Blog Posts

When we cannot forget and forgive

4/16/2024

On the 9th of April I returned to Durban after giving the devotees a one-week break after the Ratha Yatra, and to now offer some programs.
In Durban, the main temple is the Sri Sri Radha Radhanath Mandir - a very beautiful temple with gorgeous Deities, nice gardens, exotic trees and bushes and a fish pond surrounding the entire temple. There is also another big temple with Lord Jagannath at the other end of the city. I was well taken care of in the Radha Radhanath temple and offered a variety of programs. I also visited the Jagannath temple and gave a seminar on the topic of "The Power of Forgiveness" - an always relevant topic for one and all...

"False Ego? What's that? I don't have that...!"

4/9/2024

I have fond memories of my time in Cape Town when I was a child...
Now I had the opportunity to visit again as a preacher...

I don't want children

4/3/2024

For many years I had heard about the glories of the Ratha Yatra Festival in Durban - a 4-day event which takes place traditionally every year over Easter. This year, I finally had the opportunity to take part. We had HH Indradyumna Maharaja, HH Bhakti Caitanya Maharaja and HH Bhakti Marg Swami with his famous drama group gracing the event.

My connection to South Africa

3/27/2024

My connection to South Africa goes back to my childhood. My parents were very adventurous travelers - in 1968/69, when I was ten, they traveled with us three kids for one year around the Southern part of Africa. I didn't go to school for a whole year and never even noticed the fact that I missed a year - I returned to my old class.
Just after Christmas of 1968 we left our home and traveled by car from Germany to Lisbon in Portugal. We loaded our car on a big ship which took us within 2 weeks to Angola, stopping over at the tropical islands of Madeira and Sao Tome. When we got off the ship in Luanda/Angola, the rainy season had not finished yet, and we traveled in a very adventurous and almost life-threatening way through the jungle towards Namibia - in a car which was not meant for such travels....!

A lazy and lousy way of serving prasadam

3/8/2024

My time in Mayapur during January and February was intense and blissful. As always, I offered six courses over 6 weeks, concluding with the seminar on the false ego which is always very popular. We observed beautiful festivals in Mayapur - the Pushya Abhishek, Vasanta Pancami celebrating the first day of spring, Advaita Acarya's appearance and Lord Nityananda's appearance. The highlights were the opening of the Nrsimhadev Wing of the TOVP and the Maha Abhishek of the large Pancha Tattva Deities in the beginning of March, attracting large crowds of devotees to visit the holy dham.
During my entire stay in Mayapur I spent most mornings between 6:30am and 8am in the Pancha Tattva courtyard, offering leaflets to invite devotees to the courses and distributing my books. I had a blissful time there, connecting with many nice devotees and meeting people from all around the world who I had met before, and distributed lots of books. Book distribution to devotees - in some ways maybe even more important and blissful than to non-devotees...!

Polishing up our rusty chanting habits

1/20/2024

On my arrival in Mayapur on the 11th of December it took me a few days to settle into my nice ashram at the goshala and get into a regular daily routine. My friend Dhara Mataji from Germany had agreed to assist me, and I was grateful to have her association and help.
We immediately started to make all the necessary arrangements for the upcoming Holy Name Retreat at Ekachakra Dham over Christmas - a program which over the years has become very dear to my heart.

Understanding a man's heart

12/11/2023

In the beginning of December I visited Indore, with the 1st of December being my birthday. I was contemplating not even mentioning anything about it, but then I thought it would rather be a sad day then. I usually like to use this occasion to feed the devotees and engage in loving exchanges, which always creates a very joyful atmosphere. So I told my hosts that I would like to sponsor a more fancy dinner prasadam after the evening program on that day. And of course, they immediately understood the reason behind it. So the word got out, and the devotees made several carob cakes and joyfully expressed their good wishes, with the mood being joyful and filled with loving exchanges.

The unloving and demanding mother-in-law

11/29/2023

I have been in Mayapur for the last one month. Nevertheless, I want to share some thoughts about my visit to Hyderabad at the end of November.

The contaminated intelligence finds many justifications

11/22/2023

From an external point of view, Mysore in South India is maybe one of the most pleasant cities in India. With a population of less than one and half million people, it is not so congested and thus known for good air quality. Many parks make it into a very green and relaxed city, and being located at an altitude of 770 meters above sea level brings along a pleasant climate.

When our opulences become toxic

11/15/2023

On the 8th of November I arrived in Vishakapatnam/South India - my first visit to this temple. Samba Prabhu and his good wife Nitaisevini Mataji (JPS) are heading up a huge project under construction - a big temple complex directly on the beach front. She has a PHD in education and has also established a nice school - the Divine Touch School, where children learn academics combined with devotional subjects and skills.
I was invited to give a couple of programs in the temple and the congregation, and Nitaisevini Mataji requested me to visit the school and answer some questions of the students. And they had a lot of good and meaningful questions - much to my surprise....!

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