I had never really felt much of a desire to visit the United States until one of my well-wishers, HH Badrinarayan Maharaja had encouraged me to visit his GBC zone in the Western part of the States. I had in the past invited him to visit Bangladesh and on two occasions had had the good fortune of taking him for a tour, introducing him to this very special world within ISKCON. At this opportunity Maharaja got to know me and appreciated my realizations on the topic of Krishna's culture. And at the same time he received impressions of the environment and met the sweet devotees, who had taught me so many things, bringing Prabhupada's teachings and instructions from the Bhagavatam to practical life for me.
I had felt obliged to accept Maharaja's request to visit some of the temples in his GBC zone - after all we can't only accept support and encouragement, without offering some service in return!
I had felt obliged to accept Maharaja's request to visit some of the temples in his GBC zone - after all we can't only accept support and encouragement, without offering some service in return!
And here I was now - embarking on a journey into the unknown, visiting a new continent....!
I had booked a flight from Munich to Houston/Texas via London, and on my arrival at my destination I had to come to terms with the disappointing fact that my luggage had not arrived. It got stuck in London and was delivered only three days later. I had considered myself to be already pretty detached and living a life of a renunciate, having only so few possessions. However, Krishna showed me how we can still get attached to so many little insignificant things within our daily needs. Luckily I was not giving any programs for the first two days, and thus I managed to get by with one set of devotional cloth and borrowed another punjabi suit.
I had booked a flight from Munich to Houston/Texas via London, and on my arrival at my destination I had to come to terms with the disappointing fact that my luggage had not arrived. It got stuck in London and was delivered only three days later. I had considered myself to be already pretty detached and living a life of a renunciate, having only so few possessions. However, Krishna showed me how we can still get attached to so many little insignificant things within our daily needs. Luckily I was not giving any programs for the first two days, and thus I managed to get by with one set of devotional cloth and borrowed another punjabi suit.
In the early days of ISKCON, HH Tamal Krishna Maharaja had been a prominent leader of the community in Houston. By Krishna's extraordinary arrangement the devotees of ISKCON Houston had not long ago received large amounts of laxmi and had constructed a marvellous temple for Their Lorships Sri Sri Radha Nilamadhava, Gaur Nitai and Giriraja. And I felt immediately charmed by the beauty of Their Lordships' large and round faces.
The temple also owns a big block of appartments and several houses, which grhasthas can rent in order to live in walking distance to the temple - a secret of success in family life. And at the same time the temple receives regular income for its maintenance. A wonderful arrangement!
The temple also owns a big block of appartments and several houses, which grhasthas can rent in order to live in walking distance to the temple - a secret of success in family life. And at the same time the temple receives regular income for its maintenance. A wonderful arrangement!
On this trip around North America I planned to offer everywhere the course on "Sheltering Relationships - The Foundation to Devotee Care" - a perfect introduction to the topic of culture. As we have discussed previously, within material life and its culture, nobody wants to give shelter and nobody wants to accept shelter, whereas in spiritual life and its culture these two exchanges form the very foundation to any meaningful relationship and are thus very natural.
The topic was so relevant for this community - just what the devotees needed to discuss and apply! Now they had met their target of establishing this beautiful new temple, and it certainly had to be filled up with more devotees and happier devotees - the natural result when devotees feel sheltered and nourished. They had already aspired to establish a Devotee Care Committee, and this seminar came very timely in order to offer a deeper understanding of what Devotee Care is all about: nourishing and protecting a devotee's faith in Srila Prabhupada, Krishna and the process of devotional service through sheltering, trusting and confidential relationships. After the seminar the main leaders of the community requested for a final meeting in a small circle to receive more clarity in regards to starting a structured mentoring system. If the leaders show keen interest in this topic, then my humble attempts fall on fertile grounds.
Discussing the qualities we need to cultivate in order to be a good shelter giver was of special interest and relevance, giving the senior devotees a very concrete target to strive for. The need of the mentor having to be sheltered himself forms the basic foundation to all other qualifications. We can only offer something to others which we have ourselves. No matter on which level of advancement we may be - we need at least one confidential, trusting relationship in our life, where we can reveal our mind and share our innermost struggles and fears and ask for advice and guidance. Without such confidential relationship we are leading a very risky life. Our own mind can easily take over and lead us off the track, since we can't objectively assess ourselves as long as we have material desires and attachment. Bharat Maharaja serves as a perfect example of this principle. This lila is a typical devotee-care story. Bharat Maharaja wanted to give shelter to the deer, but he was not sheltered himself. He did not have a mentor who could tap him on the shoulder and urge him not to get too involved with the deer but rather concentrate on his spiritual practice and sadhana. And thus, even though on the platform of bhava, his highly transcendental emotions turned into material attachments and emotions, and he had to accept one more birth in the material world - in the body of a deer. A sobering warning to us all.....!
In this regard I came across a wonderful little video clip - please watch it! It only takes one minute, but it is powerful.....
https://www.facebook.com/NiranjanaSw/videos/915185448813309/
All along I distributed 85 copies of my new book - I had arranged them to be sent by post from Ukraine, well ahead of time.
It was an enlivening visit to Houston, with many new relationships being established. And I left with the firm intention to return next year for more.....
On the 9th of May I flew off to the desert state of Arizona.......
Your servant, Devaki dd
In this regard I came across a wonderful little video clip - please watch it! It only takes one minute, but it is powerful.....
https://www.facebook.com/NiranjanaSw/videos/915185448813309/
All along I distributed 85 copies of my new book - I had arranged them to be sent by post from Ukraine, well ahead of time.
It was an enlivening visit to Houston, with many new relationships being established. And I left with the firm intention to return next year for more.....
On the 9th of May I flew off to the desert state of Arizona.......
Your servant, Devaki dd
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