Blog Posts

Why Krishna wears a peacock feather

8/27/2025

I arrived in Helsinki/Finland on the 12th of August and was grateful for the cooler temperatures and yet sunny weather. It was my first visit to this Vaishnava community - the devotees had eagerly requested me to stay on after Janmastami to offer some seminars. Their temple is a great place - in a central location, with lots of lawns and gardens around - a former center for old people. Some of the lawns belong to the city council, but the devotees are allowed to use them.
For Janmastami they made a great arrangement with a small stage for cultural programs and several tents offering all kinds of activities such as swinging Gopal, a book tent, prasadam tent, kids tent, shop, etc. Inside in the small temple room devotees engaged in ongoing kirtan, and a circular path allowed people to take darshan of Their Lordships. Around 3500 to 4000 guests visited throughout the day of Janmastami - mainly Nepalis and Indians; also some Western people attended the festivities.
Everything was amazingly well organised by a 27-year old devotee from an Indian background. We were lucky with the weather - Janmastami was one of the last warmer days in this nordic area, with only very little light rain.

Haribol-relationships are not nourishing us

8/12/2025

After spending some days at the temple in Paris and conducting a few programs, I traveled out to New Mayapur/France - together with Janananda Maharaja in his car. As last year, I once again decided to visit New Mayapur for the festival of Lord Balarama's appearance. In any other temple in Europe, it would be a three-hour festival, but here in New Mayapur the devotees celebrate the event over three to four days...!

Our fear of pain when leaving this world

7/30/2025

On the 20th of July, I flew from Kishiniev/Moldova to Vilnius/Lithuania to attend the Baltic Summer Festival which is always a nectarean event. This year it was graced by the presence of HH Bhakti Caitanya Swami, HH Ananda Vardhana Swami, Madhavananda Prabhu and his wife, Srutakirti Prabhu and his wife and Navina Nirada Prabhu as main guest speakers, and Sarvatma Prabhu and his wife, Sistakrit and Ojasvi Prabhus as main kirtaneers. Over 6 days around 400 devotees attended, swimming in the nectarean ocean of bliss while absorbing themselves in various kathas during the day and diving into blissful kirtans in the evenings.
Besides giving two seminar sessions on the topic of "Meeting Death With Joy" and one morning class, I spent every day all day at my book table reaching out and connecting with devotees - well known faces and new ones alike - giving personal guidance and distributing lots of copies of my books. The new book "The Vanaprastha Ashrama - Meeting Death With Joy" was especially popular and flew out like hot cakes.... My source of bliss and deep satisfaction....!

Defending ourselves towards Guru

7/20/2025

It was more than 2 years ago that I was visiting Kishiniev/Moldova last, and now, on the 9th of July, it was nice to be back and meet all the devotees again. Moldova has such a sweet and hospitable mood - very similar to Ukraine. After all, Acyuta Priya Prabhu who is the leader in Ukraine also takes care of the devotees here in Moldova. For me, it was a refreshing dip into Ukrainian nectar, especially after having been in the Western world for a while, where people are more impersonal, emotionally dry and more centered on their own goals in life. Many sweet and precious memories from the "old days" resurfaced - the loving spirit of the Bhakti Sangam Festivals, and all the nice Holy Name Retreats we had immersed ourselves in. Truly special moments of the past, which may never appear again...!

Leaving one's body is not a public performance

7/9/2025

After returning from Kenya to Germany, I spent one week at the temple in Cologne - catching my breath, doing a few programs and getting ready for my tour around Europe. Cologne has become my base in the Western world - I consider it to be the center of Europe. It is a convenient place for me to stop over, and the devotees are always welcoming and hospitable - eager to give support in so many ways. So it has become one of my homes...

Reducing our Deity to a status symbol

6/25/2025

I visited the preaching center in Eldoret for one week and joyfully associated with the local devotees - we assembled every evening to churn deep and relevant topics. Then I flew on to Nairobi to visit the main and biggest temple in Kenya for one week.

Actually, there are no controversial topics in ISKCON!

6/11/2025

I stayed for one week in Kisumu - a temple which was established and inaugurated by HH Gopal Krishna Maharaja around 25 years ago. The community is rather small and consists mainly of people from Gujarati background - some having been here for several generations. But there are also a few people from Kenyan descent. Manasi Ganga Mataji, a senior devotee in Kenya, had come with two young girls to look after me and give me some company. We all stayed together in a spacious flat around the corner of the temple which was convenient.
Every evening we had a program in the temple churning deep and transformational topics, and devotees and guests were intrigued to attend them. On the last evening some participants shared heart-moving realisations
which is always a rewarding experience for a preacher.

When a man steals the feminine energy

6/4/2025

On the 29th of May, after having spent two blissful weeks in Mauritius, I flew on to Mombasa in Kenya. It was my first visit to this country - it always feels great to "conquer new territory" and plant a few seeds by placing some copies of my books into people's eager hands and into temple's libraries. Many devotees around the world feel inspired to use them in their service of preaching and training devotees. I was glad I had chosen the "cool season" for my visit - for my German body it was still rather warm and very humid, and I was glad to have an AC in my room...
In Mombasa, ISKCON has a main temple established around 12 years ago, and the former temple which is now mainly used for student preaching. Since the universities had their holidays, I did not do any programs at the old temple.

We women are so powerful!

5/29/2025

For several years I had been contemplating the idea of visiting the devotees in Mauritius - I had heard so many nice things about this little island with their dynamic communities of eager and sincere devotees. After all, Srila Prabhupada had stated on his visit that this island could be the first Krishna conscious country of the world...
Now, after Nrsimha Caturdasi I finally had the opportunity to embark on this journey to yet another unknown preaching territory. I spent two blissful and action-packed weeks there - the devotees had arranged one or two programs for every single day; and I rarely visited the same temple twice - that's how many temples and preaching centers this little island hosts! And I did not even manage to visit all the centers.

Fasting - a most dignified way to depart

5/13/2025

After concluding my tour around the US, I arrived in Munich/Germany on the 6th of May - just in time to travel out to Simhachalam for Nrsimha Caturdasi...
Simhachalam is for me the BEST place to celebrate Nrsimha Caturdasi - a MUST in my yearly schedule. Even Mayapur can not compare to this! In this rural community situated in the Bavarian Forest, around 3 hours away from Munich, the devotees serve big Lord Nrsimhadeva in a devoted way, and His appearance day is celebrated in a grandiose style over 4 days. It is one of the main festivals - not only within Germany, but in Europe. Many devotees gather from the neighboring countries such as Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Slovenia, Hungary, Austria, Switzerland and even all the way from the UK. This year we had the good fortune to welcome many saintly personalities: HH Sacinandana Swami, HH Candramauli Swami, HH Bhakti Vaibhava Swami, HG Krishna Premarupa Prabhu, HG Parivida Prabhu, Vraja Bihari Prabhu and many young generation kirtaniyas.

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