Vaishnava Festivals - the Mother of Devotion

After a comfortable 8-hour train journey I arrived in Copenhagen on the afternoon of the 6th of August. This was my first visit to the Copenhagen temple - a nice Danish house in a quiet suburb of Copenhagen.

There are seven brahmacaris and Bhaktas living in the temple, and one of them - 29-year old Gaur Nitai Prabhu - has recently accepted the service of the temple president. A core team of several grhasthas regularly offer service in the temple, and a congregation of Russian, Danish and Indian members participate in the temple activities. The temple room is in another building behind the main house, with a little court yard between the two buildings increasing the temple's facilities. The roof of the temple building is flat, with a steep staircase going up. Also this space is frequently used by the devotees for chanting japa, taking prasadam and holding meetings. A big tree gives shade to the rooftop for a good part of the day, and in this way it serves as a pleasant extension of the temple facility.

I was nicely accomodated in a room with attached bathroom in the back building, and the temple devotees took nicely care of my needs and diet prasadam. Gaur Nitai Prabhu had requested me to give the seminar on sheltering relationships and coaching in Krishna consciousness, and I also participated in the festivities for Janmastami and Srila Prabhupada's appearance by offering the lectures. Furthermore, the devotees kept me busy with several SB classes, two Sunday feast programs, a matajis' sanga and personal meetings.

We had a great time together, churning many relevant and deep aspects of spiritual practice. The mood was very personal, and the devotees were eager for association. Even though the Corona restrictions were somewhat still in place, nevertheless we managed to have nice programs with the congregation participating. The Sunday feast programs and also Janmastami were mainly conducted outside in the yard and on the front lawn. Continuous kirtan resounded throughout the day and night on Janmastami and purified the atmosphere, and we had an open house until midnight with people coming and taking darshan, and honoring prasadam. I was at a table offering Srila Prabhupada's and also my own books, which gave me a great opportunity to connect with devotees all day and evening. I also bumped into well-known faces - ISKCON is after all a small family, where our paths always cross again....

In the early morning of the day before Janmastami devotees took me to a huge wholesale flower market and afterwards to the nature where we picked a lot of nice flowers, greenery and decorative grasses. I spent all day making lots of nice vases for the altar and for Srila Prabhupada's Vyasasana for the two festive events - my favorite service in meditation - preparing my heart for the upcoming festivities...

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura states that the Vaishnava festivals are the mother of devotion for those devotees, who respect and observe them in service. They are a wonderful opportunity to get out of our comfort zone and deeply absorb ourselves in giving pleasure to the Lord and His devotees. We can practically demonstrate our philosophy of Krishna being the supreme enjoyer by making all kinds of pleasing arrangements for Him - then we agree to be enjoyed by the Lord. In this way, these festival days will quickly draw bhakti from our hearts.

The wonderful thing about devotional service is, that the process and the goal are the same. Here we glorify the Lord and relish hearing His pastimes, and in the spiritual world the residents engage in the same blissful activities. Here we express our love and devotion by cooking nice preparations for His pleasure, and we make all kinds of pleasing arrangements and decorations from flowers and leaves - in the spiritual world the same activities are going on in absolute perfection. In this way, we can already receive a glimpse into the same joy and bliss which awaits us in the spiritual world. Already now, even in a place like Copenhagen, we can taste a tiny drop of this unlimited and ever increasing joy!

Flowers play a very important role in the spiritual world. Krishna and Radharani like those decorations made from wildflowers the best. They wear not only garlands, but ear rings, necklaces, bangles, anklets, crowns, garments and even shoes made from flowers! And Radharani's assistants make all kinds of resting places, pillows, blankets and canopies from flowers and leaves in order to create a most suitable atmosphere for the divine couple to engage in Their loving pastimes.

In order to offer our love and devotion we have to give it some external shape and packaging, so that we can present it to Krishna and His devotees. The main way to package our love and devotion is through cooking and flower arrangements. Both have a common principle: we collect something from nature - either fruits and vegetables, or flowers - and combine them with love and devotion to create something amazingly wonderful for Krishna's pleasure. The result is surcharged with sublime, devotional energy which Krishna joyfully accepts. And the devotees relish the remnants and receive spiritual upliftment through honoring this maha prasadam.

Visiting Copenhagen temple was a new discovery for me! We had an uplifting time together, with devotees expressing their gratitude and appreciation and requesting me to visit again. I am already now looking forward to it....!

Your servant, Devaki dd