March April 2021 Radhadesh English Newsletter

E-Newsletter ISSUE 6 - MARCH / APRIL '21

LORD CAITANYA: THE GOLDEN AVATAR Also in this issue RADHADESH TV IS BACK 44TH ANNIVERSARY OF SRI SRI RADHA GOPINATHA

This newsletter is dedicated to His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada Founder-Acarya of the International Society of Krishna Consciousness We remain forever indebted to him, our eternal spiritual master, and pray for his blessings so that we may continue to establish Vrindavan here in Radhadesh.

Editorial team : Shyamsakhi dasi, Surabhi Kunja dasi, Kim, Syamananda das Photography: Janci Gregus, Gour Govinda das and our community members.

IIllustrations: Satcitanandana das & Radhe gendron Graphic design: Surabhi kunj devi dasi Proofreader: Syamananda das

WELCOME

DEAR READERS, Welcome to the March/April issue of our Radhadesh Newsletter.

If you allow me to share some meditations from these recent months.

The two basic qualities of a devotee are tolerance and compassion, Krsna is always sending us little tests to increase both of these qualities.

But as we look at the present world situation, we see everyone is having to develop more tolerance, albeit not of their choice. So becoming more tolerant is not really a choice anyone has. The secret that makes the difference, is that we need to learn to tolerate with a happy heart. And for devotees that can be done by not just begrudgingly tolerating but to see Krsna's hand always in our lives. Being convinced that not a 'blade of grass moves' without the Lord's permission, we can then face the world and all that it throws at us, and keep a smile on our face. God knows the world needs more smiling faces... especially now.

"So everything you can perceive the hands of God. This is Krishna consciousness. When you perceive the hands of God, presence of God, presence of the energy of God, then you become happy. That is the way of happiness. In every step of life, you feel the hands of God. We are teaching this Krishna consciousness movement means how to perceive, realize, presence of God in everything."

Room Conversation – July 1, 1972, San Diego

ARTICLE

LORD CAITANYA: THE GOLDEN AVATARA

Lord Caitanya is called the golden avatara . Avatara means descending, coming down. Just as one may come down from the fifth story or the one hundredth story of a building, similarly, an avatara comes down from the spiritual planets in the

BY HIS DIVINE GRACE

spiritual sky. The sky we see with our naked eyes or

A.C. BHAKTIVEDANTA SWAMI PRABHUPADA

with a telescope is only the material sky. But beyond this there is another sky, which is not possible to see

EXCERPT FROM

with our eyes or instruments. That information is in

BACK TO GODHEAD VOL 39, 1970-1973

Bhagavad-gita; it is not imagination. Krsna says that beyond this material sky there is another sky, the spiritual sky.

We have to take Krsna’s word as it is. For example, we teach small children that beyond England there are other places called Germany and India, and the child has to learn about these places from the version of the teacher because they are beyond his sphere. Similarly, beyond this material sky there is another sky.

One cannot experiment to find it, any more than a small child can experiment to find England or India. That is not possible. If we want to get knowledge, then we have to accept authority. Similarly, if we want to know what is beyond the material world, then we have to accept the Vedic authority, otherwise there is no possibility of knowing. It is beyond material knowledge. One cannot go to the far planets in this universe, and what to speak of going beyond this universe. The estimation is that in order to go to the highest planet of this universe with modern machinery one has to travel for 40,000 years. So we cannot even travel within this material sky. Our lifetime and means are so limited that we cannot have proper knowledge of even this material world.

In Bhagavad-gita, when Arjuna asked Krsna, “Will You kindly explain the extent to which Your energies are working?” the Supreme Lord gave him so many instances, and at the end He finally said, “My dear Arjuna, what shall I explain about My energies? It is not actually possible for you to understand. But you can just imagine the expansion of My energies: this material world, which consists of millions of universes, is a display of only one-fourth of My creation.” We cannot estimate the position of even one universe, and there are millions of universes. Then beyond that there is the spiritual sky, and there are millions of spiritual planets. All this information is available from the Vedic literature. If one accepts Vedic literature, then he can get this knowledge. If one doesn’t accept it, there is no other means. That is our choice.

Therefore, according to Vedic civilization, whenever an acarya speaks he immediately gives references from the Vedic literature. Then others will accept it: “Yes, it is correct.” In a law court the lawyer gives references from past judgements of the court, and if his case is tight, the judge accepts. Similarly, if one can give evidence from the Vedas, then it is understood that his position is factual.

IT IS EASY TO TURN TO THE RIGHT PAGE...

