Part 6 – Gaining ground in Gainesville

With Prabhupada giving his approval for this manner of preaching, Amarendra decides to run for Congress in Gainesville, Florida. Rupanuga, Ravindra Swarupa, Bala Krishna, and other temple leaders come to Gainesville to help Amarendra with his run for office, and to help develop a process and a platform. Running for office can develop into a dynamic preaching vehicle and things appear to be going well. Soon this political preaching mood catches on in other centers.

Sesha: I was a brahmachari for the In God we Trust party. Rupanuga was a sannyasi at that time heading up the party in Washington, DC. All the political programs were under the In God We Trust banner. A lot of devotees were coming to get a look at the IGWT party and how it worked. Bala Krishna came from Canada and devotees were coming from all over because this was becoming a big thing.

I also worked on Amarendra's campaign for office in Gainesville. I worked on the campaign with Balabhadra, from Atlanta, going door to door in all the black neighborhoods dressed as karmis. Amarendra did well in the black neighborhoods, and then we headed back up to Washington. When we regrouped in DC, we were printing and distributing a newspaper called The New World Harmonist.