Why I Became a Hindu / A Krishna Devotee
From a Simple Seeker to A 2025 Padma Shri Award From the President of India
By Stephen Knapp
(Sri Nandanandana dasa)
The most common question Stephen gets, whether after giving a lecture somewhere or traveling and meeting people, especially in India, is how did he ever take an interest in the Vedic culture and its path of spiritual development. People want to know. In most circumstances he has little time to give anything but a short summary of what happened. But now he finally presents all the details of his spiritual growth in this autobiography.
Herein he describes his first philosophical questions when he was a young boy, for which at the time most people around him did not have the answers. He wanted to know such things as how he got here, how did he get this body, where was he going in this existence, what is the purpose of life, and what was he supposed to do with it. Was there something higher and deeper to understand? Even the pastor at the church where he attended did not have any real or profound answers to these questions. So, where was he supposed to go to find the answers?
Then a number of years later, after going on with his life, having been a musician for a number of years, he put his guitar down to do some serious searching into why he was here in this life, and what was its purpose. Even then, most cultures and philosophies did not have the answers that would satisfy him. Only after deeply studying the different religions, did he finally come across the knowledge that gave him the answers so he could understand what he was meant to do in this life to achieve its real purpose.
This is his interesting and enlightening story on how he was first a simple seeker for higher spiritual knowledge, like many others, but then joined an ashrama and became initiated into the Gaudiya lineage of spiritual discipline, then decided to become a writer, publishing over 50 books to help explain this information to others who might be seeking the same kind of insightful knowledge, and then becoming a lecturer and teacher traveling all over India and parts of the world to speak in front of all kinds of audiences, even speaking at Madison Square Garden, all the while attaining deeper levels of spiritual insight and realizations. Then later even being one of the few westerners to be recognized and given the significant honor of the Padma Shri Award by the government of India for his distinguished service, their fourth highest civilian award which was for his work in the field of literature and education. His story of what happened to him can help anyone gain deeper spiritual insights and realizations about life and our purpose in it, and the value of the Vedic spiritual philosophy in reaching one’s highest potential.
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION 1
Why I use the Name “Hindu”
CHAPTER ONE: 5
WHEN I FIRST QUESTIONED MY EXISTENCE
CHAPTER TWO: 10
FINDING MUSIC SAVED MY LIFE
Interest in New Art Forms * Dealing with the Military Draft
CHAPTER THREE: 24
HOW I GOT STARTED IN VEDIC CULTURE
CHAPTER FOUR: 40
MY FIRST TIME SEEING SRILA PRABHUPADA IN SAN DIEGO
Seeing Srila Prabhupada in Los Angeles * San Francisco Rathayatra
CHAPTER FIVE: 49
BACK IN BUCHANAN
New Vrindavana, September, 1972
CHAPTER SIX: 54
MAKING CHANGES IN BOSTON
Quit Smoking on Strength of Chanting
CHAPTER SEVEN: 60
BACK IN BUCHANAN AGAIN
Seeing Srila Prabhupada at the Chicago Rathayatra * Selling My Bass Guitar
CHAPTER EIGHT: 65
TRYING LIFE IN THE TEMPLE
One More San Francisco Rathayatra * Readying for Permanent Changes * The Last Time I saw Srila Prabhupada
CHAPTER NINE: 73
WHY I ADOPTED THE VEDIC SPIRITUAL PATH
CHAPTER TEN: 80
JOINING THE DENVER TEMPLE ASHRAMA
Writing a Letter to Srila Prabhupada, December, 1975 * Diving Deep into the Transcendental Vibration * Getting Initiated as Sri Nandanandana Dasa * Finally Leaving Denver
CHAPTER ELEVEN: 98
MOVING TO THE CHICAGO TEMPLE
Getting Married * Connecting to Krishna Through the Deity * A Change of Management
CHAPTER TWELVE: 114
MOVING TO THE DETROIT TEMPLE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN: 118
MOVING TO DALLAS NOT WHAT WE EXPECTED
CHAPTER FOURTEEN: 124
MOVING TO NEW VRINDAVANA
CHAPTER FIFTEEN: 130
MOVING BACK TO DETROIT AND GETTING ON TRACK
CHAPTER SIXTEEN: 133
HOW I STARTED WRITING
My Writing Philosophy and Style * My Trip to India and How it Changed my Publishing * When Amazon Came A’Calling
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: 146
THE BOOKS I PUBLISHED
Finally A Website * Having Two Identities—Stephen Knapp and Sri Nandanandana dasa * Free Ebooks * Free Brochures
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: 171
FORMING THE VEDIC FRIENDS ASSOCIATION
The VFA Mission
CHAPTER NINETEEN: 176
CHALLENGES AND QUESTIONING MY FUTURE
CHAPTER TWENTY: 181
SPEAKING AT MADISON SQUARE GARDEN
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: 185
EXPANDING OUR TEMPLE YATRA
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: 196
MY PILGRIMAGES AND LECTURE TOURS ACROSS INDIA
My First Trip to India: Getting a Personal Taste of the Country
My Second Trip to India: My First Extensive Pilgrimage
My Third Trip to India: My First Rathayatra Festival in Puri
My Fourth Trip to India: West India and Then Some
My Fifth Trip to India: The Northern Region
My Sixth Trip to India: 2001 Kumbha Mela
What Changed My Travels to India
My Seventh Trip to India: Lectures and Rathayatra in Jagannatha Puri
The Return of Vivekananda
My Eighth Trip to India: Forming the Vedic Friends Association and Touring the South
My Ninth Trip to India: My First Tour of the Northeast
My Tenth Trip to India: Being a Tour Guide for My Friends
My Eleventh Trip to India: My Second Tour of India’s Northeast
My Twelfth Trip to India: South India Again and the “Spirituality Beyond Religion” Conference
Dealing With the Racial Prejudice
My Thirteenth Trip to India: Mayapur for Gaura Purnima
My Fourteenth Trip to India: Another Try at North India
My Fifteenth Trip to India: Staying at Radha Kund for Kartika
My Sixteenth Trip to India: Attending a Rally to Free the Temples of Andhra Pradesh From Government Control
My Seventeenth Trip to India: An Intensive Lecture Tour Followed by Pilgrimage
My Eighteenth Trip to India: Another Intensive Lecture Tour
My Nineteenth Trip to India: My Second Kumbha Mela Festival at Prayagraja and Beyond
My Twentieth Trip to India: Visiting Mayapur and Beyond
My Twenty-First Trip to India: The Ujjain Kumbha Mela and the Simhasth Convention
My Twenty-Second Trip to India: The Bhagavad-gita Conference and International Ramayan Conference
My Twenty-Third Trip to India: Another Bhagavad-gita Conference at Kurukshetra and My Trip to Devaprayag
My Twenty-Fourth Trip to India: The Grand Opening of the Peace Dome in Pune
My Twenty-Fifth Trip to India: The Second International Ramayana Conference in Jabalpur
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: 291
RECEIVING LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AND
PADMA SHRI AWARDS
Being Awarded the Padma Shri * Going to India, My 26th Trip to Receive the Padma Shri Award * The Padma Award Ceremony Day * April 29, A Tour for the Awardees * Our Last Morning in Delhi and a Ride to Vrindavana * Visiting Vrindavana One More Time * Back in Delhi to Catch Our Flight Home
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: 330
FINAL THOUGHTS: A FEELING OF CONTENTMENT AND DEEPENING MY RAGANUGA BHAKTI
Thank You to Everyone Who Has Helped Me Along the Way * Health Problems * What is Next * Diving Deeper Into Raganuga Bhakti
GLOSSARY
ORDERING INFORMATION
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