Her Grace Visakha Dasi is not only Temple President of Bhaktivedanta Manor and a disciple of ISKCON’s Founder Srila Prabhupada, but also a prolific writer.
In 1971, at age 20, she had just published her first book and was beginning a career in photojournalism. She dreamed of bringing people around the world closer together by sharing their common kinship and values through her photographic essays.
At the invitation of her colleague who was working on his MFA thesis in India, Visakha Dasi travelled east, where she first learned about bhakti yoga (loving devotion to God). Upon first contact with the tradition, she didn’t see its relevance, so didn’t embrace it at first.
But Five Years, Eleven Months and a Lifetime of Unexpected Love is her deeply personal account of the emotional upheaval caused by her doubting her own cherished convictions, by her discovery that bhakti could gradually become alarmingly reasonable.
She portrays her own and others’ experiences in India, Europe, and the United States as she and her husband grappled with knowledge and a culture that was once foreign, yet also resonant with their hearts. She reflects on the profound, life-altering questions that we all sometimes ask.
In Five Years, Eleven Months, Visakha Dasi beautifully weaves together her personal losses and gains with an ancient tradition that enfolds her, creating a moving narrative for anyone who has ever asked, “Why?”
You can view the book and her other titles here: