Krishna Conscious devotees have been visiting the border cities of El Paso and Juarez to preach at various yoga centers since the early 1970s, but they now have a permanent presence in the city thanks to a flourishing home program run by a dedicated grihastha couple Krishna Charan Dasa and his wife, Jasmine Kim Fong. It’s called the New Nilachal Bhakti Yoga Community, and it is the temple home of Jagannatha, Balarama, and Subhadra.
A Not-So-Chance Meeting
In 2010, Krishna Charan (then Alfredo Gutierrez) was introduced to Krishna consciousness by a traveling preacher who gave a class in El Paso. Gutierrez didn’t know much about the philosophy at the time but was interested in the spiritual principles presented in the Bhagavad Gita At It Is. However, he lost touch with the devotees, forgot their names, and even forgot what they looked like. It seemed that there was no way to reconnect with them again.
It wasn’t until 2018 that his desire to become a devotee turned to desperation. Still, no regular programs or permanent headquarters in El Paso existed. However, the Hare Krishna devotees visited regularly and hosted hotel programs at the Best Western Hotel and the Hawthorn Suites.
That was when he became close to Caitanya Chandra Prabhu of Dallas, Texas, who encouraged him to start a home program. “On April 21st, 2019, with five people in attendance, we hosted our first home program,” explained Krishna Charan. As he became more involved in Krishna consciousness, he was determined to find out who gave that yoga studio class back in 2010. Fortunately, the devotees he was now in contact with knew who he was looking for and where to find him; it was Jivananda Dasa Vanacari, who lived in Tucson. “I traveled to Arizona to meet him and was initiated by His Grace in September 2020.”
Read more: https://iskconnews.org/inspiring-service-in-el-paso-began-with-a-chance-meeting-at-a-yoga-studio/
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