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UPDATES

RADHADESH UPGRADES Although the ongoing lockdown rules do not allow us to function as normal here in Radhadesh, we are still keeping busy in Radha Gopinatha’s service as it says in Srimad Bhagavatam, devotional service is ‘ahaituky apratihatä’-unmotivated and uninterrupted.

Nothing can ultimately block a devotee’s finding some way to service Lord Krsna.

So some of the recent goals that have been achieved by the team here recently are: A new gas tank installation - this is part of the preparations for the new prasadam hall as we needed to move the tank for the new building. The new tank is twice the size of the old one and placed underground as it's safer and as gas tanks are not the most pretty, it's nice to have it out of sight!

We are coming to the end of redesigning and refurbishing

‘Srila Prabhupada's

Room’ and the ‘Bhagavad-Gita Room', which are used as part of our tour program.

We look forward to when our doors are open again, sharing the many new exciting developments with our guests.

We are also entering the last stages of refurbishing our new entrance room to the temple room. It has been called the ‘Slide showroom’ for many years and will now be called the ‘Avatar Room’ as it will be decorated with a beautiful set of 10 paintings of the Dasavatars donated by HG Mahaprabhu Prabhu.

We also have almost finished installing a ‘state of the art’ new sound system in the temple room. With allnew surround sound speakers, amplifiers, and a supereasy operating control panel. Also new speakers in both the Lila and Blue rooms and for the pujari room and both kitchens in the basement. Hearing is the first process in our sadhana bhakti school and now it's easier for the devotees than ever to constantly hear the lectures and kirtans even while busy with their services.

Amritavani and her team have completely repainted the Boutique with nice ‘earth’ colors so it's a more ‘calming’ experience for our shoppers…she doesn’t want them getting too excited and spending too much money!

Everyone who has been to Radhadesh has seen the ‘Golden devotee’ midway up the main stairs, but this was never meant to be his final home! He was built some 30 years ago to be placed outside in a special cove that is built into the front of the castle. So now, many years later, we are redecorating him in gold leaf to be placed outside in his real home where he will shine bright and beautiful to welcome all the guests as they enter Radhadesh.

So we really look forward to when some sense of ‘normal’ returns to the world and you can come and share in all the ongoing new developments happening in Radhadesh.

NEWS

RADHADESH TV IS BACK! We are delighted to inform you that Radhadesh TV is officially back up and running.

After more than 6 weeks of not having any possibilities of online darshan, we managed to collect every cent of the 1929€ spent to fund the new computer, screen and software to provide a new and improved Live Darshan of Sri Sri Radha Gopinatha and Their devotees.

Throughout the next month we will be finetuning the camera shots, the audio levels, as well as the general broadcast as we still have many areas to improve to come to the result we are aiming for. However you can already take advantage of the broadcast via this link: youtube.com/c/RadhadeshTV/live

WE NEED YOUR HELP TO FINISH THE JOB! Until we reach over 1000 subscribers on our youtube channel we will not be able to embed the player into Mayapur.TV or the Radhadesh.TV page. It is therefore extremely essential to go to our Youtube channel and CLICK subscribe as well as share the channel with as many as possible so we can sooner than later be able to put the player on all platforms for all to see....youtube.com/c/RadhadeshTV/live

COW PROTECTION

NEW COW SANCTUARY Ever since 2013 and the old cow barn burning down we have been waiting for the opportunity to build the brand New Cow Sanctuary. After much legal work, intense master-planning, and hundreds of hours of meetings, Radhadesh received in September 2020 the much awaited building permission in order to commence the new project.

The New Radhadesh Cow Sanctuary is set to become a flagship in the Ahimsa (Non-violent) world of cow care.

Not only will the new building provide first class space, facilities and environment for our current cows, but it will open the doors to increase our herd up to 15 in total. Guests will have ample opportunities to come and see the cows, brush them and assist to milking of the cows or training of the oxen. With the whole landscape around the new project being modified to support it and its many expected visitors, the New Radhadesh Cow Sanctuary will stand out as first class home for cows born and raised and living out their entire lives in the midst of a loving community. At the moment all the preparation work of clearing the grounds has been done and within the month the groundbreaking of the new facility will take place.

Read more on this topic: radhadesh.com/cows

INTERVIEW

BHAGAVATI DASI

When and how did you join ISKCON? I had met the devotees in Amsterdam in 1976 in the Vondelpark. In 1980 I

GETTING TO KNOW OUR RADHADESHVASI'S Where are you originally from?

