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# Posted by Aniruddha at 16/5/09; 5:18:37 PM to the Travelling Preacher dept.
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Dandavats » Blog Archive » It’s Krsna!

Just at that moment a well-dressed man came up to me. "Excuse me," he said, "are you Indradyumna Swami?"

I was surprised that a guest would know my name. "Well, yes, sir," I said. "I'm Indradyumna Swami."

"Will you be speaking tonight?"

"Yes, I will," I said, "in just a few minutes."

"I've come for your talk."

"Have you?" I said, somewhat embarrassed.

"Well," said the man, "I attended one of your festivals in the Sydney area last year, and the lecture you gave proved a turning point in my life."

"Whatever I know I've learned from my spiritual master," I said.

"Actually, I just stumbled in off the street that evening," he said. "I was a homeless person. The stress of life had made me an alcoholic. I lost my well-paying job, and my wife kicked me out of our home. For two years I wandered around Sydney getting free meals at food kitchens or eating out of garbage cans. Whatever money I'd get from begging would immediately go on wine."

# Posted by Aniruddha at 22/12/08; 11:07:35 AM to the Travelling Preacher dept.
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Indradyumna Swami in Sydney - Coming Home - Dandavats.com

I travelled from Mumbai to Pune this morning to spend some time with Damodara, Vrndavanesvari, Harshal and Vaisnavi. My driver Sanjay, was arranged by Mitesh's family who kindly gave me the use of their vehicle. I ended up driving the last thirty kilometres myself since Sanjay was falling asleep. Better that than becoming another statistic in the road mortality rate in India. Judging by a couple of the wrecks we saw on the way it is a common occurrence on what is in my experience one of the better roads in India.

It seems I passed the test. Just as we arrived at the outskirts of Pune Sanjay asked me whether we drive on the left hand side of the road in Australia. I couldn't exactly find out his reasoning since his English and my Oriyan weren't that good.

He comes from a small village near Jagannatha Puri called Nirakar Puri which is, I was told by Bhaktarupa, the hometown of His Holiness Bhakti Purusottama Swami. Nirakara means "without form" or "formless" in Sanskrit and of course describes the impersonal aspect of Brahman. Isn't it wonderful that even the name of your home town reminds you of the Lord even in His impersonal aspect? Much better than truly impersonal names like Albert Park and St Kilda, although I guess Albert was once a king but I do know there is no saint called Kilda.

After having gotten somewhat used to keeping in the right hand lane and passing on the left, all with the obligatory horn honking at the right spots, most notably when you are just about to pass or be passed, Sanjay asked me another question, "Prabhu do you have a driver license?"

Sorry, Kurma I didn't get any pictures. I'll try to rustle some up tomorrow.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 30/10/08; 11:49:18 PM to the Travelling Preacher dept.
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Relocating to Pune

The Polish Festival tour finale...

Moments later a woman came up to me, pulling her son by the arm behind her.

"My son is too self-conscious about the mole on his cheek," she said. "We argue about it constantly. Please convince him he shouldn't worry about it."

Taken by surprise I hesitated for a moment. Then I looked at the boy. "Our understanding," I said, "is that we are not these bodies. We are the spirit souls within the body. Compared with the soul, which is truly beautiful, everyone's body is imperfect. So do not be so concerned about your outward appearance."

The mother shook the boy. "You see," she said. "The man says you're not that body. You are a soul. So stop being so upset about that stupid mole." With that she turned and took him away.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 12/9/07; 3:58:55 PM to the Travelling Preacher dept.
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Self Evident Truths - Diary of a Travelling Preacher

Five minutes later a group of muscular skinheads, their chests bared, came charging into our site. They picked up one of our women, pulled up her shirt and began passing her back and forth. Because of the dense crowd, it took security a few moments to realize what was happening. By the time they reacted, the skinheads had dropped the devotee and were running towards the Temple tent 40 meters away.

