MICHAEL GRESSETT ALIAS MAHASAUMYA DASA ( FLORIDA ,US ):HE IS A DIRECT DISCIPLE OF SRILA PRABHUPADA I started reading about the world's religions when I was 13 years old. I couldn't see myself as a Christian for a variety of reasons. At first I liked Buddhism, but as I got older I realized that I could find everything in Hinduism, or sanatana dharma as you call it. Most Westerners think that reincarnation is fun and games. I never thought that. I met the ISKCON devotees when I was 15 and took their magazine, and cut out the pictures and put them on my wall. I was taking darshan but didn't realize it. Right before I turned 18, when one becomes a legal adult in the U.S., I met the devotees again. I went to their temple in San Diego. This was the first time I saw the arca-vigraha of Lord Krishna receiving puja. There was a lecture, kirtana, and prasada. A week later I moved into this temple, on my 18th birthday. I served my guru for several years living in the asrama. The first time I witnessed Tulasi aratik, I felt love. I must have been a devotee of Tulasi from previous lives.