Newsletter April 2022

The devotees of Goloka Dhama, excited and eager to welcome the Lord, came together to put up a 3-day festival and celebrated the appearance of the spotless moon of Gaurahari, an ocean of mercy. Everyone was engaged in different services for the pleasure of the Lord. Some were cooking a variety of wonderful, tasty preparations, some were making flower garlands and altar decorations, and others were preparing the abhisekha and other auspicious ceremonies. Everyone was happy in anticipation.

Days were filled with a rich program. A 3-part seminar entitled “The History of Divine Love” was presented by HG Jaya Sacinandana Prabhu; our kirtaniyas joined forces and voices with devotees from Radhadesh for an inviting 6-hour kirtan; two hours of group reading on Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu inspired and brought many together; a small group of devotees prepared a short and sweet drama detailing sweet pastimes of the Lord... And it was all rounded up with a big Harinam on the streets of Trier, the oldest city in Germany, where devotees enthusiastically distributed the Holy Name, the gift that Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu Himself mercifully came to give to one and all.

As the Lord always reciprocates with His devotees’ sincere offerings of the heart, everyone felt enlivened being touched by the particles of Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s mercy.

And remembering that the Lord is never silent to a sincere appeal, we were reminded to earnestly turn to Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and pray to Him like Srila Narottama Thakura did:

sri-krsna-caitanya prabhu doya koro more

toma bina ke doyalu jagat-sam´sare

“My dear Lord Caitanya, please be merciful to me, because who can be more

merciful than Your Lordship within these three worlds?

The last three months have been one of the happiest times in my life and I spent them in a very special place, namely Goloka Dhama, Abentheuer. Krsna, who is always in control, wanted to reveal something more to me along my somewhat precarious spiritual path. Where else would one find a situation which transcended the material modes of nature but a place like Vrindavana and its other name Goloka.

Goloka Dhama is surrounded by a forest, it is next to a stream and it is inhabited by devotees of Krsna, who worship Sri Sri Radha Madana Mohana. These deities, especially Srimati Radharani, occupy the softest part in my heart. The only thing missing were the cows whom I could secretly see grazing when no one else was looking.

Home away from home one could proclaim. Yet in these three months, I have learnt to cook for more than 25 people in the warmth and instructive atmosphere of sadhus. There is nothing better than waking up early to attend Mangalarti and Guru Puja, and participating in the evening kirtan. All these programmes allowed me to put into practice what I theoretically knew only, like doing puja for Tulasi Maharani and Srila Prabhupada. I had hitherto never stayed in a temple for more than a week. There were even lessons on how to play the mrdanga(a Vedic sacred drum).

Two occasions stand the tallest in these three months. One was the Vyasa Puja for HH Sacinandana Swami and Gaura Purnima. Simply nectar in terms of vani, sanga and kirtana.

Where there was simplicity, there was intensity. Where there were less people than before, the spiritual atmosphere was crowded. Where there was darkness, the light of knowledge shone bright. Where there was distance, there was transcendental connectedness. Alas my once vagabond soul had found complete refuge in the house of the Lord.

Let me always be grateful to God. Let me always be mindful of God. Let me always be blissful with God. Sri Sri Radha Madana Mohana ki jaya!

PS: The devotees from Goloka Dhama have had great pleasure of having Govinda Rama’s association for these 3 months. We thank him very much for also editing the English of all these newsletters.