As three of them charged in screaming, "Smash the altar!" one of our tour devotees stepped forward to confront them. Though they were bigger than he, he quickly floored the first intruder with a kick to the head. The other two men jumped on top of him and soon all four of them were rolling out of the tent punching and kicking.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 7/9/07; 8:30:31 PM to the Travelling Preacher dept.
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One Love - Diary of a Travelling Preacher

As the fire chief in Niechorze had predicted, it rained endlessly as we continued our festivals along the Baltic Sea coast in July. The Polish media attributed the unprecedented bad weather to global warming. Pious local farmers concluded it was because God was displeased with the government's compromise on market prices with the European Union. One new devotee (exhausted after many days of long Harinamas) went so far as to suggest we might be doing too many Harinama yajnas because yajnas cause rain to fall.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 11/8/07; 10:53:53 AM to the Travelling Preacher dept.
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A Flood of Happiness and Joy - Diary of a Travelling Preacher

As a beautiful sunset filled the horizon and daytime came to an end, rain clouds suddenly filled the sky. As the rain clouds rumbled deeply the Vaisnavas became anxious. Realizing a disturbance had come, they became unhappy. 'How can we escape this disturbance?' they thought. At that time Lord Caitanya began to play karatalas and loudly chant the holy names. In their hearts the demigods felt that their lives had become successful. Craning their necks, they eagerly gazed at Lord Gaura from the sky. Then the rain clouds fled, the sky became clear, and the Vaisnavas all became joyful.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 29/7/07; 1:01:41 PM to the Travelling Preacher dept.
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The Sunshine of His Mercy - Diary of a Travelling Peacher

"Are you writing something for your diary?" Sujal said.

"No," I said, "I'm writing a report for Udupi Krsna."

"A report to the Deity?" he said.

When we finally arrived at the temple, my heart was pounding. I jumped out of the car and made my way through the thick crowd of people to the exact spot in front of the Lord where I had stood 27 years ago. I bowed down quickly, knowing I wouldn't have much time in front of the Deity. I stood up and looked carefully through a small lattice window where pilgrims see the Deity.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 5/4/07; 6:22:57 PM to the Travelling Preacher dept.
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Diary of a Travelling Preacher - Vol 8 Ch 2 - An Old Friend

"One day thirty-five men, all armed with AK 47s, burst in while we were having Srimad-Bhagavatam class. They had come to steal. They ordered us to lie on the floor. When they saw the murti of Srila Prabhupada on his vyasasana, they screamed at him, 'Get down on the floor like the others!'

"Of course, the murti didn't move. Three or four times they yelled at Srila Prabhupada in an increasingly threatening tone. 'Get down or we'll shoot you!' one of them shouted while pointing his rifle at the murti. Then the thieves became frightened by what they saw as Srila Prabhupada's fearlessness and suddenly fled. Srila Prabhupada saved us!"

# Posted by Aniruddha at 16/3/07; 6:53:16 PM to the Travelling Preacher dept.
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Diary of a Travelling Preacher Vol 8 Ch I - An Unsung Hero - Indradyumna Swami

dasa gosvaminam vande
nama bhajana samsrayam
yamya dese guruddesya
sthapakam srita vatsalam

"I offer my respectful obeisances to Dasa Goswami, who helped pioneer the mission of Srila Prabhupada in the southernmost tip of the world. He is devoted to bhajan and is caring and affectionate to all those who take shelter of his lotus feet."

# Posted by Aniruddha at 24/1/07; 9:03:01 AM to the Travelling Preacher dept.
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Diary of a Traveling Preacher Vol 7 Ch 21 - Indradyumna Swami

I am writing my offering to you today at Sankari Cor, a most sacred place at the foot of Varsana hill, in Sri Vrindavan Dhama. Though I have visited this holy tirtha a number of times, I still cannot fathom my good fortune in being here. Nevertheless, I am fully aware that the source of such auspiciousness is your Divine Grace.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 14/1/07; 2:51:02 PM to the Travelling Preacher dept.
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Diary of a Travelling Preacher - Vol 7 Ch 20 - Indradyumna Swami

Indradyumna Swami in Vrndavana for Kartika...

