.JPG)
These past two months of assisting Srila Acaryadev (Dr. Resnick) during his writing retreat in Athens, Ohio have been quite literally off the hook, off the wall, and out of this world, fantastic. I never expected to be able to spend so much time with Acaryadev in the company of, whom I consider, the coolest and most sincere devotees I know. No false pretension, no pressure, no heroic organizational feats, just simple folks trying to love and serve Krishna in the best way they know how.
Athens is a small college town. Naturally, wherever there are students, there is great hunger and poverty. Every Friday afternoon on the college green, the local devotees organize what they call a "Starving Artists Lunch," featuring the finest in vegan prasadam cuisine.
So many wonderful personalities came to visit Acaryadeva. Pictured above is my godbrother Arka das from Australia and my godsister Yaitza from Puerto Rico.
"Yo mataji! Can you spare some subji for a poor little beggar like Ali Krsna devi? But don't forget the dasi, that's what makes this name complete, as I offer flowers to my guru's lotus feet. OH, SHAKE YOUR ASAFOETIDA! Just shake your asafoetida. I ain't no meat eater, and I don't eat garlic neither! OH!"
I introduce to you the infamous Tessafoetida. When we're not rapping, we're skipping and dancing at 5 in the morning. After these two months, I can honestly say that she is one of my favorite people on this planet. Tess generously invited me to stay with her during my time in Athens and her hospitality was first-class. She is sweetness personified and her devotion is inspiring.
Gurjeet and Marian came to visit from Columbus, Ohio and we went hiking to a big cave just off the bike trail. These girls rock and are organizing the bhakti yoga college preaching programs at the giant state university in Columbus.
Marian is special, shy but witty, sharp and hilarious, hitting up the prasadam after a Sunday feast program in Columbus at which Acaryadeva spoke.
Here Acaryadev sits at his desk. He is finishing up a novel that he has been working on for years. I had the great honor of spending many hours sitting in this room while Acaryadev read aloud. I helped with some minor editing. The plot is amazing and the characters are richly developed. The book is a fictional, transcendental mystery/love story based around the story of Dhruva Maharaja in the Srimad Bhagavatam. It's definitely a page turner.
Miss Bindhu. Calm and serene. Introspective and totally goofy. Bindhu is my godsister who lives out in Seattle, WA. Her specialty is baking bread. One bite of her bread is like biting into tangible love. She is humble, thoughtful, and extremely perceptive. I am a big fan of hers.
Pictured above is the asafoetida sampridaya. Her Grace Malati Manjari came to visit Acaryadev all the way from Germany. She asked me to help her write a contemporary book about the importance of vegetarianism. She is my kind of cowgryl.
As Weird Al puts it so nicely, "Lunch, lunch, lunch, they want to have lunch, lunch, lunch, they want to have lunch! They just a wanna, they just a wannaaaaaa. They just a wanna, they just a wannaaaaaaa. When the working day is done...."
Indeed the high lite of these past two months have been Acaryadeva's lectures. To listen or download some of Acaryadeva's lectures given in Athens click
here.
Several years back I remember meditating on how sorely limited I was in my consequence and influence on society. I realized that the best thing I could do for humanity was to find a righteous somebody who already has influence and assist them accordingly. Krishna answered my prayers as always. I can not think of anyone else I would rather serve than Acaryadeva nor a mission as noble.
As Acaryadev puts it, "basement-bottom dharma, prices are slashed." This is our yuga dharma- chanting, dancing, and feasting. It's that simple. I have to stop sometimes and realize my beautiful, beautiful life.
Hey Lord Caitanya, maybe I can help you too with the sankirtana movement? I sure am impressed by your die-hard fans. In fact, I think they are some of the greatest people in this world. This sankirtan party is rockin' and I've never been one to leave early from a good party. You mind if I stick around for awhile?
The only thing more beautiful than Ithaca, NY is the people who live there. After the family reunion, I decided to spend a week in Ithaca. My old boss, John, at the ABC Cafe welcomed me with a giant plate of prasadam. It was African night.
