This brought back many memories. The first time I met Turiyananda he said let us walk around the lake. I had come out to California from Michigan. I was trying to pick up my spirits after the end of a fateful relationship. Near the end of the walk Turiyanada made a remark directed at me: "You need to be careful. I have seen that look on convicts."
The remark struck me as halalarious. I had a good laugh and my gloomy mood vanished. He was a very outspoken man and could break the mood surrounding an individual or a large group.
I remember him remarking about the spiritual state of the young people once in a sermon.
He said he did not know how they could make spiritual progress listening to bands called the 'Electric Prunes' and the 'Grateful Dead'. No one, including the young, seemed to mind. He had a way of saying things that would make you laugh..even if it was directed at you. It was a very dry sense of humor. He used to say; "If you want to make spiritual progress: turn off the T.V. No doubt he would have a similar comment for the internet today. Perhaps it would be: "Stop surfing the internet and find your place with God."
Jitendra
