A Hippies (or Happies) Realization

Stephen was an interesting guy who had no money and seemed to be an aging hippie. He was wearing a comical headband studded with three-inch horns, as if to declare his eccentricity. He wanted to talk a lot and obviously was not going to take a book, so I was a little uneasy at the prospect of him taking up my time, but I was surprised at his realizations. He said it was obvious that bhakti was the way to know Krishna, because when Krishna had displayed a fraction of His majesty to Arjuna by showing the Universal Form, Arjuna became unsteady and frightened, but became peaceful again by seeing Krishna in his original beautiful form. "We are not meant to know Krishna's unlimited power and majesty", he said, "but we can approach Him through pure love and know His beauty." Stephen told me that he was on the Hawaian Island of Kauai and was a follower of a yogi named "Sai" before "Sai" surrendered to Srila Prabhupada and became "Siddhasvarup Ananda." He told me that it was an incredible experience to be in the presence of such a fully illuminated being as Siddhaswarup. By speaking to Stephen I developed an urge to meet Siddhaswarup, whom I have never seen.................

Akruranath Das