Soon after our Govardhana parikrama, we visited Uchagaon, the appearance place of Lalita devi, Srimati Radharani's closest sakhi. For days I had prepared myself by reading about Lalita devi - her personal qualities, her special mood, and her service in Radha and Krishna's pastimes. As hundreds of us walked along the dusty road leading to the hill where Lalita's village was, I was thinking about my spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada. Only by his grace could I even set foot in such a holy place.

As we were crossing a bridge over a small river, I noticed two of our devotees speaking to a farmer on the other side. The farmer was an older man, typical of many Vrajavasis - dressed in a simple white dhoti, old shoes, a vest, and an old chaddar. I thought it odd that the devotees were speaking with him for so long.

"They certainly don't speak the local Vrajavasi dialect," I thought, "and surely a poor farmer like him doesn't speak English."

When I reached the group, I was surprised to hear the farmer speaking English fluently. I listened for a moment and then spoke to him. "Sir," I said, "how is it that you speak such good English?"

# Posted by Aniruddha at 6/1/07; 4:56:25 PM to the Travelling Preacher dept.
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Fruit of Vrndavana - Diary of a Traveling Preacher - Vol 7 Ch 19

Exhausted, Dhruva and I fell fast asleep in our seats. We slept for over an hour and woke up at the same time.

"Dhruva!" I said excitedly. "I just had an amazing dream. I dreamt we were on Harinama in a Muslim village. As we chanted through the village all the people came out of their houses to sing with us. They were singing 'Allah Akbar!' and we were singing 'Hare Krishna.' We all joined hands and danced together in bliss. It was so vivid!"

Dhruva looked at the tiger's tooth around my neck. "Guru Maharaja," he said, "that's exactly what the man said would happen if you wore that tiger's tooth. Just imagine if we'd been able to get the peacock feather, the coin, the deity of Ganesh, and the special pot that neutralizes poison."

# Posted by Aniruddha at 23/12/06; 10:10:04 AM to the Travelling Preacher dept.
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Mysterious Antiques - Indradyumna Swami

This is the second to latest story from Indradyumna Swami. They say the Irish are always good for a yarn...

After hearing a little Irish history, I couldn't help but ask a question I'd always had about the country.

"Are there really leprechauns?" I said.

"No Irishman will deny it," a devotee said with a smile.

Then his face became serious. "But you can never borrow money from them," he said.

"Why not?" I asked.

"Because they're always a little short," he said with a grin.

The devotees burst into laughter, and I lost all hope for the existence of Ireland's fabled creatures."

# Posted by Aniruddha at 23/12/06; 9:55:25 AM to the Travelling Preacher dept.
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Luck of the Irish - Indradyumna Swami

"Just see the entire material world as a jail," I said, "with four great walls: birth, disease, old age, and death. It's the same as an ordinary prison: everyone suffers here, and it's hard to get out."

Victor listened intently.

"Chanting the holy names is the only way to get freedom from material existence," I continued. "If you're serious about getting out, you'll chant."

"Thank you, Guru Maharaja," he said. "I promise to chant 16 rounds a day."

# Posted by Aniruddha at 3/12/06; 2:48:18 PM to the Travelling Preacher dept.
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A Lion Among Men - Indradyumna Swami

The day before I left, I initiated 10 people, bringing the number of my disciples close to 2,000. The next morning as I was packing to leave, I had a small seizure. My body stiffened, my neck and arms were full of intense pain, and I couldn't speak. It lasted only a minute or two but left me exhausted. As I went to lie on my bed I tried to understand why it had happened.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 3/11/06; 11:15:45 PM to the Travelling Preacher dept.
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Bearing the Burden - Indradyumna Swami - Dandavats.com

I often ask my disciples how they joined the Krsna consciousness movement, and in Odessa I found the story of a mother and daughter, particularly interesting. It is often miraculous how fallen souls are reunited with the Lord and His devotees.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 6/10/06; 2:20:13 PM to the Travelling Preacher dept.
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Our Fervent Prayers - Indradyumna Swami - Dandavats.com

But as always, our success was the envy of our opposition, who stepped up their campaign to discredit us. The local priest in the town where we stayed continued his daily postings on the town bulletin board, sometimes going beyond the ridiculous: "Attention, citizens! The Hare Krsna cult is now growing rice in the football field to feed the guru."

