leela

Thsank you to Indas & Vanamali for those kind answers. Thank you.

Dear Priita, Thank you for your good, kind advice. Certainly I have a few things I am wondering about. I do not own much as I have been steadily giving, selling all my belongings for the past three years. I do not care for material things unless it is a light to read Prabhupad's books by. A pillow to sit on while I play on my Harmonium, songs to Guru and Krishna. Some paints to do spiritual art. My massage table to do healing massages. A bag of clothes that fit into a hefty lawn & leaf sack. I have no money but the weekly check I earn. A car with 100,000 miles on it that a devotee gave me. I want Krishna not a Mercedes and a sack of money. The previous guest says I am strange to go at age 48 into a temple. It is also strange to throw away my cowboy hat, spurs and jeans for a Sari. I am so very happy one,two and three devotees in their fifties told me about Krishna and Prabhupad. I would like to tell you what temple I am asking to join but prefer that to be private. Please e-mail me if you like.

Dear Guest, You made me smile very much at your comment"going to a temple at 48 is very strange" It is strange how I lived my life without knowing about Krishna until I had gone around the sun 40 times. It is strange how I had been a guide and mule packer in the Sierra Nevada for about 30 summers then decided to take theater and dance lessons from a man who turned out to be a disciple of Prabhupad's. This I did not know until after he died and I walked into an art gallery and met his friend, another devotee of Prabhupad's who told me about Krishna. That was wonderfully strange. I am soooo veeerrryyy fortunate to have been told about Krishna. I was told that I have exhausted my material desires and that is when Krishna came into my live. We are not these bodies and it is strange for you to imply that there is an age limit to Krishna consciousness.I wish I were so fortunate to have known of Krishna at an earlier time in my life, for I would have been able to dedicate more time to Krishna, my life would have been much more purposeful. I have no children, no mortgages, no real attachment to anything but Krishna. I believe Krishna has readied me for this time to go into a temple and devote the balance of my life to His service. Naturally, I have visited the temple I want to join. I have been unable to speak personally with the temple president so far but I also do not live close by to it. I have the support of many young, long time devotees in temple life. They do not see me as "strange". What is strange is really the wonderful and magical works of Lord Krishna. I am pure spirit soul and I think you are having a preconceived notion in your mind of maybe a middle-aged burned-out Target shopper checking into new age crystals or something.

Dear Guest, How does one get initiated before you join a temple? I thought that is part of the program after you are in and they can see that you are practicing the four regulative principles. It is news to me that I have to be initiated and invited. Maybe in India that is true. This is certainly not a whimsical or implusive move on my part. In America we don't have caste or creed unless we are bigots of some sort. Also my questions are of a practical nature. Spirituality is not stupidity or lacking in common sense. Such as, should I finish my root canal work before I go or do I burden the Temple with it? Thank you.

Please help me with this one. I am just an aspiring devotee with a long way to go. I am perturbed with a RAM devotee friend who argues that Prabhupada's Bhagavad Gita translation may not be an accurate translation of Sanskrit.He said most people in India read some other versions of the Gita. He said Krishna is not necessarily the Supreme Personality of Godhead via Prabhupad's translations, that demi-god's such as Shiva are worshipped in India as the Supreme One. So, I said if you don't want to believe S.P.'s translations on Krishna then read Sri Brahma Samhita to understand who is who and what is what when it comes to demi-god's and Krishna. What does a RAM devotee read or chant anyway? It makes no sense to me to be a devotee of RAM & not understand that Krishn is the supreme personality of Godhead. How do experienced devotees answer such questions?