I will always remember the year 2003 as the year that I was initiated into the holy order of tridandi-sannyas; the year that I took a giant leap of faith; the year that I jumped blindly into the infinite...
On March 19th, on the Anandotsava of Sri Jagannath Misra — the day after Gaura Purnima — I took sannyas initiation from His Divine Grace Sri Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda-dev Goswami Maharaj, at the Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math in Nabadwip Dham.
Encouraged by Srutasrava Prabhu, and after receiving Sripad Bhakti Sudhir Goswami Maharaj's "the future is now" letter in December last year, I went to India to discuss my future prospects, my future life of service to Srila Gurudeva.
After five weeks with Srila Gurudeva and Goswami Maharaj in India, I returned to San Jose to give up the lease on my apartment, to get rid of all my possessions, and to resign from my job as a network administrator and webmaster in the fast-paced techno world of Silicon Valley, California.
In the middle of March, free from my material entanglements, and with the good wishes of both my grown-up children, I returned to India to fulfill my spiritual destiny: to be initiated into the tridandi-sannyas renounced order of life, to become an itinerant monk (sannyasi).
Now, on the order, and under the direction and guidance of Srila Govinda Maharaj — for my own purification — I travel to many parts of the world to try to faithfully represent that beautiful conception of Krishna consciousness so charmingly presented by Srila Gurudeva.
My service has taken me to seven countries on four continents during the past year. At the beginning of 2003 I could not have dreamed that the end of the year would find me in the Moscow temple, just a few blocks from Red Square...
I pray for the mercy and the grace of the Vaishnavas so that I may continue to go wherever I am sent in the coming year, to try to faithfully serve Srila Gurudeva and his devotees.
URL: http://www.imonk.net/03/12/31.html