January February 2021 Radhadesh English Newsletter

Radhadesh E- NEWSLETTER

Issue 5 | JANUARY - FEBRUARY 2021

Dear Reader, I think we can all agree that it was a special year.

This year, more than ever, we faced a lot of challenges.

It was a challenging year, in which our health, economy and mental wellbeing were put to the test...

At Radhadesh, despite the challenges, we can look back on some great achievements! A big thank you for your confidence in 2020.

During these cold winter days, we would therefore like to send you our warmest wishes for 2021.

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On behalf of the entire Radhadesh team we wish you all the best: A year of good health and mental well-being.

A year in which we can once again pursue our passions and dreams.

A year in which we can embrace ourselves again with love and conviviality.

A year in which we can make beautiful memories together again.

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And finally, a big thank you for the warmth & love we received from you last year. You are the best!

Together we will make the best memories of 2021!

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Moving forward So we have entered 2021 and said our goodbyes to the ‘memorable’ 2020 (Gaura Purnima being our actual Gaudiya Vaisnava new year).

No doubt the material energy will continue to throw all sorts of challenges at us in 2021, but as fortunate souls engaged in devotional service to Lord Krsna, we will continue in our endeavours to engage in His service in whatever ways and means we each can.

After waiting many years, the new Goshala is seriously underway. The trees have been removed to make space and within a month the major excavation of earth will be done to prepare for the foundations. Then by March, the company employed to build the Goshala will start their work and all going well should have it finished by July! Our little herd won’t know themselves when they will get to move into their ‘posh’ new quarters.

After many meetings, the architectural drawings for the new prasadam hall will be submitted to the commune by end of January.

The building has developed in many ways during these meetings both in size and beauty!

All going well with the commune, we should have final permission by July. When building work actually commences, will then depend on what builders we get to do the external work.

The renovation work has commenced in the Srila Prabhupada museum. Many devotees are kindly assisting in the ‘rebirth’ of this important room and we look forward to a beautiful new room where we proudly present our Founder/Acarya to all the fortunate souls who come to start their spiritual journeys at Radhadesh.

Another wonderful development that has been in the pipeline for many months and about to bear fruit, is a brand new sound system for the temple. This will include the installation of a new speaker system in the temple room, the two adjoining rooms, the pujari room, and both kitchens in the basement.

Greeting of the deities will never be the same again!!

Our ‘Golden devotee’, who has long been waiting on the stairs, will soon be installed in his proper home on the front of the castle, beautifully coated in a new layer of real gold!

These are just a few of the wonderful ways we can expect to see Radhadesh develop over the coming year and no doubt in many other ways also.

Srila Prabhupada gave us everything to perfect our rare human lives, we just need to embrace his blessings fully and not become distracted from the goal of reducing considerations of my own sense gratification and becoming convinced that pleasing Krsna is the only real success.

Your servant, Syamananda das

Gita Jayanti

Gita Jayanti is the day in which Lord Krishna spoke the Bhagavad-Gita to Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra.

The 'Bhagavad Gita As It Is' is one of Srila Prabhupada’s most important books that he wrote and wished for all of us to read and study it to achieve the perfection and goal of life – love for Krishna.

Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita: 5.29 bhoktaram yajna-tapasam sarva-loka-mahesvaram suhrdam sarva-bhutanam jnatva mam santim rcchati That He is the proprietor of everything and everyone, this body doesn’t belong to us. This body belongs to God and the proof of proprietorship is control. If you own a car, can someone come and take it away from you. You have the title, you have control. Do we have control of this body? We have limited control but the ultimate control is in the hands of time. Do you have power to stop your body from getting older?Do you have power to stop your body from getting diseased?; Do you have power to prevent death? Ultimately by the power of time, Krishna who is time itself takes away everything. He reveals that he is the true owner of all that exists so we should admit that.

Body belongs to God and therefore the body of all our family members belongs to God and our house belongs to God and all our money belongs to God. To accept and admit this principle is the beginning of making our family Krishna Consciousness. The duty of a husband is to be a perfect spiritual leader and Guide for the rest of the family. The duty of the husband is not only to provide the food and shelter but to provide the most necessary need and that is transcendental knowledge.