# Posted by Aniruddha at 20/9/06; 8:17:32 AM to the Travelling Preacher dept.
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Giving and Receiving Gifts - Dandavats.com

Today, just now, I spoke on the phone to my husband in Hong Kong where he is visiting for preaching en route to Vrindavana.

I asked him to send me a photograph. Something for the blog. To share with those who visit.

I had in mind some city views, but he sent this one. Wow !!!

# Posted by Aniruddha at 6/9/06; 7:35:53 PM to the Travelling Preacher dept.
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From the Past - www.gopinatha.net

As I left the Book tent I saw the head of the security company that guards our festivals. He was part of a team of four security men protecting the festivals during the month leading up to Woodstock. Another group from the company has since replaced them, but he was in uniform and appeared to be on duty.

"What a surprise!" I said. "I thought you had gone home for a vacation."

He laughed. "Yes," he said, "I am on vacation, on your tour. When I got home I missed the festivals so much I decided to come back with my family. They're watching the stage show, and I'm guarding the event."

"Really?" I said. "You mean you're working during your vacation?"

"I don't consider it work," he said. "It's pleasure."

# Posted by Aniruddha at 5/9/06; 9:25:45 AM to the Travelling Preacher dept.
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"No Ordinary Festival" - Indradyumna Swami - Dandavats.com

We opened our village early the next morning, a day before the festival - a tradition we have maintained for years. Within minutes, long lines of young people formed in front of our food-distribution tent. I joined the servers, and the first person who came forward greeted me with a smile. "I've been waiting a whole year for this meal," he said.

This is one of the best episodes I've read from Indradyumna Swami at the Woodstock Festival in Poland.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 25/8/06; 12:58:00 PM to the Travelling Preacher dept.
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Modern-Day Pastimes - Indradyumna Swami - Dandavats.com

Get it while you can! Use the temporary health of this temporary body to chant and dance in ecstasy. In this way, you attain the supreme eternal, even while within this temporary world.

"‘Simply by chanting the holy name of Krsna one can obtain freedom from material existence. Indeed, simply by chanting the Hare Krsna mantra one will be able to see the lotus feet of the Lord." (Cc. Adi 7.73)

# Posted by Aniruddha at 21/8/06; 11:14:31 AM to the Travelling Preacher dept.
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Exiled to Blissful Siberia - www.devaswami.com

‘These Hare Krsna people are nice. We want more of them.'

# Posted by Aniruddha at 19/8/06; 8:45:17 AM to the Travelling Preacher dept.
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The New Site - Indradyumna Swami - Dandavats.com

Amritananda dasa and I were on our way to set up a festival when we stopped at a car lot in Trzebiatow to look at a truck. We were greeted by the owner of the lot, a man in his 70s.

"You have not been here for a long time," he said. "For years you held your festival every summer here. Then you stopped, and you started doing them nearby, in Mrzezyno."

"More people," I said quickly. I was anxious to see the truck and get to the festival.

"Do you know how much the people of Trzebiatow miss your festivals?" he said. "We're a small country town, and nothing ever happens here. Your festivals were the highlight of the year for us."

# Posted by Aniruddha at 18/8/06; 11:56:24 AM to the Travelling Preacher dept.
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For the Benefit of Everyone - Indradyumna Swami - Dandavats.com

That's the last time I saw my luggage, along with 20,000 other very cheesed-off passengers with missing bags - that's on British airways alone. And of course I had to stow EVERYTHING as check on - even my computer and all of what is usually my carry-on.

