If a law-suit has to be filed, one approaches a lawyer. To get rid of a disease, one has to call upon a doctor. In the same way, if God is wanted, the company of Sadhus must be sought. - Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa
...On the riverbank, sitting cross-legged, Shyamsunder rocked slowly back and forth."It was in Haight-Ashbury, San Francisco, January 1967. My friends and I had put together this big rock and roll dance at the Avalon Ballroom. We called it Mantra Rock Dance. Everyone was there to welcome 'The Swami' to the West Coast - the Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane, Canned Heat, Quicksilver and Moby Grape, they all played. Even Allen Ginsberg, Timothy Leary and Ken Kesey were there. All the hippie heroes came." Shyamsunder became excited and his body rocked faster. "Picture this scene. The whole place is pulsating with strobe lights and rock and roll, packed with wild, long-haired kids, most of them on acid. Then, about midnight, Srila Prabhupada walks quietly onto the dark stage and sits down cross-legged on an elevated seat. The place falls silent. Srila Prabhupada begins humbly chanting the Hare Krishna mantra. A spotlight finally locates him, and gradu...
Excerpt from Redemption Stories: Unwasted Pain by Mary Ciofalo: The movie Gandhi inspired me - particularly one scene. In it Gandhi is fasting again to try and end the horrific riots between the Hindus and Moslems. A trio of Hindu men comes to tell Gandhi that they have stopped inciting their people, and that he must now end his fast. One of them flings a piece of bread onto Gandhi's cot and tells him, "I am going to Hell, but you must eat and live." Gandhi says, "Only God determines who goes to Hell. Why do you think you are?" The man replies, "I killed a Moslem child." Gandhi winces, then says quietly,"Why?" The man replies, "They killed my wife and my son." After a moment of silence, Gandhi says quietly, "I know a way out of Hell." The Hindu man looks shocked. It is clear that he never considered redemption for himself. Gandhi says, "Go find a child without parents and raise him as your own. Bu...
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