HH Kadamba Kanana Swami left for Germany today. As I sit in front of my computer listening to his kirtan from last Sunday at the Manor, I feel like I am drowning in mercy. I reflect on the priceless association maharaj is constantly giving us
Sunday 15 march
On Sunday morning Maharaj flew into Heathrow and gave the 1 O’clock class at the Manor. He mesmorised the audience encouraging them to go beyond ritualistic religion – to understand the deep significance and relevance of the Bhagavad-gita in their lives. I have been overseeing this lunch class for nearly 1year, and for the first time the audience gave a spontaneous round of applause at the end of the lecture. Maharaj then took lunch, met some devotees, and went straight into the evening program – he led kirtan with the famous manor musicians and took everyone on a tour around the spiritual world. The first harmonium broke after 30 minutes, but maharaj just continued in his usual style until well after 10 O’clock
Initiations
Monday morning he conducted initiations at the manor, and then went to a congregation members house for lunch. Evening we went to Krishna Kirtan prabhu’s house (who got initiated that morning!) for an intimate program with the Pandava Sena youth. Maharaj sang for most of the night – explaining that Krishna Kirtan is the only saving grace in this Kali yuga – that we must take shelter of Krishna Kirtan, and go deeper into the process. He explained that in todays economic climate devotees should not worry since the brahminical economy will flourish – preach, maharaj exclaimed, and everything will come!
The Manor at Tuesday 17 march
Tuesday maharaj gave the Bhagavatam class at the manor, explaining the importance of renunciation and the vanaprastha ashram. We then embarked on a five hour car journey to Newcastle. Maharaj is very enthusiastic to go to the ‘forgotten towns’ where most preachers do not go. We had wonderful Gaura Arati and then maharaj lectured on Srila Prabhupada and the wonderful determination, dynamism and vision that Srila Prabhupada had. Guru Maharaj is definitely a ‘Prabhupada man’.
Newcastle
On Wednesday morning we had class in Newcastle and then travelled 3 hours to Leicester where Maharaj visited Aatish prabhu’s home. We are indebted to Aatish for his wonderful tireless service with updating the blog and transcribing maharaj’s classes. Then at 6pm we drove maharaj to the university where he gave a class on the ‘guru’ to about 30 students – he encouraged them to think ‘out of the box’ and not simply follow the norms of society. He explained that spirituality is for the brave and courageous, and we shouldn’t be scared to be a little different – and then by taking the help of a guru we can achieve spiritual perfection. Straight after the uni program we rushed to Leicester temple for an evening program there. This program was the last of the tour… and it really was the climax.
Maharaj began to speak about the Panca Tattva, explaining how the same panca Tattva were there in Krishna lila, in Caitanya Lila, and how the Panca Tattva are also working miracles today. He explained how spiritual life is infused with adventure and miracles, and of we give ourselves to the process then we will see Panca Tattva’s mercy manifesting in so many ways. He explained that we shouldn’t feel limited in our spiritual life, thinking that we are missing out on so many things. Rather, he explained that spiritual life opens up the treasure house of love of God where we can experience unlimited happiness and bliss. Maharaj then started a kirtan on the harmonium. After about 3 minutes spontaneously everyone started dancing, then maharaj jumped of the vyas puja and led and ecstatic kirtan that had the devotees bouncing off the walls! There was some magic in that kirtan – on the day of Srivas Thakur’s appearance, they were all getting a glimpse into what those kirtans at Srivas angan must have been like. Maharaj took rest after 11pm. Thursday morning we took maharaj to visit his godbrother Pradyumna Prabhu and his wife Nima Mataji – they recently had a baby girl. From there we drove maharaj to East midlands airport to catch his flight to Germany.
A personal thought
When we interviewed maharaja once he said one of his main problems was that he can never say ‘No’. I personally witnessed how maharaj tirelessly sacrifices his own comfort and gives himself entirely in the service of Srila Prabhupada. When he is here in the UK he hardly rests – he is just fully absorbed in delivering the message of Krishna Consciousness to everyone he meets. How fortunate we are to have the association of such a great soul.
Your servant
Sutapa das
PS: Aatish prabhu made video’s and mp3’s of all the programs in the UK – watch out for that on the blog!
