It is very important to hear the word of God. We have to take the time and effort that this requires—activating our spiritual senses and awakening our love for God. This is true yoga. PROVERBS 4:20-22—"My son, attend to My words; incline thine ear unto My sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are (eternal) life unto those that find them."

To illustrate just how important this is, I once heard a true, but very sad story. Years ago, in a large city, there lived an old lady who died in complete poverty. Right before she died, however, three ministers went to visit her, having been told that she was about to pass away. While in her dingy apartment ministering to her, one of the men noticed a framed document hanging on the kitchen wall. He took it down and asked the dying woman about it.

She told her three visitors that earlier in her life she had worked for an extremely wealthy lady, taking care of her every need and keeping her mansion spotless. But this wealthy lady gradually fell into poor health and died. After she passed away, her employees had to be dismissed, leaving them without employment. Jobs were very scarce in those days. A few weeks before the rich woman died, she had given her that piece of paper, which the old lady had placed in the frame and hung on the kitchen wall.

When the minister asked her if she understood what it was, the old woman said that she had never learned to read and never bothered to find out. "Well," the minister said, "this is a will. This is a legal document from that rich lady, leaving you everything she owned in consideration for your many years of dedicated service. My dear lady, don’t you realize that you are fabulously rich?"

Just see what can happen to a person (to any of us) because they "didn’t take the time to find out." And the way in which we find out is by hearing—Incline thine ear...We must not neglect the transcendental sound. If we don’t bother to hear about "the good news" that is waiting for us, how are we going to claim it?

Another way of understanding the importance of this, is to compare the "word of God" to a seed. Like any seed, if it isn’t planted, how is it expected to grow and produce fruit? Not until the seed is planted in the ground can anything happen. The seed is powerless to act until it is planted in the ground and this doesn’t happen until the farmer hears about it, receives it, and has faith that it will produce what the package claims. If we don’t trust the seeds, why bother with all the hard work to plant them? If we do not trust God, we will not pay Him any attention. We just won’t be interested in His promises. Therefore, the words, themselves, are the keys to this trust—introducing us to, "The Good News of the Vaishnava Gospel."

Surely, I wouldn’t have spent so many years, in a most peculiar religion, if I didn’t trust the words of Lord Krishna and Shrila Prabhupada. As I mentioned in an earlier chapter, I had read Krishna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead, while living in my bicycle shop in Saratoga Springs. When I read at the end of certain chapters that I was receiving a special blessing, just because I was hearing about Lord Krishna, this struck me as something most unusual—an unexpected blessing. I had never read anything like that before and this intrigued me very much.

Now that I look back, from that time henceforth my life has not been the same. For me, "The Good News of the Vaishnava Gospel" is that Lord Krishna has touched me many different times. I especially like how He has dealt with me in a very down-to-earth way. He knows perfectly well my mentality and the perfect manner in which to encourage me.

Among other things, at times my life has felt quite mystical. This is thrilling and makes my religion very personal. "The Good News of the Vaishnava Gospel" is that Lord Krishna has continued blessing me in the most telling ways—especially within the realm of coincidences where I sense Him most easily. You, too, can experience these same things.

A few years ago I was in Fort Worth, Texas, with my friend good, Krishna-katha. Several of us had made the long drive from Denver, having rented U-Haul tops for the two cars we drove down in. After renting an apartment, my friend suggested that we should return the luggage carriers to the nearest U-Haul dealer and get our deposits back. So the two of us went to the office to ask the apartment manager where the nearest U-Haul was located, seeing how we had no idea, ourselves.

As we were about to enter the office, I mentioned how I wanted to ask the manager about a tree that had been poisoned in Austin. This happened about three years earlier. I explained that before I had left Fischer, the most famous and historical tree in all of Texas began to suddenly lose its leaves, alarming everyone. Soon, various tree experts were summoned, and they determined that something had contaminated the soil.

At first no one fully realized the extent of the damage, but the more they investigated the more alarmed everyone became. Soon a whole army of tree experts descended upon the site, and it was discovered that the entire ground beneath the tree had been drenched by a very powerful weed killer.

Because I left Texas at this very point, I never found out if the tree lived or died. I believe the last thing I had heard was that the tree experts had removed all the dirt from underneath it (holding it erect with a special crane, while others carefully washed every root by hand. Fresh dirt with special soil and root boosters were then shoveled in, hoping to reverse the damage).

