The guidance of saints is our only hope. We must depend on them. They stand like lighthouses in the infinite ocean to guide us to the land of faith. --Swami B.R. Sridhar

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Mithiladhisa dasa

54, Male
United States

Residing:

Eugene, Oregon

Initiated by:

Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja Prabhupada

Age:

54

Associated with Krsna Consciousness For (yrs):

37

Ashram:

Grhastha

About Me:

I consciously began my spiritual journey at the age of 13 towards the later part of 1966. At that time I had purchased a record album of Allen Ginsberg and the Fugs on which amongst their odd rantings there was a track of them chanting the Hare Krishna Mantra which was the only thing of theirs that interested me. I went through various phases of consciousness which led me to becoming vegetarian and practicing yoga. I had been somewhat obsessed with shaved head and sikha since the age of 5 after seeing it in an old Disney film and by age 15 planned that I would attend my high school graduation in that fashion. From time to time I would see devotees but my interest in them didn't become serious until early in 1971 when I was in my senior year of high school. I visited Srila Prabhupada's temple in Philadelphia and there I met one devotee who I found out years later was the older sister of my best friend at ages 10-11. I tried to immediately move into the temple but the devotees requested me to complete high school first having only 3 months to go. On my graduation day instead of going to the school ceremony, I moved into the temple and shaved my head, the head shaving as already planned for years.

I served there mostly as temple treasurer. I married in late 1972 with Srila Prabhupada's blessings and we then moved to the Dallas Gurukula for some months where I became the cook. We were then sent to Los Angeles where I stayed from 1973 until 1988 with a brief stint in Bombay in 1978 where I served as financial administrator of the Juhu Beach project. In Los Angeles I did managerial service at Srila Prabhupada's Spiritual Sky Incense company then after returning from Bombay I had my own business which I used for supporting printing of Srila Prabhupada's books and creating jobs for devotees. During the stay in Los Angeles my first wife and I had two sons Mandalibhadra in 1974 (now Kishori Mohan dasa) and Nitai-Caitanya in 1975 (now Prahlad dasa). We raised them in the mood that they were younger Godbrothers and by great mercy they received prasadam from the lotus hand of Srila Prabhupada. In 1987 I married again to Radha-Gokulananda Dasi, a disciple of Srila Prabhupada and in 1989 our daughter Radhika-Carana dasi was born.

I came in contact with Srila Narayan Maharaja's explanation of Sukadev Goswami's position as Srimati Radharani's pet parrot in 1990 and knew at that moment that he would continue my spiritual guidance. Soon after he clarified that point in a very vivid dream. I had seen him once before in Vrndavan but we had not met yet. At that time I made plans that I would help publish his literatures. Within a year or so I was beginning a printing operation with some friends in Santa Cruz, California and we got a request from Prema Vilas prabhu to help with Srila Gurudeva's first Western publications. The operation was not yet fully functioning but we did get to help with some design concepts and advice.

I finally met Srila Gurudeva in 1995 and subsequently had the great fortune to host him in Seattle, Washington during his first world tour in 1996. By transcendental arrangement we had a rented house that was just next to Srila Prabhupada's original Seattle temple. In that place in 1968 Srila Prabhupada had heard of Srila Bhakti Prajnana Keshava Maharaja's departure from this world and he composed a prayer to his Godbrother/Sannyas Guru. When I showed this house to Srila Gurudeva he at once offered his obeisances, and touching his head to the steps, tears in his eyes, he said "Wherever in this world that Swami Maharaja has placed his feet, I want to go there and place my head." I knew I was in good hands!