Blog Posts

Touring Bangladesh - November 2012

11/8/2012

On the 4th of November after concluding the Holy Name Retreat at Pundarik Dhama we embarked on our tour around Bangladesh.

Our team of four Ukrainian brahmacaris (Vishoka, Gurupriya, Namacarya and Parama Karuna Prabhus), Sahasrajit Prabhu with his son Visvambhara, and a few local brahmacaris and myself squeezed into one of our Sankirtan vans....

Holy Name Retreat in Bangladesh - October 2012

10/30/2012

I arrived in Dhaka on the 27th of October, and two days later I had the opportunity to receive six visiting devotees from Ukraine: four brahmacaris from Kharkov and Odessa, and Sahasrajit Prabhu with his twelve year-old son Visvambhara.
Visvambhara and his father had been to Bangladesh once before two years ago, and they were excited to visit once again. Especially for young boys Bangladesh is a paradise - full of adventures, and the brahmacaris and general devotees are very much aware of the importance of involving the young generation and make them feel part of everything. So Visvambhara has already many friends in Bangladesh....!

GBC meetings in Tirupati - October 2012

10/25/2012

My visit to Tirupati/South India for the GBC meetings was in many ways a wonderful experience and left lasting impressions on my mind and heart.....

Sweden-Germany-Vrindavan - October 2012

10/10/2012

Meanwhile you must have all noticed that I have been falling more and more behind in writing my diary.....
I have simply been very busy with so many enlivening and exciting activities, that I have not found any time whatsoever to write.
And I have almost lost all hope to ever be able to catch up....
Leaving the Bhakti Sangam Festival in Ukraine on the 22nd of September I flew to Stockholm/Sweden and visited the devotees in Almvik.

Bhakti Sangam Festival in Ukraine - September 2012

9/16/2012

On the 16th of September I flew to Simferopol, the main city on the Crimea
Peninsula of Ukraine in order to attend the Bhakti Sangam Festival.
Devotees received me at the small airport and drove me to the Festival site
at Evpatoria, a holiday resort on the Black Sea.

Kirtan Mela in Germany- September 2012

9/2/2012

On my arrival in Berlin on the 29th of August I spent some days associating with
the local devotees and giving a couple of morning and evening classes.The Berlin
city authorities had declared Saturday the 1st of September as the "Night of Religions".
It had been advertised widely all around Berlin, and people were encouraged to visit
various religious organisations with open hearts and explore their missions and believes.

Holy Name Retreat in Kiev/Ukraine - August 2012

8/23/2012

A young mataji named Bhaktin Julia had taken up the initiative to make all the
necessary arrangements so we could conduct a Holy Name Retreat for the
devotees of the Kiev yatra. She had attended one of our retreats a couple of
years before and had concluded with great determination and enthusiasm:
"This is exactly what we need for our Kiev devotees...."

Odessa/Ukraine - August 2012

8/16/2012

On the 16th of August I took an overnight train to Odessa, with Vicka and
Acyuta Priya matajis as my assistants.

The brahmacaris from Odessa temple had strongly requested me to come for a
visit. It had been three years ago that I visited here last, and I remembered how
eager and appreciative they had been of our discussions on previous visits.

Janmastami in Kharkov/Ukraine - August 2012

8/9/2012

On my return to Kharkov on the 4th of August we happily welcomed Yadubara Prabhu. I had invited him to visit us for Janmastami and Srila Prabhupada's appearance, and he had kindly accepted our invitation.

We had one week to get ready for the festival days.....

Balarama's Appearance in Lugansk/Ukraine- August 2012

8/2/2012

Arriving back in Kharkov/Ukraine on the 30th of July I took the overnight
train to Lugansk to visit the devotees for Balarama's Appearance.

Even though I am giving my main energy and attention to the Kharkov yatra I had
nevertheless decided to also visit every year a couple of other yatra's within Ukraine.
As the saying goes: "A rolling stone doesn't gather any moss..." I am not quite willing
to completely give up my aloof position as traveling preacher simply to become part
of one yatra..... Too easily overfamiliarity sneaks in which affects any relationship in a
negative way and thus spoils our abilities to serve each other. It is a matter of finding
the right balance.... Thus I felt it to be appropriate to spend one of the Vaisnava
festivals in another yatra.