In the Srimad Bhagavatam it is explained that one has no right to take the position of a father or a mother unless one is prepared to deliver his/her children the cycle of birth and death. Simply to make crores and crores of Rupees and suffer so many anxieties in the process and die and leave it behind to your children and they too have to suffer through the same process, to maintain it and then they die and leave it to their children. Is that a great thing? The greatest thing is to leave your children with that process by which they can be removed from all suffering eternally, to give them the treasure of self realization and love of God. That is the real duty of a father and that is the real duty of a mother.

The child’s duty to his parents is to become so highly realized and pure that through the practice of proper shraddha and spiritual life, whatever deficiencies may be in our forefathers, they will be sent back to spiritual world just by the strength of our devotion. The example is Prahlad; he was the son of Hiranayakashipu.

By the power of his devotion his father was liberated, that is the main duty of a child. To give the highest gift to the parents and duty of the parents is to give the highest gift to the child. And at the same time the provisions in the material sense must also be there, that will naturally be there. We must develop sacred relationships and we must understand our responsibility within our family to one other.

By following the four regulative principles in our home, we keep freedom from entangling ourselves in further sinful activity. The four regulative principles for spiritual life are: no illicit sex, no sex life outside of proper marriage, no intoxication, illicit sex creates corruption, it makes the mind filthy. Intoxication bewilders and is counter-productive from awakening our original state of consciousness. We are already intoxicated by the illusions of material energy. In spiritual life we want to sober up, we want to come back to our natural state. So therefore taking those substances that alter our consciousness causes us to be addicted and depend on those material substances. These are very-very contrary to spiritual advancements which include any type of alcoholic beverages, any types of intoxicating drugs, cigarettes. Even coffee and tea are very much addictive. We become dependent on these. So these things are not healthy for our spiritual progress.

We should also live a life of non-violence, of compassion. Therefore, we should give up eating meat, eating fish, eggs, any food that creates karmic bondage, bloodshed and death to other living creatures. And we should also avoid gambling. Gambling creates a sense of very-very whimsical consciousness and also when we accept that everything belongs to God, how we can gamble whimsically what is God’s property . We should utilize that everything that comes to us in the most productive and intelligent way.tThat is Krishna Consciousness . We should follow moral and spiritual honesty as well as charity. We should be very honest and straightforward in our ordinary dealings in our homes, in our occupations. Honesty and charity can be categorised in three modes of material nature. To tell a lie, and that lie creates harm or suffering to another living being, is in the mode of ignorance.

By Radhanatha Swami

Refreshed Deity Kitchen

A few weeks ago the Deity kitchen underwent a necessary refreshment.

After renovating the small kitchen for the devotees, the hallway and the toilets, it felt sad that one of our most important and intense places in the temple, didn't also get some love and attention.

Of course it is not easy to do, because it is a non-stop space, but we succeeded!

The holes in the walls have been nicely repaired, the ceiling has been scrubbed and painted and the tiles that are difficult to reach have been cleaned. An enthusiastic team of about 8 devotees spent four hours over an evening scrubbing, steaming and painting every square inch of the kitchen in places we didn't even know existed.

The end result is a wonderfully bright and fresh kitchen that hopefully will help our pujaris to cook for our Lordships with a heightened sense of bliss.

Updated Guidelines Radhadesh and its beloved deities are always open for visits.However, if you are thinking about going to Radhadesh for a while, be sure to pay attention to your own health and that of others as well.

This is quite strict at the moment, to discourage this kind of travel and to prevent infections. Foreigners must be able to show a recent negative corona test result if they want to stay in Belgium for more than 48 hours.

There are special border controls for this purpose.

You must also fill in a 'passenger locator form' 48 hours before arriving in Belgium. This is strictly controlled!

There is also a curfew in Belgium, in Flanders between 24.00 and 05.00 hrs and in Wallonia from 22.00 to 06.00 hrs.

In any case, the government advises against foreign holidays.

And if you go back to your country of residence, the government asks you to go into quarantine when you return home.

We recommend checking the latest guidelines on info-coronavirus.be

Two Generations of Giving The holidays were upon us! The plurality of that word is important: for some, it means Saint Nicholas or Christmas; for others, Hanukkah. Still others understand it as the time for Kwanzaa, or Ramadan, or Winter Solstice.

But whatever the holiday may be, there is a common thread shared by everyone this time of year, and that is the spirit of giving. I’m not talking about the commercial side of holiday giving.

There are many ways to give and many reasons to do so.

