A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupad changed the world. When he came to America from India in 1965, few Westerners knew the deep spiritual truths behind ancient Vedic culture and civilization.Within a decade most humans on the planet had heard the Hare Krishna mantra. Shyamasundar Das (Sam Speerstra) was one of the Swami s earliest disciples. In three volumes, Chasing Rhinos with the Swami describes in loving detail the seven years Shyamasundar spent at the side of the Perfect Person. Nothing was impossible for Srila Prabhupad, and he instilled this idea in the hearts of his first disciples: Go for the rhino! Volume One of the Chasing Rhinos trilogy is the intimate account of Bhaktivedanta Swami s amazing adventures in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco, and with the Beatles in London, 1967-1970. These unique eye-witness stories have never been revealed in this special way, and will never be told this way again. Reading this deeply-researched treasure should be sadhana (spiritual practice) for every aspiring seeker.ReviewWriting Chasing Rhinos With The Swami was a labor of intense love. Not that it started out that way. I thought I could knock out seven years of memories in about six weeks, ten at the most. But then Srila Prabhupad came into my life again, called me to his room, made me laugh, began those fun, intense conversations and soon he accompanied my every waking moment. Even in dreams he came, and I put pad and pen by my bed to scratch in the half-light a memory he had sparked in the ten-minute span between sleep and awake, hoping I could decipher it later. I would rush to the computer, and the day would fly by; often I d look out the window What? It's already dark outside! I m still in my pajamas--and maybe I've described these many hours without a bite of food or a small drink of water just a five-minute prank Prabhupad played, or a half-page of some amazing conversation... In this way Srila Prabhupad took over my life these past three years; I researched and worked two to twelve hours nearly every day, and Chasing Rhinos With The Swami is the result. How wonderful now, 42 years since we parted, to live again at the perfumed silken side of my beloved Friend and Master! From Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness, Krishna says, and I have realized this as fact. So many times I would struggle with what happened on a day so long ago, so lost in a million other actions then I d pick up a book and flip to a random page, or hear a scratchy old lecture, or google London weather may 1969 and there it would be: the hint, the clue: Ah, yes! That s what happened! And the story would tumble from my brain. Chasing Rhinos is necessarily long, nearly 1400 pages (it could have been 2000), because Srila Prabhupad himself was long, and deep, infinitely complex, so perfect in every detail. Everything we experienced together: the action, the comedy, the thrills, the dramas from cosmic philosophy to making sure there was fresh ink in his fountain-pen all came tumbling forth to be captured in this rhino of a book. I pray all devotees, now and for generations to come, will feel Prabhupad s pleasant breath breathing across their shoulders when they read Chasing Rhinos With The Swami . --selfGet Ready for Chasing Rhinos with the Swami! Shyamasundar is about to take us on an incredible adventure into events that transformed our world. We will be witness to unimaginable events, events that made history, while we live side by side with Prabhupada, a humble saint who awakened spiritual love in countless hearts. This book is masterfully written and is truly unique. --Radhanath Swami, author of The Journey Home and The Journey WithinIn 'Chasing Rhinos with the Swami,' Shyamasundara Das has accomplished something truly remarkable. He successfully takes his readers back in time, with descriptive language and storytelling expertise, and gives them -- fully -- the association of His Divine Grace A. C