Twenty Years of Sannyasa

Monday, 25 March 2002, Newark Internal Airport, USA

Amalaki Ekadasi

Today is the twentieth anniversary of my accepting sannyasa in 1982.

I'm sitting on a carpeted floor. My portable Palm keyboard is attached to my Palm M505, propped on a heating unit in front of a large picture window overlooking the huge aircraft I will be boarding in half an hour.

Pyari Mohan drove me to the bus station in Hartford at midday today, and there I caught the Connecticut Limo (which is really a small bus) to Newark Airport. On the way the bus developed a problem with the doors, which kept opening as we were driving along the highway. The weather was sunny yesterday, but turned cloudy and cold today. They are predicting two inches of snow in Connecticut tonight and tomorrow. I'll be on my way to England tonight.

Last night I gave another highly successful "Why Bad Things Happen to Good People" seminar in place of the Sunday feast lecture at the Connecticut temple. It was very well received by the guests, about forty I guessed. This morning I gave a little slide show of my recent travels in Australia.

So it's off to England tonight, due to arrive early tomorrow morning. It's an 8 hour flight, but it took me 4 hours to get here, and then I had to wait an hour and a half in the check-in line. They said something about extra security making things move slowly, but they were only using security as an excuse for poor service. In reality there were only two people checking in a huge line of people, and at times there was only one. Anyway, I arrived three hours before the flight, so four hours to drive here, four hours waiting for the flight, and a seven hour flight equals 14 hours in transit, not counting the drive to the bus station in Hartford (half an hour) and another hour and fifteen minutes or so once I arrive in Heathrow going threw customs and immigration and the drive back to the Manor.

I'll be staying at the Manor only one night this trip. I used to be the president at the Manor. Now I just seem to be passing through all the time.

Anyway, I'll be flying to Slovenia for Gaura Purnima. They're paying my air ticket and it will be nice to give them some senior association. Sometimes the smaller temples in remote countries don't get too many visiting Swamis.

I'm still working on my novel every day, though not spending great amount of time on it. I really want to finish that book one day.

Tuesday, March 26, 2002, Bhaktivedanta Manor

Now I’m sitting in my little room in the Brahmacari Ashram at the Manor. It was originally a closet with a skylight. While I was away for the last eleven days, an aspiring disciple named Bhakta Andrew from Russia did some major construction according to a diagram I left him. He expanded the wall outward where the door frame is, and put cupboards all around it. He built a computer desk and new drawers. He put in some book shelves mounted on the walls and some other shelves in the corner. The entire space is much lighter and more livable now. The difference is striking.

Vipramukhya Swami at his desk in his little closet-ashram at Bhaktivedanta Manor. The room was just redesigned to make more light and space. Click to enlarge.

The bed that Vipramukhya Swami sleeps on at Bhaktivedanta Manor. The head and feet can touch the opposite walls at the same time. The slanting beam coming in from the ceiling is part of the roof.

Vipramukhya Swami's Salagram Silas, which are now in his room at the Manor after having giving up the temple president's office.