Foreword xi
publishing, and he invited me back for Sanskrit classes on Saturdays and
for his evening lectures on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I accepted,
thanked him, and left, marveling at his incredible determination.

A few weeks later—it was July 1966—I had the privilege of helping
Srila Prabhupada relocate in a somewhat more respectable neighbor-
hood, on Second Avenue. Some friends and I pitched in and rented a
ground-floor storefront and a second-floor apartment, to the rear of a lit-
tle courtyard, in the same building. The lectures and chanting continued,
and within two weeks a rapidly growing congregation was providing for
the storefront (by this time a temple) and the apartment. By now Srila
Prabhupada was instructing his followers to print and distribute leaflets,
and the owner of a record company had invited him to record an LP of
the Hare Krsna chant. He did, and it was a huge success. In his new loca-
tion he was teaching chanting, Vedic philosophy, music, japa meditation,
fine art, and cooking. At first he cooked—he always taught by example.
The results were the most wonderful vegetarian meals I had ever ex-
perienced. (Srila Prabhupada would even serve everything out himself!)
The meals usually consisted of a rice preparation, a vegetable dish,
capatis (tortilla-like whole wheat patties), and dahl (a zestfully spiced
mung bean or split pea soup). The spicing, the cooking medium—ghee,
or clarified butter—and the close attention paid to the cooking tem-
perature and other details all combined to produce taste treats totally
unknown to me. Others’ opinions of the food, called prasdda (‘‘the
Lord’s mercy’’), agreed emphatically with mine. A Peace Corps worker ,
who was also a Chinese-language scholar was learning from Srila Prabhu-
pada how to paint in the classical Indian style. I was startled at the high
quality of his first canvases.

In philosophical debate and logic Srila Prabhupada was undefeatable
and indefatigable. He would interrupt his translating work for discussions
that would last up to eight hours. Sometimes seven or eight people
jammed into the small, immaculately clean room where he worked, ate,
and slept on a two-inch-thick foam cushion. Srila Prabhupada constantly
emphasized and exemplified what he called ‘“‘plain living and high think-
ing.’’ He stressed that spiritual life was a science provable through reason
and logic, not a matter of mere sentiment or blind faith. He began a
monthly magazine, and in the autumn of 1966 the New York Times
published a favorable picture story about him and his followers. Shortly
thereafter, television crews came out and did a feature news story.

Srila Prabhupada was an exciting person to know. Whether it was out
of my desire for the personal benefits of yoga and chanting or just out of
