Jay Shrila Prabhupada. Jay Param Pujya Lokanath Maharaj. Shaasthaanga
Dandavata Pranama Priya Bhakta Jana:

 

HH Lokanath Maharaj's Travel in Europe (August 2008)

 

United Kingdom

 

In this month of August I had the great fortune of travelling and serving HH Lokanath Swami Maharaj. The ecstatic kirtans and pravacans I heard are as if directly descending from the spiritual world. Maharaj arrived in London on August 1, 2008 in the evening at Heathrow Airport from where devotees
escorted him to the house where he would be staying.

 

The next day (Saturday) Maharaj met his UK disciples at a home program, the host of which had cooked (along with devotees) more than twenty different preparations for Maharaj's pleasure. After the home program, Maharaj led ecstatic jaya radha madhava bhajan in Soho Street temple and gave a lecture on Bhagavad-gita. But that was not the end of the day. It was just the beginning.Maharaj and about a hundred devotees went out to distribute the
holy names of the Lord to the residents of London. It was a scene to behold.so many devotees chanting with Maharaj in the centre leading the
kirtan relentlessly. Onlookers were amazed as they clicked their cameras taking many pictures of the kirtan party. Blacks, whites, hippies, tourists,
shopkeepers, and shoppers all clapped, danced, and whistled to encourage the devotees. The site made it seem as if the kirtan was a weekly festive part
of London's city life. For three hours straight, Maharaj led the kirtan nonstop. Three hours of walking is intensely tiring, but these three hours
of kirtan was unlimitedly enlivening. The most memorable moments were when Maharaj and the devotees danced mad in ecstasy going round and round in the underground tube stations as travelers froze on their spots and witnessed a transcendental revolution breaking through their dull and repetitive lives.
When the kirtan party went through chambers of concrete buildings, the walls also took part in the kirtan as they facilitated the echoing of the
mridangas and djembe drums.

 

On Sunday August 3, 2008, Maharaj led guru-puja kirtan and gave the morning Bhagavatam class at Bhaktivedanta Manor. His determination and enthusiasm to glorify the Lord was far beyond any of the mridanga/kartal players and dancers. All we can hope to do is follow behind in the footsteps of HH Lokanath Maharaj and hope that his unwavering dedication to serve the Lord will enthuse and inspire us to do the same. Devotees drove Maharaj to
Leicester, where the biggest Rathayatra of Europe was celebrated. HH Jayapataka Maharaj, HH Kadamba Kanana Maharaj, HH Lokanath Maharaj, and HG Vaiyasaki Prabhu all simultaneously led four different kirtans in front of the three magnificent carts of Their Lordships Jagannath, Baladev, and
Subhadra Devi. A separate smaller cart of Their Lordhips was being pulled by the youth in the very front of the parade, and an enthusiastic Indian was
leading others in reciting the holy names with full force. In this way, the Lord hailed through the streets of Leicester (a mini India in the UK) with
five kirtans till the parade reached the park where many big tents were setup to distribute prasadam, children's activities, pandal kirtan and
pravachan, etc. HH Lokanath Maharaj gave a Hindi pravachan to the fully packed pandal tent while the harmonium, kartal, and mrdangas gave musical
accompaniment to both Maharaj's speech and bhajans. In the evening, Maharaj returned to Bhaktivedanta Manor to give the evening class. The kirtans of
that evening continued straight for four hours. Once the mridanga player is able to connect with Maharaj's mood, magic happens.the kirtan comes alive
and Maharaj's heart (which is directly in touch with the Lord) pours out the nectar from his lotus mouth. The next morning on August 4, 2008, Maharaj
left to Prague. In just one weekend, Maharaj graced seven different programs, instructed so many disciples, inspired hundreds of devotees, and
delivered thousands of living entities. Such is the power of the Vaisnava Thakura.

 

Czech Republic

 

In Prague, Maharaj continued the shooting for the "Lost Village" movie being produced by HH Bhakti Vaibhava Maharaj and the VedaVision project. The theme of the movie is to promote the simple living and high thinking of Vedic culture, and to discuss the rapidly deteriorating villages of India, which are being emptied as villagers leave to the cities in search of money being frustrated of their failure in earning wealth through farming. This movie
will find out how to restore the lost village culture, and how to encourage villagers and farmers to live a self sufficient life in a peaceful village
environment close to nature rather than suffer and rot in hellish slums in the cities, living under the poverty line.

 

On August 7, 2008, Maharaj and devotees travelled to a summer camp retreat close to Brno, where more than three hundred devotees had gathered from all around the Czech republic to gain association of the great personalities HH Lokanath Maharaj, HH Danavir Maharaj, HH Kadamba Kanana Maharaj, HG Hari Shauri Prabhu, HG Jayadev Prabhu (who was the first devotee and disciple of Prabhupada of Czech in the communist times, determinedly preaching underground behind the iron curtain). Maharaj led morning program kirtans, lectured sometimes twice or thrice every day, met his disciples, did bookwork on his upcoming "Samskrta Uccarana" book, and also went out for shooting for the Lost Village movie. He never wasted a single moment. Though he is a VVIP in ISKCON, Maharaj exemplified the principle of humility as he personally distributed bread to the devotees lined up for prasadam.