So I am here in Ljubljana, capital of Slovenia, experiencing the bitter sweet taste of renunciation.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 16/8/06; 11:24:24 PM to the Travelling Preacher dept.
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One of Our Blogs is Down

Alas, I've gone and done a lot of experimenting and have a list of my tips to really maximize battery life for my laptop.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 15/8/06; 9:07:43 AM to the Travelling Preacher dept.
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10 Tips on Maximizing Laptop Battery Performance - LIVEdigitally

Like a commando team, our group of devotees, in the predawn darkness, drove off in a van for a special, sacred mission. Our secret target: the lotus feet of Sri Jagannatha, Sri Baladeva, and Sri Subhadra. It's the Day After--the wee hours of the morning following Rathayatra. The carts and the Deities are now parked outside the Gundica Temple. Later this day the Deities will come down and enter their temporary home at Gundica.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 3/8/06; 12:06:43 PM to the Travelling Preacher dept.
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Mission Possible: Up the Carts to the Lotus Feet - www.devaswami.com

Though I relished every minute of my pilgrimage to Jagannatha Puri, I was worried about the Polish tour. With Jayatam dasa and me in Puri, all the responsibility for organizing the tour was on Nandini dasi. Nandini is certainly capable, but taking care of the whole tour is a lot for one person.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 3/8/06; 10:12:27 AM to the Travelling Preacher dept.
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Dandavats » Blog Archive » Diary of a Traveling Preacher - "The Will of the People"

Materially we're in Puri, a small city of 125,000, near Bhubaneshwar, the capital of Orissa, on the central east coast of India. Spiritually, however, we're in Sri Purushottama-kshetra, also known as Niladri or Nilacala--the famous home of Lord Jagannatha and His mandira. It's Rathayatra day. Our small party had special passes allowing our presence in the special cordoned area where the Rath carts waited for the Deities to arrive from the Jagannath Temple nearby.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 20/7/06; 7:37:53 PM to the Travelling Preacher dept.
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June/July and Jagannath - www.devaswami.com

Sitting at the place where Srila Haridas Thakura chanted 300,000 holy names of the Lord daily, I was determined to take my chanting to a deeper level. The potency of this most holy tirtha is so thick, you could suck it through a straw. Nothing else to do here except try to chant attentively. For me that is paradise.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 3/7/06; 12:43:37 PM to the Travelling Preacher dept.
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What You Mean to Me --- www.devaswami.com

Indradyumna Swami in San Diego...

In San Diego, on one of the last days of the tour, I visited the home of Guru Gauranga dasa, the sponsor of my festival program on the island of Mauritius. We made plans for the program and decided that we would hold it in April next year.

When I looked at his altar, I was taken by the beauty of the only Deity present, a salagrama-sila. Having worshiped salagrama-silas for years, I immediately saw that this Deity was special. He was small, perfectly round, smooth, and shiny. I remembered a verse from the Padma-purana, where Lord Visnu tells Brahma that smaller salagramas give the most auspicious results:

"O Brahma, in that sila, small like an amalaki fruit, I remain eternally with My divine consort, Srimati Laksmidevi."

# Posted by Aniruddha at 15/6/06; 10:14:38 AM to the Travelling Preacher dept.
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Diary of a Traveling Preacher » "Such Mercy"

The young man with melancholy eyes listened curiously as I explained the Krishna conscious lifestyle. "A swami, a monk, eh?" he pondered aloud. Then a grizzled, worn-out hippy in his forties shrieked derisively: "Man, that's bogus spirituality! Any true guru knows that the more sex you have, the more you're liberated!" Infected, the younger man, no longer reflective, erupted with the fervor of an evangelist at the peak of his sermon. Eyes ablaze, he proclaimed, "I've had true ecstasy through sensuality!" Groaning, I sank into my chair.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 14/6/06; 8:28:07 AM to the Travelling Preacher dept.
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Flashback and Saving My Own Neck - www.devaswami.com

Devamrta Swami at Soho St...

What a location, what an urban-outreach delight! Almost right outside the door pass millions of tourists and Britons daily. The nearby theater district beckons with premier plays. But what mundane drama can compare to Lord Narasimha's pastime: the ultimate horror movie.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 6/6/06; 11:53:21 AM to the Travelling Preacher dept.
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London: Maximum Intensity and Sri Narahari - www.devaswami.com

The latest from Devamrta Swami...

Nations rise and fall; bodies take birth and die. One day soon our present bodies will no longer exist. Maybe my MRI tests will show no major problem--this time. But what about the future? For sure, one day there'll be no cure, for you or me.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 5/5/06; 9:36:37 AM to the Travelling Preacher dept.
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Razor-Edge Reality - www.devaswami.com

Devamrta Swami meditates on his service as GBC Chairman last year. The conclusion is; service to Krsna has its rewards despite the fact the going gets tough some times. I can relate to that. But it's always worth it.

