On the 14th of March I reached Mayapur - after two years it felt simply wonderful to be back, like coming home. I immediately could feel a sense of deep confirmation that I would like to retire and leave my body one day in Mayapur - Krishna willing...!
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I had decided to not only visit Mayapur and Vrindavan, but move on from India to Australia...
Since my last diary post some weeks have gone by, and life has once again drastically changed...
On the 10th of January I arrived in Simhachalam - it was good to visit again after 5 months' absence. Meanwhile the management had changed, with a new TP and Management Board put into place which definitely brought about a big improvement. Gradually things are becoming more systematic and structured - something a big project like Simhachalam certainly needs.
In mid of December, my writing retreat at Goloka Dham/Germany was suddenly interrupted when I received the news of my mother being hospitalised with Covid. She had been tested positive at a routine check but did not have any symptoms whatsoever - even though she is almost 92 and not vaccinated! Since her caregivers and home care nurses could not come any longer, they had no other choice but to admit her in a Corona ward in the hospital, where she was extremely unhappy and miserable.
Shortly after Govardhana Puja, in mid of November, the Corona restrictions became tighter, when I decided to start working on my next book entitled "Family Life as an Ashrama - Secrets of Success". The restricted winter season would be a good time to go in seclusion and embark on a writing retreat..
After spending one week in Cologne temple in Germany, I took a flight to Stockholm/Sweden on the 4th of November to visit our farm community in Almvik, the home of Sri Sri Pancha Tattva
Throughout the month of October I did a 3-week preaching tour around Croatia, visiting several devotee-communities along the coast and inland where I had not been before: Split, Zadar, Osijek, Virovitica and Varazdin. Other well-known places such as Zagreb and Rijeka I also included in my tour. I chose to travel by public bus - a nice way to see the country with its beautiful coastline and islands, and at the same time have the internet to catch up on my correspondence. Traveling inland, high mountains had even received a first layer of snow - as if the demigods had sprinkled some icing sugar around....
For the main Vaishnava festivals of Balarama's appearance, Janmastami, Srila Prabhupada's appearance and Radhastami I visited the main temples in the three Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. I had a great time on this one-month tour, with wonderful Vaishnava festivals, Holy name retreat, seminars and classes, TV interview and interviews with journalists from three popular magazines - all the while distributing lots of copies of my books, including the newly published one entitled "Entering the Grihastha Ashrama".
In mid of August we celebrated a unique wedding at Simhachalam: Tribhanga Prabhu, who is in charge of the agricultural department and Bhaktin Zina were giving their vows in front of Lord Nrsimhadeva, the sacrificial fire and the assembly of the Vaishnavas to serve and support each other in their roles as husband and wife. The celebration was sweet, simple and yet very unique.
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Devaki Devi Dasi's Travel DiaryDevaki Devi Dasi is sharing her realizations and adventures in her Traveling Diary.Welcome to relish this nectar! Archives
October 2020
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