I returned to Mayapur on the 19th of February to spend almost another three weeks in the Dham.
More devotees had arrived for the upcoming festivities and the GBC meetings. It was a wonderful opportunity for me to meet old friends from all around the world, and also establish new relationships and connections.
Every day we received devotees at my home for prasadam and discussions - either one on one, or in groups.
It is my favorite loving exchange - offering prasadam while hearing and speaking confidentially.
It builds trusting relationships and offers care and nourishment on all levels......
More devotees had arrived for the upcoming festivities and the GBC meetings. It was a wonderful opportunity for me to meet old friends from all around the world, and also establish new relationships and connections.
Every day we received devotees at my home for prasadam and discussions - either one on one, or in groups.
It is my favorite loving exchange - offering prasadam while hearing and speaking confidentially.
It builds trusting relationships and offers care and nourishment on all levels......
One evening we received a group of devotees from Ukraine for kirtan. We had arranged for some nice Pizza prasadam from Govinda's restaurant and my two assistants made an additional salad and our popular pudding with mango chutney. After chanting the holy name with enthusiasm everybody was eating to their heart's content....
Another evening we had the Bangladeshi boys coming over - for kirtan and the same prasadam arrangement. And it was our greatest pleasure to fill them up to the brim...
Another evening we had the Bangladeshi boys coming over - for kirtan and the same prasadam arrangement. And it was our greatest pleasure to fill them up to the brim...
I had requested a local Bengali artist to reproduce my favorite painting from Caitanya Caritamrta - the Panihati Chipped Rice Festival. It had turned out quite nicely, and we hung it up on the large empty wall in the main room of my ashram. As Prabhupada was declaring - these painting are like windows into the spiritual world, and into Mahaprabhu's pastimes.....
This pastime of Ragunath Das feeding Nityananda's associates and everyone who happened to be there - including the shop keepers who had come to sell their products to Ragunath Das, is my constant meditation. It gives me inspiration to serve the devotees in Bhakti Sangam Festivals, Holy Name Retreats or Youth Festivals, treating them as my very dear guests.
There is nothing more pleasing to the Lord than serving His devotees - nourishing them spiritually and physically.....
As last year I had invited my Guru Maharaja HH Niranjana Swami to come for lunch to my place. The only suitable day we could find was Ekadasi.
Immediately after breakfast I began cooking - I was a little nervous since I rarely have the opportunity to cook these days and am thus a little out of practice.
We made baked vegetables, quinoa, a nice salat with fresh herbs, pumkin soup, shak, mango chutney, baked potatoe slices with tomatoe, olives and cheese, apple crumble with buckwheat flakes, and two varieties of nice sweets: stuffed dates with coconut and cream cheese and carob balls with dried fruits, candied ginger and nuts.
Maharaja came initially alone, which gave me an opportunity to report to him about my activities, especially the course on spiritual culture.
Then Bada Haridas Prabhu came with his wife to join us, and Maharaja was sharing stories from the early days in ISKCON.
Maharaja decided not to attend the GBC meetings in the afternoon since his blood pressure had been high, and thus he was in a relaxed mood and not in a rush to leave.
After concluding his meal he stepped outside on the veranda to have a look at the cows....
I offered him a small gift: a pair of cute little sitting cows....
After all he had come to the goshala, and I felt like giving cows in charity to him. He accepted them with a smile, and I suggested that he could always give them away to his disciples if he was tired of carrying them around in his suitcase. I smilingly stated: "Anybody will be happy to receive some maha cows from you....!"
For the very first time in ISKCON's history there was a four-days' Guru-Sannyasi-GBC Sanga in Mayapur this year. Many of our leaders had assembled to spend quality time together in discussions and kirtan. Relevant and deep topics were churned in order to build visions for ISKCON's future and create more unity in diversity.
After the last year's ILS (ISKCON Leadership Sanga) this turned out to be another mile stone in the history of ISKCON.
There were Sannyasis and Gurus present who I had not seen in Mayapur for many years....
How wonderful - uniting one and all to combinedly move forward....
Once again Gopal Bhatta Prabhu had been the driving force and visionary behind it all.....
During the first week of March I participated in the four-day meetings of the GBC Strategic Planning. Our Committee For Devotee Care with it's various sub-committees was working on compiling manuals in order to give direction how to care for all the different sections of our society - the grhasthas, the brahmacaris, the elderly and diseased, the youth and children and the leaders.
I had made a humble beginning in putting together some essential aspects for the Manual for Care For Leaders and Care Givers, and now we were adding and shuffling things around in order to make it more complete and compact.
We were also planning topics and presentations for the next year's ILS in
February 2014. Professional planning happens well ahead....!
I had the opportunity to share some thoughts and visions with Gopal Bhatta Prabhu in a personal exchange. In due course of our conversation I realized that our attempts of putting together guidlines for Devotee Care are only of so much use if they are built on the cultivation of spiritual culture. Otherwise they remain empty formula's.
