On my arrival in Stockholm/Sweden on the 6th of May I could strongly notice that I had flown around a thousand kilometers North.
Here the spring had not arrived yet - it was only a few degrees above zero, and there was not a single green leaf in the trees. It felt like six weeks' difference in comparison to my mother's village in the South of Germany, where the forests and gardens were already green and in full blossom.
Yet, the days were much longer here in the Nordic Scandinavia, and it became dark only around 10 pm.
Every country on this planet has it's specific conditions of life, with various kinds of enjoyment and austerity. Sometimes the conditions are so different, and even the bodies people have been awarded are so different, that we almost feel like we have arrived on another planet and meet a different species of life....
According to our desires, activities and tastes we take birth here or there, and we can try our good luck to be happy in forgetfulness of Krsna....
Here the spring had not arrived yet - it was only a few degrees above zero, and there was not a single green leaf in the trees. It felt like six weeks' difference in comparison to my mother's village in the South of Germany, where the forests and gardens were already green and in full blossom.
Yet, the days were much longer here in the Nordic Scandinavia, and it became dark only around 10 pm.
Every country on this planet has it's specific conditions of life, with various kinds of enjoyment and austerity. Sometimes the conditions are so different, and even the bodies people have been awarded are so different, that we almost feel like we have arrived on another planet and meet a different species of life....
According to our desires, activities and tastes we take birth here or there, and we can try our good luck to be happy in forgetfulness of Krsna....
It felt good to meet all the devotees of our Almvik community again, and I took my time to connect with one and all on a personal level.
The highlight of my visit was our second Holy Name Retreat, which began with a little festival for Gadadhara's Appearance on Thursday the 9th of May and concluded on Sunday with the feast.
Almvik is surrounded by forests and fields, and the secluded and peaceful atmosphere with Pancha Tattva being Their worshipful Lords creates the ideal place for such a retreat.....
Around fifty devotees participated in this wonderful event which is for this part of the world an almost extraordinary number of participants.
Devotees came not only from different parts of Sweden, but also from the neighboring countries of Germany, Latvia and Estonia. Cheap airlines such as Ryanair make it possible to fly for as little as 40 Euros.....!
And the Ryanair Airport is the closest to Almvik - no doubt Krsna's arrangement....!
The Almvik devotees invited me to give the morning class on Gadadhara's Appearance. I had collected some nectar with philosophical details and pastimes which I happily shared, and senior devotees added comments and realizations. Then we bathed Gadadhara Pandit, accompanied with melodious kirtans. A sweet way to start a Holy Name Retreat....
In the afternoon we opened the retreat and embarked on our internal journey, and for the following three days we were immersing ourselves in discussing deep aspects of chanting the holy name and immediately applying them in personal japa and kirtan exercises. It offers the perfect formula to prepare the consciousness and open the heart to receive Sri Harinam Prabhu on deeper levels and allow Him to perform His mysterious work on our hearts.
Devotees eagerly tuned into the mood and participated with great attention. The skits summarizing the previous day's discussions were once again sweet and deep, and devotees played with great sincerity, serving the audience to deepen their learning experience. Infact, these skits are almost acting like a mirrow, where we can recognise ourself....
Thus we spent the days in our secluded bhajan kutir - our little wood panelled yoga hall up in the tower of the temple building. Through the open windows the intense and prayerful chanting during the evening kirtans was resounding all around the Almvik community and purifying the atmosphere. Devotees working in their gardens could hear every single word of the Maha Mantra.....
The highlight of my visit was our second Holy Name Retreat, which began with a little festival for Gadadhara's Appearance on Thursday the 9th of May and concluded on Sunday with the feast.
Almvik is surrounded by forests and fields, and the secluded and peaceful atmosphere with Pancha Tattva being Their worshipful Lords creates the ideal place for such a retreat.....
Around fifty devotees participated in this wonderful event which is for this part of the world an almost extraordinary number of participants.
Devotees came not only from different parts of Sweden, but also from the neighboring countries of Germany, Latvia and Estonia. Cheap airlines such as Ryanair make it possible to fly for as little as 40 Euros.....!
And the Ryanair Airport is the closest to Almvik - no doubt Krsna's arrangement....!
The Almvik devotees invited me to give the morning class on Gadadhara's Appearance. I had collected some nectar with philosophical details and pastimes which I happily shared, and senior devotees added comments and realizations. Then we bathed Gadadhara Pandit, accompanied with melodious kirtans. A sweet way to start a Holy Name Retreat....
In the afternoon we opened the retreat and embarked on our internal journey, and for the following three days we were immersing ourselves in discussing deep aspects of chanting the holy name and immediately applying them in personal japa and kirtan exercises. It offers the perfect formula to prepare the consciousness and open the heart to receive Sri Harinam Prabhu on deeper levels and allow Him to perform His mysterious work on our hearts.