Another odd thing concerning this drama is that they caught the man who poisoned it. He said he did it to get even with his girlfriend, which no one, to this day, has ever been able to understand. So you can see why I was curious to find out what eventually happened to that tree.

As we walked in and sat down, the apartment manager was busy at her desk, listening to country music. Taking an opportunity, I asked her about the tree. She looked up, thinking for a moment, and said that she thought it had died. (Actually the tree is still alive, although about half of it did die). She then stood up, walked over to a small potted plant, and began methodically wiping all its leaves with a rag. Perplexed at her rather odd behavior, I asked what she was doing and she said that she had accidentally sprayed it with a poison that was in an unmarked bottle. She didn’t appear to make any connection to what I had just asked and to what had just happened to her plant—quickly returning to her desk to take a long drag on a cigarette. Krishna-katha and myself looked at each other in complete amazement, noticing the obvious coincidence.

Later, on January 1, 1992, I left Colorado, where I had been managing our Hare Krishna Food For Life program—feeding the homeless on the streets of Denver. I was moving to Potomac, Maryland, to look into the possibility of establishing a Krishna Disaster Relief  program in Washington, D.C., only a few miles away.

Not having a car of my own, I decided to take a drive-away car to the east coast. These are cars that individuals leave with companies that specialize in arranging for people, like myself, to drive and deliver them to their owners. Many of the cars need to be driven long distances to accomplish this.

I called the drive-away company that everyone recommended and sure enough, they had five cars going east—"Which one do you want?" Taking the information down on each car and getting out my road map, I quickly eliminated all but two of the five cars, because they needed to be delivered much too far from the Washington area. The idea is that you select a car that gets you closest to your destination, deliver it, get your deposit back from the owner, and finish up the last few miles by other means.

Of the two cars left, one of them had to be delivered about a hundred miles from Washington, while the other had its owner located in Great Falls, Virginia. Looking at my detailed road atlas, I couldn’t even find Great Falls and after twice checking with the drive-away company, all they could tell me was that Great Falls was located near Baltimore, Maryland. If you have a map, look at where Baltimore is, and where Virginia is, and you will see why I was so confused.

With a deadline to meet, I decided to take the car going to Great Falls since it appeared to be going somewhere near Washington. I would just have to inquire at a truck stop near Washington, and, surely, I thought, someone would know where Great Falls was located.

When I went with Krishna-katha to fill out the necessary paperwork, he looked at my drive-away agreement and pointed out that I had to deliver the car to an address on Peacock Street (Lord Krishna always wears a peacock feather in His hair). We both agreed this was a very auspicious beginning for my long trip

After a few days of driving, having made the trip with two days to spare before having to deliver the car to its owner, I decided to drive to our Potomac temple and find out from there where Great Falls was located. Besides, this way I could first unload my personal belongings, arrange for someone to follow me, and then bring me back to the temple. Making a phone call to the car’s owner, I was flabbergasted when he told me that Great Falls was located less than three miles away, and that, indeed, he lived on Peacock Street! Great Falls is just a tiny little village, and of all the cars for me to get, ending up with this one on Peacock Street (just next door) was simply too much of a coincidence to ignore its divine connection.

Due to various reasons, I was unable to start the Krishna Disaster Relief program in Washington. I had spent several months trying. Extremely frustrated, on a rainy Tuesday morning in March, I decided to abandon my efforts and instead go back to work. I had little choice because I was completely broke. Within minutes of this rather monumental decision, I received a phone call from our Food For Life director in Philadelphia, offering me the position as their kitchen manager—a job which I took, and another electrifying coincidence. The one day (within minutes) I finally decided, "OK, this is it, I am going back to work," without even applying for the job or having been to Philadelphia, or knowing that the position was open, I was offered a very good job, cooking for the homeless in our large Hare Krishna shelter.

I am only mentioning these events in my life to explain how these very real and down-to-earth episodes continue to happen in my life. When combined with the Vaishnava theology, they give me great faith in the words and existence of Lord Krishna—"The Good News of the Vaishnava Gospel."

Not long after I started working, I went to the Philadelphia public library to see if I could find a copy of the book, The Story of a Life—St. Therese of Lisieux. 

The day before I had called several bookstores hoping to locate it, but each time I was unsuccessful. As it turned out, the book that the library had could not be checked out, so I sat down in the reference section and read most of it over the next five hours. It was easy to tell that I wanted my own copy.

