The month of January is my favorite time in Mayapur. It is a peaceful time, when not too many people are crowding the temple room during the morning program. Devotees come from all corners of the world to take up various studies - at the Mayapur Academy, the Mayapur Institute or the Kirtan Academy. It is a time for internal work - to deepen one's spiritual life in the uplifting atmosphere of holy dham of Mayapur. People come in order to receive something substantial and profound to take back to their home countries - some deeper nourishment, some insights into more hidden and confidential aspects of Krishna conscious practice.
It is also the time when I like to offer five courses on applied Vaishnava philosophy, which manifests as various cultural aspects of our practical life in Krishna consciousness. We might be doing so many scriptural studies, but the real challenge is how to live accordingly and factually implement them in our daily life. This is ultimately how culture manifests - by practically living a certain worldview, ideology and philosophy. And the fact that it is sometimes so difficult for us to embrace certain aspects of spiritual culture shows, that we are not quite there yet in living our philosophy. It requires systematic training and education, which will help us to undergo an internal transformation to gradually let go of the tastes and attractions to materialistic culture.
Recently I came across a powerful statement of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur:
"If I stop preaching the unbiased truth due to fear that people will not like it, I am accepting the non-vedic way, rejecting the vedic way. Then I become an atheist and I lose my faith in the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the personification of truth."
Aren't we sometimes struggling with our fear that people will not like to hear the unbiased truth, and we tend to compromise it, so that people will more easily accept Krishna consciousness? Behind this attitude is a subtle form of atheism - we don't have full faith in Krishna's recommendations and His Divine system.....
Recently I came across a powerful statement of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur:
"If I stop preaching the unbiased truth due to fear that people will not like it, I am accepting the non-vedic way, rejecting the vedic way. Then I become an atheist and I lose my faith in the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the personification of truth."
Aren't we sometimes struggling with our fear that people will not like to hear the unbiased truth, and we tend to compromise it, so that people will more easily accept Krishna consciousness? Behind this attitude is a subtle form of atheism - we don't have full faith in Krishna's recommendations and His Divine system.....
Our first course was entitled "Our Need For Sheltering Relationships" - a profound discussion shedding light on the principles of giving and accepting shelter being the foundation to Vaishnava relationships and Devotee Care.
In the following week we churned the topic of "The Vanaprastha Ashram - Meeting Death with Joy", which is building on the previous course, since giving shelter and guidance is the foremost contribution of the Vanaprastha ashram - something which is not yet fully established within our society.
During the third week of January we embarked on the discussions of "Men and Women - More Confused Than Ever". I had given the course a more catchy title, which gives a clearer idea of the very essence of this course. Previously I had named it "Men and Women in Spiritual Culture", which people commonly mistook for a course on the grhastha ashram. But it is so much more than that - infact it sets the foundation to the following course entitled "From Grhamedhi Life to the Grhstha Ashram". And this course sets again the foundation to the last course of "Our Children Are Our Future". So all five courses are very systematically arranged, and those who participated in all of them received something solid for their life in Krishna consciousness.
All seminars were well attended by nice and serious devotees from all around the world, some having been in Krishna consciousness for many years. We had wonderful discussions and exchanges - it was well spent time! We concluded each course by distributing maha prasadam to each participant and sharing realizations which completed the loving exchange and created a personal and intimate atmosphere - a wonderful environment to receive deep transformations in the association of like-minded devotees.
The winter season was longer and colder this year than in other years. The early morning hours were very foggy and wet, with the cold creeping into the lungs and bones. Some mornings I stayed at home, not wanting to get sick. Finally the day came to celebrate the first day of spring - Vasanta Panchami, which is always a beautiful event. The spring season signifies new life and joy, and Mother Nature shares that jubilation in the form of blossoming flowers and flourishing trees. It is indeed a very beautiful time of the year. As Lord Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita, "...and of seasons I am flower-bearing spring."
In the following week we churned the topic of "The Vanaprastha Ashram - Meeting Death with Joy", which is building on the previous course, since giving shelter and guidance is the foremost contribution of the Vanaprastha ashram - something which is not yet fully established within our society.
During the third week of January we embarked on the discussions of "Men and Women - More Confused Than Ever". I had given the course a more catchy title, which gives a clearer idea of the very essence of this course. Previously I had named it "Men and Women in Spiritual Culture", which people commonly mistook for a course on the grhastha ashram. But it is so much more than that - infact it sets the foundation to the following course entitled "From Grhamedhi Life to the Grhstha Ashram". And this course sets again the foundation to the last course of "Our Children Are Our Future". So all five courses are very systematically arranged, and those who participated in all of them received something solid for their life in Krishna consciousness.
All seminars were well attended by nice and serious devotees from all around the world, some having been in Krishna consciousness for many years. We had wonderful discussions and exchanges - it was well spent time! We concluded each course by distributing maha prasadam to each participant and sharing realizations which completed the loving exchange and created a personal and intimate atmosphere - a wonderful environment to receive deep transformations in the association of like-minded devotees.
The winter season was longer and colder this year than in other years. The early morning hours were very foggy and wet, with the cold creeping into the lungs and bones. Some mornings I stayed at home, not wanting to get sick. Finally the day came to celebrate the first day of spring - Vasanta Panchami, which is always a beautiful event. The spring season signifies new life and joy, and Mother Nature shares that jubilation in the form of blossoming flowers and flourishing trees. It is indeed a very beautiful time of the year. As Lord Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita, "...and of seasons I am flower-bearing spring."
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Traditionally in Vrndavan, Vasanta Panchami is celebrated very wonderfully. All the deities are dressed and decorated in beautiful yellow cloth and elaborately decorated, and everyone dresses in various shades of yellow or green.
Sri Sri Radha Madhava were offered a new dress decorated with many flowers. Everything, from the cloth to the jewellery to the decorations and even the complexion of Srimati Radharani and the gopis, were yellow. The white marble of the gopis' forms was given a golden hue using a specially prepared mixture of saffron powder and water. The deities looked so breathtakingly beautiful in Their new flower-bedecked outfits, which perfectly complemented Their golden complexions, and the heavenly aroma from the bodies of Srimati Radhika and Her sakhis permeated the temple room and amplified the sweetness and ecstasy of the devotees. The altar was a magnificant ocean of flowers - a feast for the heart and mind! Truly a glimpse into eternal reality - the spiritual world! A wonderful opportunity to intesify our longing of one day entering Krishna's personal association, and assisting Srimati Radharani's assistants to make pleasing arrangements for the Divine couple to perform Their loving pastimes. If Srimati Radharani recommends us to Her Krishna, then even a fool like myself can have a chance to be accepted by Him.....
Such glimpses into eternal life in joy makes this nonsensical stage performance of life in the material world with all its envy and power struggles seem puny and trivial - puny compared to the bliss of being an eternal loving servant of Krishna.....
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