Amsterdam How long do you live in Radhadesh?

From 1980-1986 and from 2009 till now

What is your current service?

bought a Krsna book and a record on

Boutique, translation of Srila

the street in Brussels. The book

Prabhupada's books

answered all my questions, so I called Radhadesh to go there for a long

What are some of the other services

weekend retreat and never left. I had

you’ve done over the years?

been thinking for a long time about

Administration, Reception, Guided

joining a convent and living in a

Tours, Head Cook, Cowherd, Garden,

community like Radhadesh, following

Cooking classes, Bhaktin leader,

the four principles, was exactly what I

Pujari, Management, palliative care

was looking for.

for devotees

Can you share some memories of your young devotee days?

The very, very long hours is what I remember most of the first few years. Since most of the devotees went on Sankirtan, the few that were in Radhadesh had so much service. Also the cold showers in the morning and the walk down to the kitchen to get a bucket with hot water so you could do your laundry and get a warm bucket shower in the afternoon. I remember the tiny temple room on the first floor where we would all squeeze in together, and the first time I heard people sing the Nrsimha prayers - I used to love that prayer. The pujari room - where I spent a lot of my time in the first year - was where now the bathroom of room 1A is, so when you were busy there, you could always see the Deities.

I remember the amazing feasts we had on festivals - this was before we implemented the simple Ekadasi feasts - we would literally get sugar highs.

Oh, and the time Nikunja Vasini decided to make the black

Do you have a favourite Prabhupada story or quote?

outfit for the Deities with the seqiuns and we spent a few

I love to read about Srila Prabhupada's early days in

nights trying to finish the outfit.

India, when he was struggling to print his Back to

I remember my sankirtana days with this amazing devotee,

Godhead and trying to get people to help him preach

Yamuna Jivana. I was a lousy sankirtana devotee and truly

Krsna consciousness. The conviction he had was

terrified on the street, but she would always try to

unbreakable and that was the foundation for the later

encourage me. I remember the way we would all chant

success of his movement. Hearing these stories fills my

together in the morning, walking up and down next to each

heart with love for him.

other, and she would chant so loud and so focused. She would only talk about her service, about her spiritual

What piece of wisdom would you like to share?

master or about Lord Caitanya.

Just don't go - no matter what happens, don't give up.

No matter how big the struggle - don't leave.

Which Vaishnava inspires you most and why?

Besides the obvious Srila Prabhupada and my own initiating

What are your future hopes?

spiritual master, Urmila prabhu. I love her spiritual strength

I hope that before this life is over, I will be able to find

and her compassion. She is incredibly strict with herself, but

the peace to just be able to sit for an hour or two hours

full of compassion for others. When you ask her for

and chant Krsna's name without my mind wandering

guidance, she takes her time to make sure that the answer is

off. I pray that one day I can read or hear the Srimad-

exactly what you need at that moment. She is incredibly

Bhagavatam and I will feel completely satisfied just

knowledgeable, but knows how to give that knowledge to

doing that.

others in a way that they can understand.

44TH ANNIVERSARY OF SRI SRI RADHA GOPINATHA INSTALLATION

MEMORIES

Radha Gopinatha are our beautiful deities residing in Radhadesh. We all have seen Them in so many different outfits, and moods. However, when we really love someone, we don't just want to know who they are now, but also where they have been and what their story and adventures have been like so far.

This year we celebrate the 44th anniversary of Radha Gopinatha's installation. In honor of Their anniversary, we would like to share some snippets of Their journey with you.

In 1976 Deities of Gaura-Nitai were installed in Amsterdam. Gaura-Nitai are the divine brothers, Caitanya and Nityananda, who spread Krishna consciousness all over India in the early part of the sixteenth century. These Deities had been bought by Shyamasundar Dasa and Malati Devi Dasi in India. That same year, Radha-Krishna Deities, along with two gopi companions, were bought, also by Malati, in the historic Indian city of Jaipur. In 1977 these gorgeous Deities were installed in Amsterdam with the blessings of Prabhupada who gave Them the names “Radha-Gopinatha”. The installation ceremony was performed by Bhagavan Dasa, Jaya Tirtha Dasa, and Narottamananda Dasa. The purchase and installation of these three sets of Deities was a historic achievement for ISKCON in the Benelux.

On the 3rd of March Radhadesh, residents shared memories of the installation of Sri Sri Radha Gopinatha. To read more about this: radhadesh.com/44th-anniversary/

VISIT FOR MORE INFORMATION

radhadesh.com WE ARE RE-OPENING SOON!