Nevertheless, let me proclaim it boldly: nothing in this world can compare to the cloudburst of satisfaction from the Lord and the spiritual master that graciously rains down upon devotees who voluntarily accept responsibility in the worldwide service of Mahaprabhu. That divine shower is the inestimable payoff for our accepting what, to ordinary vision, can appears a thankless and arduous task--staffing Prabhupada's movement."

# Posted by Aniruddha at 29/4/06; 8:20:50 PM to the Travelling Preacher dept.
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Mayapur Grand Finale - www.devaswami.com

Here's the latest from Indradyumna Swami as promised. Thanks to Sita-pati Prabhu.

Each day, before downloading my email, I mentally prepare myself for dealing with the good, the bad, and the ugly. With hundreds of disciples and many other devotees regularly corresponding with me, the laws of nature force me to see the gamut of situations in this world.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 28/4/06; 3:56:36 PM to the Travelling Preacher dept.
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Diary of a Traveling Preacher » My Muslim Brother

I just got the latest Diary from Indradyumna Swami. This is the second to latest. I'll wait till the new one is up on his site before posting it.

One may read Bhagavad-gita many times, but the philosophy can take years, or even lifetimes, to assimilate, and even a devotee may lament when he loses something or someone dear to him in this world. The day before I left India for America, I received an email from my dearest and most beloved friend, Sri Prahlada dasa...

# Posted by Aniruddha at 28/4/06; 9:37:00 AM to the Travelling Preacher dept.
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City of the Gods

I just got this link in my in box.

This website will enable you to learn more about Gurudeva, as well as his spiritual master, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the Founder-Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON).

One of the highlights of this website is Srila Gurudeva's recent entries from his book "Diary of a Travelling Preacher." You can also order all of Gurudeva's books there.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 2/3/06; 6:23:37 PM to the Travelling Preacher dept.
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New Website for Indradyumna Swami Fans

The latest from Indradyumna Swami...

My glorious master, on this auspicious anniversary of your departure from the world, I once again find myself in the holy land of Vrindavan. It was here that you retired from family life and in your old age began your mission of taking Lord Caitanya’s message to the West. I too have retired from family affairs, and now I am beginning to feel the effects of aging. Each year, following in your footsteps, I come to take shelter of this holy dhama, and in time I return to my preaching in the West.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 15/11/05; 4:53:11 PM to the Travelling Preacher dept.
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Diary of a Traveling Preacher » Disappearance Day Offering to Srila Prabhupada

This shot was taken just before we left Melbourne on Wednesday morning. The red in the sky was attractive and the lights reflected in the window added an extra dimension to the shot.

I managed to get some shots of the Juhu temple this morning. The last shot is a panoramic stitching of four portrait shots which gives a great view of the temple courtyard.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 11/11/05; 9:09:56 PM to the Travelling Preacher dept.
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Juhu Temple 11th November 2005

The last time I linked to Devamrta Swami’s site it was an old listing. This one looks new to me.

The brain chemistry of attachment - this is the scientific explanation for love as commonly known. The latest research shows that when romantic passion strikes you, certain areas of the brain surge with an increased blood flow. Scanning the brains of people who have just fallen madly in love, scientists have concluded that love is all about electro-chemicals, hardwired into our brains by evolution.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 8/11/05; 7:56:17 AM to the Travelling Preacher dept.
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--- www.devaswami.com --- What kind of love is this?

Indradyumna Swami plans to take a bit of rest.

Soon after our summer festival season, Nandini dasi and Jayatam dasa offered to organize a retreat for me so I could recover from the strain of 61 festivals in three months. No doubt I needed rest, but I turned the offer down. "I need to keep active," I thought, "otherwise the pain of separation from the festivals will be too great."