I have so much to learn from my friends. My buddy, Josh, is a permaculture freak. We spent the day on his land, ooing and awing his garden and then took a short herb walk through the woods, rich with Elder berries, Blue Cohosh, Bloodroot, Pawpaws and Hepatica.
This spring Josh started cultivating shitake and reishi mushrooms by drilling holes in oak logs harvested from his land and filling them with spore-laden "plugs". The crew formed an assembly line and pulled the logs out of the pond after a week-long inoculation period. Harvest starts next year and will continue for up to 3 years.
A rare photo of a newly initiated mushroom log in its natural habitat. Oh, the thrill of stalking the wild mushroom- curbing carnivorous tendencies.
The first raspberry of the season. I made a simple offering back to Krishna then popped little red into my mouth, the whole time smiling with ubolic devotional tendencies running through my heart. 
And who did I find next door? Brother blackberry darshan, a sure cure for city slumber and dormant taste buds.
What would be a trip to Ithaca without spending time with Dunkelman and Astra. These are two of the more outrageous spiritual-minded women you'll ever meet. Dunkelman leans towards the Vipassana, and while Astra does have Buddhist tendencies, her heart is more into shamanism.
I spent two days with Dunkelman at the Zen Retreat Center she has been working at this summer. Folks come for 10-day healing sessions that revolve around the detox method as prescribed by Ann Wigmore. One of Dunkelman's duties is to prepare the "party packs" which are actually DYI enema kits. The retreat diet is mostly raw, lots of spouts, wheatgrass juice, and something called energy soup.
Fortunately, I was visiting during an interim break between retreats and was, thus, able to offer some service and cook for all the staff members. Kichari and chapatis for breakfast, and homemade "guru-approved" veggie burgers, whole wheat buns, fresh garden salad, and lemon-tahini dressing for lunch.
Belly certification. Heart purification.
On Indian night at the ABC cafe, I was able to offer kirtan, singing the glories of Krishna, during dinner in the restaurant side of the cafe. Dunkelman even decided to skip dinner and chant with me the whole time! The entire staff from the Zen Center showed up and asked lots of questions in between bhajans. At the end of the night, after four hours of chanting, Dunkelman was glowing. Notice her instrument of choice: old school spoons. Some fight revolutions with pens and others with swords, but this revolution is fought with spoons!
And here's the little man who only three short years ago, appeared in this world surrounded by the prayers of a home birthing support team, including Astra and myself. Elijah is a terror on his scooter but a whimp in the water. His mother and my dear friend, Danielle, is more beautiful than ever and even sweeter than her homemade peach pie. We talked a lot about heart break and the importance of goddess worship while I was in town. My main point was that if you could have a personal relationship and receive guidance from the topmost, Supreme Goddess, why not jump on that opportunity in a second. I explained that the "Hare" in Hare Krishna refers to this Supreme Mother, Hari, and that we ask for her guidance and direction by chanting the Hare Krishna maha mantra. The necessity of women taking shelter of our Supreme Mother has never been so apparent as present day when marriages dissolve faster than Emergen-C packets.
OK! Everyone, say sOYcHeESe!
And here is my amazing sister, Nicole, who somehow made it through the trauma of having her precious little girl in the intensive care unit for the first month of her new life. Nicole is a natural at this mom stuff.
Zach's partner in crime and twin sister, Ms. Maya here, looking like an angel. It was so special to spend time with these guys. They live in Santa Cruz, California so darshan is few and far between. 
My favorite time with the babes was chanting HARE KRSNA together. It's fun having a little buddy to pray with until....until he wakes up screaming with a disaster diaper and a killer stomach ache. It's gotta be rough having no sense control or control of your bodily functions. This is truly the definition of MENTAL. It rubs off on the caretakers too.
Welcome to ISKCON Beverly Hills, 153 N. Arnaz Dr. Certainly, if everywhere else, why wouldn't the Hare Krishnas be in Beverly Hills? I came out two weeks ago after leaving Athens and celebrating Ratha Yatra in Atlanta, GA. To my surprise the neighborhood is lovely and quite charming, even for a minimalist like myself. 
Here at the Arnaz Ashram, the devotees can be themselves and we have lots of fun. Pictured above are two of my godsisters, Krishna Priya and Dhanya. Both have been staying here at the house and doing lots of service.
