My last destination on my tour around the US was New York. I stayed in the Brooklyn temple with beautiful Radha Govinda and had a wonderful time giving a number of programs there and also at the Bhakti Center. The facilities are great - a huge building in a good location. On the rooftop the devotees not only keep Tulasi Devi but also grow flowers and even vegetables and herbs in buckets and crates - my favorite place for chanting japa in the early morning....
On the short flight from Portland to Boise I had a window seat and was observing the change of climate and vegetation as we came closer to Boise - the only sight-seeing I am engaging in: looking out the window from the plane. It gives me some idea what my new environment is like. It was very obvious: Boise is in the desert-like state of Idaho. Outside the city there are no trees unless one goes up into the mountains. And Boise is one of the most remote urban areas within the US - in the middle of nowhere...
My next destination was Portland in Oregon - in the far North of the US, near the Canadian border. I had a window seat on the plane and saw gigantic mountain tops covered with snow. The vegetation reminds indeed of Canada - dense forests and mountains...
New Dwaraka in Los Angeles is one of our prominent and historic projects in ISKCON - Srila Prabhupada was very fond of this temple and often glorified the gorgeous standard of Deity worship. It is also the headquarters of the North American BBT, and Prabhupada had stayed here for a longer period of time, with his rooms now being maintained as a museum.
On the 7th of June I arrived in San Diego in South California. Surprisingly, the weather was cool - not what you would expect...
On the 31st of May I arrived at the Rupanuga Vedic College in Kansas City - it was my first visit to this community established by HH Danavir Goswami in 1996. Sri Sri Gaur Nitai are now residing in this former Christian church building, worshiped by a dedicated group of temple residents and brahmacaris, and a small congregation of sweet devotees of various national backgrounds. It is one of the few temples in the US that has a brahmacari ashrama with young and mainly Western bodied devotees regularly offering a bhakta program. The mood is hospitable and personal - devotees don't receive so many visiting preachers here and are thus keen for association.
The highlight of my tour around the United States was the Sadhu Sanga Retreat in Dallas over the last weekend in May - coordinated by HH Indradyumna Swami and his disciples. Many great souls of our society were gracing the event: HH Radhanath Swami, HH Giriraja Maharaja, HH Sacinandana Maharaja, HH Jayapataka Maharaja, HG Vaisesika Prabhu, Mahatma Prabhu, Madhava Prabhu and others; and the entire occasion was attended by around 3,000 devotees! It took place in the fancy Marriott Dallas Allen Hotel & Convention Center, and I was comfortably accomodated in a nice room. We had the standard morning program, and throughout the entire day devotees were immersed in blissful kirtans.
In mid of May I visited ISKCON Baltimore for one week, meeting every day with the devotees in various programs - at the temple and in devotees' homes. We dedicated the entire Saturday afternoon to deepening our relationship with the holy name - something we should be doing regularly: putting everything else aside and focusing entirely on chanting the holy name, in japa as well as in kirtan.
My tour around the US began with a visit to Chicago - a dynamic Vaishnava community established by Srila Prabhupada himself, who personally installed beautiful Sri Sri Kishore Kishori as the main Deities. The temple building was formerly a Christian church, now turned into Their Lordship's abode
Simhachalam in Germany is for me the BEST place to be for Nrsimha Caturdasi - a MUST in my yearly schedule. Even Mayapur can not compare to this....!
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Devaki Devi Dasi's Travel DiaryDevaki Devi Dasi is sharing her realizations and adventures in her Traveling Diary.Welcome to relish this nectar! Archives
March 2024
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