Upon my arrival in Calcutta on the 19th of December I spent one night in a little Hotel near the airport. On the next morning I received four ladies at the airport - Dominique and Damodara-priya Matajis from Germany, Tatjana from Austria and Anna from Russia. All the arriving flights were according to schedule - something rare during the cold season with its foggy mornings and common delays..... And we traveled out to Mayapur together...
Anna and Dominique had come to assist me for the next two and half months in Mayapur. And upon our arrival there was lots to do: my ashram needed a thorough clean in order for us to settle in and feel at home. And we had only a few \ days in order to prepare for the Holy Name Retreat at Ekachakra, which would take place from the 27th to the 31st of December. This retreat would be for ladies only.
It was wonderful to be back in Mayapur, and to greet all the well known faces during the morning program. Some devotees had read my article on dandavats about the topic of Female Diksa Guru, and they expressed their appreciation for it. And I enjoyed being back in my ashram and regularly taking darshan of the cows from my veranda....
Anna and Dominique had come to assist me for the next two and half months in Mayapur. And upon our arrival there was lots to do: my ashram needed a thorough clean in order for us to settle in and feel at home. And we had only a few \ days in order to prepare for the Holy Name Retreat at Ekachakra, which would take place from the 27th to the 31st of December. This retreat would be for ladies only.
It was wonderful to be back in Mayapur, and to greet all the well known faces during the morning program. Some devotees had read my article on dandavats about the topic of Female Diksa Guru, and they expressed their appreciation for it. And I enjoyed being back in my ashram and regularly taking darshan of the cows from my veranda....
As last year I distributed leaflets during the morning program and after the SB class to the matajis, inviting them to participate in the Holy Name Retreat. It was a wonderful way to meet devotees and connect with them, and I met so many nice ladies! It almost felt like being out on Sankirtan - trying to catch some souls and pulling them out of their day-to-day life to expose them to a unique experience: immersing them in Nityananda's mercy at Ekachakra Dham, to assist them in deepening their relationship with the holy name.....
It was not easy to find ladies who were free to join the event. Many were studying at the Mayapur Institute or Mayapur Academy, or they had fixed services which they could not leave, or they had small children and family which they also could not leave behind. There are always so many things in our life which are seemingly more important than our relationship with the holy name....I guess this is our disease....
Dominique and myself traveled to Ekachakra one day before the retreat commenced, in order to set everything up: preparing the rooms for the devotees, and arranging for a little Pandal tent on the roof of the Guest House. This would be the seminar room - our Bhajan Kutir for the next three days..
It was not easy to find ladies who were free to join the event. Many were studying at the Mayapur Institute or Mayapur Academy, or they had fixed services which they could not leave, or they had small children and family which they also could not leave behind. There are always so many things in our life which are seemingly more important than our relationship with the holy name....I guess this is our disease....
Dominique and myself traveled to Ekachakra one day before the retreat commenced, in order to set everything up: preparing the rooms for the devotees, and arranging for a little Pandal tent on the roof of the Guest House. This would be the seminar room - our Bhajan Kutir for the next three days..
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It was cold at night and during the early morning, which created a certain mood of seriousness and tapasya and increased our determination to deeply focus on the holy name. During the day the mild winter sun sent her pleasant rays to our bhajan kutir on the roof.
A nice group of twenty-five serious Matajis from all around the world came out to Ekachakra to deepen their relationship with the holy name. Some ladies had especially come all the way from Pune - I had left a poster on their notice board advertising the retreat on my visit in October. Several teachers from the International School in Mayapur had also managed to free themselves in order to join the event.
Upon our arrival we went on parikrama around Ekachakra, visiting the main places of Nityananda's pastimes under the guidance of one local devotee, begging for Nityananda's mercy.
A nice group of twenty-five serious Matajis from all around the world came out to Ekachakra to deepen their relationship with the holy name. Some ladies had especially come all the way from Pune - I had left a poster on their notice board advertising the retreat on my visit in October. Several teachers from the International School in Mayapur had also managed to free themselves in order to join the event.
Upon our arrival we went on parikrama around Ekachakra, visiting the main places of Nityananda's pastimes under the guidance of one local devotee, begging for Nityananda's mercy.
Three young ladies participating in the retreat were born into our movement - one of them was Vraja Kumari Mataji from Sydney, who I remember as a little girl some twenty-five years ago! Her parents are disciples of Srila Prabhupada and have always been active in the preaching mission: in the early days as temple president, and now running a Kirtan Center in Sydney and attracting lots of young people to Krsna consciousness. All these three ladies were nice kirtaniyas, and it was a real pleasure to have them amongst us. Some participating matajis also gave nice morning classes in connection with the holy name. The atmosphere was surcharged with eagerness to serve each other in harmony, and strengthened through like-minded association we endeavored to receive deeper insights into chanting in japa as well as kirtan.
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Once again we had nice role plays demonstrating the various versions of inattentiveness on the level of the body, mind and most important: on the level of the heart. Devotees gained deep realizations which they shared on
our last evening before the Samkalpa Ceremony. The process of "boiling the milk" had brought our anarthas to the surface and helped us to face them. There are so many ugly things hiding in our hearts! And we have become so expert in overlooking and sweeping them under the carpet. Such retreats are a great tool in helping us to do some deep
internal work - with introspection and honesty.
We returned to Mayapur around lunch time of the 31st of December, just in time to join the New Year's kirtan in Prabhupada's park. Like last year the garden was transformed into a celestial kirtan arena - to enter the New Year in the most auspicious way, chanting Hare Krsna....
Beautiful flower decorations and several open fires created a pleasing atmosphere. There was a separate entrance for the ladies and for the men, and senior devotees were welcomed with flower garlands. HH Lokanath Swami and Kadamba Kanana Swami were leading the assembled devotees in chanting the holy name.
Even though the atmosphere was so wonderful, I must admit it was not easy for me to fully arrive back to Mayapur. I felt separation from being on our retreat at Ekachakra, and I missed the intimate and confidential atmosphere of deep concentration and focus on the holy name in seclusion. Mayapur seemed like a huge city with so many distractions....
Only after a few more days I fully returned to being back in Mayapur - getting ready for the next event: our three week course "Exploring the Roots of Spiritual Culture"......
Your servant, Devaki dd
our last evening before the Samkalpa Ceremony. The process of "boiling the milk" had brought our anarthas to the surface and helped us to face them. There are so many ugly things hiding in our hearts! And we have become so expert in overlooking and sweeping them under the carpet. Such retreats are a great tool in helping us to do some deep
internal work - with introspection and honesty.
We returned to Mayapur around lunch time of the 31st of December, just in time to join the New Year's kirtan in Prabhupada's park. Like last year the garden was transformed into a celestial kirtan arena - to enter the New Year in the most auspicious way, chanting Hare Krsna....
Beautiful flower decorations and several open fires created a pleasing atmosphere. There was a separate entrance for the ladies and for the men, and senior devotees were welcomed with flower garlands. HH Lokanath Swami and Kadamba Kanana Swami were leading the assembled devotees in chanting the holy name.
Even though the atmosphere was so wonderful, I must admit it was not easy for me to fully arrive back to Mayapur. I felt separation from being on our retreat at Ekachakra, and I missed the intimate and confidential atmosphere of deep concentration and focus on the holy name in seclusion. Mayapur seemed like a huge city with so many distractions....
Only after a few more days I fully returned to being back in Mayapur - getting ready for the next event: our three week course "Exploring the Roots of Spiritual Culture"......
Your servant, Devaki dd
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