About Me

Naughty Krishna holding a piece of candy

W

ant to know who I am? Me too. I’m still trying to find out. But here’s what I’ve learned so far:

I’ve been a Hare Krishna follower for fifty-nine years. I joined in New York in 1966, when I met my spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada. But the clincher came when Prabhupada told me that God has a sense of humor and  sometimes even acts like a naughty boy.

I knew I had to become Prabhupada’s follower.  Almighty God acting like a naughty boy?  What else could Prabhupada tell me?

The Easiest Way to Meditate

He told me many things. He answered my deepest question when he told me that God is a person and that one of his names is Krishna, that he is the same Krishna who lived in India five thousand years ago. And that the easiest way to meditate is the Hare Krishna mantra, given by Krishna when he appeared again only five hundred years ago, this time in Bengal as Lord Chaitanya, the Golden Avatar.

He showed me what I was really looking for in life and how to get it. He told me what death is and how to face it. He told me why some people live charmed lives while others struggle from birth till death and never get anywhere; why we have to live through wars and famines and plagues; and when the world will end and what will happen after that.

It all made sense. This knowledge was too good to keep to myself. I traveled and taught it to whoever would listen.

Now I am an old man of eighty-nine I no longer have the patience to spend hours strapped into a filthy seat on a crowded airplane listening to some screaming baby as the hostess comes by wheeling her cart to pass out a lunch I don’t even want to look at.

I don’t have the patience to stand for hours in some country’s airport filling out forms and waiting in line to go through Immigration and be interrogated like a criminal.

Gone but Still Teaching Me

Today I am sitting in my airy bedroom. From time to time I glance at the luxuriant potted plant on my window sill as I peck away at my keyboard. I’ve got to write it all down. And even though Prabhupada left this world in 1977, he is still teaching me, through his books and his other followers.

It will take years, but as the Chinese proverb goes, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.”

So feel free to stroll though my blog. I wrote these articles just for you. I hope you’ll enjoy the excursion and relax with some happy reading.

Hare Krishna.

⁓Umapati Swami, March 25, 2025

Eternally touching my head to the floor at the lotus feet of my spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada, for showing me this.

Notes:

The Hare Krishna Mantra: Haré Krishna, Haré Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Haré Haré /  Haré  Rama, Haré Rama, Rama Rama, Haré Haré.

The opinions expressed in this article are my own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of any organization or any other person.

Photo top: Naughty Krishna holding a piece of candy (Jishnu Das)

L

ove it? Hate it? Got a question? Write to me: hoswami@yahoo.com

© Umapati Swami 2024

Srila Prabhupada

His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada is the teacher who brought Krishna Consciousness from India to the West and then to the rest of the world. He is the founder of the worldwide Hare Krishna Movement as well as the author and compiler of many works of Vedic knowledge. He left this world in 1977.

Umapati Swami

One of the first American devotees of the Hare Krishna Movement, he became Srila Prabhupada’s disciple in 1966. Since then, he has preached Krishna Consciousness in many countries and is the author of “My Days with Prabhupada,” available from Amazon. Now 89 years old, he maintains this blog to share what he has learned.