Tell us About Yourself !!!
Hi. I'm a mess. I can't even begin to describe my life. Perhaps "roller coaster" would come close. But I have learned to live with it and be happy.
I am seventy-seven. A single woman living in the Florida, USA. In the sixties and seventies I was part of the "hippie revolution" in the USA. Which meant LSD and droppinng out of society. I ended up in a mental hospital in a catatonic state. Actually I was just meditating on the sound of one hand clapping, a zen koan.
When I finally came of the meditative state and began talking and interacting I was given a full scholarship to study psychology at the college. But I dropped out three weeks before graduation. My education seemed useless to me. Watching a rat go around and around in a cage? I wanted to know another kind of knowledge. The knowledge of the self apart from this temporary material world.
That was when I met my spiritual master, AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, and his followers. I moved into the ashram in Boston in 1971 and began studying Bhagavad gita and Srimad Bhagavatam, Vedic scriptures, as his student.
I began traveling and staying in various ashrams around the US performing various services as a celibate student until my spiritual master disappeared in 1977. It was a shock to say the least and I felt orphaned. Many of my fellow students had married but I remained single and wanted to just serve in a simple way and not complicate things with family responsibilities and economic pressures.
I could not find shelter in the ashrams anymore. I was too old in the mid 1980's to be a child-like student and not qualified to be a teacher. I had to leave and try to make a spiritual life in the world at large. Over the next twenty years I was able to start a free food program, engage in college preaching, distribute my spiritual master's books, hold chanting sessions and travel throughout the US. I was invited to teach at a school for girls that had been started by one of my fellow students from the old days.
After a little while it became clear I would not be able to continue that service. My health began to deteriorate. After a pilgrimage to India I had developed serious digestive problems. Parasites and who knows what else. I was on the verge of death when one Christmas eve a neighbor knocked on the door. She had become locked out. Her son had taken their keys and was not home yet. It was near midnight. I was very sick. Lying on he floor thinking, "Ok, this it. I'm gone." She was a Seventh Day Adventist with connection to a church member who was practiced in herbal medicine. Her friend sent some herbs and instructions for what to eat and some other practices to help clean out my intestinal track. It worked. I didn't die.
There's a lot more. Crazy stuff. Probably because I am on a spiritual path. I am fortunate that in my old age I am able to live in a rural place, safe, safe and quiet. Lots of natural beauty. A garden and fruit trees and some good friends not far away if I should need help. And I'm sure I will at some point.
I practice bhakti yoga. Devotional service to Krishna. I chant regularly and refresh my mind everyday with the wisdom of the Bhagavad Gita and Srimad Bhagavatam. Because it won't be long..... Getting ready to go ...soon it will be "time's up."
Hare Krishna...
This is a link to the Bhagavad Gita. https://www.asitis.com/
Invitation to enter this contest... tell us about yourself...
https://steemit.com/hive-153970/@shiftitamanna/contest-tell-us-about-yourself
@impersonal @olivia08 @xiao-aine
Upvoted! Thank you for supporting witness @jswit.
Thank God I came to this page! Now I know you better and trust me I loved what I read. I am glad one of my misunderstandings is gone for good although I will not mention that here 😉.
Have you ever visited India or associated with ISCON?
Thank you for contacting me. I knew something had aggravated you by your earlier harsh response. Yes. I was very active in the ISKCON branch of the Hare Krishna movement. I'm almost 80 now and more or less retired from just about everything... Except Steemit. ha. ha. If you are in India it is hard not to be aware of ISKCON. Meant to revive India's glorious culture which has eroded in recent times. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, as they say.
What you feel has deteriorated is coming back to life. Not only in India but I have visited several ISKCON temples in India and outside. I live close to Brindavan (about 150 km) and have visited the place several times. I am sure you know about Brindavan the land of Lord Krishna.
I don't even remember about this incident and to be honest, I did not even know a couple of facts about you before today.
Oh good. I also don't remember any specifics. You are very fortunate to live close to Vrindavan. I have visited two times. But not traveling now. Happy to live quietly with nature all around. Hare Krishna
I am traveling as and when possible but trust me you are not much older than me 🎉
Actually we are eternal. Just the body going through changes.
I live 5 minutes from the temple here in Florida. When they are chanting loudly I can here it here. https://alachuatemple.com/ It is a lovely area. there are many Christians here and also thousands of Hare Krishna devotees. Everyone gets along very nicely. Mutually respectful and helpful when needed.
I live in the Garran area in Canberra. From here all these places, Hare Krishna Temple Iskcon Canberra, Jehovahs Witnesses Church, 17 Whittle St, Hughes ACT, are within 10 minute walk. I often walk to these places in the morning on Sundays.
Awesome.... The people who live in this area are pious. different churches and different religious cultures. Even among the Christians so many different systems of worship. But everyone is respectful of everyone else. Feels like a big family. The whole atmosphere is surcharged with a special kind of energy... It is a rural area. I live in this house. Has an acre with fruit trees and gardens. Great blessing for me. The porch has sliding wooden panels to protect if there is hurricane predicted.
