Mr. John G Milner

John Graham Milner was born in Cincinnati Ohio in 1945; his parents were second and forth generation descendants of immigrants from England and Germany. His Father and Grandfather before him fought in both world wars. As a kid he moved from place to place with his Mom and Dad and sister Ann. His father was a salesman by trade and later started his own company in South Florida.

At the age of eighteen he enlisted in the United States Coast Guard and was stationed aboard a Cutter based at Boston Harbor. That’s where he first encountered his Spiritual Master A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami when he arrived in America in 1965 aboard the Indian steamship freighter Jaladuta.

“I stood frozen in time as his ship passed, I lowered the flag and when I raised it up again I was looking straight at him, and he was looking directly at me. He raised his left hand, palm outward as if to acknowledge the greeting.”

Six years later he took formal initiation and the following year was given invitation to the Sanyassa Ashram as a Tridandi Goswami in the Gaudia Vaishnava Sampradaya. At the ceremony Srila Prabhupada told him that more important than taking sanyassa is having the desire to take sanyassa, “You are not ready now but someday you will be.”

His spiritual quest led him to Africa, India, Europe, South America, and other parts of the world. He is a strong proponent of his Spiritual Masters unique position in the Disciplic succession, and the traditional values he taught.

He and his former wife Moselle have two wonderful sons, Alan and Gregory, and three beautiful grandchildren, Moshe, Faigie, and Miriam. In 2007 he started an independent preaching center in North Florida where he continues to teach, and sometimes speaks at nearby Colleges and Universities.