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Diary of a Traveling Preacher Diary of a Traveling Preacher Volume One Indradyumna Swami TORCHLIGHT PUBLISHING Copyright 1995 and 2008 Indradyumna Swami All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any means, including mechanical, elec- tronic, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written consent of the publisher. Cover design by Mayapriya Dasi Bookwrights Design Cover photo by Nrsimha Kavaca das Text formating and layout by Mani Deep das Published simultaneously in the United States of America and Canada by Torchlight Publishing. For information contact the Publisher Torchlight Publishing Inc. PO Box 52, Badger, CA 93603 Phone (559) 337-2200 Fax: (559) 337-2354 [email protected] www.torchlight.com Contents Diary of a Travelling Preacher Volume One Dedication.................................................................................................7 Acknowledgements..................................................................................8 Introduction..............................................................................................9 1. The Power of Simple Glorification................................................11 2. “Without Them, Many People Would Die”..................................16 3. “I Can Drink the Blood of Any Russian Soldier”........................19 4. Lining Up to Name the Children....................................................24 5. Nine-Year-Old Nadya Joins the Group......................................... 26 6. Warnings of Anti-Cult Danger....................................................... 29 7. Are you God, the Almighty?”......................................................... 32 8. “Everyone Has a Right to Live Here and Worship God”.......... 34 9. Feet Soaked in Sticky Gulab Juice.................................................. 36 10. Shocking Stories of a Russian Hospital...................................... 38 11. “No Peace for You in This Lifetime”.......................................... 41 12. “One’s Own Spiritual Master Is Best”......................................... 46 13. Nineteen Hours through Hell....................................................... 51 14. An Extraordinary Reception......................................................... 58 15. The Fire-Temple of Agnideva...................................................... 60 16. We Get the Visas............................................................................. 65 17. All Glories to the Devotees of the Baku Yatra!......................... 79 18. Bishkek: Half a Million Listeners................................................. 82 19. A Wonderful Dream about Sri Sri Radha-Krsna........................85 21. “You Have Surpassed All the Stages of Yoga”.......................... 87 22. Arriving in Tashkent....................................................................... 90 23. “My Kingdom for a Horse!”......................................................... 93 24. The First Muslims to Invade India Were from Here.................94 25. The Golden Road to Samarkand................................................100 26. Big Smiles and Slaps on Our Backs............................................104 27. They Stood on the Balcony Watching the Rockets..................109 28. Touching the Hearts of the Officials with Prasadam..............111 29. “I’m in Such Anxiety that I’ve Fallen Ill”..................................113 30. A Wonderful Harinama in Almaty..............................................114 31. The FSK Spy Becomes a Devotee..............................................115 32. A Big Grin and a Tennessee Drawl............................................118 33. Book Distribution: The Best Training a Devotee Can Get....122 34. Man Proposes, God Disposes.....................................................125 35. Exhausted from the Travel but No Time for Being Tired..... 127 36. Hare Krsna and the latest Dance Fad........................................129 37. Following in the Footsteps of Srila Prabhupada......................131 38. Saintly People with a Holy Father from the West....................134 39. The Rostov Temple attacked.......................................................136 40. Ratha-yatra in Novosibirsk...........................................................140 41. An Anti-Cult Offensive in Poland..............................................143 Glossary.................................................................................................146 Diary of a Travelling Preacher Volume Two Dedication.............................................................................................150 Introduction..........................................................................................151 1. “Would You Kill a Serb?”...............................................................153 2. “I Was Born in Sarajevo and Survived the Four-Year War”.....157 3. The Devotees Are Attacked near the Mosque............................159 4. Support from the People of Sarajevo...........................................173 5. Leaving Sarajevo...............................................................................175 Part II Poland, Russia, and South Africa 1. The First Polish Woodstock...........................................................178 2. “Thank You for Delivering My Daughter to Heaven”..............185 3. Final Instructions for Hari Bhadra dasi........................................187 4. Distributing Books before Takeoff...............................................189 5. Preaching Will Be Our Prasadam..................................................192 6. The Courage of the Devotees in Chechnya................................194 7. “We Got an Order to Shoot All Russians”..................................196 8. “They May Come Back and Kill Us for Entertainment”..........203 9. Bhakta Andrei Leaves His Body....................................................207 10. “Dear Lord Nrsimhadeva, Please Remove the Seed of Fear from My Heart”.............................................................210 11. “My Dear Lord Krsna, Your Plan Is Perfect”.......................... 212 12. “O My Lord, How Can We Get out of This Crazy Place?”.................................................................................224 13. They Thought We Were Russian Soldiers Dressed in Civilian Clothes..............................................................................226 14. O Krsna, How Long Are You Going to Test Us Here?”....... 228 15. Here We’ll Have to Pass through the Most Serious Test So Far..............................................................................................229 16. We Couldn’t Believe that We Had Managed to Get out of Hell............................................................................. 232 17. We Bid Farewell to Our Hospitable Chechen Well-Wishers................................................................. 236 18. “Show Them how to Be Fearless and Inspired at the Moment of Death”...................................................................... 238 19. Helping My Disciple Achieve a Glorious Destination............246 20. “Except for the Uncontrolled and Misguided Mind, There Is No Enemy”.................................................................. 248 21. I Chanted Loudly on My Beads to Be Awake When We Arrived......................................................................... 253 22. The Russian Veda..........................................................................255 23. “A Devotee of Krsna Can Create Vrndavana Everywhere”..................................................................................261 24. The Importance of Cows and the Holy Name of Vishnu.......................................................................................267 25. In This Far-Off Corner of the World....................................... 269 26. “I’ve Never Heard of Any Hare Krsna’s in Azerbaijan”........270 27. Preparing for Durban Ratha-Yatra.............................................273 28. Be Honest about Your Level of Krsna Consciousness.......... 274 29. The Most Amazing Thing in the World.................................... 280 30. A Severe Concussion, Torn Ligaments, and Badly Bruised and Sprained Legs and Hands.................................................... 281 31. “Only out of Fear Will I Detach Myself from the World.”... 284 32. The Real Medicine........................................................................ 288 33. An Offering to My Beloved Spiritual Master, Srila Prabhupada........................................................................... 289 Glossary.................................................................................................293 About The Author.............................................................................. 296 Dedication This book is dedicated to the Arab men whose prayers to Allah gave us safe passage across the desert into Azerbaijan, and to the Mohammedan caretaker of St. Daniel’s tomb in Samarkand – a gentle soul whose reading of the Koran was full of devotion for the Lord. I am also grateful to the many Mohammedans who treated us with kindness and respect as we traveled through their villages and towns. Finally, I offer my most respectful obeisances to all the Vaisnava devotees who are preaching in the lands of Islam. 7 Acknowledgements I would like to thank the following devotees for their help in the production and reprinting of these
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