I arrived in Stockholm on the 3rd of May - two days before Nrsimha Caturdasi.....
There was a noticable difference in seasons between Stockholm and the South of Germany: while everything was already very green in Germany with the flowers and bushes blossoming, the temperatures in Sweden were still very cold, and the trees had no green leaves yet. Some nights the thermometer was going down to zero degrees.
I met with the devotees in morning and evening programs, and gave an evening lecture on Nrsimha Caturdasi which fell on a Saturday. The lila around Nrsimhadeva's appearance has so many wonderful instructions and Ialways enjoy discussing them......
On Sunday we had the main celebrations for Nrsimha Caturdasi: an abhisheka of Lord Nrsimhadeva, with offerings of flowers and fruits and chanting the 108 names of Lord Nrsimhadeva, accompanied with nice slides of His Deity forms, and followed by my lecture.
Before the program I had gone for a little walk in a nearby park to pick some twigs of flowering bushes as a humble
offering.....
Flowers are a most wonderful packaging of our love and devotion towards the Lord, and they present a very suitable way to offer and express it.....
I was a little surprised to see that not many devotees came in devotional clothes to attend the festival program. Most
devotees and guests were bathing the Lord in street clothes....
Wearing devotional clothes always uplifts the entire atmosphere and makes it festive.....
We need to bring more spiritual culture in our life.....
Srila Prabhupada said: "The dhoti makes a devotee..."
I used the opportunity to announce our upcoming Holy Name Retreat in Almvik, which would be held after two weeks. The devotees expressed interest to attend it. However, the mind easily finds some reasons why other matters are more important in our life.....
This is our disease: the Holy Name is not our main priority.....!
I was living in the temple president's flat while he was absent to attend a European management meeting in Croatia. On Sunday morning the phone rang, and a young girl inquired whether she could speak to somebody to get
some information on our philosophy and life style. She had to write an essay for the school on a religion of her own choice, and she had decided for the Hare Krishna's....
I met with her on the same afternoon during the program for Nrsimhadeva's appearance. She was such a nice
girl -ready for Krsna consciousness.....!
She asked me many intelligent questions, and I shared my personal story of how I met the devotees in Sydney/Australia.Needless to say - she was rather impressed about my life style.....
I took her to the temple room, and she spontaneously payed obeisances, which is a rare thing in the Western world....
This nice little encounter brought to my mind that we have to make more effort to reach out to young and intelligent people in order to bring a new generation of nice devotees to our yatra here.
Mukunda Prabhu in Almvik has been doing school programs for the past twenty years. Infact, the schools in Sweden even pay him some money when he visits and gives a program. This is how he maintains his family of three little children - by traveling around Sweden and doing school programs....!
So many seeds have been planted, but there has not been any further cultivation, and therefore we have not been able to harvest any tangible fruits....
In Bangladesh we are bringing up a whole new generation of intelligent and educated devotees, by systematically cultivating them. For a long time I have been contemplating this issue, that somehow we should apply the same principles here in the Western world. We need to bring in a new generation of energetic and intelligent devotees, who can take our yatra's further.....
After the program for Nrsimhadeva's appearance Laxmirupa mataji took me to our Almvik community to visit the devotees for the following three days. I spent my time in meeting the devotees and discussing exciting plans for
preaching.
First of all we finalised all details around the upcoming Holy Name Retreat. It would be the first humble attempt to introduce such kind of program, and Almvik is a very suitable place for this, since it is away from all other distractions and offers such a peaceful environment and atmosphere.....
We are also planning for another retreat for newcomers at the end of September, with a yoga class, a vegetarian cooking session, and some introductory classes to our philosophy: how to find peace of mind.....
And then there will be the second Bhakti Sangam Festival at the end of July...
I met with Malia Harikunda mataji. Even though she is a mother of four little children, she nevertheless finds the time to cultivate young people through internet, who are interested in organic gardening and simply living.
And she has a burning desire to somehow bring new people to Almvik...!
She is connected with the WWOOF organisation, which stands for Willing Workers On Organic Farms". Infact, this is how I finally met the devotees in Australia, after a long search: I came as a WWOOF-er to our ISKCON farm outside Sydney, without knowing anything about Krsna consciousness....! And after arriving there I never left the association of the devotees....!
Maila Harikunda mataji had already welcomed a couple of nice young WWOOF-ers here in Almvik, and she had engaged them with various activities and had taken care of them in a very personal way. We had inspiring discussions how we can expand the program and bring more people to Almvik. She shared the news that Radhadesh is also welcoming WWOOF-ers, and a couple of them have already joined the temple! These ideas were indeed inspiring and opened a new preaching perspective to our Almvik community!
