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Originally Posted by Still_Waters
It's interesting how our paths have certain common threads.
I actually met Prabhupada since he started his western mission right here in NYC and, every once in a while, I do attend sessions at the storefront on 2nd Avenue where Prabhupada's meetings were often held.
When I was in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, my friends took me to a vegetarian restaurant where there were pictures of Krishna all over the restaurant as well as a picture of Prabhupada and some of his devotees. When I mentioned that I had met Prabhupada personally in NYC, they were awed and took me into the temple adjacent to the restaurant where we chanted the Hare Krishna Maha mantra for a while before returning for a wonderful vegetarian meal. When I was in Cuzco, Peru, I had a similar experience and yet another one in Budapest, Hungary. It's always good to meet sincere bhakti devotees of Lord Krishna.
In addition, I too explored the Theosophical Society before I met my own spiritual mentor. Ironically, she had been a member of the Theosophical Society during her younger years and recalled some of the great figures from that organization. Her "guru" was the ascended Master Moryai.
It's always interesting to hear about paths that others have explored along the way.
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Yes, we do have similar experiences happening in our past.
During my late teens, I really got into the music of George Harrison...He was my idol and spiritual muse.
I managed to pick up a copy of the Radha Krishna Temple Album and had it playing non stop for months. After which, I managed to get a tape of Benediction Moon, which had Prabhupada singing on it and I would chant the Maha Mantra for ages..this led me to visit the Govinda Temple in Darlinghurst, Sydney..where the twice weekly prasadam visit led to me staying there, studying the Srimad Bhagavatam and the collected works of Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami.
During that time, I honestly thought I loved Lord Krishna and I really TRIED to, but whenever I heard about the passtimes of Lord Shiva or saw His image, I totally lost it inside. It didn't take long for me to discover who my Ishta Devata REALLY was...and this was also the first time I was actually able to apply Vishishtadvaita to Shaivism... through the Hare Krishna movement, of all things...but after that realisation and subsequent humiliation, I knew it was time to move on.
With much trepidation as a nineteen year old seeker, I approached the Theosophical Society in Kent St, Sydney and attended a lecture there...It was at that lecture I was given a cassette tape by Geoffrey Hodson (about a month before he passed on) all about Kundalini..and it wasn't long before I found myself at the Adyar library, checking out a copy of The Serpent Power and Shakta and Shakti by Sir John Woodroffe and The Secret Doctrine by HPB as well as finding "The Tibetan Book of The Great Liberation" (Maha Nirvana Tantra) by Evans-Wentz...My reading material was secured for the next six months and the rest, as we say is history.
I eventually left the TS and followed Swami Satyananda for a while, before traveling back to Indonesia to learn Balinese Qi Gong (Yellow Bamboo) then came back to Australia, got married to a Hindu priest, joined the Divine Life Society and did my IYTA accreditation.
That's pretty much it.