# Posted by Aniruddha at 18/10/05; 8:31:14 AM to the Travelling Preacher dept.
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Diary of a Traveling Preacher » Taking Care

It looks like the Dipika site is becoming more active. Here's the latest gripping episode from Indradyumna Swami courtesy of Dipika. This one is intense as Maharaja discusses stopping the writing of his diary.

Throughout my Russian preaching tour, I had been corresponding by email with Sri Prahlada das about managing my time better. My schedule has been so intense the last six months that I have found little time to study, an essential practice for one who lectures two or three times a day. As I grow older, I also find myself hankering to spend more time chanting japa as well as worshiping my beloved Deities each morning.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 10/7/05; 5:45:23 PM to the Travelling Preacher dept.
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dipika - Diary of a Traveling Preacher, Vol 6, Ch 11

My three-day visit to Tatarstan went by fast. It is said that if you enjoy what you are doing time passes quickly but if you are bored or annoyed time drags on. And I was doing what I enjoy most: sharing my good fortune with others.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 4/7/05; 10:13:30 PM to the Travelling Preacher dept.
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Diary of a Traveling Preacher » Sharing Good Fortune With Others

I took a flight from Warsaw to Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, with Sri Prahlad das and Rukmini Priya dasi. We landed in the early afternoon on a warm spring day. As we walked outside from the international terminal to the domestic for our connecting flight, ...

# Posted by Aniruddha at 4/6/05; 1:31:55 PM to the Travelling Preacher dept.
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A New Beginning — May 16 - 23, 2005

Kurma has started a new blog and is enthusiastically pounding his keyboard in my office. You can read all about his travels and culinary adventures there. He’s experiencing the bliss of blogging.

All I can hear is ‘wow’, ‘ecstatic’, and ‘this is great’.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 2/6/05; 4:15:47 PM to the Travelling Preacher dept.
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Kurma’s new blog

The latest entry from Indradyumna Swami’s blog. Fighting with the demons in Poland! Well, not just yet but who knows what awaits the hari-nama party up around the corner?

# Posted by Aniruddha at 31/5/05; 6:37:31 PM to the Travelling Preacher dept.
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Same Mission, Same Mercy

This is a bit of a blast from the past. My first trip to India.

We arrived in Puri after a 32 hour bus ride from hell. Actually it was from Mayapur to Puri. The first day was OK up until breakfast time. After that there was no prasadam and what was supposed to be an overnight journey became a thorough nightmare for an extra 24 hours. Anyone who was on that bus ride remembers it well.

That's me in the middle, if you couldn't tell, flanked by Puspanjali and Gangesvara on the left and Karsana and Vasu-srestha on the right. Gangesvara looks like death warmed up after spending the whole of the 32 hours lying on the floor of the bus. I don't know if you've seen the floor of an Indian bus or not but it is not carpeted and therefore not at all comfortable. He was so sick though he didn't have a choice. In order to stay in our seats we tied ourselves in with our chadars so we wouldn't fall over whilst asleep. It was an experience never to be forgotten.

It looks like a survived OK, though. That's the Jagannatha Puri temple in the background. Thanks to Gangesvara prabhu for the photo.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 11/4/05; 7:49:10 AM to the Travelling Preacher dept.
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Jagannatha Puri — March 1980

The news isn't good. Bhakti Tirtha Swami's cancer has spread into his bones. His left collarbone has broken due to being rotten with cancer. Devotees in Mayapur are performing 24 hour kirtana on his behalf.

He is still preaching and guiding his disciples strongly although in a very much debilitated condition. Not long to go, it seems. His humility and depth of realisation are an inspiration. You can hear some of his latest classes here.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 24/3/05; 9:25:47 AM to the Travelling Preacher dept.
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Bhakti Tirtha Swami - health update

I have been quite moved by what I have seen and experienced during my two weeks of disaster relief work here in Sri Lanka. I have travelled the world as a monk (sannyasi ) for 35 years and have seen many disturbing situations; war in Grozny, the aftermath of war in Sarajevo, hunger in Sudan. But to echo the recent words of Colin Powell, I have never seen anything as devastating as the tsunami disaster here in Sri Lanka.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 23/1/05; 6:52:43 AM to the Travelling Preacher dept.
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Silver Lining in a Dark Cloud