The following day (Sunday) I went downtown again and at one point, becoming turned around, asked directions to get back home. After a stranger pointed the way, I found myself walking down a narrow side street. Feeling completely out of place amidst the towering buildings and unfamiliar noise, I said two small prayers, one to Lord Krishna and one to Jesus Christ.

Taking less than a dozen steps, I noticed that the store I was standing next to was a used bookstore. Perhaps, I thought, they would have the book I wanted, The Story of a Life.

Opening the door and entering, immediately to my left, behind a counter, I noticed the person in charge. Asking if he could help me, I said, "Yes, I am wondering if you have the book, The Story of a Life." The man didn’t even move, except to turn around, reach his hand straight out, less than thirteen inches away, pulling the book from the shelf. He told me that the book was his personal copy, but that if I wanted it he would sell it to me for ten dollars. Then he said if I really wanted it he would sell it to me for five dollars.  I pulled out a five-dollar bill and walked out of the store with the book in my hand, completely stunned by what had just happened.

Not only had less than five minutes gone by from my two short prayers, just think about all the millions of books in this world that could have been in that used bookstore, plus the other million books that could have been within arm’s reach. There is also this incredible fact that I later discovered—this particular bookstore was one that only specialized do-it-yourself books, such as home, plumbing, and car repair. Nothing else. So how was this possible?

As I continued my journey home, I thanked Shrila Prabhupada and Lord Krishna. Besides ending up with the book that I wanted, this wonderful aspect of "The Vaishnava Gospel" again inundated me with faith. This says to me that my religion is real, and that it’s not just something in my head, but in my life. "The Good News of the Vaishnava Gospel" isn’t just a bunch of lofty words in a book, but rather has entered my life in a most wonderful way, just as it can enter yours.

No different than you, I, too, appreciate wonderful thoughts, and Krishna Consciousness has blessed me with the most incredible world of thinking imaginable. The Vedic Scriptures are immensely powerful, breathtakingly beautiful, highly detailed, and thrilling to read. Their sheer volume is nearly incomprehensible. Many devotees, such as Steven Rosen, are writing several books a year, painstakingly researching and publishing the Vaishnava histories for us all to read.

In the beginning of my involvement with the Hare Krishna movement, of course I was told about many of the great devotees who make up our rich history, but there was very little information written about them—not like there is today. Now there are many books about these great personalities who have also embraced "The Good News of the Vaishnava Gospel." Reading about their incredible lives and discovering how Lord Krishna reciprocated with them has sent chills running down my spine. Also, hearing about the quality and character of these rare souls and that they, too, had unshakable faith in Lord Krishna, has immensely sharpened my confidence in God. You can also read these wonderful books (available from Krishna Culture—see appendix).

More "Good News" is that Shrila Prabhupada has left no room within my false ego for expansions of delusion. He was especially specific about sin and about proper behavior. I really appreciate that he spelled this out so clearly, but when I examine myself I have to hang my head in shame. If I’m not actually doing the wrong thing, like so many of us, I fall short of the mark. However, "The Good News of the Vaishnava Gospel" is that it contains a special ingredient for the likes of me. It has to, or why else would I constantly see Lord Krishna dealing with me with such love and patience?

What I am speaking about is mercy. If I had to say in just one word what "The Good News of the Vaishnava Gospel" means to me the most, without hesitation I would say, "mercy"—easily available to everyone.

I am just an ordinary sort of person and actually, for many, I was not even interested in God. I have no illusions of grandeur, and as Shrila Prabhupada so rightly said, my heart consists of a large lump of black coal. I may say that I try, that I am sincere, or that I care, but what is the real depth of these so-called good qualities of mine? Hardly, I find, the depth of my thin skin. Yet, I marvel at how merciful Lord Krishna and His devotees have been to me. I offer Lord Krishna and Shrila Prabhupada my allegiance. But not perfectly, because I can’t. I am not perfect.

I can only guess about other people, but as for myself, I have suffered so much in my life. Some years ago I fell in love with a very beautiful girl. We had a lovely daughter, Julia, followed by her baby brother, Patrick.

I have a very motherly disposition, and cherished taking care of our children and being their father. I gave the very best that I had to my family and loved them dearly, but it was not enough. Their mother had a dark side to her that was very deceitful. One day she just decided to not come home, leaving me to raise the children by myself. Patrick was still crawling at the time. Needless to say, seeing my spouse unable to be a faithful wife and good mother devastated me.

