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Jayananda made his own notes
Introduction
Sri Siksastakam
Invocation

1.The First Time I Saw Him
2.A Kind Friend to All
3.Ratha-yatra Pastimes
4.Jayananda Serves the Holy Name
5.\u201cI Won't Care for the Comforts of My Body...\u201d
6.Only for the Benefit of Others
7.Jayananda and His Love for Prasadam
8.Transcendental Fraud
9.The Good Old Days
10.Sri Jayananda, the Perfect Receptacle of Sri Guru's Grace
11.The Shining Lamp of Knowledge
12.Keep Me Searching for a Heart of Gold
13.Real Love Lasts \u2013 for Eternity
14.Confessions of a Nitya-baddha
15.Best of Both Worlds
16.Moments of Full Consciousness
17.Separation and Grief\u2013He Still Lives
18.Ode to Jayananda
19.Conclusion

Appendix A: He Will Always be Remembered
Appendix B: Jayanandanugas Give Tribute to Jayananda
Thakur
Appendix C: Thoughts From Jim Kohr's Family
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* * * * *
Introduction

The intentions for writing this book are numerous. Primarily, I wish to
enliven the reader with some amazing stories and sublime qualities of
Jayananda Dasa (Jim Kohr). And there is the hope to instill faith in God
in the readers, just as Jayananda gave me faith, and continues to give me
faith in God. Some readers, such as relatives and friends of Jim Kohr,
may not be familiar with Krishna Consciousness, and we sincerely hope
they will read and benefit from this book. In order to help everyone
enter Jayananda's world, we give a list of Sanskrit terms and definitions
as well as a \u201cwho's who\u201d right after this Introduction. For those who
knew Jayananda, I hope the literary experience of my meditations on
him will intensify the rare privileged gift they received from God by
having such a dear person in their lives. And we hope these memoirs of
his devotion will inspire all with the joy and wonder of God's personal
reciprocation with His dear servitors.
Because Jim Kohr's life was not confined to mere sectarian faith, a prior
understanding of Lord Krishna is not a prerequisite. Although serving
ultimately as a member of the Krishna Consciousness Movement, his life
actually expressed a universal conception of God and the love for God
and His creation, as well as His great mercy shown to His dear servitors.
Jim received boundless mercy from the same God and Father Who is
worshiped by different people in different countries and religions of the
world. He is the same Father Who possesses countless names such as
Jehovah, Yahweh, Allah, Buddha, Rama, and Krishna, ad infinitum. The
same sun shines on everybody's head, and because we all live in different
lands, the sun is known by many different names, such as el sol, helios,
sauil, sonne, the sun, and so forth. Despite the different names, it is still
the same sun. So God is one, although He is known by so many names,
in many different ways.
God's special mercy upon Jim Kohr may be appreciated by observing his

5

rare quality of love for all types of people without discrimination. All
men display various forms of affection, as seen in their life's activities.
Some men (if not most) have affection only for themselves. Such gross
selfishness is common in the world. Other men extend their affection
externally, for wife and children. Sometimes it is said that the purest
form of love in this material world is the love of a mother for her child.
Some men love their dog or cat. Some have great affection for their
particular social circle, such as a church group, or club, or football team,
or their comrades in the workplace. Some extend their affection further
to their nation, and some build hospitals for suffering humanity. And
thus we see that men serve their nation and family and fellow men in
various altruistic ways. Still, in such altruism there is seen a certain
amount of extended selfishness because it istheir family,their nation,
and ultimately they serve just to get pleasure from such activities.
On the other hand, when we examine the caliber of saints like Jim Kohr,
we find a unique universal affection or love for all of humankind, for all
creatures of God. More important than love for the bodily welfare of
men, such saints work selflessly for the benefit of the immortal souls of
all men. Acting on this exalted stage of love is only possible through
God's grace. The common man can only theoretically imagine such a
state of consciousness, and many of us cannot conceive of it, and even if
we tried to imitate it, we cannot. Jim's life goes beyond all imagination,
for as we see in these narrations, he lived this kind of divine love
practically every minute of his life. Sometimes a person may argue that
such altruistic love may have some vestiges of self-aggrandizement, being
a desire for recognition and fame. But the reader will readily find that
Jim had no such desire for fame in any way. His life was proof of the
great mercy of God upon His dear servitor. And so by hearing and
reading of the activities of Jayananda the Saint, we get more and more
faith in God.
Out of all kinds of love, there are so many temporary conditions of love
such as love of self, love of man and woman, love of money and power,
love of cats and dogs. And then there is the everlasting love of the
Supreme \u2013 love of God and His representatives, or saints. Out of all
types of love, the most intense is the love of saints, who are the dearmost
servitors of God. This is because they bring the reality of the great mercy

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