On my arrival in Dhaka on the 23rd of March the devotees took me out to Rup Ganj, our ISKCON property outside the city where we had scheduled a Holy Name Retreat for students.
Rup Ganj is situated in a very peaceful rural area where the city planning will develop a new part of Dhaka in the near future. We are planning to develop this property in order to conduct all kinds of seminars, Youth Festivals and retreats. The location is very central and easily accessible for devotees from all around Bangladesh, and the peaceful environment invites to conduct programs to deepen our spiritual life.
Prabhupada himself liked to have a long term vision when purchasing properties. When he secured the land for our Krsna Balarama Mandir in Vrindavan people were wondering why Prabhupada took a property which was so far away from the center of Vrindavan. People were almost afraid to go there, being out in the no-where! A similar situation was there also with the Juhu property. So we are following in Prabhupada's footsteps - in fifteen year's time Rup Ganj will be in a newly developed part of Dhaka, surrounded by Universities and Colleges.....On my arrival in Dhaka on the 23rd of March the devotees took me out to Rup Ganj, our ISKCON property outside the city where we had scheduled a Holy Name Retreat for students.
Rup Ganj is situated in a very peaceful rural area where the city planning will develop a new part of Dhaka in the near future. We are planning to develop this property in order to conduct all kinds of seminars, Youth Festivals and retreats. The location is very central and easily accessible for devotees from all around Bangladesh, and the peaceful environment invites to conduct programs to deepen our spiritual life.
Prabhupada himself liked to have a long term vision when purchasing properties. When he secured the land for our Krsna Balarama Mandir in Vrindavan people were wondering why Prabhupada took a property which was so far away from the center of Vrindavan. People were almost afraid to go there, being out in the no-where! A similar situation was there also with the Juhu property. So we are following in Prabhupada's footsteps - in fifteen year's time Rup Ganj will be in a newly developed part of Dhaka, surrounded by Universities and Colleges.....On my arrival in Dhaka on the 23rd of March the devotees took me out to Rup Ganj, our ISKCON property outside the city where we had scheduled a Holy Name Retreat for students.
Since at present the facilities in Rup Ganj are very simple and basic, we had to come to terms that there were not enough accomodation and bathroom facilities to also have matajis attending the retreat. So we could only welcome the student boys. We had put up a pandal tent, and the boys were happy to simply sleep on the bare ground - the advantage of being in a man's body....
This is indeed one of the oppulences in Bangladesh: the devotees are so simple hearted, austere and eager for Vaisnava sanga, that they are happily accepting such simple facilities. I don't think in any other part of the world devotees would agree to such simplicity - not even in India....
Around one hundred bright faced and eager student boys assembled for three and half days to deepen their relationship with the holy name - in kirtan as well as in japa. We conducted the seminar and kirtans in a little pandal tent underneath a big Banyan tree - an auspicious place for devotees to gather, hear and chant.
For many participants it was the first retreat, and thus it left especially deep impressions on their hearts.
In the closing ceremony these young devotees shared how all their shallow and superficial concepts of chanting had crumbled, and now they were eager to build up a deeper understanding and practice, involving the heart and prayerfully turning towards Krsna while longing to serve....
Interesting to understand that most of us come to Krsna consciousness on the level of namabhasa. From there we have two possibilities: to either stay in namabhasa and work our way upwards, or to go down to namaparadha. We usually seem to take the second option and develop bad chanting habits infested with inattentiveness on all levels - body, mind and heart. Especially the attentiveness on the level of the heart is a deep topic which is not so easily understood. It requires training and guidance right from the beginning of our chanting practice.
This is indeed one of the oppulences in Bangladesh: the devotees are so simple hearted, austere and eager for Vaisnava sanga, that they are happily accepting such simple facilities. I don't think in any other part of the world devotees would agree to such simplicity - not even in India....
Around one hundred bright faced and eager student boys assembled for three and half days to deepen their relationship with the holy name - in kirtan as well as in japa. We conducted the seminar and kirtans in a little pandal tent underneath a big Banyan tree - an auspicious place for devotees to gather, hear and chant.