 

The next day, HH Lokanath Maharaj, HH Danavir Maharaj, and HH Kadamba Kanana Maharaj gave initiations to their aspiring disciples amidst the hundreds of devotees gathered to witness the event. Kadamba Kanan Maharaj enumerated on the ten offences to the holy names, Danavir Maharaj described the glories of the Czech yatra (which remained steady despite the troubles ISKCON faced when some of its leaders slid into maya) and its leader Bhakti Vaibhava Maharaj who lovingly and magnanimously invites his godbrothers to share in
his Czech preaching. HH Lokanath Maharaj started his lecture by saying that HH Kadamba Kanana Maharaj has said everything needed to be told about
initiation and HH Danavir Maharaj has already glorified the Czech yatra, so now what is remaining to say? "Still I have the microphone, so I will say a
few words," said Maharaj as he began his lecture after reciting the mangalacaranam prayers. In his lecture he illustrated his points with witty
analogies.

 

The summer camp at one point turned into a winter camp when the sky was covered with dense black clouds, which poured heavy rains as thundering
echoed through them. This reminded me of the power of nature, in front of which we are insignificant. It also was a beautiful sight to see the rain
drops falling on the lake, which appeared to be like pearls dropping onto the water. However, the rainy weather turned into beautiful sunny weather a
few days later and devotees enjoyed basking in the sunshine and swimming and bathing in the lake. The campsite was packed full with devotees, who
occupied every house and cottage in the area. Next year, the Czech yatra devotees plan to promote the festival even more and attract newcomers to
visit the summer camp and participate in the kirtans and bhajans. They are looking for a place which can accommodate 500 or more people in a peaceful
forest camp site.

 

Maharaj stayed with devotees at the camp site near the lake for a few days after which he shifted to a Namahata center in a village twenty minutes away
from the campsite. This Namahata center is a beautiful two story house newly furnished and beautifully maintained by Czech devotees. There Maharaj was delighted to behold the beautiful garden, in which apple, pear and other fruit trees, tomato, pepper, gigantic squash, pumpkin (almost 20 kg), and
other vegetables blossomed and thrived. Maharaj was absolutely elated to be in the countryside, right next to nature. On a morning walk in the fresh air
and under the morning sun, Maharaj told us how the cities are abodes of passion and ignorance, but the countryside is in the mode of goodness,
closer to nature, closer to God. City means creation, ambition, and passion, whereas village life means maintenance (of cows, gardens, vegetable plants,
trees, etc.), simplicity, and goodness.

 

Benelux

 

On August 11, 2008, Maharaj flew from Prague to Belgium, from where he was driven to Radhadesh (Chatteu de Petite Somme, Dubuy, Belgium), one of the spiritual headquarters of ISKCON Europe. In the morning of August 12, Maharaj led the entire morning program prayers and delivered the Bhagavatam class. Later in the day he met with disciples and relished sumptuous Ekadashi prasadam with HH Prahladananda Maharaj, HG Tattvavit PRabhu, HG Hrdoy Caitanya Prabhu, and other assembled devotees. After lunch, he was driven back to the preaching center in Den Haag in the Netherlands, where the temple hall was packed full to the brim with devotees eager to gain his transcendental association. Not only did Maharaj lecture, but the devotees also showed the "Lost Village" movie trailer to all assembled guests. The devotees then gifted Maharaj with a brand new Acer Aspire laptop. Maharaj joked: "In the movie I am promoting simple living, but now here I have this hifi machine.simple living finished." But actually, Maharaj is using everything with the principle of yukta vairagya in the service of the Lord. And thus he is free from the entanglement that modern gadgets such as cell phones, laptops, internet, etc. can cause.

 

The Netherlands (especially Amsterdam) is famous for all the nefarious activities that go on in its hell. Just like New Orleans, the Netherlands is
actually below sea level and can be covered over by the ocean if the levers of these dams Ð Rotterdam, Amsterdam, etc. are broken due to global warming and ocean level rising. Whereas the sages are attracted towards mountains and higher regions of existence, the demons are attracted to lower regions and land lower than sea level is the abode and shelter of all their demoniac activities. Den Haag is the city in Netherlands where all the embassies of different countries are situated, and the devotees have created here a beautiful Vaikuntha embassy, which is aloof from the surrounding hell, as a
lotus is free from the dirty water of the pond it springs from.

 

The next day, August 13, 2008 Maharaj graced an evening full of spiritual entertainment. An entire hall was booked for this occasion. Maharaj gave a
Hindi pravachan for the mostly Indian congregation and simultaneously, the lecture was being translated in English and Dutch on the side. After the
kirtan, which was accompanied by expert mrdanga, djembe, whomper, and karatal players, and lecture, a drama was performed by the local youth
enacting the deliverance of Chand Kazi by Lord Caitanya. Their enthusiastic performance (especially Lord Nrsimha's scratching the chest of Kazi)
thrilled the audience. Maharaj was very happy with the entire program. His face was aglow with bliss seeing the devotional growth of this community. On August 14, 2008, Maharaj departed back to Bombay from Brussels.

 

Europe devotees have been blessed by Maharaj's transcendental presence. For some time, the hell surrounding us was transformed into the spiritual world as we witnessed the magic of Krsna consciousness inspired by Maharaj's kirtans and pravachans. Thank you Maharaj for your kindly delivering fallen souls like me all over the world.

 

dasa dasa anu dasa,

Aja Govinda dasa

--
Ayush Goyal
University of Oxford, UK
Ph: +44 (0)1865 724089