I discovered the connection between spiritual culture and Devotee Care.
Spiritual culture is Krsna's culture and promotes care. All the various sections of society are perfectly caring for one another, if everyone follows their purifying duties towards each other.
In Krsna's culture there is no need for a Devotee Care Committee....!
Materialistic culture however promotes competition, impersonalism, disrespect, envy and neglect. It is a culture of abandoning each other - husbands abandoning their wives, wives abandoning their husbands, mothers and fathers abandoning their children and children abandoning their old parents....
I decided to present this topic for the next year's ILS:
"Exploring the Roots of Spiritual Culture as Foundation to Devotee Care"
And maybe Syamala Mataji would even have some printed materials ready by then. It could be a perfect opportunity to get the topic out into the world....
On the 10th of March my Indian visa expired, and thus I flew off to Dhaka.....
Your servant, Devaki dd
This pastime of Ragunath Das feeding Nityananda's associates and everyone who happened to be there - including the shop keepers who had come to sell their products to Ragunath Das, is my constant meditation. It gives me inspiration to serve the devotees in Bhakti Sangam Festivals, Holy Name Retreats or Youth Festivals, treating them as my very dear guests.
There is nothing more pleasing to the Lord than serving His devotees - nourishing them spiritually and physically.....
As last year I had invited my Guru Maharaja HH Niranjana Swami to come for lunch to my place. The only suitable day we could find was Ekadasi.
Immediately after breakfast I began cooking - I was a little nervous since I rarely have the opportunity to cook these days and am thus a little out of practice.
We made baked vegetables, quinoa, a nice salat with fresh herbs, pumkin soup, shak, mango chutney, baked potatoe slices with tomatoe, olives and cheese, apple crumble with buckwheat flakes, and two varieties of nice sweets: stuffed dates with coconut and cream cheese and carob balls with dried fruits, candied ginger and nuts.
Maharaja came initially alone, which gave me an opportunity to report to him about my activities, especially the course on spiritual culture.
Then Bada Haridas Prabhu came with his wife to join us, and Maharaja was sharing stories from the early days in ISKCON.
Maharaja decided not to attend the GBC meetings in the afternoon since his blood pressure had been high, and thus he was in a relaxed mood and not in a rush to leave.
After concluding his meal he stepped outside on the veranda to have a look at the cows....
I offered him a small gift: a pair of cute little sitting cows....
After all he had come to the goshala, and I felt like giving cows in charity to him. He accepted them with a smile, and I suggested that he could always give them away to his disciples if he was tired of carrying them around in his suitcase. I smilingly stated: "Anybody will be happy to receive some maha cows from you....!"
For the very first time in ISKCON's history there was a four-days' Guru-Sannyasi-GBC Sanga in Mayapur this year. Many of our leaders had assembled to spend quality time together in discussions and kirtan. Relevant and deep topics were churned in order to build visions for ISKCON's future and create more unity in diversity.
After the last year's ILS (ISKCON Leadership Sanga) this turned out to be another mile stone in the history of ISKCON.
There were Sannyasis and Gurus present who I had not seen in Mayapur for many years....
How wonderful - uniting one and all to combinedly move forward....
Once again Gopal Bhatta Prabhu had been the driving force and visionary behind it all.....
During the first week of March I participated in the four-day meetings of the GBC Strategic Planning. Our Committee For Devotee Care with it's various sub-committees was working on compiling manuals in order to give direction how to care for all the different sections of our society - the grhasthas, the brahmacaris, the elderly and diseased, the youth and children and the leaders.
I had made a humble beginning in putting together some essential aspects for the Manual for Care For Leaders and Care Givers, and now we were adding and shuffling things around in order to make it more complete and compact.
We were also planning topics and presentations for the next year's ILS in
February 2014. Professional planning happens well ahead....!
I had the opportunity to share some thoughts and visions with Gopal Bhatta Prabhu in a personal exchange. In due course of our conversation I realized that our attempts of putting together guidlines for Devotee Care are only of so much use if they are built on the cultivation of spiritual culture. Otherwise they remain empty formula's.
I discovered the connection between spiritual culture and Devotee Care.
Spiritual culture is Krsna's culture and promotes care. All the various sections of society are perfectly caring for one another, if everyone follows their purifying duties towards each other.
In Krsna's culture there is no need for a Devotee Care Committee....!
Materialistic culture however promotes competition, impersonalism, disrespect, envy and neglect. It is a culture of abandoning each other - husbands abandoning their wives, wives abandoning their husbands, mothers and fathers abandoning their children and children abandoning their old parents....
I decided to present this topic for the next year's ILS:
"Exploring the Roots of Spiritual Culture as Foundation to Devotee Care"
And maybe Syamala Mataji would even have some printed materials ready by then. It could be a perfect opportunity to get the topic out into the world....
On the 10th of March my Indian visa expired, and thus I flew off to Dhaka.....
Your servant, Devaki dd
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