COMING OF AGE

Monday, July 7th, 2026

Yorkville, Ontario

At our Govinda's Restaurant I met a fellow who looked like one of those ancient yogis come right out of one of those caves from the Himalayas. He is white, with a beard and his hair (also white) was bunched up as a knot on top of the head. He approached me as I was sitting on a chair and offered his pranams. His name is Mahaprabhu and he shared with me that he knows the three couples Swamiji (Prabhupada) sent to England.

When he said that I expressed how special he was to have known the couples from the USA, Mukunda and Janaki, Shyamasundar and Malati and finally Gurudas and Yamuna. I had no reason to doubt he is an acquaintance to these Hare Krishna pioneers of which five of them are still with us. With ISKCON in its 60th year since registration in New York in 1966 we are looking at a real milestone here.

We can consider ourselves lucky to still be around after six decades. Many surging spiritual groups don't last that long like start-up restaurants that fail after a year or two in business. The two types of eateries that seem to make it are (1) when the food is cheap as in fast food with cheap labour and (2) when you sell alcohol along with the meal because that is where the profits are to be made.

Krishna Consciousness is something very genuine and has survived its challenges, of which there were indeed some. Anyway, I'm purchasing my ticket for the 60th Gala event taking place in the Big Apple at the end of this month.

MAY THE SOURCE BE WITH YOU

FOOTSTEPS