Devotees eagerly tuned into the mood and participated with great attention. The skits summarizing the previous day's discussions were once again sweet and deep, and devotees played with great sincerity, serving the audience to deepen their learning experience. Infact, these skits are almost acting like a mirrow, where we can recognise ourself....
Thus we spent the days in our secluded bhajan kutir - our little wood panelled yoga hall up in the tower of the temple building. Through the open windows the intense and prayerful chanting during the evening kirtans was resounding all around the Almvik community and purifying the atmosphere. Devotees working in their gardens could hear every single word of the Maha Mantra.....
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After a concluding Samkalpa ceremony and sharing of realizations devotees enjoyed the Sunday Feast and departed to their homes - returning to the material world.....
Satyam satyam puna satyam - Harer namaiva kevalam.......
The only thing that is reality, reality, again I say reality - the holy name of Sri Hari alone is everything.....
I spent some more days in Almvik, and we discussed the idea of systematic cultivation of the students in schools and universities.
In Bangladesh we are bringing up a new generation of intelligent and educated devotees through youth preaching, and no doubt the principles are universal and can be applied anywhere in the world. It is simply a matter of ongoingly nourishing the faith of these youngsters and giving regular devotee association - 'sraddha' and 'sadhu sanga'.
Unless we reach out to the intelligent people of this world, we easily have excentric people join our temples - people who can't manage their life in the material world. In order to bring Lord Caitanya's Sankirtan Movement forward we need intelligent and sharp people, who want to make Prabhupada's mission their life and soul.
As Srila Prabhupada instructed us: in order for this movement to continue we need intelligence and organisation....
And the students of today are the leaders of tomorrow...
During this period of training and education a person is searching and trying to orientate himself in life - how to establish himself, and what values and goals to set. It is the perfect time to plant the seeds for devotional life and thus mold him into a Vaisnava....
In Bangladesh and India this systematic youth preaching bears tremendous fruits, and for several years I have been contemplating the idea of trying to bring these principles to the Western world, where we desperately need a young generation of energetic and intelligent devotees to bring our movement further.
Also in Riga/Latvia one preacher has been offering for many years a three-months' course on Vedic knowledge to students, and after each and every such course there are at least five or six people who start chanting Hare Krishna regularly! If we will offer further cultivation, then no doubt some will join the temple, become brahmacaris and thus receive solid training.
In the Western world brahmacaris are almost becoming an extinct species these days, and devotees tend to forget the importance of brahmacari training. It is part of Krsna's perfect system which He has offered us in order to elevate our consciousness and ultimately bring us back to Godhead.
Brahmacari life forms the solid foundation to all other phases of life - grhastha and vanaprastha life. If a person has received good brahmacari training, then these deep spiritual impressions and experiences cannot be eraised and will always remain there within his heart and mind. It will give the spiritual basis for family life, and it will tremendously help to move on to the renounced phase of life once the family duties are completed.
After all Prabhupada made it clear: a true gentleman does not remain in family life until the time of death! If we want to return back to Godhead we have to prepare for death by cultivating renunciation and detachment.
In Bangladesh we keep the students very much separate from other congregational members, and we offer them separate classes, seminars and courses. Sometimes we take them on excursions to visit holy places and give seminars, and once a year we have the IYF Youth Festival, where around 400 practicing students come together for three days in sravanam kirtanam. What a wonderful way of deeply affecting their hearts and helping them to solidly commit themselves to Krsna consciousness....
No doubt, the same formula could be applied anywhere in the world. It simply requires longterm and systematic cultivation. And of course, the students have to finish their full university studies and are not at all encouraged to quit their studies and join the ashram prematurely. In this way they will have their degree in the pocket and are always free to get married and maintain a family. Thus we will have qualified people in the ashrams - who are there because they want to be there, and not because they don't know how to earn their livelihood in the material world.....
On the following weekend I visited the devotees in the Hare Krishna Center in the city of Stockholm. I stayed for four days, and we were meeting for lively discussions every evening, and I was also invited to give the Sunday feast lecture.
Again I shared with the leaders in private discussions my visions and experiences on this topic of systematically cultivating the youth. The devotees here have been conducting school programs for many years. Almost every day one or two school classes are coming to the preaching center to receive an introduction into what they think to be "Hinduism", but in actuality they get an opportunity to hear about the sublime and eternal process of Sanatan Dharma.
None of the devotees had ever had the idea of trying to cultivate these visiting pupils and students further! So many seeds have been sewn, but since we have not given any further cultivation there has also been no harvest.....
