FROM BUDDHA TO KRSNA

While visiting Milan, Italy, I met a devotee who had previously been a Buddhist monk. When I asked him how he became a Vaisnava, he said he once had a teacher who taught Shaolin Kung Fu. He would come to the Buddhist monastery to teach the monks.

“One day when he came he was singing. He had brought a harmonium and was singing very beautifully. When I later asked him what he was singing, he said he was singing the Damodarastakam. I wrote down the name and later looked it up online and found out it’s about Krsna.

“The next time I saw him I asked, ‘Who is Krsna?’ He said, ‘Oh, that’s a very good question.’ He then gave me the Bhagavad Gita. I took it home and read it in three days. I couldn’t put it down. As I was reading it, I realized I had found the Absolute Truth. I was so happy I was crying. As a monk I had been peaceful, but I wasn’t happy; something was missing. I was missing Krsna. As I was reading the Gita, I was begging Krsna for forgiveness for my offenses. After all, Buddhism is voidism–very offensive!

“When I asked the devotee if there was a place I could learn more, he said there was a temple I could visit or even live at as a monk. So I came here, to Villagio Hare Krsna, just outside of Milan. I’ve been here since July, and by Krsna’s mercy, I don’t want to leave.”

He said the Buddhist path prepared him for Krsna consciousness. In the Buddhism he practiced, everyone followed the four regulative principles. He would sleep only about three or four hours a night–very austere. His name is now Giriraja dasa.