Our Scandinavian Bhakti Sangam Festival was especially wonderful this year.
We were welcoming HH Bhakti Raghava Maharaja, visiting Almvik for the very first time, HG Narayani Mataji being our regular guest, HG Hari Sauri Prabhu, who hadn't been to Sweden for many years, Madhavananda Prabhu, who had come only once before for a short visit, and finally Sarvatma Prabhu and his good wife, who was leading us here for the first time in the evening kirtans, and BB Govinda Maharaja, who is faithfully coming every year. Furthermore we also received Saci Suta Prabhu, a young kirtaniya of the next generation. And of course HH Smita Krsna Swami was the hosting Maharaja, being based in Almvik.
Over six days we were nourishing our bhakti lata with a wide range of interesting and relevant topics. Of course, Bhakti Raghava Maharaja was our chief guest, speaking on Varnashram and cow protection - very befitting for Almvik being a village community with a lake, forests, fields, organic vegetables and cows. In the evenings we filled our ears with the most sublime chanting of the holy name, and we allowed this transcendental sound vibration to flow directly into our hearts, making the fire of devotion burn very brightly.
We had given our Festival the overall theme of "Festival of Generosity", which connected very nicely with the topic of Varnashram and the purifying duties of the grhastha ashram - giving in charity, with a happy and generous heart. It also gave me an opportunity to offer a few little insights into the topic of spiritual culture being a culture of giving, in order to inspire all the assembled Vaisnavas to contribute generously to sponsor the devotee prasadam.
A couple of years ago we had decided to abolish the festival- and prasadam fees and thus invite the spirit of voluntarily contributing, which had changed the entire atmosphere of our festival by allowing the spirit of selfless service to enter. Nevertheless, devotees always need a little affectionate reminder and encouraging words to gradually throw overboard the conditioning of materialistic culture, which is a culture of endeavoring to get something for oneself by giving as little as possible, for a discount or best even by giving nothing at all.
A couple of years ago we had decided to abolish the festival- and prasadam fees and thus invite the spirit of voluntarily contributing, which had changed the entire atmosphere of our festival by allowing the spirit of selfless service to enter. Nevertheless, devotees always need a little affectionate reminder and encouraging words to gradually throw overboard the conditioning of materialistic culture, which is a culture of endeavoring to get something for oneself by giving as little as possible, for a discount or best even by giving nothing at all.
I had the great pleasure of once again being the hosting mother of the entire event, overseeing all the various arrangements of the festival, welcoming our special guests and seeing that all their needs were nicely met. All the while I was meditating on the wonderful example of my Guru Maharaja HH Niranjana Swami, being the embodiment of a caring host at the huge Bhakti Sangam Festival in Ukraine. For the past fifteen years I have been attending this amazing event as a speaker, observing how his mood of selflessly serving his godbrothers, godsisters and preachers is always permeating the entire atmsophere and sets a very devotional mood of service.
During the opening ceremony I introduced each and every one of our guest speakers with affectionate words, inviting them to briefly announce their seminar. Around 160 devotees had assembled from the Scandinavian countries of Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finnland. A few very eager devotees had come all the way from Germany, England, the Baltics, Radhadesh and France.
Gradually the word had gotton around, that this festival has a very personal mood and offers a wonderful summer holiday for children. The Almvik community itself consists of thirty grown-ups and another thirty children up to the age of thirteen. And every year our Almvik devotees offer a very nice children's program, so that our little Vaisnavas also feel part of the event and have their Krsna conscious fun.
Gradually the word had gotton around, that this festival has a very personal mood and offers a wonderful summer holiday for children. The Almvik community itself consists of thirty grown-ups and another thirty children up to the age of thirteen. And every year our Almvik devotees offer a very nice children's program, so that our little Vaisnavas also feel part of the event and have their Krsna conscious fun.
Gradually this Bhakti Sangam Festival is becoming indeed of great importance to the entire Scandinavian yatra. It evolved from a little Almvik Summer Festival and has now become the biggest Scandinavian event within the entire year, bringing devotees together, nourishing their spiritual life and deepening their faith in the process of devotional service. And gradually devotees from various yatras are eagerly stepping forward to become part of it - not just as a visitor, but by offering their service. Serving the Vaisnavas is the key to success in spiritual practice. And what better way is there to serve the devotees than nourishing their spiritual life!
As every year we concluded the event with a sweet little closing ceremony - my favorite part where I can offer a unique gift to our guest speakers and kirtaniyas. Each year I spend a lot of time and energy pondering over the choice of gifts - something Scandinavian, yet practical, devotional and unique. This year I had arranged for each VIP a set of ear candles - the most genious way of cleaning the inner part of our ears. I gave a humerous introduction of how our respectable guests had filled our ears with so much nectar. And in order for this to continue, they had to ongoingly fill their own ears with nectar - otherwise we cannot give nectar to others. And in order to make sure their ears would fill with nectar, we desired to offer the most menial and humble service: to help clean their ears....!
Of course, all the assembled devotees were greatly amused about such an unusual gift, and since most recipients had never heard of these ear candles I briefly had to describe how to use them, since all the instructions on the packet were in Russian and the Baltic languages. Of course my explanations added to further amusement and laughter. But this was not all they received. After offering these devices for the menial cleaning service we also wanted to keep those freshly cleaned ears nice and warm. We offered a hand-knitted woolen hat for each of our honorable guests, with individual designs and colors, matching to the mood and personality of the recipient. And these hats were knitted by devotees - with so much love and devotion, which would not only warm the ears but also the heart. It was great fun to let the assembled devotees guess which hat would go to which person, and the children had the honor to hand over the little bags with the gifts, which included a packet of the most delicious carob confections as maha prasadam from our Sri Sri Pancha Tattva.
Of course, all the assembled devotees were greatly amused about such an unusual gift, and since most recipients had never heard of these ear candles I briefly had to describe how to use them, since all the instructions on the packet were in Russian and the Baltic languages. Of course my explanations added to further amusement and laughter. But this was not all they received. After offering these devices for the menial cleaning service we also wanted to keep those freshly cleaned ears nice and warm. We offered a hand-knitted woolen hat for each of our honorable guests, with individual designs and colors, matching to the mood and personality of the recipient. And these hats were knitted by devotees - with so much love and devotion, which would not only warm the ears but also the heart. It was great fun to let the assembled devotees guess which hat would go to which person, and the children had the honor to hand over the little bags with the gifts, which included a packet of the most delicious carob confections as maha prasadam from our Sri Sri Pancha Tattva.
On the concluding day of the festival we went all together on a massive Maha Harinam through the old part of the City of Stockholm, which was at this time of the year packed with tourists. Our group of freshly recharged and ecstatic devotees simply flooded the hearts of the amazed onlookers with the transcendental sound vibration of the holy name, leaving deep impressions on their minds and consciousness. It was the ultimate way to conclude this wonderful event of the Scandinavian Bhakti Sangam - to give the holy name to one and all, after nourishing and deepening our own chanting.
On our harinam procession we came across a young lady creating huge soap bubbles flying off into the air. I couldn't help myself thinking that this is what life in the material world is all about: a big, colorful, glossy and fascinating soap bubble, flying off into the air in order to burst shorty thereafter....
On the 22nd of July I flew back to Kharkov/Ukraine.....
Your servant, Devaki dd
On the 22nd of July I flew back to Kharkov/Ukraine.....
Your servant, Devaki dd
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