For many participants it was the first retreat, and thus it left especially deep impressions on their hearts.
In the closing ceremony these young devotees shared how all their shallow and superficial concepts of chanting had crumbled, and now they were eager to build up a deeper understanding and practice, involving the heart and prayerfully turning towards Krsna while longing to serve....
Interesting to understand that most of us come to Krsna consciousness on the level of namabhasa. From there we have two possibilities: to either stay in namabhasa and work our way upwards, or to go down to namaparadha. We usually seem to take the second option and develop bad chanting habits infested with inattentiveness on all levels - body, mind and heart. Especially the attentiveness on the level of the heart is a deep topic which is not so easily understood. It requires training and guidance right from the beginning of our chanting practice.
On the morning of the 1st of April we welcomed Panca Gauda Prabhu at the Dhaka airport, a disciple of Srila Prabhupada who is serving as the temple president from Vrindavan. He had kindly agreed to visit us and join the next Holy Name Retreat, which the devotees had scheduled in Noakhali, around six hours' drive from Dhaka.
In our comfortable new van we embarked on the journey and stopped along the way for taking prasadam - a little picnic under shady trees....
The temple president of Noakhali eagerly welcomed us. It was the first time that we conducted a Holy Name Retreat in this yatra, and devotees were excited and had made all the necessary arrangements in an eager service mood. Also here we had a little pandal tent which served as our bhajan kutir for the next three days. It was nicely decorated with pictures and cloth ornaments, creating a welcoming atmosphere.
The devotees had accomodated me around the corner of the temple in a grhastha's house, since the temple has only one guest room with attached bathroom. Around two hundred devotees eagerly participated in the three-day retreat. Panca Gauda Prabhu gave the morning classes in connection with the holy name, and he participated in the seminars during the day and also lead some of the evening kirtans. He appreciated the Bangladeshi mood and culture and had a jolly time with the boys.
Devotees certainly received a glimpse into a different quality of chanting, calling out to the Lord in helplessness, longing to serve. The transcendental pleasure and joy we derive in kirtan has to come from our connection with the Lord. And we have to be willing to pay the price of undergoing the internal work of deeply connecting with Krsna.
Hearing about various aspects of chanting, and immediately applying it in japa as well as in kirtan gives a perfct formula to prepare the consciousness and open the heart in order to receive the holy name on deeper levels. Then kirtan becomes another experience - every maha mantra flooding the heart with joy.....
In our comfortable new van we embarked on the journey and stopped along the way for taking prasadam - a little picnic under shady trees....
The temple president of Noakhali eagerly welcomed us. It was the first time that we conducted a Holy Name Retreat in this yatra, and devotees were excited and had made all the necessary arrangements in an eager service mood. Also here we had a little pandal tent which served as our bhajan kutir for the next three days. It was nicely decorated with pictures and cloth ornaments, creating a welcoming atmosphere.
The devotees had accomodated me around the corner of the temple in a grhastha's house, since the temple has only one guest room with attached bathroom. Around two hundred devotees eagerly participated in the three-day retreat. Panca Gauda Prabhu gave the morning classes in connection with the holy name, and he participated in the seminars during the day and also lead some of the evening kirtans. He appreciated the Bangladeshi mood and culture and had a jolly time with the boys.
Devotees certainly received a glimpse into a different quality of chanting, calling out to the Lord in helplessness, longing to serve. The transcendental pleasure and joy we derive in kirtan has to come from our connection with the Lord. And we have to be willing to pay the price of undergoing the internal work of deeply connecting with Krsna.
Hearing about various aspects of chanting, and immediately applying it in japa as well as in kirtan gives a perfct formula to prepare the consciousness and open the heart in order to receive the holy name on deeper levels. Then kirtan becomes another experience - every maha mantra flooding the heart with joy.....
