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\n“Drawing of Tulasi Devi by Bhakta Sasha”<\/p>\n
\n“Drawing of Tulasi Devi by Bhakta Sasha”<\/p>\n
<\/a> By Bhakti-lata Dasi<\/b><\/p>\n \n<\/p>\n \n<\/p>\n One of the inmates who has been in contact with the prison ministry since 2009, Bhakta Sasha, now has terminal cancer. He is fifty-seven years old. The prospect of dying is overwhelming for everyone, but having to die in prison is even more daunting. Prisons are not known for their warm, loving atmospheres; they are cold and impersonal at best. However, Bhakta Sasha is armed with Prabhupada\u2019s teachings and graced with the holy name and he is taking full advantage of it.<\/p>\n Premvilas prabhu, from Columbus Ohio, has generously sponsored a Srimad-Bhagavatam set for him to read. Hopefully he\u2019ll have time to read it all before he passes away. Due to prisons\u2019 regulations, I cannot send him the whole set at once, so I send him two volumes at a time so that when he finishes a volume he always has the next one ready. <\/p>\n \n<\/p>\n Bhakta Sasha writes:<\/p>\n \n<\/p>\n \u201cThank you for sending the first and second cantos of Srimad-Bhagavatam. I have just finished the first canto and was intrigued by the in-depth description of all the friends and kinsmen of the armies from the Bhagavad-Gita. From the demigods to the demons\u2014like Kamsa and Sisupala\u2014 to King Yudhishthira and his actions which determined the future of the Pandavas. It really helps me get a better grasp and understanding of how the saga has carried the words of Sri K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a to the Kali-yuga.<\/p>\n \n<\/p>\n I start my day at 2 AM, showering, cleaning my room, and doing laundry. I now have pure vegetarian meals. I do not think about how I feel. I take it one day at a time. I am only concerned about staying K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a conscious. I spend my day reading and listening to my K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a CDs. I own no other kind of CDs. My day begins with the Daily Temple Program CD.<\/p>\n \n<\/p>\n There are a few CNAs (certified nursing assistants) and RNs (registered nurses) here that are K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a conscious. They were surprised to see that I spend my days in this way. <\/p>\n Unfortunately, in this particular unit, everyone has only 6 months or less to live.<\/p>\n \n<\/p>\n Every day I also let other patients read some of my other books like Coming Back<\/i>, A Second Chance<\/i>, and Holy Jail<\/i> (the book by Candramauli Swami, about prison inmates). <\/p>\n \n<\/p>\n I only want my last breath to have K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a on it. Reading and hearing bring me so much peace of mind and calm in my everyday life. It\u2019s a battle, but I resist taking any strong dose of morphine. I want my days to be lucid; I only ask for some to take the edge off my pain.<\/p>\n \n<\/p>\n I am going to close for now as I tire easily while concentrating on writing the proper words to express my thoughts. Until my next letter. I bid you peace, joy, love and happiness in everything related to K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a. Hare K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a. <\/p>\n Bhakta Sasha\u201d<\/p>\n \n<\/p>\n NOTE:<\/b><\/p>\n This article is just a part of IPM NEWS, our bi-monthly electronic newsletter. To read whole issues, please go to: http:\/\/www.iskconprisonministry.org\/<\/p>\n If you wish to receive it in your mailbox, simply email me at iskconprisonministry@gmail.com with “SUBSCRIBE<\/b>” in the subject line. <\/p>\n More excerpts of inmate letters and also their artwork are available on our website at: www.iskconprisonministry.org<\/a><\/p>\n \n<\/p>\n \n<\/p>\n WANT TO HELP?<\/p>\n \n<\/p>\n 3 Donation Options<\/b><\/p>\n Send check or postal money order to: <\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n ISKCON Prison Ministry <\/p>\n PO Box 2676<\/p>\n Alachua, FL 32616<\/p>\n Donate through PayPal at: www.paypal.me\/IPM<\/p>\n<\/li>\n For automatic, monthly donations, you can do so on our website (with the PayPal button), or through your bank \u201cAutomatic Bill Pay<\/i>\u201d option, which is free and easy.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n We can send you a tax deductible receipt<\/b> at the moment of the donation or at the end of the year, as you wish. ISKCON Prison Ministry<\/b><\/p>\n PO Box 2676<\/p>\n Alachua, FL 32616<\/p>\n\n
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One of the inmates who has been in contact with the prison ministry since 2009, Bhakta Sasha, now has terminal cancer. He is fifty-seven years old. The prospect of dying is overwhelming for everyone, but having to die in prison is even more daunting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[118],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-60666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-recent-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=60666"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60666\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60668,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60666\/revisions\/60668"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=60666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=60666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=60666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}