Each of us has at least three “things� we can give: Money, Time, and Thanks

This year our children found it important to explore the value of giving to others during the holiday season by donating to a charity that provides gifts for needy children. Our kids enjoyed selecting presents for other children who are the same age as them. They chose to give to our local organization, Croix Rouge that's providing for refugee families.

Our older generation felt also the need to give and the french congregation joined forces with the community and friends of Krishna to spread love through cookies to the most isolated group during our pandemicIn total there are 300 bags, filled with 8 different types of biscuits made with love, distributed in some rest and care homes in Durbuy and Namur.

A simple act of kindness always sparks another.

ONLINE MELLOWS

The annual Radhadesh Mellows festival is scheduled for the 3 days of the 29th-30th-31st of January 2021 and will entirely take place online on our youtube channel: www.youtube.com/radhadeshmellows The exact schedule including those leading the kirtans and the timings will only be made available a day before the online event.

However, we can already confirm it should be happening between 10h and 21h CET. Our team is doing everything they can to provide the best possible online digital kirtan experience so that all that cannot be physically anymore in kirtan due to the current health crisis, can still be inspired from their homes by being engaged in the chanting process.

We hope as many as possible will join the broadcast at the end of the month and do their part in the chanting experience. www.radhadeshmellows.com

Savoury Waffles

Recipe by Vaishnavikitchen.com INGREDIENTS: 2 CUP ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR 2 TSP BAKING POWDER 2 TSP SALT 4 TBSP YOGHURT 2 CUP WHOLE MILK 8 TBSP UNSALTED BUTTER 2 CUP GRATED CHEDDAR CHEESE 1 CUP GRATED CARROT 1/2 CUP DICED BELLPEPPER 2 TSP DILL 1 TSP ASAFOETIDA

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl to aerate and break up any lumps; set aside. Add the milk, the carrots, paprika, dill and asafoetida and yoghurt and, while whisking constantly, slowly pour in the melted butter until evenly combined. Add the cheese and stir until combined.

Heat a Belgian waffle iron to medium heat. Once heated, fill it with batter, close the lid, and cook until the steam starts to diminish (open the top and peek for doneness after a few minutes).

Transfer the waffle to the wire rack in the oven to keep warm.

Repeat with the remaining batter.

Serve with cucumber yoghurt sauce (optional)

Celebrating the Lord of mercy nityanandam aham vande karne lambitamauktikam caitanyagraja-rupena pavitri-krta-bhutalam Salutations to Sri Nityananda Prabhu, Who has a single pearl suspended from one of His ears, Who is the elder brother of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, and Who is the purifier of the world."

On 25 February devotees worldwide celebrate Lord Nityananda (also known as Nityananda Prabhu, Nitai, Nityananda Balarama). Lord Nityananda appeared as Lord Chaitanya’s principal associate for spreading the congregational chanting of the holy names of the Lord. He especially spread the holy name of the Lord throughout Bengal. He is considered an incarnation of Lord Balarama.

Nityananda Prabhu appeared in the village of Ekachakra, in West Bengal, India, around 1474. In the Caitanya Caritamrita and other scriptures He is declared to be the avatar of Lord Balarama, the direct expansion of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna.

As a child He was called Nitai and had a close circle of friends.

Together they used to imitate the pastimes of Krishna and His associates. The adults of Ekachakra were fascinated by this unique little boy and loved Him as their own. Seeing His total absorption in avatars of Krishna, they suspected that He might be some sort of incarnation Himself. Day after day he would enact a different pastime, and did it so skillfully that His neighbors wondered, "How is it that He is so talented? How does He know the stories so well? No one has explained all these details to Him." On one occasion, one of the boys dressed as Akrura and took Krishna and Balarama away from Vrindavana on the order of Kamsa. Nitai cried in grief, feeling the separation of the cowherd girls from Krishna. Tears of love flowed from His eyes. His acting was so authentic that it made all who watched question whether He was merely acting or in some way experiencing the part He played. This was true whether He was playing Krishna, Balarama, or even Vamana and other Incarnations of the Lord. When questioned, Nitai would respond: "These are My own divine pastimes, and I am allowing you to see them."Among His most convincing roles was that of Lakshmana, brother of Rama, which intimated His divine identity as Balarama. For His first twelve years, Nityananda Prabhu stayed in Ekachakra and shared loving pastimes with His neighbors.