, but that interfered with the cordless that was at Guru Bhakti's. After this Radha Krishna continued running around the neighborhood for the rest of the night! At that time Caitanya Prabhu, his wife, Draupadi and Radha Krishna Prabhu all decided that in the future it would be necessary to get Srila Gurudeva a cell phone with long distance whenever he comes – well, somehow!!?!!

While the rest of us were running around the neighborhood, Srila Gurudeva finally managed to get help from Tirtharaja by disconnecting from the Internet and calling him whenever he needed some assistance.

In the end when he was satisfied, Gurudeva decided to go to bed. It was past midnight! He asked Radha Krishna dasa to massage his feet and then he read a little and rested. It had been a long day.

Srila Gurudeva got up at 6:00 a.m. today. He had too many things to do prior to attending the AAR conference and hence he did not give class today. He had breakfast with Jaya Baladeva Prabhu, one of Gurudeva's oldest disciples. After breakfast he went back to his room and spent a good part of the morning trying to figure out which seminars he wanted to attend at the conference. Then he dictated some correspondence, which later Hema Malini dasi typed for him When Gopinath Prabhu came around 10:30 a.m. he gave him his computer to fix the problems encountered during his use in UK. Then Srila Gurudeva had to go for his dental appointment.

At 1:00 p.m. Janaka Maharaj dasa came to visit Srila Gurudeva. They both talked at length. Caitanya dasa had escorted his elderly father there and was sitting quietly listening, occasionally explaining some things that were not clear to Gurudeva, as Janaka Maharaj has a heavy Gujarati accent when he speaks in English. Then Srila Gurudeva asked Janaka Maharaja about Divali and it's significance. He wanted to know how they had celebrated in India where they grew up. In this way, they discussed for a bit and then they left. Srila Gurudeva went back to his correspondence.

Later at around 2:30 p.m. Gopal dasa, another senior disciple, came to escort Srila Gurudeva over to his house where his good wife, Nanda Priya had prepared southern style U.S.A. cuisine. It had just finished raining and there were some occasional drops of rain but Gopal had an umbrella and together they walked to Gopal's house about one hundred yards on the same street.

Srila Gurudeva enjoyed his lunch thoroughly. Nanda Priya had prepared mashed potatoes and gravy, pumpkin pie with cream, bread rolls, beans in white sauce, nut loaf and salad. Gurudeva talked about some old devotees and how their children where growing up. He then encouraged both Gopal and Nanda Priya that they were to come and see him in Vrindavan, India the next time he is there. He said he did not want any excuses and that they should just come. He treated them very affectionately like they were his very own children and after some time got up to wash up. Then after saying many thanks to his hosts he left. Gopal once again walked back with Srila Gurudeva. Srila Gurudeva continued speaking to Gopal very affectionately and asked him to really make arrangements to come and see him in India.

Gurudeva took some rest in his room and then got up and continued with his work till 6:30 p.m. Syamasundara Prabhu had arranged a program with a family from Jaipur. By the time we reached the house it was already 7:15 p.m. The traffic had been heavy and there were some traffic jams in the city. Nonetheless, the program started on an enthusiastic note as devotees were singing the maha mantra in a very nice way.

Srila Gurudeva read from the 6th Chapter of the Bhagavad-gita and discussed with his audience. They liked his analogies and deep understanding of the scriptures and were honored that he had taken the time to visit their home. The host also described where they were from and Srila Gurudeva mentioned some names in Jaipur, which they quickly recognized. After some time, Gurudeva was feeling tired and so he thanked his hosts for their gracious nature and begged to leave. While driving back Gurudeva appreciated the Jaipur couple very much. It was 10:30 p.m. when he got back and Srila Gurudeva retired after another blissful day.

Thus ends this edition of the newsletter