After eight months went by, with the onslaught of winter approaching and not being able to give my business enough attention, I found myself having to borrow money to pay the rent. Although I worried constantly about my children’s welfare, Julia and Patrick never suffered from want of love from their daddy. They were my two best friends and I played with them and taught them nice things. I refused to give them anything but one-hundred-percent of my time and affection, shunning baby sitters and daycare centers. It was only after I put them to bed in the evening that I would go out to my shop and work—often until two in the morning, hoping to make enough picture frames to sell. These extremely late hours began to take their toll on me.

My family is not from Texas and I didn’t have anyone to turn to for help. Since we had just moved to Fischer, I had not made any new friends. The three of us were really on our own. Out of desperation I was finally able to speak with their mother over the phone. She said she would take care of the children for me, while I tried to get things more secure for them. This was only to be a temporary arrangement.

Soon after she drove off with them, I called her, wanting, of course, to visit the children. But I was told she had left with them, moving over 1,200 miles away. I called there and spoke briefly with her, unable to get over my disbelief that she had taken my two babies away like that—without even asking or consulting with me. Then I called again, and the phone had been disconnected. That was years ago and not a day goes by that I don’t think of my little girl and my son. Hardly a week goes by without this pain overwhelming me. Even in my dreams I find myself crying. 

Where did all my suffering begin? I’ll be fifty-two in a few days and looking back over my life, it has been pretty intense. "The Good News of the Vaishnava Gospel" is that it tells me of a place where there is no suffering—a place free from anxiety. So this gives me great hope for the future, because I believe I am going to this wonderful place. Lord Krishna has given me His word: "Simply by performing devotional service he reaches the supreme eternal abode." We can all go there!

Especially meaningful to me and greatly enhancing this promise is an added bonus. This is the special solace I’ve needed in order to cope with having lost my children. Although I have no idea where they are, my life still has great meaning for them—more "Good News" for all of us who want to do the absolute best for the ones we love. "The Lord gives special protection to the family members of a devotee. The Lord is so kind that He gives all protection to them." (note #4)

Both in the Holy Bible and in the Vedas, the kingdom of God is described. JOHN 14:2—"In my Father’s house are many mansions." SHRI BRAHMA-SAMHITA (29,56)—"...in abodes built with spiritual gems, surrounded by millions of purpose trees...all water is nectar, every word a song, every gait is a dance, where numberless milk cows always emit transcendental oceans of milk."

So this should be our goal—the Lord’s magnificent abode. Although God has made our planet very beautiful, decorated with graceful waterfalls and majestic mountains, wrapped at times in blankets of wild flowers and white snow, even God admits that when compared to His eternal kingdom, what we see around us, "springs from but a spark of My splendor." (BHAKTIVEDANTA SWAMI PRABHUPADA, Bhagavad-gita As It Is—10.41, © BBT-Int’l, 1989)

The Vedic description of the spiritual world is vastly different from what we know of, here on earth—inconceivably more wonderful. This is "The Good News of the Vaishnava Gospel." This is our Lord’s transcendental abode. This is the home of Lord Jesus Christ, the home of Shrila Prabhupada, and home to all the great saints who love God with unflinching faith—a place more marvelous than we can even imagine.

I want to go there, and I want all of the people I love to go there. I want you to go there, too. Heaven is a place completely free from suffering and heartbreak. Also, the weather is great. El Niño doesn’t exist. How could there possibly be any smog, acid-rain, droughts, hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, tornadoes,  excessive temperatures, or ozone holes? Of course there is none of this.

In God’s glorious kingdom you won’t find vicious dogs that tear little children apart.  There are no germs or viruses that make you sick, or any rats, pesky flies, biting mosquitoes, bee stings,  poisonous snakes, spiders, shark attacks, or cockroaches.  Whatever is there is fabulous and naturally desirable.It is a place free from pain and terror. You won’t ever find animals being slaughtered, or death, or any killing, whatsoever.  Buildings aren’t rotting away. The evening serenity isn’t shattered by loud sirens. The sweet fragrance of the air doesn’t suddenly become obnoxious. The lovely path isn’t spoiled by a huge pile of dog stool.

