Interview Questions

• Vanity Karma. What exactly does that mean?
• What is the book of Ecclesiastes? Where does it come from? What’s it about?
• How is it that when you were a boy the book of Ecclesiastes so resonated with you?
• Part of your personal story involves an encounter with a Roman Catholic priest. Could you tell us about that?
• Why Krishna? Why would a nice Jewish boy. . .? Why didn’t you become more serious about Judaism? Or turn to Buddhism or Islam, for that matter?
• Who was your spiritual teacher?
• Who or what is Krishna?
• When you became a devotee of Krishna, how did your parents react?
• Jayadvaita Swami. What exactly is a Swami?
• Bhagavad-gita. That’s not a book most Americans have read. Could you give us some idea of what it’s about?
• Would you say that Ecclesiastes and the Bhagavad-gita are essentially giving the same message? Or a different message? Or what?
• Why do you think Ecclesiastes and the Bhagavad-gita still matter for us today?
• When you were writing this book, did you find any surprises in store for you?
• You traveled around India on foot for a year and half. Why did you do that? And what did you learn that you might want to share with us?
• If there’s one point you’d hope readers would take with them from your book, what would it be?

 

Pronunciation

• Jayadvaita: Jai ah dwai tuh
  • you can start with this nonsense phrase: “thai a dwight a” (with the stand-alone a’s short as in opera).
  • now, just change thai to jai and you’ve got it.
• Bhagavad-gita: Bug uh vuhd gee ta (The g’s are hard, as in go.)
  • You can start with this nonsense phrase: “Bug a bud, Rita.”
  • Then just change two letters: “Bug a vud, Gita.”
  • You’ve got it.
• Ecclesiastes: Eck-lee-zee-ASS-teez