Devotee Care Retreat at Goloka Dham/Germany

On my arrival on the 5th of June in Goloka Dham/Germany I was greeted with a heartfelt welcome offered by the local devotees: kirtan, joyful and affectionate smiles and a Maha garland - the loving exchanges when receiving a guest....

We had scheduled a three-day retreat over the public holiday of Pentecost, which fell on the 7th, 8th and 9th of June.
Dina Sharana Mataji, who is serving as the GBC of Germany had requested me to help the devotees receive insights into the important topic of Devotee
Care - something which has been part of my humble mission for the past 15 years. And serving under the expert guidance of HH Niranjana Swami in Ukraine has given me further insights into this most relevant aspect of devotional life. For me he is the personification of a caring preacher - a wonderful example of selflessly sacrificing oneself in reaching out to one and all in order to uplift and encourage everyone, all the while keeping the ultimate goal of spiritual care in mind: nourishing and protecting a devotee's faith in the process of Krsna consciousness....

We had chosen two themes for this retreat, which are very closely connected: for the three-hour sessions in the mornings we discussed the topic of "The False Ego - our Constant Companion and Trouble Maker". And for the two-hour sessions in the afternoon we explored the topic of "Giving and Accepting Shelter - the Foundation to Vaisnava Relationships and Devotee Care".
Our false ego is after all the main stumbling block in regards to giving and accepting shelter.....

We embarked on an internal journey, intensely churning those two topics in the association of serious and like-minded devotees. Introspection, humility and honesty are essential qualities in order to detect the most subtle weeds growing along with our Bhakti Lata. And it requires sincerity to agree to uproot them, rather than sweeping them under the carpet and pretending that they don't exist....

The process of Bhakti is easy for those who are satisfied with externals, and most difficult for those who actually aspire to transform the heart. Yes, Bhakti is all about transformation of our heart in order to allow pure love to grow - not a cheap thing....

Devotees had come together from various parts of Germany, and since we were also offering a nice children's program people felt encouraged to bring their toddlers along.
During our retreat I felt especially encouraged by the fact that several senior grhastha couples had come to participate. I perceived it to be a great achievement, bringing attention to this important topic of Devotee Care. It has to start from the top - if the seniors are sheltered and cared for, then they can extend this shelter and care to others.

One realization struck me. As we all know, materialistic relationships are based on sense gratification - gross or subtle. The motto is "let's enjoy together".
Spiritual relationships are quite different. We take away the basis of sense gratification, and we have to replace it with another foundation, which is non other than giving and accepting shelter. This loving exchange makes a relationship deep and meaningful. Unless there is one person giving shelter, and another person accepting shelter, the relationship will be superficial and ultimately meaningless.

This is confirmed in the Garuda Purana: "One cannot be liberated without association with a pure devotee of the Lord. And unless one shows mercy to those in an inferior position, one's life will be superficial."
One's life will be superficial, and one's relationships aswell. Unless we are willing to extend ourselves in order to uplift others, our life will be centered around "I, me and mine", and we will be stuck in selfishness - a superficial life.

In countries with a higher standard of life people's aim is mainly directed towards economic development and sense gratification. Accepting shelter is almost considered to be a weakness. Thus our life with its relationships becomes superficial and impersonal.....

The same principle we can observe within our yatras. The more devotees understand the importance of giving and accepting shelter, the more personal the atmosphere becomes, and the more deeper and meaningful the relationships will become. We will go far beyond the so-called "Haribol-relationships" as the only friendships within our life, and we will find ourselves caught in a network of deep and trusting relationships where we can truly reveal our mind and accept guidance.

During this retreat in Goloka Dham some little seeds were sown - a humble beginning in regards to Devotee Care....

On the 14th of June I flew on to Budapest/Hungary to visit Sivarama Swami's Community of New Vraja Dham....

Your servant, Devaki dd