 Your joy is never shattered by bad news—a war, a fire, a horrible accident, old age, cancer, AIDS, boredom, confusion, dreadful feelings, envy, disappointment, apathy, terror, starvation, rumors, betrayals, nonsense, child molesting, rape, robbery, children being hurt, murders, ethnic cleansing, deformities, ugly discoveries, guilt, neuroses, bad habits, serial killers, cigarette smoke, bad breath, heartbreak, divorce, rejection, bad odors, infections, rudeness, dissatisfaction, discouragement, filth, prostitution, defeat, failure, dirt, riots, hunger, intoxication, hurt feelings, frustration, loneliness, harassment, prejudice, hatred, not being able to fit in, animosity, rejection, fear, perverseness, disobedience, mental illness—or people who are weird, scary, vicious, bitchy, moody, ugly, or who let you down.

No, the spiritual world is a much different place. It is the land of eternity, bliss, and knowledge. You live forever in complete happiness and full of knowledge. 

The more you look, the more beauty you find. You aren’t always searching for pleasure and satisfaction. Arriving in this spiritual domain, by the side of God, you never feel unfulfilled. The Lord is the fountainhead of unfathomable joy, mercy, and peace. You live within His abode full of vibrant spiritual health.

You never discover ugly things or nasty secrets. You are never disappointed by what you experience in the spiritual world. It is more wonderful than you ever thought. And this wonder never dries up. Instead, you experience it forever, in an ever-increasing degree. Everything is delightful, beautiful, and fresh.

In this transcendental world your body is spiritual, always youthful, and your knowledge is complete. You are eternally innocent, never losing your "childhood." 

Your spiritual body is never deformed, inadequate, or incapable of performing. Everything about it is perfect—your sight, hearing, smell, etc. Vision isn’t limited to certain colors. Hearing isn’t confined to certain frequencies or taste restricted to our earthly standard. You don’t get sick. Teeth don’t need to be pulled.

Here, on earth, we might go to the mountains, perhaps to visit Redwood National Park, which again, is "but a spark of our Lord’s splendor." But the birds who live there have better eyesight than we do. Count all of our senses—which would be fully absorbed on such a vacation—yet they all have their limitations. Colors are only so bright, and then we don’t even see the complete spectrum. In the spiritual word, spiritual bodies are a million times more sensitive and in every way perfect.

But wait, there is more to come because the most wonderful thing are the saints that you meet there. They are all so kind and gentle and you get along with everyone. You don’t meet people that you just can’t relate to. Everyone’s heart is simple, never caustic or judgmental. They don’t turn into horrible adults, sniffing one another with their eyes, like the dogs here on earth sniff one another with their noses. You have eternal friends, all sharing the same thing—love and service to God. The ones you love never grow old and die, or have other bad things happen to them.

What will it be like meeting Lord Krishna? Beyond all comparisons! Meeting Him will melt your heart, setting it ablaze with love, kindled by the most irresistible beauty you have ever witnessed. It is said that, "His unique loveliness charms millions upon millions of Cupids." (note #5)

When we meet our beloved Lord, He captures our heart, enchanting us forever with His charming loveliness.

As I have tried to define the true meaning of heaven, "The Good News of the Vaishnava Gospel" is that such a place does exist. However, unless we take the time and effort to hear about it, and hear that we can reach its transcendental shores, we will be like that old lady who died fabulously rich, not even knowing it.

God’s love for us is an established fact, just as that old lady’s inheritance was an established fact for her. This is why hearing the word of God is so strongly emphasized in all Scripture—"Good News" that will give your life and actions new meaning, hope, purpose, and value.

"The Good News of the Vaishnava Gospel" tells us that God lives and that we can live with Him, too. Finally there is historical and accurate information that we can trust, and which tells us about the person we are supposed to love. "Thou shalt love thy God with all thy heart."

This "Good News" contains the highest conception of love of God. Although some may call it "foreign," in its own right The Good News of the Vaishnava Gospel glorifies and helps bring into focus, the real spirit of what Jesus Christ taught. MATTHEW 23:37—"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind."

By embracing this "Good News," you transform your life into a life of purity and joy, thus establishing a very real relationship between yourself and God. You are secure in your faith, protected, and in touch with positive feelings, coming from an atmosphere that constantly reminds you of God.

You have hope for a future beyond this life. This "Good News" gives you a lifestyle that you can put into daily practice—a lifestyle flavored with devotional service to God. It promotes individual responsibility and rings true within your heart. It is centered around the most wonderful person of all, Lord Krishna, the fountainhead of all ecstasy and pleasure. This "Good News" is my ace in the hole, my hope out of this mess called material life.