Birthday:

October 11

Name / Initiated name

Ilya P.

Daily number of rounds of Hare Krishna mahamantra.

+1 and counting

When, where and how did you come into contact with the Hare Krishna Movement?

Its a really simple story actually. I met a person who introduced me to the movement and teachings. At first I was very apprehensive (for a few years). Later, no longer influenced by this devotee I became more interested on my own and decided that I would like to learn and study more. I was quite surprised that I like the movement.

Name the nearest or most frequently Visited ISKCON temple/ centre and name few of the devotees whom you know.

I do not visit ISKCON temples frequently enough to know many devotees as I live about 2 hour drive from Boston and about 1 hour to Hartford temple.

Please describe yourself so that other like minded devotees can find you.

I am a busy devotee who is almost never seen at the temple. I like to listen to online lectures on Srimad Bhagavatan. I am not always comfortable in large groups of people and prefer to have a quiet devotional life. I like to practice bhakti yoga with like minded devotees who would be interested in discussions on application of teachings in life.

What are your expectations from this community?

I am hoping that I can at times worship the dieties and have prashadam at the temple. I seek refuge from being unable to find it anywhere else. I know that people as a group or even individually may not be able to help in all the ways we wish for personally, however one common place of worship and service provides a place where people of great values and qualities gather and are able to provide all with individual attention from Krishna himself (through service). Without other people, devotees going to the temple, there is no stronghold for people like me to find refuge. By going and worshipping I am hoping that I can also contribute to the movement through participation, as I have been quite selfish in that respect.

Describe any specific service you would love to offer to Lord Krishna & His devotees?

I can offer many services. In fact all I do is wish all day as to how I can make an offering to Krishna. Perhaps at times I think too much. I came to believe that what I do is my dharma, and I have to work and make money to support myself. However, because of (in my early age) wanting to be successful I studied a lot and became an inventor, engineer, scientist, programmer. Since I have enjoyed listening to online lectures so much, I would like to contribute my services such as programming or developer to improve on the quality of online transmission of such wonderful lectures and teachings. It would really help to form a group of other interested devotees. I can also offer engineering services. I speak Russian and English and can perform translations. I would really like to contribute from a scientific perspective as well, as I believe that there is a lot of interesting research in that sphere of discussion in understanding or learning more about some of these 'ancient miracles'.