There ARE indeed so many young people out there, who are searching for a different way of life, and ultimately Krsna Himself....
We simply have to endeavor in order to reach out to them...
Ultimately we become devotees by the mercy of other devotees, who are willing to extend themselves and shed so many drops of their own blood in order to bring us to Krsna consciousness.....
On the 9th of May I flew of to Tallinn/Estonia....
Your servant, Devaki dd
Before the program I had gone for a little walk in a nearby park to pick some twigs of flowering bushes as a humble
offering.....
Flowers are a most wonderful packaging of our love and devotion towards the Lord, and they present a very suitable way to offer and express it.....
I was a little surprised to see that not many devotees came in devotional clothes to attend the festival program. Most
devotees and guests were bathing the Lord in street clothes....
Wearing devotional clothes always uplifts the entire atmosphere and makes it festive.....
We need to bring more spiritual culture in our life.....
Srila Prabhupada said: "The dhoti makes a devotee..."
I used the opportunity to announce our upcoming Holy Name Retreat in Almvik, which would be held after two weeks. The devotees expressed interest to attend it. However, the mind easily finds some reasons why other matters are more important in our life.....
This is our disease: the Holy Name is not our main priority.....!
I was living in the temple president's flat while he was absent to attend a European management meeting in Croatia. On Sunday morning the phone rang, and a young girl inquired whether she could speak to somebody to get
some information on our philosophy and life style. She had to write an essay for the school on a religion of her own choice, and she had decided for the Hare Krishna's....
I met with her on the same afternoon during the program for Nrsimhadeva's appearance. She was such a nice
girl -ready for Krsna consciousness.....!
She asked me many intelligent questions, and I shared my personal story of how I met the devotees in Sydney/Australia.Needless to say - she was rather impressed about my life style.....
I took her to the temple room, and she spontaneously payed obeisances, which is a rare thing in the Western world....
This nice little encounter brought to my mind that we have to make more effort to reach out to young and intelligent people in order to bring a new generation of nice devotees to our yatra here.
Mukunda Prabhu in Almvik has been doing school programs for the past twenty years. Infact, the schools in Sweden even pay him some money when he visits and gives a program. This is how he maintains his family of three little children - by traveling around Sweden and doing school programs....!
So many seeds have been planted, but there has not been any further cultivation, and therefore we have not been able to harvest any tangible fruits....
In Bangladesh we are bringing up a whole new generation of intelligent and educated devotees, by systematically cultivating them. For a long time I have been contemplating this issue, that somehow we should apply the same principles here in the Western world. We need to bring in a new generation of energetic and intelligent devotees, who can take our yatra's further.....
After the program for Nrsimhadeva's appearance Laxmirupa mataji took me to our Almvik community to visit the devotees for the following three days. I spent my time in meeting the devotees and discussing exciting plans for
preaching.
First of all we finalised all details around the upcoming Holy Name Retreat. It would be the first humble attempt to introduce such kind of program, and Almvik is a very suitable place for this, since it is away from all other distractions and offers such a peaceful environment and atmosphere.....
We are also planning for another retreat for newcomers at the end of September, with a yoga class, a vegetarian cooking session, and some introductory classes to our philosophy: how to find peace of mind.....
And then there will be the second Bhakti Sangam Festival at the end of July...
I met with Malia Harikunda mataji. Even though she is a mother of four little children, she nevertheless finds the time to cultivate young people through internet, who are interested in organic gardening and simply living.
And she has a burning desire to somehow bring new people to Almvik...!
She is connected with the WWOOF organisation, which stands for Willing Workers On Organic Farms". Infact, this is how I finally met the devotees in Australia, after a long search: I came as a WWOOF-er to our ISKCON farm outside Sydney, without knowing anything about Krsna consciousness....! And after arriving there I never left the association of the devotees....!
Maila Harikunda mataji had already welcomed a couple of nice young WWOOF-ers here in Almvik, and she had engaged them with various activities and had taken care of them in a very personal way. We had inspiring discussions how we can expand the program and bring more people to Almvik. She shared the news that Radhadesh is also welcoming WWOOF-ers, and a couple of them have already joined the temple! These ideas were indeed inspiring and opened a new preaching perspective to our Almvik community!
There ARE indeed so many young people out there, who are searching for a different way of life, and ultimately Krsna Himself....
We simply have to endeavor in order to reach out to them...
Ultimately we become devotees by the mercy of other devotees, who are willing to extend themselves and shed so many drops of their own blood in order to bring us to Krsna consciousness.....
On the 9th of May I flew of to Tallinn/Estonia....
Your servant, Devaki dd
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