I've quickly resumed kitchen duties, cooking and preparing the finest in gourmet, vegan cuisine. Lately, I've been making Tempeh Reuben Sandwiches to the delight of the devotees. Since I am lacking in many other categories, I feel cooking is one of the best ways I can express my love and gratitude. 
Since my teacher, Acaryadev, has arrived, he has been busy writing and giving classes. Lately, he has been giving lectures to audiences around the world, including Columbia, Brazil, Mexico, and Ukraine, via Skype. It is wonderful to see how excited the devotees are to have virtual darshan with Acaryadev.
My friend Manjari from Moscow came to visit for the weekend. She has been sharing Krishna Consciousness through musical venues for the past decade. Here she is singing a bittersweet bhajan, lamenting the loss of great spiritual personalities when they die. Not all fun and games here. Lots of time to think, read, contemplate, chant, wonder, and pray.
The schedule here at the ashram is 4:30am wake up, 5 o'clock morning kirtan, 5:30am japa walk. Since Acaryadev grew up in LA, he knows all the best places to go walking. He has taken us all over Beverly Hills, into Beverly Woods where he grew up, Cheviot Park and Santa Monica where Srila Prabhupada used to walk, UCLA, Rodeo Drive, and my favorite, Franklin Canyon Park.
The amazing thing about LA is that, despite the material insanity, traffic, and sprawl, there are beautiful neighborhoods with nice old houses and lovely gardens. Carob trees, Oleander, Southern Magnolias, Drake Elms, Southern Sycamores, Canary Island Date Palms, and Mexican Fan Palms are but a few of the diverse numbers of trees that line the streets here in Beverly Hills. 
Acaryadev is constantly being visited by his disciples, well-wishers, and neighbors. He really is the life of the party. Hey, who invited the guru, smiling like anything? I hear he only buys his dhotis on Rodeo Drive.
But, alas, every party must come to an end and then we must say goodbye. Every party? Anyways, after Acaryadev left, we started organizing for a big move out of the house and into a smaller and more efficient studio space down the road.
Moving is one of the more hellish experiences I've been privileged to endure in this lifetime, but when you have good help and conversation, work goes by fast. 
On Srila Bhaktivinoda's Disappearance Day, Taruni prepared a feast. Taruni and her husband, Jagatpati, are visiting from Australia after a month stay in a cancer treatment clinic in Tijuana. Jagatpati is being treated for a brain tumor that was removed two years ago and has since grown back. They are amazing folks and their life revolves around distributing pure food, as they own a restaurant back in Cairns, Australia. Their immense struggle continues and, yet, they only inspire those who have the honor to be in their company.
The meal has been offered, the table is set, and the garland has been strung. But when will the guest of honor be arriving?
.JPG)
Athens is a small college town. Naturally, wherever there are students, there is great hunger and poverty. Every Friday afternoon on the college green, the local devotees organize what they call a "Starving Artists Lunch," featuring the finest in vegan prasadam cuisine.
Gurjeet and Marian came to visit from Columbus, Ohio and we went hiking to a big cave just off the bike trail. These girls rock and are organizing the bhakti yoga college preaching programs at the giant state university in Columbus.
Marian is special, shy but witty, sharp and hilarious, hitting up the prasadam after a Sunday feast program in Columbus at which Acaryadeva spoke. 
Here Acaryadev sits at his desk. He is finishing up a novel that he has been working on for years. I had the great honor of spending many hours sitting in this room while Acaryadev read aloud. I helped with some minor editing. The plot is amazing and the characters are richly developed. The book is a fictional, transcendental mystery/love story based around the story of Dhruva Maharaja in the Srimad Bhagavatam. It's definitely a page turner. 
Indeed the high lite of these past two months have been Acaryadeva's lectures. To listen or download some of Acaryadeva's lectures given in Athens click 
As Acaryadev puts it, "basement-bottom dharma, prices are slashed." This is our yuga dharma- chanting, dancing, and feasting. It's that simple. I have to stop sometimes and realize my beautiful, beautiful life.