Gradually the hot season was approaching, bringing along the risk for thunder storms. In the early morning of the last day we encountered a strong storm with heavy rains. Our bhajan kutir was flooded, and I was fearing an abrupt end of the entire retreat...... However, in this part of the world the devotees are well experienced in counteracting such situations. They quickly dug up little trenches in order to divert the flooding water to one particular area of the property. And a whole army of boys were at work, drying off the remaining water with old sacks and squeezing it into buckets. And within a couple of hours the pandal tent had dried up and was ready to host us again for the beginning of the seminar at 10:30 am.... Krsna had given us some little anxieties to increase our eagerness and enhance our service mood....
Our hosting devotees were feeding us sumptiously with wonderful prasadam - so tasty, not too oily and without chili. When the time had come to leave they gave us a heartfelt farewell, requesting us to come back again soon....
On the 5th of April we traveled on to Pundarik Dham, a two-hour journey which we did early in the morning in order to beat the heavy traffic. We decided to show Panca Gauda Prabhu this beautiful place - a worthwhile stop-over on the way to Chittagong. The devotees happily welcomed us, and after breakfast we took the ten minute walk through the rice fields to Mukunda Datta's and Vasudev Datta's original bhajan kutir.
Arriving in Chittagong Panca Gauda Prabhu gave a brahmacari class about book distribution - a most relevant topic, since we are in the process of establishing a regular Sankirtan department in the Chittagong temple. Panca Gauda Prabhu was telling stories of the days when he was the Sankirtan leader of our Minister for Book Distribution, Vijay Prabhu, who is well known to the Chittagong devotees. After giving the SB class on the following morning he had to fly back to Dhaka and on to Delhi. He had truly enjoyed his visit to Bangladesh and was taking memorable impressions along with him.....
I stayed on for a few more days, getting ready to move on to Europe. It was getting hot, and I was looking forward to be in a cooler part of the world.....
I spent time reading and preparing the main class for Rama Navami and enjoyed receiving insights into the deeper meanings of Rama Lila. And I took part in HH Jaya Pataka Swami's Vyasa Puja Festival - once again a joyful event, which the devotees celebrated by making wonderful arrangements with great endeavor and devotion.
On the 13th of April I flew off to Stuttgart/Germany - with a 14-hour transit in Delhi.....
Your servant, Devaki dd
Our hosting devotees were feeding us sumptiously with wonderful prasadam - so tasty, not too oily and without chili. When the time had come to leave they gave us a heartfelt farewell, requesting us to come back again soon....
On the 5th of April we traveled on to Pundarik Dham, a two-hour journey which we did early in the morning in order to beat the heavy traffic. We decided to show Panca Gauda Prabhu this beautiful place - a worthwhile stop-over on the way to Chittagong. The devotees happily welcomed us, and after breakfast we took the ten minute walk through the rice fields to Mukunda Datta's and Vasudev Datta's original bhajan kutir.
Arriving in Chittagong Panca Gauda Prabhu gave a brahmacari class about book distribution - a most relevant topic, since we are in the process of establishing a regular Sankirtan department in the Chittagong temple. Panca Gauda Prabhu was telling stories of the days when he was the Sankirtan leader of our Minister for Book Distribution, Vijay Prabhu, who is well known to the Chittagong devotees. After giving the SB class on the following morning he had to fly back to Dhaka and on to Delhi. He had truly enjoyed his visit to Bangladesh and was taking memorable impressions along with him.....
I stayed on for a few more days, getting ready to move on to Europe. It was getting hot, and I was looking forward to be in a cooler part of the world.....
I spent time reading and preparing the main class for Rama Navami and enjoyed receiving insights into the deeper meanings of Rama Lila. And I took part in HH Jaya Pataka Swami's Vyasa Puja Festival - once again a joyful event, which the devotees celebrated by making wonderful arrangements with great endeavor and devotion.
On the 13th of April I flew off to Stuttgart/Germany - with a 14-hour transit in Delhi.....
Your servant, Devaki dd
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