On my arrival in Berlin on the 15th of September I was welcomed by Julia Mataji at the train station. She had eagerly invited me to stay with her in her home, together with her four-year-old daughter Juno and her dog Freia.
We had met several times before - during the festival for Nrsimha Caturdasi, and also for some of our seminars and retreats in Goloka Dham. She is new to Krsna consciousness and eager to serve devotees and make spiritual progress.
We spent harmonious and relaxed days together, discussing personal questions, and engaging Juno in Krsna conscious activities. We had nice and sunny autumn weather, and we went for a walk in the nearby fields and forests, collecting flowers, chestnuts and all kinds of red berries - in autumn we can find so many colorful fruits, leaves and flowers in nature which can be used to make garlands and decorate the altar.
We spent harmonious and relaxed days together, discussing personal questions, and engaging Juno in Krsna conscious activities. We had nice and sunny autumn weather, and we went for a walk in the nearby fields and forests, collecting flowers, chestnuts and all kinds of red berries - in autumn we can find so many colorful fruits, leaves and flowers in nature which can be used to make garlands and decorate the altar.
Freia, her dog is a nice animal - a mixture between a German Shepherd and a Collie. She is very smart - she knows how to open doors, and she understands quite a lot of German language. It was interesting for me to see how human such animals actually are! I could clearly perceive a personality there, trapped inside this dog's body, who wants to have relationships, communicate and be part of things. Julia was sharing how she got Freia from a "dogs' orphanage" - a place for homeless dogs. And dogs do exactly the same thing as children do, when they are adopted: they test their new caregivers how serious they are in giving them a new home, by being extremely misbehaved. In this way they provoke their new master/parents in order to see whether they will return them back to the orphanage. Some kind of protection against the pain and emotional torture from being abandoned once again. Before the child or dog allows himself/itself to accept dependance, they want to be sure they will not be hurt. And if their new master is taking them back to the orphanage, they are ready to give up their very life! Dogs, once returned to the place for homeless animals simply stop eating and leave their body in pain.....
I thought this was rather remarkable, showing how human dogs actually are.
I thought this was rather remarkable, showing how human dogs actually are.
I was invited to conduct two house programs - one near by, and another one on the other side of Berlin. Both programs were very nice: the devotees gave us an eager and heartfelt reception, and the atmosphere was very personal with the hosts going out of their way to offer nice prasadam after the program. We discussed the topic of getting on deeper levels of chanting the holy name, and on the other program we churned the topic of mothers within spiritual culture. Both themes are always so relevant and thus were well received.
Berlin has been without a temple since 2012. I remember two years ago when I was on my way to the Kirtan Mela I visited Berlin temple, and the devotees had just received notice that they had to vacate their nice and spacious flat. And since then Lord Jagannath has been homeless, moving from one flat to another. And ever since the devotees had not managed to agree on what kind of new temple to settle for. There has been programs in different homes of devotees, and also a Sunday program every two weeks in a rented room of a yoga center, but many of the congregational members also had drifted away and lost interest in spiritual practice.
Berlin has been without a temple since 2012. I remember two years ago when I was on my way to the Kirtan Mela I visited Berlin temple, and the devotees had just received notice that they had to vacate their nice and spacious flat. And since then Lord Jagannath has been homeless, moving from one flat to another. And ever since the devotees had not managed to agree on what kind of new temple to settle for. There has been programs in different homes of devotees, and also a Sunday program every two weeks in a rented room of a yoga center, but many of the congregational members also had drifted away and lost interest in spiritual practice.
On the weekend we conducted two sessions on "Giving and Accepting Shelter".
The program was pretty well attended, and I was happy that also some of the senior devotees participated. Especially in this part of the world this topic of shelter is so extremely important and relevant. Due to the past experiences where devotees had been disappointed by their leaders the importance of taking shelter had almost faded away and been forgotten. Interesting questions and discussions developed which made the sanga very lively and enlightening. And Lord Jagannath witnessed it with ever increasing surprise and pleasure....
The program was pretty well attended, and I was happy that also some of the senior devotees participated. Especially in this part of the world this topic of shelter is so extremely important and relevant. Due to the past experiences where devotees had been disappointed by their leaders the importance of taking shelter had almost faded away and been forgotten. Interesting questions and discussions developed which made the sanga very lively and enlightening. And Lord Jagannath witnessed it with ever increasing surprise and pleasure....
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Julia took me out to visit Schloss Kranzlin for two days, the Castle near Neuruppin where several families of devotees have formed a little community outside of Berlin. HH Sacinandana Swami is visiting here frequently and is encouraging the devotees to develop a different preaching concept, reaching out to the professional world and introducing them to "the Vedic way".
We conducted a little children's program where I told the story of the Panihati Chipped Rice Festival, which is one of my very favorite pastimes of Nityananda Prabhu and Raghunath Das. We looked at the nice paintings in the Caitanya Caritamrta depicting this pastime, and the children were eager and attentive. Kanupriya Mataji had prepared some chipped rice with yogurt and condensed milk, and everybody eagerly accepted the maha prasadam.
The following day we had a short morning program, and in the evening we met once again on the topic of chanting the holy name.
I enjoyed my association with Kanupriya Mataji, who is one of the main organisers and driving forces behind the seminars on spiritual culture and retreats we conduct in Goloka Dham. Even though we only met around one year ago, it seems as if we have known each other for a long time, and a strong commitment of service towards each other has somehow sprung up. Everything is based on personal relationships - if a trusting and affectionate relationship is the foundation, then we can achieve so many things, because we are willing to extend and sacrifice ourselves in order to serve each other in Srila Prabhupada's mission.
On the 24th of September I flew off to Brussels to visit Radhadesh....
Your servant, Devaki dd
The following day we had a short morning program, and in the evening we met once again on the topic of chanting the holy name.
I enjoyed my association with Kanupriya Mataji, who is one of the main organisers and driving forces behind the seminars on spiritual culture and retreats we conduct in Goloka Dham. Even though we only met around one year ago, it seems as if we have known each other for a long time, and a strong commitment of service towards each other has somehow sprung up. Everything is based on personal relationships - if a trusting and affectionate relationship is the foundation, then we can achieve so many things, because we are willing to extend and sacrifice ourselves in order to serve each other in Srila Prabhupada's mission.
On the 24th of September I flew off to Brussels to visit Radhadesh....
Your servant, Devaki dd
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