12-19-2006

Hi everyone!
PAMHO

My name is Bhakta Raj Prabhu das - please prabhus, just call
me "Raj" - and I first encountered devotees in (I think) the late
60's; as I recall, I'd seen some guys on 42nd Street in New York
City, and I thought, "Who in the Sam Hill :) ARE these dudes? Are
they Buddhists? Are they from . . . 'out there'?"

I mean . . . New York in the 60's . . . could've been anyone!
Anyway, I ended up encountering a very nice Mataji (Dava Shakti) in
the old Port Authority Building where I used to pass through on my
way to work, and I accepted her invitation to come to the (then)
Henry Street Temple in Brooklyn. That was back in 1972, and I've
been a devotee of Lord Krishna ever since! (I've got to say here
that I never got formally initiated, and back in the 70's I had to
overcome - and finally did! - a horrendous drug problem. But I never
stopped practicing the philosophy of bhakti.) Yes, I also had the
good fortune to attend a Bhagavad Gita class that Srila Prabhupada
was giving.

So that's a little thumbnail sketch, and I apologize if it was
verbose. Cutting to the chase about IBD, I started having some
problems with IBD several years ago. Prior to that, in 1990, I had a
hemorrhoidectomy - and it's a good thing that I did: I was losing
blood faster than it could "build up" again, and I might've died had
I waited much longer, per one of the doctors. Anyway, once I got
through the month of convalescence that followed, I felt like a new
person, and I thought my problems were over. A few years later, I
started presenting with symptoms of IBD - although at the time I just
thought that there was some minor irritation and perhaps I needed to
go easy on the ghee and the dairy. Thing is . . . the symptoms slowly
but surely got worse, and as of this writing they've become
intolerable.
Presently, I'm taking a medication called Creon-10 (sounds like
something out of Star Trek), and it's really not helping. Traditional
doctors are pretty much 'hemming and hawing' and telling me that I've
got to ". . live with it" - and I don't believe them. I've started
to lower my ghee and dairy intake (no more banana and cream shakes),
cut down on my soda, and drink more bottled water. I know that's not
hardly going to be enough, and that brings me to this wonderful chat
group: I'll avail myself of the collective wisdom we have here,
prabhus, and as I find that some of the methods shared start
manifesting positive results, I'll share that with you guys as well.
There's a saying that I heard the jazz-singer, Gil Scott-Heron once
posit:
"Each one/teach one." So let's do just that! Thanx for putting up
with my rambling, prabhus, and I look forward to fellowshipping and
dialoguing with you. yus, Raj