Interestingly enough - during those days of my visit to Stockholm one of the leaders traveled on a local train in devotional clothes. He sat next to one young lady, and they started talking to each other. She told that two years ago she had met him during a school program, and she commented: "I liked it so much, and I wished I could have found out more about your life style....."
It surely was Krsna's confirmation.....!
On the 21st of May I flew off to Munich/Germany for yet another wonderful event - Nrsimha Caturdasi....
Your servant, Devaki dd
Satyam satyam puna satyam - Harer namaiva kevalam.......
The only thing that is reality, reality, again I say reality - the holy name of Sri Hari alone is everything.....
I spent some more days in Almvik, and we discussed the idea of systematic cultivation of the students in schools and universities.
In Bangladesh we are bringing up a new generation of intelligent and educated devotees through youth preaching, and no doubt the principles are universal and can be applied anywhere in the world. It is simply a matter of ongoingly nourishing the faith of these youngsters and giving regular devotee association - 'sraddha' and 'sadhu sanga'.
Unless we reach out to the intelligent people of this world, we easily have excentric people join our temples - people who can't manage their life in the material world. In order to bring Lord Caitanya's Sankirtan Movement forward we need intelligent and sharp people, who want to make Prabhupada's mission their life and soul.
As Srila Prabhupada instructed us: in order for this movement to continue we need intelligence and organisation....
And the students of today are the leaders of tomorrow...
During this period of training and education a person is searching and trying to orientate himself in life - how to establish himself, and what values and goals to set. It is the perfect time to plant the seeds for devotional life and thus mold him into a Vaisnava....
In Bangladesh and India this systematic youth preaching bears tremendous fruits, and for several years I have been contemplating the idea of trying to bring these principles to the Western world, where we desperately need a young generation of energetic and intelligent devotees to bring our movement further.
Also in Riga/Latvia one preacher has been offering for many years a three-months' course on Vedic knowledge to students, and after each and every such course there are at least five or six people who start chanting Hare Krishna regularly! If we will offer further cultivation, then no doubt some will join the temple, become brahmacaris and thus receive solid training.
In the Western world brahmacaris are almost becoming an extinct species these days, and devotees tend to forget the importance of brahmacari training. It is part of Krsna's perfect system which He has offered us in order to elevate our consciousness and ultimately bring us back to Godhead.
Brahmacari life forms the solid foundation to all other phases of life - grhastha and vanaprastha life. If a person has received good brahmacari training, then these deep spiritual impressions and experiences cannot be eraised and will always remain there within his heart and mind. It will give the spiritual basis for family life, and it will tremendously help to move on to the renounced phase of life once the family duties are completed.
After all Prabhupada made it clear: a true gentleman does not remain in family life until the time of death! If we want to return back to Godhead we have to prepare for death by cultivating renunciation and detachment.
In Bangladesh we keep the students very much separate from other congregational members, and we offer them separate classes, seminars and courses. Sometimes we take them on excursions to visit holy places and give seminars, and once a year we have the IYF Youth Festival, where around 400 practicing students come together for three days in sravanam kirtanam. What a wonderful way of deeply affecting their hearts and helping them to solidly commit themselves to Krsna consciousness....
No doubt, the same formula could be applied anywhere in the world. It simply requires longterm and systematic cultivation. And of course, the students have to finish their full university studies and are not at all encouraged to quit their studies and join the ashram prematurely. In this way they will have their degree in the pocket and are always free to get married and maintain a family. Thus we will have qualified people in the ashrams - who are there because they want to be there, and not because they don't know how to earn their livelihood in the material world.....
On the following weekend I visited the devotees in the Hare Krishna Center in the city of Stockholm. I stayed for four days, and we were meeting for lively discussions every evening, and I was also invited to give the Sunday feast lecture.
Again I shared with the leaders in private discussions my visions and experiences on this topic of systematically cultivating the youth. The devotees here have been conducting school programs for many years. Almost every day one or two school classes are coming to the preaching center to receive an introduction into what they think to be "Hinduism", but in actuality they get an opportunity to hear about the sublime and eternal process of Sanatan Dharma.
None of the devotees had ever had the idea of trying to cultivate these visiting pupils and students further! So many seeds have been sewn, but since we have not given any further cultivation there has also been no harvest.....
Interestingly enough - during those days of my visit to Stockholm one of the leaders traveled on a local train in devotional clothes. He sat next to one young lady, and they started talking to each other. She told that two years ago she had met him during a school program, and she commented: "I liked it so much, and I wished I could have found out more about your life style....."
It surely was Krsna's confirmation.....!
On the 21st of May I flew off to Munich/Germany for yet another wonderful event - Nrsimha Caturdasi....
Your servant, Devaki dd
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