I had not visited the devotees in Crimea for a long time - almost seven years. Simferopol is the capital of the Crimean Peninsula on the Black Sea, where we used to have the gigantic Ukrainian Bhakti Sangam Festival. When the war started in Ukraine some years ago, the Peninsula became part of Russia again, as it had been many years before. So then the Bhakti Sangam Festival had to be moved to the very West of Ukraine.
This was my first visit to Moscow after almost twenty years. The senior ladies of the yatra had repeatedly requested me to come, and HH Niranjana Maharaja had also encouraged me to do so. Thus I felt obliged to accept the invitation...
This was my second visit to the community of Villa Vrindavan near Florence/Italy. I was surprised how cool the weather was - I expected it to be warmer at this time of the year being mid of April. And the big mansion of the temple building was of course not heated any longer, and thus rather cold. Some little tapasya - especially for Rasarani, who is used to the Mayapur temperatures...
Villa Vrindavan is a very appropriate name for this community. It is surrounded by beautiful nature, and every morning and evening one can hear the peacocks calling, which inevitably makes one remember Vrindavan. Infact, here we hear them more often than in Vrindavan these days....
And of course, Sri Sri Radha Vraja Sundara are the center of the enitre community.
Villa Vrindavan is a very appropriate name for this community. It is surrounded by beautiful nature, and every morning and evening one can hear the peacocks calling, which inevitably makes one remember Vrindavan. Infact, here we hear them more often than in Vrindavan these days....
And of course, Sri Sri Radha Vraja Sundara are the center of the enitre community.
One of my missions in Cologne was to apply for a Russian visa. I had not been to Russia for around twenty years, and it was not so easy to obtain a visa these days. I had gathered all the necessary documents, and a travel agent in the suburbs of Cologne arranged the rest within a couple of days.
I received a Cultural and Humanitarian visa, which would allow me to enter in Vaisnava dress and with shaved head. After all, it would not be so easy for me to pretend that I was an ordinary tourist. I don't even carry anything else but devotional clothes with me....
I received a Cultural and Humanitarian visa, which would allow me to enter in Vaisnava dress and with shaved head. After all, it would not be so easy for me to pretend that I was an ordinary tourist. I don't even carry anything else but devotional clothes with me....
On the 30th of March Rasarani and myself took the train from Zagreb to Hungary to visit New Vraja Dham. Rasarani is 18 years old and grew up in Mayapur - her father is from Hungary and her mother from the Canarian Islands. She was one year old when they moved to Mayapur, and she recently graduated from Bhakti Vidya Purna Maharaja's Girls' School. Her entire family is very devotional - her parents, brother and older sister are all seriously practicing devotees. Her brother is only 23 years old, and traveling preaching in China!
Over the recent years we have been experiencing an increasing tension over the topic of culture within our ISKCON society. The following article is a humble attempt to give some insights into the deeper underlying reasons for these misunderstandings, hoping that it may contribute to alleviate this tension.
This year I had decided to return earlier than usual to Europe in order to use the Easter holidays as an opportunity to conduct a retreat. So I arrived in Cologne/Germany already on the 18th of March - earlier than ever before! And it was still rather cold.....
The devotees happily welcomed me and allowed me to relax for a couple of days in order to adjust - it's always a bit of a culture shock to arrive back in Europe....
I was invited to conduct the Japa Workshop on Sunday morning and give the Sunday Feast lecture, which was well attended by eager devotees.
I consider Cologne temple to be the most lively yatra within Germany, and I had decided to give it a little more attention by visiting several times a year and thus establishing it as a bit of a base within Europe, where I would arrive when coming from India.
The devotees happily welcomed me and allowed me to relax for a couple of days in order to adjust - it's always a bit of a culture shock to arrive back in Europe....
I was invited to conduct the Japa Workshop on Sunday morning and give the Sunday Feast lecture, which was well attended by eager devotees.
I consider Cologne temple to be the most lively yatra within Germany, and I had decided to give it a little more attention by visiting several times a year and thus establishing it as a bit of a base within Europe, where I would arrive when coming from India.
On my return to Mayapur on the 22nd of February I was looking forward to attend some of the ILS presentations. It also gave me a wonderful opportunity to connect with senior devotees from all around the world, and almost every day I received some guests at my place for breakfast or lunch. It was a busy time for us, and at the same time we were preparing for our annual program of the Institute for Spiritual Culture, which we had scheduled for the 7th of March. This year the overall theme was "The Glories of the Vanaprastha Ashram" - a topic which attracted attention, since it is not so often discussed. I had arranged for one thousand colorful leaflets to be printed up, and there were also three big banners placed around the Mayapur campus to announce the event.
Our this year's Convention at Rup Sanatan Smriti Tirtha was especially vibrant. Around 4500 practicing devotees assembled from all corners of Bangladesh to attend this transcendental Sravan Kirtan Mela, which began on the 17th of February and concluded on the 20th evening.
On the first weekend in February we conducted our first Girls' Mela in Mayapur. Shaili Mataji and her husband Noam Prabhu, who had participated in several of our courses on spiritual culture had recently started a Parents' Association connected with the International School.
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