“Mukunda and his wife, Janaki, were actually planning to go to India. It occurred to Mukunda that maybe he should ask the Swami whether or not there was something he could do for him before he went. The answer was, ‘Since you are going to the West coast, why don’t you see if you can open another center.’ That wasn’t exactly what Mukunda had in mind, but he accepted the desire and instructions of Srila Prabhupada. So, he came to collect my husband and me, who at that time, as members of the hippy tradition, were not married but were living together on the top of a mountain in Oregon. We were employed by the federal government to look out for fires. The only fire we were not thinking of was the fire of devotional service. So, they stopped and asked if we would like to join them to open a temple. And I, in my infinite wisdom, asked him, ‘What is a temple?’ And he truthfully answered, ‘It is a storefront painted white.’ ” — Malati dasi
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Jul 132013